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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. Page edited by Eddie Wren
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Feedback and comments are particularly welcome concerning our news pages. Please do let us know if you find this global overview of road safety issues to be helpful to you or simply tell us what you like and what you don't like. Click here to contact us.
The police will be out in large numbers beginning tomorrow to secure the opening zdays of the 2004/2005 school year. While the Israel Police attributes much importance to the issue of day-to-day security, it appears that the focus this year, in light of the sharp drop in the number of terror attacks, will be the subject of road safety. And it was to this end that the police's traffic department, under Major General Shahar Ayalon, held discussions last week.
The Israel Police's preparations are being based on statistics regarding
accidents involving school children in recent years. Full article, from Haaretz.com ______________________________
Accra, Aug. 31, GNA - About one trillion
cedis is spent on road safety activities annually. Full story, from Ghana Web ______________________________
Nearly a year since the federal government started requiring automakers and certain suppliers to submit safety information, an estimated 10 percent have responded by submitting quarterly data on warranty claims and consumer complaints or notifying the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that they will start soon. Auto industry members to share info on regulation, technology in Detroit A conference held by the Automotive Industry Action Group at Detroit's Cobo Center that kicks off Tuesday. The conference, expected to attract about 4,000 industry executives and more than 150 exhibitors, is meant to bring automakers and suppliers together to mingle, discuss issues affecting the industry and take a look at new technology hitting the market. Full story from Detroit Free Press ______________________________
It is particularly alarming that measures such as penalty points and tighter enforcement of seat belt legislation have not reduced the number of fatalities. More must be done to change driver behaviour and educate motorists about the dangers of fast cars. Advertisers who seductively promote the performance levels of new cars are sending out a dangerous message to impressionable young people. The focus of such campaigns must be reviewed. Tighter clamps are also required on drivers who flout the law by continuing to use hand-held mobile phones at the steering wheel. This practice is proven to affect concentration and be a cause of accidents. Full Article, from The Belfast Telegraph. ______________________________
Police in all four counties in Hawaii are increasing the use of sobriety checkpoints because of a significant rise in the number of drunken-driving deaths, officials said. Starting in October, each county police department will set up at least one checkpoint. Statistics released Wednesday show drunken-driving deaths in Hawaii jumped 53 percent in 2003, the highest increase in the country. The figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that 72 of the 135 traffic deaths in 2003 were caused by drunken driving, the most here in more than a decade. Full Story, from The Maui News. ______________________________
Motorists who try to sell their cars in lay-bys and on roadside verges around Whitehaven, Cumbria, are being targeted by police for distracting drivers and potentially causing crashes.
They will be given one chance to move their ‘for sale’ vehicles
before facing prosecution.
The tough new crackdown follows concerns about the number of people who
park their cars on the side of roads in a bid to sell them.
Police say it is an offence and officers from the Whitehaven community
police team have now launched a campaign to tackle the problem, after
working with Copeland Council, the Highways Agency and the police
traffic management department.
PC Lorraine
Murphy said: “Under section 147 of the Highways Act 1980, it is an
offence to display anything for sale within 15 metres of the highway or
on the highway if it is going to cause a danger to other road users. Full
story, from the Whitehaven
News [Glossary
notes: For non-British
drivers, a lay-by is an extra-wide shoulder, set back slightly from the
road, to permit safe parking while drivers rest, check maps, have a
drink, etc. Also, in this context a highway in Britain effectively means
any public road, not just large or fast roads.] ______________________________
Robin T. Schreiber, who allegedly killed a Clark County Sheriff's sergeant in Washington last month while fleeing his Brush Prairie home in his pickup, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder.
Schreiber, a 44-year-old former electrician with no prior criminal
history, drew the attention of local law enforcement the evening of July
30 after his girlfriend called 911 to report he was suicidal and armed.
As deputies arrived at his home, Schreiber allegedly rammed a patrol car
driven by Sgt. Brad Crawford while trying to flee.... Crawford, 49, was in his patrol car keeping traffic out of the area while deputies pursued Schreiber... Clark
County Prosecutor Art Curtis announced Wednesday he was charging
Schreiber with the state's only capital crime.... ______________________________
The fifth European Vehicle Passive Safety Network conference will take
place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 1 December. The network aims to create a durable integrated European vehicle safety research programme as a means to reducing the number of road traffic accident victims in Europe. The conference will see the presentation of the newly established Network of Excellence, the 'Advanced Passive Safety Network', as well as the results of the previous network, which include a passive safety roadmap. For
further information, go to: www.passivesafety.com [Source: Cordis] ______________________________
Traffic safety is
a fixation in Sweden. At 450,000 square kilometres, the country is about
the size of Newfoundland and, like the Rock, 70 per cent of that is
wilderness. It has a population of fewer than nine million, putting it
somewhere between Quebec and Ontario in that sense. Yet it has two
native car companies, Volvo and Saab, both with an international
reputation for vehicle. Why is safety such a dominant factor? The answer lies in a national obsession with the sanctity of human life and a genuine desire to make a difference that goes to the very heart of the legal system. Scientists, engineers and reconstructionists are not only permitted to visit the scene of crashes and conduct thorough investigations, they are encouraged to do so and protected under federal law from being forced to testify to their findings in court..... Full story from the Globe and Mail 'Megawheels' (www.globemegawheels.com ) ______________________________
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The Royal Automobile Club is calling on the police to prosecute motorists who hog the middle lane of motorways, in an attempt to ease congestion on Britain's roads. The organisation, which has six million members, has made the plea after calculating that lane blockers are wasting up to one third of motorway capacity in peak periods - the equivalent of a 700-mile stretch from Aberdeen to Penzance. It predicts that the problem of "middle lane hoggers" will be compounded by heavy traffic over the coming August bank holiday weekend and says that if motorists fail to pull over to the left-hand lane when not overtaking, as stipulated in the Highway Code, they should be stopped by the police. The most persistent offenders, the RAC suggests, should be prosecuted to deter them from driving inconsiderately in the future. Edmund King, the executive director of the RAC Foundation for Motoring, an independent body established to protect and promote the interests of motorists, said: "We would like to see more traffic police on motorways pulling drivers over for hogging the middle lane. In the late 1950s and 1960s 'courtesy cops' advised drivers on how to use the lanes on the new dual carriageways and motorways. Perhaps we need some courtesy cops on the motorways today. "The middle lane hog and the outside blocker [i.e staying in the third lane] are selfish drivers who are wasting one third of our motorway capacity. If we can encourage these drivers to practise better lane discipline it would be equivalent to adding 700 miles of new motorway capacity.".... Although more than 1,500 people are killed or seriously injured on the 2,172 miles of motorway in Britain each year, there has been an 11 per cent decrease in traffic police in England and Wales since 1997. The RAC Foundation said that the lack of a visible police presence on motorways enabled many drivers to get away with lane hogging..... Full story, from the Daily Telegraph ______________________________
....In thinking of any campaigns on road safety, Dar es Salaam City should be a dominant priority area; otherwise if serious attention is not focused on this particular end, the country’s road carnage record will continue to increase unabatedly. This year’s campaign will be meaningful if the authorities will seriously dwell on the causes and ways of curbing the ever-increasing number of accidents—largely involving lorries against smaller motor vehicles – cars and mini-buses.... Full story, from the Guardian and IPP Media ______________________________
