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Please note that several of this month's articles and new countries are on our special World Health Day (Road Safety) web page
The main purpose of this web page is to let drivers, legislators, road safety experts, police officers, parents of young drivers, etc., have an easily accessible insight into what is happening in their own countries and elsewhere, and thereby possibly do something to help save some of the many wasted lives on roads everywhere.
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The Gardai [i.e. Irish police] are urging motorists to exercise caution on the roads this Bank Holiday weekend in light of the 17 deaths road deaths over the May holiday weekend in 2003. Motorists are asked to bear in mind that 38 people lost their lives on Irish roads in May 2003, a staggering 17 of them during the Thursday to the Monday of Bank Holiday weekend alone. “The last thing anyone wants is a similar situation to last year’s May weekend when 17 people were tragically killed. People need to focus on their own individual behaviour when they get behind the wheel of a car; they need to slow down, wear their seatbelts and not drink and drive,” Insp. Michael Nevin said this week. Full story, from the Waterford News _____________________________
22 schoolchildren were killed, and another 36 children were injured. Tragedy struck again, on Thursday, when a hired bus carrying students on a field trip plunged into a ravine near Bucaramanga, 300 kilometers (190 miles) northeast of Bogota, killing one child, Santander state police said. Also on Thursday, a school bus collided with a minibus in downtown Bogota, injuring eight students and an adult. [Though note that according to 'Xinhuanet' (China), this incident involved "least 14 children and two adults injured..."] This week's rash of accidents occurred almost two years after authorities vowed to enforce laws regarding the transport of children on school buses. Full article, from The Star (Malaysia). _____________________________
The Rhode Island Senate has unanimously passed a bill to hold drunk drivers accountable for injuries and deaths they cause. Under the legislation blood, fluids and body tissue could be taken from suspects who refuse a breathalyzer test in cases where police believe reckless or drunk driving led to death or serious injury. The DNA/DUI legislation, sponsored by Sen. Joseph M. Polisena (D-Dist. 25) of Johnston, closes the so-called drunk driving loophole that led the Rhode Island Supreme Court several years ago to throw out the case of a Warwick woman after prosecutors used blood evidence taken without her consent, even though police had obtained a court order to do so. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration. Full details here, from the Insurance Journal _____________________________
In 2003, 445 people died on Iowa roads, which is 40 more than the year before. Bob Thompson, of the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, said some easily preventable causes are behind many of the crashes. For example, one-half of all deaths happened to people who weren't wearing their seat belts, and one-fourth of the crashes were alcohol-related. Full story, from The Iowa Channel _____________________________
Students from all Indiana County high schools and three Armstrong County high schools will be competing for $1,800 in scholarships and individual and team trophies at the eighth annual Indiana Regional Safe Driving Competition on Tuesday, May 11. Winners from this year's competition will be invited to participate in the Pennsylvania Motor Trucking Association's Seventh Annual "Pennsylvania Safe Driving Competition for Youth" to be held in York in June. The Indiana Regional Highway Safety Project is a federally funded program contracted with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation through the Highway Safety Center of IUP. Full details, from the Indiana Gazette _____________________________
‘‘It will contain brief facts and detailed diagrams of each fatal accident site. Copies of the Black Book will be offered to the public at the Traffic Lines. The idea is to generate public debate on each accident,’’ SP Dhillon said. Help is being sought from arts teachers of government schools for preparing the sketches. ‘‘A four-day workshop for these teachers will soon be organised at Bal Bhawan,’’ the SP added. The Black Book will also act as a [reference] for the traffic police to identify accident-prone sites and take steps to prevent fatal collisions in future, he said. [Source: Express Newsline] _____________________________
Of those caught, 94% were speeding and the rest went through red lights. Increased camera numbers are funded by fines collected for driving offences, and cameras accounted for 85% of all speeding offences dealt with by police. Statistics also showed that the number of drivers who refused breath tests or gave positive results rose 4% to just over 100,000. The RAC Foundation believes that money from speed cameras should be spent on increasing the number of traffic police and improving dangerous junctions and other road blackspots. It argues that people can avoid prosecution for serious motoring offences because cameras are increasingly replacing traffic police. Full story, from the BBC News. _____________________________
While injuries from motor vehicle crashes declined slightly in 2003, fatalities increased by approximately one percent, with 43,220 deaths overall on the nation’s highways in 2003, up from 42,815 in 2002. This is the highest level of deaths since 1990. Key Points:
The NHTSA has estimated that highway crashes cost America $230.6 billion a year, which represents about $820 for every member of the population.
"This problem will not be solved in Washington, DC, alone," said NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge, M.D. "We need the cooperation of every American to drive responsibly, fasten his or her safety belt and care for each other’s safety on the roads. "Although we are seeing progress in some areas, our nation must take this epidemic seriously," he added. "Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in American children and young adults, but that can change through personal responsibility and enforcement of laws and regulations."
Press Release and also the Full Report, from the NHTSA.
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In addition to using cell phones, eating fast food, applying makeup or watching in-vehicle entertainment systems, another major cause of driver distraction is old-fashioned, rearview mirror glare. _____________________________
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Washington State troopers arrested 22 percent more drunken drivers in 2003 than in the previous year. Troopers stepped up enforcement last year, taking part in statewide "saturation" patrols in a bid to further cut alcohol-related traffic deaths, which fell 10 percent between 1998 and 2002 in the state. The patrol plans to continue its focus on DUI arrests this year, as well as on seat-belt use, aggressive driving and dangerous speeding, Chief Lowell Porter said. Full story, from The Olympian _____________________________
St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko says she wants to build a modern freeway between St. Petersburg and Moscow that will make driving between the two capitals a lot easier and safer. This sounds like a good idea considering that the annual death toll on Russian roads is not that different to the casualties from a moderately sized war: Thirty-five thousand people lost their lives in car accidents in 2003. Some will say the death toll is not exceptional for such a large country, especially compared to the United States, where the figure is approximately 40,000. But when you compare the number of cars in the United States and Russia, the figures start to look pretty awful. There are 30 million vehicles in Russia and about 220 million in the United States. Russians do not drive according to a set of road rules, but rather are guided by the principle that nobody wants to get hit. And because individual drivers choose unpredictable ways to avoid crashes, often the exact opposite happens... Full, interesting article, from the Moscow Times _____________________________
Highway Patrol troopers in Xenia were preparing to be part of an after-school crackdown promoting safe driving among Greene County high school students April 16, but they never got there. Instead, they were too busy investigating a crash that killed Yellow Springs High School student Arla Smith, 17 -- a basketball cheerleader, varsity volleyball player and flutist... [Less than] four months into the new year, at least 10 high school students have been killed on Miami Valley roads. Two weeks ago, Smith, Dylon Feltz, 16, of Celina, and Chase Knecht, 17, of Middletown, died in three separate crashes... "Parents get upset when we arrest their children, but I always say, would you rather pick your child up from the police station or from the morgue?" said West Chester Township police Sgt. Barry Walker. "Truthfully, I'm tired of sending our chaplains to houses to notify parents." This article should be a "must read" for parents and young drivers, it is from LebanonOhio.com _____________________________
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DSA Comment: The idea of having civilian patrollers, to handle jobs for which police officers aren't strictly needed (such as clearing debris or checking/protecting broken down vehicles) appears to be a good one and if applied wisely should logically give very good results. We do, however, have two misgivings: Firstly, and most seriously, the UK Government has been financially responsible in the past few years for the reductions in the number of traffic patrol police officers on British roads. Many say that this has been done in the fallacious belief that radar speed cameras would take over an important part of police officers' work. This is patently not the case as even though speed-related deaths have seemingly fallen in areas where speed cameras are in use, road deaths due to other moving traffic offences have simultaneously increased. At Drive and Stay Alive we seriously hope that this use of civilians is not just window dressing and another cynical attempt to cut costs by further reducing the number of police officers. Secondly, though less importantly, we are also concerned about the use of the title "Traffic Officers" for civilians. Surely this can only lead to confusion amongst the public, a potentially over-zealous approach by the civilians concerned and an equal potential for resentment from the real officers.