Roading officials are moving urgently to cut the speed limit on a deadly stretch of State Highway One between Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki which claimed the lives of four people on Friday evening. But emergency services say it will take more than that to stop people dying in the area known as Centennial Highway, north of Wellington.... Transit New Zealand is now considering erecting a median barrier, but will first cut the speed limit from 100 kilometres an hour to 80km/h. "I believe we have an imperative here to be seen to act, we'll do that on Monday," says Chief Executive Rick Van Barneveld. But Emergency doctor Chris Lane says the devastating accidents won't stop "until a barrier is up". Kapiti Coast regional councillor Chris Turver also believes reducing the speed limit is not the answer. He says more than 50 people have died on that stretch of highway in the past 15 years. Full story, from TVNZ ______________________________
...The death toll on the roads [in Thailand] is horrendous. When there is a collision, the driver of the biggest vehicle is always held responsible, so it is very common for coach drivers or lorry drivers to flee the scene of an accident.... [Extract from a newspaper article about life in Thailand for a British ex-pat'. Article here, from the Cumbria News and Star] ______________________________
MONTREAL: Known for her decency and as a peerless administrator, the head of Quebec's highest trial court stunned the judicial world yesterday by stepping down because of a drunk-driving incident. The legal community bemoaned the departure of Chief Justice Lyse Lemieux of the Quebec Superior Court, praising her ability to reduce court delays, her readiness to fast-track compassionate cases and her basic civility. "This is tragic," Montreal lawyer Linda Hammerschmid said. "The loss to the public far outweighs the appearance of propriety." Chief Justice Lemieux made her decision as several drunk-driving cases have attracted attention in Quebec. Yesterday in suburban Longueuil, a judge gave Line Sasseville, 39, an unusually harsh 42-month sentence for killing a teen while driving when impaired. Full story, from The Globe and Mail
DSA Comments: We believe that in the light of her extremely bad decision to drink and drive, Chief Justice Lemieux does at least have a much greater capacity for knowing the right thing to do in the aftermath than does Montreal lawyer Linda Hammerschmid. 'The appearance of propriety,' Ms Hammerschmid? 'The appearance of propriety'??? In recent months there have been too many high-ranking officials in North America bluffing it out after having been caught drunk-driving. At least Chief Justice Lemieux has done the honourable thing, in the name of the integrity of the judiciary. Any suggestion to the contrary is nothing but a ludicrous denial of the considerable dangers and untold grief generated by drunk drivers everywhere. What if a top judge, in some moment of madness fired several shots from a gun, down a busy street, but by the Grace of God didn't hit anyone, Ms Hammerschmid? Would you still defend him or her with that nonsense about propriety? For it would indeed amount to exactly the same thing. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ______________________________
ZAGREB: Drivers in Croatia have been enjoying the last carefree summer evenings sipping beer or wine on beaches and outdoor cafes. On 20 August, a tough new law introduces a zero-tolerance approach to alcohol on the roads. The new law on road safety was adopted by parliament on 16 July and abolishes the previous 0.05 percent alcohol limit. It has split public opinion in this tourism-oriented country. The conservative government justified the law by saying it had to take radical measures in order to stop the rising death toll on Croatian roads. Prime Minister Ivo Sanader pointed to statistics showing that in the first seven months of 2004, 339 people had died in road accidents in Croatia. Since 1991, when the country declared independence from the former Yugoslavia, 11,500 have died on its roads. "If this trend continues, the number of victims would soon be equal to the number of victims of the Homeland war," Sanader said in parliament on 14 July, referring to the 1991-1995 war that claimed an estimated 20,000 lives. "We have to send a strong message: if you drink, don't drive and if you drive, don't drink. I am fully behind this even if someone told me I’d lose the elections over it," he said. In 2003, 13 percent of all traffic accidents were related to alcohol; in the capital Zagreb, that number stands at around 20 percent. Among the other leading causes of accidents are speeding and inexperience, often in combination. Until now, the Interior Ministry has tried to fight the bleak statistics with an aggressive campaign involving television spots and billboards showing the effects of drunk driving with messages like "He was only 18.".... The new law also imposes drastic fines. Those with up to 0.05 percent alcohol in their blood would be fined 1,500 kunas ($250), and those with over 1.5 percent would face a 3,000-kunas fine ($500) and the suspension of their driver’s license. Stricter regulations were also introduced for other traffic violations, with fines of up to 3,000 kunas for reckless driving. Drivers holding their licenses for less than two years are prohibited from driving cars with more-powerful-than-average engines. Regardless of their age, such drivers will be allowed to drive after 11 p.m. only in the presence of a person older than 25 who has had a clean driving record for more than two years. Under the new law, a driver who commits two serious offenses over a period of two years could face a 60-day jail term.... So far, only some Eastern European countries--the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia--have introduced zero tolerance.... Read the rest of this article here, from Transitions ______________________________
Drivers of Montgomery County firetrucks and ambulances continue to be involved in what officials regard as an alarming number of accidents, causing insurance rates to skyrocket and forcing new policies designed to slow response times to some calls. In a stern department-wide e-mail last month, prompted by four accidents in a 26-hour period over the Fourth of July weekend, Thomas W. Carr Jr., chief of the county's career firefighters, said the drivers' performance was placing the public and fire and rescue personnel at risk.... In May 2003, The Washington Post reported that Montgomery firetrucks and ambulances had been involved in 1,100 accidents in the previous five years, doing so much damage to the fleet that the department risked losing its insurance coverage.... Steven Edwards, director of the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute at the University of Maryland, said Montgomery is part of a national trend of increased accidents involving rescue vehicles. Last year, he said, 33 percent of firefighter fatalities were caused by vehicle accidents, the highest percentage since 1977. Full story, from the Washington Post (subscription) ______________________________
Statistics available to the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) revealed that 4,870 accidents were recorded during the first quarter of the year. These tragic incidents claimed the lives of 408 people which translate to 34 deaths per week. A total of 3,240 also suffered various degrees of injuries in these accidents. The Chairman of the National Road Safety Commission, Mr Johnson Clifford Aboagye, made these disclosures at the opening ceremony of the Driver Upgrading Training Course for 420 commercial drivers from the meddle [sic] and southern sectors of the country last Tuesday which ends in September, is being sponsored by the NRSC in collaboration with the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council (GRTCC). It is part of the effort by the NRSC’s objective of reducing accident fatalities by 5% by 2005 and also in fulfillment of the GRTCC’s programme of restructuring the operations of commercial drivers.... Full story, from GhanaWeb ______________________________
...In a story on our front page Aug. 11, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta reported that 42,643 people died in traffic accidents in 2003. That's a tragic number. The total for 2002 was even worse. These numbers are horrendous. Taken in a historical context, the accident experience on our roads amounts to a century-old national horror story. The federal transportation department has data from 1899, when 26 people died in auto accidents, through last year. During those hundred-plus years, more than 3 million people have died in vehicular accidents in the U.S.A. Since 1949, the annual fatality total has ranged from 30,246 that year to 54,589 in 1972. If those numbers aren't enough to illustrate the extent of the problem, consider this: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn't have injury data available for years prior to 1988. But NHTSA figures since 1988 show that the injury total has exceeded 48 million. A transportation department spokesman said the number of people hurt in traffic mishaps since 1899 is probably more than 100 million. Despite that carnage, Americans' love affair with their vehicles continues unabated. When people get behind the wheel, they assume and accept the risks. But should all those risks be acceptable? Too many bad drivers, an alcohol-oriented society and its legions of drunken drivers, unsafe speeds and inadequate roadways are fundamental problems. Yes, seat belts have reduced the dangers, and this newspaper remains a strong supporter of their diligent use. But even with the protection that seat belts and other safety measures offer, clearly there is much more that can be done. Full story, from the Kalamazoo Gazette, Michigan.
DSA Comments: What a refreshing change to see such a down-to-earth, realistic approach being taken to this subject. We far too commonly see either excuses being made for a dreadful situation, or at the other extreme, promises of 'silver bullet' cures to what is an immensely complex and remarkably deadly situation. Our compliments to the writers and editors at the Kalamazoo Gazette ______________________________
The Canada-based TIRF has been awarded a contract by the Department for Transport (DfT) in the United Kingdom to develop a demonstration alcohol ignition interlock program in the Birmingham and Bristol areas. ______________________________
BENDIGO's top traffic police officer has called on residents to "dob in a driver" in a bid to help catch drunken motorists and speedsters who are endangering lives on city streets. An anonymous hotline has been set-up to encourage members of the public to report hazardous drivers to police. The move comes after a spate of dangerous driving in the Bendigo region. Head of the Bendigo Traffic Management Unit Senior Sergeant Allan Nilon yesterday urged the community to get behind the crackdown. "Motorists who choose to ignore speed and alcohol restrictions are a huge risk to innocent people," he said. "It is time we got together as a community and said enough is enough.' "I would encourage members of the public to report any person they know who is a regular drink-driver, speeds or who regularly drives in a manner that poses a risk to the community."... Last weekend, which was one of the worst traffic police have seen in years, 19 drink drivers and about a dozen speeding motorists were detected. Sen.-Sgt Nilon said it was a disgrace that so many motorists were flouting the law. "Central Victorian drivers need to remember that driving is the most dangerous thing we will ever do in our lifetime," he said. "Motorists have been reminded time and time again of the consequences, yet we still get idiots who place innocent lives at risk. "We have already had 20 deaths on our roads so far this year. When you look at the number of motorists caught doing high speeds, it is just blind luck there haven't been more [killed]." Full story, from the Bendigo Advertiser ______________________________
In the Territory, locals and tourists are being asked to share responsibility for road safety - by respecting the big, multi-trailer 'road trains' that ply the north. Adam Magree from freight company Bulk Trans says if all drivers make an effort - not just those in trucks - the roads will be safer for everyone. "The main thing is to take their time and communicate. "Now they obviously can't talk to each other, but they just need to know what the driver is doing and try and look them in the eye and flash their lights to say, 'yeah you have passed me and it's clear to move back'; for everyone to get home safely." [Source: ABC Rural]
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Nearly three in four motorists would like to see more traffic police on the roads, according to a survey out today. And nearly nine in 10 want banned [i.e. "suspended"] drivers to have to take a driving test before being allowed back behind the wheel, the survey from Tesco Motor Insurance found. As many as 49% want a lifetime ban for motorists convicted of drink or drug driving offences, and a further 38% believe drivers convicted of dangerous driving deserve the same punishment.... - 81% would like to see the speed limit reduced to 20 miles per hour in the high-risk areas around schools.
- 70% want more traffic police on UK roads, and 72% believe
a reprimand by a police officer has more impact on drivers than getting
points on their licence through the post. - 25% want to see motorists re-sit their driving test every 10 years, with a further 20% believing it should be 20 years; - 88% of motorists think the type of vehicle driven by young drivers should be restricted. Allan Burns, head of insurance at Tesco Personal Finance, said: “UK drivers on the whole are clearly very responsible, however they feel more improvements can be made, particularly in the area of police presence and speeding issues.” “Our survey clearly shows that everyone wants to reduce death and injuries on our roads, with the public feeling that stringent penalties will go some way to achieving this.” Full story, from The Scotsman
DSA Comments: Speaking from personal experience, I can state that the days of the 'friendly warning' diminished drastically with the total change of economic practises that were made throughout public services in Britain at the end of the 1970's and thereafter. At one Traffic Department meeting, around 1980, I and many colleagues shook our heads in dismay when the then departmental Chief Superintendent, the late Ron Willatt, told us: "We have been ordered to be more cost-effective and whether we like it or not that means cautioning less people and reporting [i.e. citing] more of them for process." We knew then that a rigid approach was not always the best approach and that while the 'results' might look good on paper the other outcome would be a diminution of the respect that a large proportion of British people felt for police officers. For a host of reasons that loss of respect has happened but there can be little doubt that this was indeed one of the causes. I believe there is a lot of truth in the beliefs of the 72% of drivers mentioned above. In addition, the 49% who would like drunk drivers and drug-drivers to be banned from driving for life is a heartening observation: not because a lifetime ban is necessarily the best answer, but because it shows that the public attitude towards these two serious offences is hardening markedly. And if there is one thing we can all learn from Scandinavia in general, and Sweden in particular, it is that a strong public attitude against drunk driving and drug-driving are vital weapons in the war against the disastrous number of pointless deaths linked to these two, closely related problems. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ______________________________
Hundreds of drivers across West Yorkshire have been put to the test to see if they are up to scratch on motorway know-how. Officers from West Yorkshire Police have been quizzing motorists at service stations across the area on all aspects of motorway driving. It is hoped the testing will remind people of correct procedures for motorway driving and help to reduce accidents. Chief Inspector Gary Parker, Head of Road Policing, said: “At this time of year thousands of people are using the regions motorway network as the holiday season continues. This quiz aims to remind them of correct procedures which will hopefully make the network a safer place for everyone.” Officers have been stopping motorists at Ferrybridge and Woolley Edge service stations over the last month. Drivers have been asked everything from what they should do when passing vehicles, to situations when fog lights should be used. Chief Inspector Parker stated along with ensuring drivers were aware of the correct procedures he also wanted to highlight the dangers of driving while tired.