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This article should give all our readers some humorous, light relief even though -- as Bob Buckel, freely admits -- the incident was the writer's fault. Have a smile here, courtesy of the Azle News (Texas) _____________________________
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Recent advertising campaigns, such as the 'another bro for the road', have offended and upset some Maori. Now, research is being carried out that will prevent any repeat of this insensitive approach and that will hopefully result in new commercials that will influence rather than alienate the Maoris. [Source: NewsTalk ZB] _____________________________
According to the MPS figures released on Wednesday, the number of road accidents decreased by 16.2 percent over the same period of 2003, while the traffic death toll increased by 5.4 percent. The figures also show that 104,000 people were injured in the road accidents, down 12.3 percent from the previous year. The accidents caused direct economic losses of over 700 million yuan (about 84.64 million US dollars), falling by 14.5 percent from last year. [Source: Xinhuanet] _____________________________
A word of caution to motorists in Kuala Lumpur who love to beat red traffic lights. Your antics are being watched by plainclothes policemen at several hot spots in the city. The traffic police have stationed the officers at six areas in the city to jot down your vehicle registration number, the moment you run foul of the law. Offenders will be slapped with a summons by uniformed traffic policemen stationed about 200 metres away. Full story, from E-Media _____________________________
In another report from ABC News, in Australia, it is revealed that over the long weekend New South Wales Police carried out more than 7,000 random breath tests and 29 people were subsequently charged. That is about four drunk drivers per thousand vehicles, and at DSA we think that's an excellent result. 29 drunk drivers is undoubtedly 29 too many but without the deterrent effect of random testing it is likely that the number would have been much higher. To a large extent, Australia has led the world when it comes to using random breath testing and we believe it to be an entirely valid and justifiable weapon in the war against the mindless killing of innocent people. Well done the Aussies! _____________________________
Friends of the latest victim, Douglas Schuh, 18, left basketballs, sports caps and personal messages at the tree that his car crashed into on Friday. Police said he was exceeding the 55 mph speed limit when the car ran off a road, went airborne and hit the tree. A 16-year-old passenger was injured, police said. Two other Talawanda High School students, Jason Farthing and Benjamin Reece, were killed in separate traffic accidents two weeks apart in October. Farthing, 18, died after he turned his car into the path of a tractor-trailer truck, police said. Reece, 16, died after he exceeded the speed limit and crashed his car on Oct. 15, police said. Full story, from the Akron Beacon Journal, at Ohio.com _____________________________
In Berlin, German police managed to stop a 17-ton rogue bulldozer hijacked by a drunk driver for a nocturnal joyride. A 28-year-old man was detained for drunk driving and might be charged with theft for taking the bulldozer on a 4km ride early on Sunday after leaving a pub. A police officer climbed onto the moving vehicle but the driver held the door shut. Only after the officer smashed the window and sprayed mace in the driver's face did he stop. "He was spotted as he drove through a red light and ignored orders to stop," a police spokesperson said. [Source: Reuters, via The Star, South Africa.] _____________________________
"We have started with this road but we hope to cover the whole country. There is a serious message after every twenty kilometres," Uganda Telecom's marketing manager Hans Paulsen said. Full story, from All Africa. _____________________________
The event featured songs, a video, a drawing competition and two talks, which all highlighted the theme of road safety. The day was organised by the school in association with National Bank of Bahrain Health Centre, as part of the celebrations to mark World Health Day, which is held on April 7 every year. Full story, from the Gulf Daily News _____________________________
Adding to the growing evidence that sports utility vehicles (SUVs) are dangerous to the public, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released a study showing that passengers in 10 of 13 midsize cars would be seriously injured if broadsided by an SUV, reports the Wall Street Journal. Full article, courtesy of The New Standard _____________________________
Dozens of civilian traffic officers in high visibility uniforms were taking to the motorways today to help police Britain's roads for the first time. The new force of 50 officers will patrol the West Midlands road network to tackle congestion and ensure the region's busy motorways run smoothly. Motoring organisations today welcomed the move to take responsibility for clearing minor accidents away from the police and into the hands of the new civilian force. More than 50 officers will begin their patrols today on the M5, M6 and M42 in the West Midlands but the Highways Agency hopes to roll out more than 1,200 officers by the end of next year. They will have new powers to deal with diversions, manage incidents and help police to manage the traffic after accidents to minimise hold-ups and delays. Read the full article, from ic Birmingham
Civilian Motorway Patrols 'Could Save Millions' (here) is a second article on the above topic, from The Scotsman. _____________________________