He said: “It is imperative motorists make provisions to stop regularly
when they are travelling, particularly if it is a very long journey. By
failing to do so they are putting, not only themselves, but passengers
and other road users at risk.” ______________________________
A serious car accident took place on 131st kilometer of Baku-Quba highway on August 16.
A Ford driven by Sumgait resident Ejder Asgerov crashed with a KamAZ
driven by Baku resident Kamal Mammadov nearly Qandob village of Devechi
region leaving 13 dead and 5 injured. [Judging by a very small photograph, accompanying the original article, it looks as though the Ford concerned may have been a minibus or some sort of passenger van - DSA] ______________________________
A German truck driver lost control of his vehicle on the A1 while trying to swat a wasp and spilled his 15-tonne load of jars of jam onto the motorway. "That's when he really started attracting wasps. There was jam all over the motorway," said a spokesman for the motorway police in the western town of Greven, on Tuesday. Police had to close the A1 motorway for two hours while they cleaned up the mess, thus causing an even bigger jam. [Source: Reuters] ______________________________
Speed may be essential to a fast food delivery business, but it does not apply on the roads. KFC and Pizza Hut, the two fast food chains operating the largest such business in Singapore, made that message clear yesterday with the launch of their "Don't Play with Lives: Arrive Alive" road safety campaign. The campaign aims to promote road safety consciousness and responsibility among their "Waiters-on-Wheels" (WOWs), so as to provide a safer road environment for all road users. KFC and Pizza Hut operate a fleet of 384 delivery motorbikes and over 800 WOWs and carry out 1 million deliveries annually. With over 90 per cent of their WOWs under the age of 25 years — the age group most vulnerable to motorcycle fatalities — the two chains are taking steps to inculcate safe riding behaviour. For starters, the public can now lodge complaints of poor riding behaviour of their delivery riders through a public feedback hotline. To motivate the riders, an incentive scheme offering cash and free holidays has also been introduced. [Source: Today Online] ______________________________
The Jakarta Police arrested a Mayasari Bhakti public bus driver on Saturday afternoon for his involvement in a traffic accident in May on the Wiyoto Wiyono toll road near Rawamangun, East Jakarta.... Two women were killed and four others injured in the three-vehicle crash. The accident occurred when a front tire of the bus -- traveling from Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, to Cawang, East Jakarta -- burst and the driver lost control. The bus drove through the steel barrier into on-coming traffic and hit a Mercedes-Benz sedan.... The bus driver ran from the scene of the accident before authorities arrived. The suspect is likely to be charged under Article 359 of the Criminal Code on negligence leading to death, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail. Full story, from The Jakarta Post
DSA Comment: Unfortunately, the article does not make it clear whether the bus driver was also the owner of the vehicle, or what consequences any separate owner might face if the tire that failed was in bad condition. Nor does the article point out whether the tire was in bad condition or whether -- for sake of argument -- it was brand new and any failure could not therefore have been anticipated. ______________________________
Lauding increased salaries and his administration's commitment to reform, President Mikheil Saakashvili officially inaugurated the work of Tbilisi's new patrol police on Sunday. The new police unit is seen as the first step in reforming Georgia's law enforcement.
According to Izoria, people with any kind of professional background can apply to the academy and become a patrol officer after successfully finishing the nine-month course. Since the first class studied only three-months, they will have additional in-service training. Full story, from The Messenger
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Ivan Hlinka, the Czech Republic's national ice hockey team coach, has died after suffering serious injuries in a car accident. The 54-year-old coach was returning to Prague Monday when his car collided with another vehicle near Karlovy Vary.... Hlinka was a player on Czechoslavakia's world champion teams in 1972, 1976 and 1977, and competed in the National Hockey League for several seasons before retiring. He also coached the Czech team to the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Hlinka's death comes just one week before the Czech team is to face Finland in the first round of the Ice Hockey World Cup in the Czech Republic.
Two athletes from Denmark's Olympic Yachting Team, Star Boat pair Nicklas Holm and Claus Olesen, and unaccredited coach Thomas Jacobsen, were involved in a traffic accident in Athens on Sunday night. A 30-year old Jamaican tourist guide was killed in the accident.
A Texas Tech basketball player remained hospitalized Monday with injuries she received in a weekend traffic accident in West Texas. ______________________________
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The traffic division of the Israel Police is currently investigating an innovative strategy to decrease the number of fatal road accidents in which young drivers are involved. Younger members of the police force will patrol recreational sites like bars and nightclubs on weekends to alert youth to the presence of heightened enforcement by police in the area. These officers will warn youth to avoid excessive drinking and will urge them to drive cautiously. The traffic division explains that the goal of this new measure is to increase awareness in young drivers of the severe outcomes associated with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving while extremely tired. According to the traffic division, the strategy represents only one of a number of ideas that they are testing in response to the alarming rise in the number of fatal road accidents involving young drivers.... Chief Superintendent Hezi Schwartzman, who heads the research department of the police's traffic division, says that while young drivers represented only 15 percent of the total population of drivers, in January-July 2004, they were involved in 24 percent of the fatal accidents. On the weekends, they were responsible for 42 percent of the fatal accidents during this period. Most of these accidents occur between Friday night and Saturday, from midnight until 6 a.m. Schwartzman adds that young drivers are generally involved in more accidents than their older peers. According to him, the major causes are speeding, tailgating and failure to comply with traffic lights. He notes that young drivers are typically overconfident, inexperienced and subject to peer pressure from their passengers. "Young drivers are twice as likely to be involved in road accidents as their older peers in relation to the number of kilometers that they drive," says transportation expert Dr. Moshe Becker. "This is true not only in Israel. In the Western world, the significance of driving under the influence of alcohol in causing road accidents is even greater than it is in Israel." According to Becker, the new, young driver is measurably more cautious in the first half year of driving than in the second half year when he feels confident but still lacks skill. "We have to remember that unlike older drivers, who drive mainly to and from work, young drivers mainly drive the family car in the dark to leisure activities at a greater distance," says Schwartzman. "There is the element of darkness, alcohol, the need to show off and caving in to peer pressure to drive faster. There is another factor worth noting - the location of recreational sites and the [late] hours provide young drivers with an open road that tempts them to increase their speed. Finally, there is the societal trend to fill the car with all of one's young friends when driving to fun activities so that when an accident occurs, a greater number of individuals are injured.".... Read this good article, from Haaretz
DSA Comment: Patrolling the bars and nightclubs, as preventive measure, sounds like an excellent idea that may also impact on younger people's psyche if the exercise is allowed to continue (i.e. funded) for enough years and thereby have a longer term effect on the reduction of drunk driving. In addition, Chief Superintendent Schwartzman's comments are perceptive and worthy of note. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ______________________________
People who drive or ride in cars ought to read the fine print before hailing the government's most recent national highway safety report. The headline was great -- the lowest death or injury rate on American highways in six years, with 27 states reporting declines. Officials credited an all-time record high of seat belt use in 2003. That's great news, even though it still means 42,643 people died on freeways last year. But the annual report, published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, offers... reasons to hold the optimism in check.... This is not to suggest, as some election-year critics are claiming, that NHTSA is purposefully skewing Americans' view of the road -- the declines in deaths did happen. But the rest of the ugly truth about life on the road ought not be relegated to the backseat. It is as risky as ever. Full editorial, from the Detroit Free Press ______________________________
But the auto industry will challenge new drive to toughen regulations A new federal study that could have major implications in the growing debate over vehicle roof strength found a strong link between fatalities and injuries, and the severity of crushed roofs in rollover accidents. Full story, from the Detroit News. ______________________________
WAYNESVILLE - Even for the Hispanic community, helping Western North Carolina's growing population of migrant workers adjust to the region is a difficult task. "It's very complicated working with these people because they are so busy," said Nelson Palacios, pastor of the Hispanic Baptist Church in Waynesville. "We bring supplies like soap and food to them, but it's hard to develop a relationship with them. They never have time." That's the challenge for nonprofit organizations trying to reduce the traffic accidents involving Hispanic people. According to a study of N.C. Highway Patrol figures from July 1998 to July 1999, Hispanics had a motor vehicle crash fatality rate of 31.7 per 100,000 residents compared to 15.4 for whites.... Full story, from the Asheville Citizen-Times ______________________________
Lilongwe, Malawi: In what can only be described as a Black Day, 27 people from the Catholic Church in Kawale died on the spot when a lorry they were traveling to Zomba in rammed into an oncoming articulated truck* at Linthipe III in Dedza. The accident has been described as the worst ever to happen in Malawi.... As Kawale is slowly but surely accepting the reality of the demise of these innocent lives, it is imperative that the Road Traffic Department take heed of the President's call to ensure that all vehicles on our roads are roadworthy. Prevention they say, is better than cure. A moving account, by a twenty-three year-old journalist, from the Chronicle Newspaper, Lilongwe, via allAfrica [Glossary note: an articulated truck (or -lorry, or -wagon) is the same thing as a semi-trailer or a tractor-trailer.] ______________________________
They may be small in numbers, but drunk drivers more than twice the legal limit are causing the most carnage on city streets. And that has sparked a debate over whether police should target drivers just over the limit, or focus their attention on the repeat hard-core drunks. Some chronic drunk drivers, despite multiple convictions, still get behind the wheel with statistics showing they are responsible for about 30% of booze-related fatalities in Canada. ...There is some debate as to whether or not it is effective enough or if more stringent methods targeting repeat offenders would be a better use of police time.... Some anti-drunk-driving lobbyists say taking one repeat offender off the road is more of a coup than nabbing a handful of those just over the legal limit. But others warn not to fixate so much on the small, but deadly number of heavy and chronic drinkers who drive and argue that we disregard the looming peril posed by those just over the line. Police will tell you someone need not even be at or above the .08 limit for booze to impair them to the point they might be in a crash. Even a few drinks hamper a person's ability to drive, with a U.S. study saying someone with a BAC of .08 is at three times [greater] risk of being in a collision.... Full story, from The Calgary Sun
DSA Comment: All credit to the Calgary Sun for covering both sides of this debate. In the opinion of DSA, however, it is regrettable that a debate should even exist. Drivers at all illegal levels of intoxication -- plus some drink-drivers below the legal limits -- have been scientifically proven to pose a deadly threat on the roads so why should we be discussing a "one or the other" scenario. How about adequately funding the relevant police or law enforcement agencies to give them the manpower and resources to deal with this situation properly? Isn't that what is referred to in the USA as a "no brainer"? Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ______________________________
TUCSON - While the stereotypical image of a senior citizen driving 10 mph under the speed limit with the left-turn signal blinking continuously may be good for a chuckle, driver safety is no joke for Tucson seniors in the AARP Driver Safety Program. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, there were 19.1 million licensed drivers age 70 and older in the United States in 2001. Older drivers have higher rates of fatal crashes, based on miles driven, than any other group except very young drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Web site. The older driver in Arizona accounts for 11 percent of total fatalities. [DSA addendum: According to national statistics, drivers under the age of 25 account for slightly over 25 percent of all fatal crashes even though they only represent 12 percent of all drivers, so this is a significantly larger problem than that posed by older drivers.] The course covers basic safe-driving instructions such as dealing with busy intersections and freeway driving while emphasizing potential hazards for senior drivers, including vision problems, limited mobility and fatigue.... Full story, from The Arizona Republic ______________________________
BATON ROUGE -- Louisianians will awake today facing as many as 520 new laws governing their lives, most of them tinkering with existing statues but some major new initiatives. Among the news laws to go on the books are a statewide ban on open containers of alcohol for all occupants in vehicles, a mandate that all motorcycle riders wear safety helmets, and... police can issue tickets to drivers who create "rolling roadblocks" by remaining too long in the passing lanes of multilane highways.... Full article, from the Times-Picayune ______________________________
A bus plunged into a ravine near the Salvadoran town of Carolina today,
killing at least 37 people and injuring 24 others. Police spokeswoman America Ortiz said the passengers were part of an evangelical church group that included children, travelling to a tourist area for a ceremony.... Full story, from News.com ______________________________
Traffic on the highways and at the checkpoints at the start of the holiday weekend yesterday was surprisingly low, according to police, who are patrolling the roads on a 24-hour basis. Yesterday, there were fewer cars on the roads than last year on August 14, but police don’t want to take any chances and leave the highways unattended. “We have two patrol cars on each side of the highways that will remain there until Sunday night. Each highway is being monitored, the Nicosia-Larnaca motorway, Nicosia-Limassol, Limassol-Paphos, Larnaca-Ayia Napa, the lot,” the policeman said. Police yesterday afternoon reported no serious accidents on the highways and cautioned drivers to be careful in their vehicles. “Drivers must not exceed the speed limit, must not drink and drive and must always wear their seatbelts,” said the police officer. “On the highways drivers must also keep a distance from the car in front of them.”.... Full story, from the Cyprus Mail ______________________________
[On April 21, 2004] , deep within the turgid pages of the Federal Register, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a regulation that would forbid the public release of some data relating to unsafe motor vehicles, saying that publicizing the information would cause "substantial competitive harm" to manufacturers. As soon as the rule was published, consumer groups yelped in complaint, while the government responded that it was trying to balance the interests of consumers with the competitive needs of business. But hardly anyone else noticed...
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [first] published the new rule on the public release of auto-safety information on July 28, 2003, but outside the industry hardly anyone took notice. In the following months, allies of tire manufacturers and automakers flooded the agency with comments, and all of them "contended that the release of early warning data is likely to cause substantial competitive harm," the agency said. At the same time, consumer groups argued that the data "should be released because it is important to the identification of potential defects," the agency added. When the agency published a revised final rule on April 21, 2004, it exempted from public release warranty-claim information, industry reports on safety issues and consumer complaints, among other data, saying that releasing that information would cause "substantial competitive harm."
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, filed suit, saying consumers
needed the data to inform themselves about unsafe vehicles and tires.
But Ray Tyson [sic, but we believe that should read Rae Tyson],
the chief spokesman for the highway safety agency, said: "The
suggestion that the American consumer is missing out is off the mark. I
can't believe this information would be of much interest to the general
public."
But it would be of great interest to road safety practitioners and public interest groups. And to paraphrase one small part of the article, those groups represent consumers, and by their actions and advice they undeniably protect the public. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ______________________________
...Volvo reportedly was the first manufacturer to develop a rearward facing child seat prototype, as early as 1963, based on research done by Swedish safety pioneer Prof. Bertil Aldman. The latter was inspired by the fact that astronauts lay on their backs in opposite direction to the force of acceleration in order to better withstand the impact of acceleration.... A rearward child seat would spread the crash forces thereby cushioning and lessening injury while older booster seats for older children would prevent abdominal and spine injuries. Do you realize that 60 pounds (the weight of a young children) traveling in a car moving at a mere 30 miles per hour in a split second collision accelerates to as much as 2,700 pounds or the weight of a young elephant? So, if the child is not in child seat but sitting on his mother’s lap, the force of a frontal collision would fling him like a bullet through the windshield.... Volvo's rearward facing child seats used for babies up to nine months have now been adjusted to secure children up to 3 years. The integrated child seat with the booster cushion and separate backrest allows the child to sleep. Unfortunately, not all parents put their children in child seats but simply strap them in with the standard seatbelts. These straps being made for adult passengers end up cutting into the children’s ribcage or choking them. Alas, in the Philippines, the majority of drivers and passengers, even if it’s a matter of law, have still to learn to use seatbelts, even in the crucial front seat! Also, only recent car models that are manufactured or assembled here provide seatbelts in the back seats. How then does one expect them to purchase and use child seats? Hopefully, the child safety seminars will help.... Full story, from the Manila Bulletin ______________________________
[In many crashes, unborn babies die because of the thing that is meant to protect -- the seat belt! But this doesn't happen because women are rightly wearing seat belts, it happens because they are using them incorrectly.] To shed more light on this area, Volvo developed world’s first computer model of a crash dummy of a woman in the later stage of pregnancy. They studied the movements of the seatbelt in a frontal collision and discovered the importance of wearing the seat belt “in the right way,” i.e. slung between the breasts and as low as possible under the bulging belly to prevent it from riding up the woman’s tummy. Otherwise, say the experts, the placenta could become detached, or the baby’s head injured if it hits the mother’s pelvis. But then, it would be even worse if mommy didn’t wear a seatbelt. [Source: a talk by Birgitta Trommler, a mother of two young children, and John Fredrik Gronvall of the Volvo Cars Safety Center in Goteborg, Sweden.] ______________________________
After 30 years, Kapunda-based driving instructor Peter Sheldon is ready to give away his job because of the heartache of the role. He also is at the centre of Public Service Association calls for an immediate investigation into driver-testing methods. Mr Sheldon said he was shattered by the deaths of teenagers he had taught and he wished there was a way to preventing the tragedies. The Salvation Army soldier, 59, however, feels he did his job properly and could not be held responsible for the deaths of those he taught to drive. Driving instructors often are "put under a lot of pressure from parents to finish the job quickly", he said. "Those kids can do with a hell of a lot more training before they're on the road by themselves, but there's only so much we can do." [Source: NEWS.com] ______________________________
TOWN OF BURNETT, WISCONSIN — Department of Transportation officials met Tuesday to discuss a rash of accidents at one of Dodge County’s most dangerous intersections. From outward appearances, the intersection of County Trunk E and Highway 26 seems innocuous: wide-open vision triangles plus well-marked stop signs and rumble strips on both sides of County Trunk E, the busier of the two roads. But a look at recent crash reports tells a different story. In just over a week, the intersection has been the scene of four serious crashes, two of them with fatalities. The Dodge County Highway Safety Commission recommended making the intersection a four-way stop, but the state isn’t sure that’s the answer.... Full story, from the Fond du Lac Reporter
DSA Comment: One of the most under-utilized road features in the USA is the rotary -- a.k.a. a 'traffic circle' or roundabout. Would one be appropriate for the intersection in question? That is for engineers to answer, but if viable the answer should be 'yes'. Our reasons for this suggestion are two-fold. Firstly, it is impossible to drive straight ahead, through a well-designed roundabout at high speed, so much of the danger is reduced. And secondly, it is less common -- in our opinion -- for drivers to flagrantly breach the right-of-way rules at rotaries the way some people do at four-way stops. But in those states where rotaries are rare or non-existent, please don't tell us that people don't know how to use them safely. Tens of millions of people around the world use rotaries every day and they have almost always been found to much safer than standard intersections. Turning left off a busy highway is at least as challenging and potentially far more dangerous than using a rotary. People can soon be educated to use them properly and anyone incapable of doing so arguably shouldn't have a driver's license. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ______________________________
Police in Mesa, Arizona, are reviving an innovative program proven to reduce crashes, but this time they are taking a more focused aim at the problem areas. When they put the traffic unit's Collision Reduction Program into operation for its third year this month, they began targeting the intersections with the worst crash totals in the previous month.... "Normally in the last two programs we used [specific] intersections," said Mesa police Lt. Ben Kulina, the traffic unit supervisor. "We wanted a smarter way to address the collision problems as they occur."... Full story, from the Arizona Republic ______________________________
The Ohio State Highway Patrol has begun testing a new high-tech license plate scanning system in an effort to catch criminals and curb crime. A four-month limited testing of two stationary mobile license plate recognition scanners installed at Gates 2 and 239 on the Ohio Turnpike and mobile units in two patrol cars began Aug. 1. The system uses digital processing devices to read license plate numbers and alert troopers in real time of the presence of wanted persons or stolen vehicles traveling the turnpike. Col. Paul McClellan, superintendent of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said, "The threat to our safety is real. Traffic crashes, while a leading killer in the United States, are not the only threat on our roads and highways. Each day, criminals are using Ohio highways to transport drugs, flee crime scenes and target innocent victims for crimes ranging from auto theft to kidnapping, rape and murder."... Full story, from the News-Messenger ______________________________
Consumers buy sport utility vehicles in part because the public gives a higher priority to their perceived safety than to their low fuel efficiency, which makes them costly to run and adds to global warming and air pollution. But buyers might rethink the SUV's safety benefit if they had more information about the problem of rollovers. Congress has finally required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to provide specific test results on how prone different car, pickup, and SUV models are to rollovers. The challenge is to make this information more available and to set a standard for stability that all vehicles must meet.... Full story, from the Boston Globe, at Boston.com ______________________________
A man faces several charges after a high-speed chase on I-55 southbound that ended when his vehicle crashed into a maintenance building at Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol headquarters in Jackson.... Full story, from the Clarion-Ledger ______________________________
[NB These are extracts from a well-written piece in the Arab News.] ...An independent, anonymous survey should be carried out to discover what people think of the traffic department and its personnel. After all, these men are civil servants. It would be good to know exactly how their service is perceived.... The simple fact is that there is a desperate need to improve the level of confidence between the traffic department and the public. It is important for both parties to know the rules and regulations, including the appropriate interpretation of traffic offenses plus the correct policies and procedures in regards to insurance matters. Perhaps a small handbook could be printed in which terms such as “speeding,” “stopping” and “parking” were clearly defined. If each traffic officer and each driver in the Kingdom received a copy of this publication and actually read it, we would all be on the same page for a change in regards to road safety. There also should be an immediate campaign launched with the focus on reducing road accidents, rather than simply finding ways to increase the number of tickets issued. During the campaign, drivers running red lights, holding infants in their laps or making a left turn from the far right lane could be targeted for special attention and education from the traffic police. Mind you, officers might actually be forced to leave their vehicles to hand out tickets to such offenders but perhaps a program of calisthenics could be introduced to help the traffic police limber up before engaging in such arduous duty.... Full article, by Khaled Almaeena, in the Arab News. ______________________________
A Washington State Patrol trooper, [already] accused of sexually assaulting seven women during pat-down searches, pleaded not guilty this morning in King County Superior Court to charges of groping three more women. Michael J. Idland, 40, has pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges against him, including charges of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct and first-degree extortion, both felonies. Idland is accused of fondling and sexually assaulting at least 10 women during traffic stops going back to 2002, usually near the Highway 520 bridge, an area he referred to as his "hunting ground," according to charging papers. Full story, from the Seattle Times ______________________________
A fire chief says it was the worst accident he had seen in 23 years, as police struggled to identify the dead. The scorched tyre marks on the mountain road were all there was left to see yesterday afternoon. The coach had been taken away for forensic examination, but at the end of the black rubber lines a jagged tear in the grass verge marked the point where the vehicle, with 49 people on board, had toppled over and over, and down the side of the mountain. It finally came to rest more than 60 metres [i.e. about 200 feet] below the road, upside down with the roof crushed until it was pinned to the tops of the headrests. Inside, five people - all Britons - were dead, while scores of others, including a number of children, were seriously injured or trapped.... Full story, from the the Guardian (UK) ______________________________
An international conference on vehicle safety will take place in London, UK, on 14 and 15 December. The event will cover legislative developments, accident avoidance measures and injury analysis and reduction strategies for all road users and vehicle types. A special session on new active safety technologies will offer the opportunity to look at the performance of these new systems. [Source: Institution of Mechanical Engineering, via Cordis] Note: Further details may be obtained by visiting the DSA safety conferences and events web page, here. ______________________________
With predictions of continued severe weather, flooding may affect motorways and major roads in different parts of the country and the Highways Agency advised drivers to take extra care. [Source: Highways Agency] ______________________________
What
was good news for the rest of the nation's drivers on Wednesday was not
as good in Oregon: Nationally, 42,643 people died last year — 362 people fewer than the previous year and the lowest fatality rate since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began keeping records 29 years ago. The decrease has been credited to increased seat belt use and less drunken driving. But there is no clear reason given for Oregon's 17 percent increase in traffic deaths last year, third nationally in percentage increases behind the District of Columbia (up 43 percent) and Rhode Island (up 24 percent).... But for now, whatever else the increase in Oregon's 2003 traffic fatality statistics communicates, it should serve as a message to the 2005 Legislature that this isn't the time to increase the speed limit on Oregon's rural highways from 65 to 70 mph. Full story, from the Corvallis Gazette-Times ______________________________
While traffic deaths nationally declined in 2003, Kentucky's numbers continue to climb — and at the current rate, Kentucky is [this year] on pace to top the 931 deaths in the state in 2003, the deadliest year on state roads in 30 years. [2002 had set a three-decade high with 921 fatalities in crashes.] In a report issued on Tuesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration touted reduced traffic deaths in the U.S. for 2003, when 42,643 people died and 2.89 million people were injured in crashes.... In all, 27 states saw reductions in deaths on their roads. The highest decreases were seen in Colorado, Connecticut, Ohio, Oklahoma, Vermont and West Virginia, which all fell by 10 percent or more. With 14 states adopting the tougher blood-alcohol limits of .08 last year, all 50 states now have the stricter limit. The report offered no good news for Kentucky, though. An increase the past few years in fatal collisions has given the state its highest totals in three decades.... Fifty-six percent of all people who died in crashes in the U.S. in 2003 weren't wearing a seatbelt.... [According to Kentucky State Police,] each year the five main human contributing factors in fatal collisions stay roughly the same. In no particular order they are: failure to yield right of way, driver inattention, driver not in proper control of vehicle, alcohol and or drug use, weaving in traffic.... Full story, from the Hardin County News-Enterprise ______________________________
North Carolina should clarify and possibly tighten drunken driving laws, a state task force said Wednesday. And the group will examine why conviction rates aren't higher. The state convicts [only] slightly more than half of those charged with alcohol-related driving offenses, officials said. That means nearly half of the 86,000 charges in fiscal 2003 will be dismissed by prosecutors and judges -- or suspects will be found not guilty at trial. "The low conviction rates are unacceptable. We have to do something to fix that," said task force member Joe Blick, a District Court judge in Greenville. "That's why we're here -- to figure out how to do that." The Governor's Task Force on Driving While Impaired heard a variety of reports Wednesday and began setting priorities for how to improve drunken driving laws. The 35-member task force of lawmakers, prosecutors, police and other experts will recommend changes to the N.C. General Assembly in January. The Governor's Task Force on Driving While Impaired heard a variety of reports Wednesday and began setting priorities for how to improve drunken driving laws. The 35-member task force of lawmakers, prosecutors, police and other experts will recommend changes to the N.C. General Assembly in January.... In the past decade, drunken driving accidents killed more than 5,500 people in North Carolina and more than 4,000 in South Carolina.... Full story, from the Charlotte Observer ______________________________
Consumer demand for sport utility vehicles is weakening, according to recent transaction data from the Power Information Network (PIN), LLC. The data show that the number of days SUVs sit on dealer lots before selling has increased substantially over 2003. SUV prices have also declined while average new-vehicle prices have increased, and incentives increased more on SUVs from June to July than they did on any other type of new vehicle.... "The data clearly suggest the SUV segment is under exceptional pressure," said Tom Libby, senior director of industry analysis at PIN. "Higher gas prices and a renewed emphasis on cars by some of the OEMs have both likely played a role in this trend." [Source: Newstream] ______________________________
BURNSVILLE, Minn. -- In an effort to remove unsafe and expired car seats from circulation, several AAA Minnesota/Iowa offices will be a drop-off site for old, used and expired child safety seats from now until Sept. 15.... After a safety seat is six years old or if the history of the seat is not known, AAA Minnesota/Iowa suggests that it be destroyed to decrease the number of safety seats being used beyond the manufacturers' recommendation. "Since federal standards on safety seats were significantly upgraded in 1996 and in 1999, we recommend not using safety seats manufactured before 1996," said Shannon Swanson, child passenger safety technician, AAA Minnesota/Iowa. "Even though they may still look new, older seats pose a threat because many models manufactured prior to 1996 do not have the improved safety features that are now mandatory. Some manufacturers have even started to stamp an expiration date on recent models to ensure the maximum safety of the seat."... AAA recommends parents read their vehicle and car seat owners' manuals carefully and follow installation instructions, taking into account their child's age and size. In addition, AAA recommends parents have their car seats inspected by a certified child passenger safety technician. To receive a free inspection, call Shannon Swanson at (952) 707-4623, in the Twin Cities metro area, or visit http://www.buckleupkids.state.mn.us/ for a statewide list of inspection events and locations. [Source: AAA Minnesota/Iowa] ______________________________
______________________________
Vatican City, 11 August - "The points license has brought clearly positive results but not yet those results we were expecting." This was stated by Pietro Lunardi, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, who spoke on One O Five Live, the Vatican Radio Fm channel, on the subject of road safety in the summer holiday period. "In a year - Lunardi said - accidents have fallen by 20 pct. It seems to me that we have done good work. But we are unfortunately always at high levels of fatality." According to Lunardi, "over the last months fatal accidents have risen as compared to the winter, both because there are more two wheeled vehicles on the road in the summer, which account for half of all recorded accidents, but also there is an increase in the number of vehicles on the roads." "There is then - Lunardi continued - the plague of young people who do not respect their own or others lives. The problem occurs especially at weekends, when young people take substances or drink. Facing this unawareness, this juvenile lack of responsibility, more than the points license it is necessary to act at the level of awareness." As to the rumours of the license being literally bought at the driving school, Lunardi said that he did not know where this news comes from. "I say that if it is confirmed that licenses are sold or also license points, it would be very serious and would be against road safety and respect for life. I will declare war on all irregularities using inspectors, with spot checks and punishing those responsible." "We are already working on the reform of the examination for the licence and I think that - already in September will see the first results. We will order the examiners to be very severe and we will ask the driving schools to improve their theory and practice courses because it is right that they learn not only in the urban centres but also outside the city, in the wet, and in conditions of poor visibility." [Source: AGI -- a special service on behalf of the Italian Prime Minister's office.] ______________________________
Road accidents cannot be reduced unless there is a substantial investment in infrastructure and more severe penalties are meted out for traffic offences, Transportation Ministry Director-General Benzion Salman, and Road Safety Authority head Vladimir Rubin head told President Moshe Katsav on Wednesday. Head-on collisions used to be the most common type of road accidents said Salman, until it was decided in some areas to divide the highway with a wall or a fence. The budget does not stretch to enable similar preventive action on all the country's highways, but wherever major roads will be built in future said Salman, such barriers will hopefully be the rule.... Although Israel's accident rate on a per capita, per vehicle ratio is more or less on par with the rest of the world, said Salman, the figures are still way too high. According to police reports, there were 40 serious accidents in July 2004, resulting in 44 fatalities. In the first half of 2004, 243 people were killed on the road; 451 in 2003; 525 in 2002; and 542 in 2001.... Like other ministries, the Transportation Ministry has had to cope with budget cuts. Among other things said Rubin, this means fewer instructors in road safety and fewer traffic police.... Full story, from the Jerusalem Post ______________________________
It's a life or death situation. The roads are wet, it's late, and you're about to be hit head-on by another car - which vehicle wouldn't you want to be in? "A Daihatsu Charade... a Ford Festiva, and especially any small car of Korean origin, " Professor Max Cameron of Monash University's Accident Research Centre (MUARC) said at the launch today in Wellington of new safety ratings for used cars. "You want to be in something like the Saab 9000." After analysing data from over one-million crashes on New Zealand and Australian roads, MUARC released a booklet detailing safety ratings for 255 popular used car models.... The Volvo 7000 may have scored highly when it comes to safety, but the Transport Safety minister was quick to explode the myth that bigger is always safer. "Dynamically many of these larger vehicles are not as safe. Some of the large vehicles have poor ratings for protection to drivers, while some smaller vehicles rate very highly, " he said. Full article here, from STUFF ______________________________
The new car hooked up to a giant video screen at Waikato University may look like the perfect toy - but it won't be used for fun and games. The car and screen are an advanced new driving simulator which will be used for road safety research aimed at saving lives and reducing the number of injuries.... Using the BMW-based simulator gives the researchers a better understanding of how drivers make decisions and how cars handle different road surfaces.... The simulator can display three-dimensional images, including oncoming cars and road hazards, and researchers can monitor the driver's actions.... The technology can also record where motorists are looking while driving (in many cases that seemed to be directly in front of the car, rather than further down the road). Dr Isler said such findings could help in driver training by teaching young people how to look for hazards.... [In New Zealand] sixteen per cent of drivers are aged 15 to 24 - but they accounted for 28 per cent of crashes between 1999 and 2001.... Full story, from the New Zealand Herald ______________________________
______________________________
Laws for the Significant Decrease in Alcohol-Related Traffic Fatalities in 2003 MADD is pleased that for the first time since 1999, there has been a three percent decrease in alcohol-related traffic fatalities. This is the lowest level of alcohol-related fatalities since 1999 and we credit much of this success to increased law enforcement and passage of key anti-drunk driving laws across the country. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued its 2003 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data today and it shows that 17,013 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic crashes - an average of one almost every half-hour - accounting for approximately 40 percent of 42,642 total traffic fatalities. In 2002, there were 17,524 alcohol-related traffic fatalities. ______________________________
Toronto — The Ontario government will let the province's towns and cities install red-light cameras and keep the revenue raised by tickets issued to offenders, Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar was to announce Tuesday. The province says the idea behind the endeavour is to improve safety for motorists and pedestrians, not to line the pockets of cash-strapped municipalities. “One-third of all deaths at municipal traffic light intersections are due to red-light running,” Mr. Takhar said in a release. “Red-light cameras are proven