Accident statistics and crash tests suggest a need to revise vehicle safety standards amid the growing popularity of sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks. These vehicles, which now make up more than half of all new sales, are more prone to rollovers, where occupants are inadequately protected by current seat belt designs and roofs that crush too easily. Meanwhile, much more could be done to protect motorists and passengers in mid-sized cars that are struck from the side. Protecting occupants during crashes has historically focused on front-end collisions. Scant attention has been paid to improving safety in rollovers, which cost 10,600 lives in 2002, or side-impact crashes, which claimed 9,600 lives. Despite shortcomings in their current design, seat belts reduce fatalities by as much as 80 percent in rollovers and 60 percent in side crashes, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. That's why Indiana lawmakers need to take a logical safety step and quit exempting drivers and occupants of trucks, a category that includes SUVs, from wearing seat belts. This is a good article; read it in full here, from the Indianapolis Star. _____________________________
[The] death toll from traffic accidents has been on the rise in China in recent years, with an average of some 100,000 lives lost annually since 2001, according to the national meeting on road safety. This meant close to 300 people were killed daily on average, said Zhang Jianfei, head of the highway department of the Ministry of Communications Monday at the meeting held in Chongqing Municipality in southwest China. Zhang acknowledged that the number of automobiles in China accounted merely for 2 percent of the world's total, whereas its death toll from road mishaps made up about 15 percent, ranking the first in the world for years. The length of highways open to traffic in China totals 1.81 million kilometers, approximately 70 percent of which, or 1.2 million km in length, are highways of inferior quality, especially those highways in rigid mountainous areas built decades ago, with inadequate safety facilities. Full article, from Xinhuanet. _____________________________
Police in the northern NSW region say more than 370 drivers have been issued with traffic offence notices during the second week of Operation Northroads. A total of 290 drivers were caught exceeding the speed limit, while five people were charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. A 27-year-old woman was charged with a blood alcohol reading of 0.215, while a 32-year-old man was recorded driving at 207 kilometres per hour (129mph) in a 100 km/h (62mph) zone on the Pacific Highway at Harwood. [Source: ABC Net] _____________________________
Nearly 600 law enforcement executives and line officers will gather this week to prepare for upcoming enforcement campaigns designed to increase safety belt use and decrease the incidence of impaired driving in North Carolina. The annual Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP) Law Enforcement Summits will be held on Tuesday and Thursday. GHSP Director Darrell Jernigan will credit participants for helping to increase North Carolina's safety belt use rate to 86.1 percent, the highest rate in the Southeast, and for their extraordinary participation in "Click It or Ticket" and "Booze It & Lose It" programs in 2003. Last year, officers statewide issued more than 380,000 citations during those high-visibility enforcement and education campaigns. That includes more than 13,000 arrests of impaired drivers, and more than 62,000 citations to drivers and passengers who failed to use required safety belts or child restraint devices. Summit speakers will cover a range of traffic safety topics, including increasing North Carolina's safety belt use rate; impaired driving enforcement; new laws and legal issues; the relationship between traffic safety and homeland security; graduated driver licensing, and working with district attorneys to improve outcomes of traffic-related arrests. The luncheon speaker will be Chief Michael Geraci of Schenectady, N.Y. Geraci is chairman of the New York State Chiefs of Police Highway Safety Committee and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Highway Safety Committee. Geraci also served an extended assignment at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, D.C., where he worked on various highway safety initiatives and enforcement campaigns. His work has earned him numerous awards, including the IACP's prestigious J. Stannard Baker Award. [Source: US Newswire] _____________________________
A 19-year-old man dressed as a children’s book character was killed after being hit by a car on a Norwegian motorway in what appeared to be a stunt gone horribly wrong, police said today. While two of his colleagues were filming with a video camera, the man lay down on the roadin Follo, about 30 miles south of the capital, Oslo. One car swerved to avoid him, but another was not able to stop before hitting the man, killing him instantly, police spokesman Knut Jahr said, adding that the 19-year-old appeared to be performing some kind of stunt. Full story, from The Scotsman. _____________________________
The Surrey built model out paced cars worth 10 times its £42,000 price tag with the £425,000 Ferrari Enzo securing a time of 10.98 seconds. Even the quickest of all the big road bikes, a Suzuki GSX-R1000, which hits 100mph in 5.03secs, could only complete the Autocar test in 10.89secs. Having lost its 0-100-0mph record to the American Mosler MT900S, a road going version of a GT race car, last November, (previous holders of the title include the £500,000 McLaren F1 road car) Caterham smashed its 2003 time by almost half a second, and its 2002 record of 11.44 secs by seven tenths of a second. Launched earlier this month, as "the ultimate performance driver's car", the R500 evolution is the flagship Caterham Seven model. The Autocar Magazine road test team put 47 cars through their paces ranging from a Renault Megane RS, Honda Civic Type R, Ruf Porsche Turbo, BMW CSL, Aston Martin DB9, all the way to the Ferrari Enzo, Mercedes McLaren SLR and Porsche Carrera GT. [Sources and photograph: Autocar and News Press]
DSA Comment: Anyone puzzled by the safety relevance of this article should perhaps consider the braking technology needed to stop a 100mph car in just 3-4 seconds. _____________________________
U.S. drivers are more likely to wash their cars than correctly check tire pressure, according to a national survey released today by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA). The survey found that three out of four American drivers wash their vehicle at least once a month while only one in seven correctly checks tire pressure. Motorists rank checking tire pressure as the second most important regular vehicle safety action, but more than three times as many drivers believe regular oil changes are most important to the safe operation of their vehicles. Correct tire pressure maximizes vehicle safety, performance and tire life, [in addition to reducing fuel consumption], but 85 percent of drivers do not properly check tire pressure. Other findings from RMA's 2004 study include:
[Source:
Rubber Manufacturers Association. Web Site: http://www.betiresmart.org
http://www.rma.org] _____________________________
Automotive journalists are not known for being overly emotional, but there were few dry eyes at the Volvo for Life Awards ceremony earlier this month during the New York auto show... As a journalist involved in covering an industry that is sometimes assailed for being a collection of soulless corporate giants leaving a negative impact on society, it was inspiring to see an automaker doing just the opposite. Full story, by John McCormick, at the Detroit News. _____________________________
The NHMP Deputy Inspector General, Dr Wasim Kausar, said studies showed that mobile phones were behind 17 percent of accidents in Britain and 12 percent in the United States. He said drivers were prohibited from using mobile phones [in various countries] across the world and Minister for Communications Baber Ghauri had directed the NHMP to enforce the same rules in Pakistan. He said all NHMP stations would be connected through a satellite system for quick flow of information. Dr Kausar said the National Highway Safety Ordinance, 2000, Part-II Section-VIII says: “The driver of a road vehicle shall not engage in any action which is likely to distract his/her attention or impair his driving concentration in any manner.” Part-VII Section-19 says: “Do not use any kind of phone inside a vehicle in any manner likely to adversely affect driving concentration.” Addressing the launching ceremony, Inspector General of the NHMP Major Ziaul Hassan said the campaign would continue until May 1 after which action would be taken against violators. “No one is above the law and the NHMP has proved it,” he said. Full article (with photograph), from the Daily Times _____________________________
Own a car without side-impact protective air bags? If the answer is yes, paint a big, red "X" on your side windows. Buy a crash helmet. Say your prayers. Consider yourself no better off than one of those crash-test dummies. (We don't mean the band.) You're no better off because - while we know driving can be a dangerous thing - a recent study illustrates just how dangerous it is if you're in a car and involved in a side-impact accident where you're struck by a light truck, van or sport utility vehicle. Especially, if you're a woman or child. Here's another excellent article from John Valenti, at Newsday.com _____________________________
Ninety six motorists were nabbed last night for speeding and eleven of them were arrested for drink driving. Land Transport officers were also on hand to detect illegal modifications to vehicles and 25 motorists were booked for illegal modification offences. The Singapore Traffic Police will soon have two new high-tech gadgets to help speed up their efforts to catch errant motorists. A laser speed camera which can record up to 2 photographs per second is the latest gadget to help keep the roads safe. Besides the laser camera, there is also the laser speed gun which offers a clearer image of a specific target than the current radar speed gun. The penalty for drink-driving is a jail term of up to 6 months' or a fine of at least $1,000. The driver will also be disqualified from driving or getting a licence for at least 12 months. Full article, from Channel News Asia _____________________________
St. Louis Ram defensive end Leonard Little was arrested yesterday and cited for driving while intoxicated, police said. In a 1998 fatal accident, Little killed somebody while driving drunk and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Full story, from the LA Times (registration may be required) _____________________________
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April 30, 2004: In Ireland, the
* April 30, 2004: A
school bus was completely crushed in Bogota, Colombia, on Wednesday when
the 45-ton earth mover swerved off a road and tumbled down a hillside
onto it.
April 30, 2004: The
R.I. Senate has Voted to Close a Drunk Driving Loophole 
April 30, 2004: In Chandigarh,
a ‘Black Book’ is being compiled for all fatal road accidents in 2003 and thereafter. 
April 30, 2004: The
number of offending drivers caught on camera in England and Wales rose
40% in 2002 to one and a half million, Home Office figures have shown. 
April 29, 2004: 
.jpg)
newstodaynet_0404.jpg)
April 28, 2004: In New
Zealand, extensive
market research is being carried out into Maori attitudes and beliefs
regarding road safety.
April 28, 2004: 
April 28, 2004: 
April 27, 2004: Random
Breath Testing Proves Its Value
April 26, 2004: Pakistan's National Highways and
Motorways Police (NHMP) has launched a countrywide campaign to educate
drivers about the dangers of using mobile phones while driving.
April 25, 2004: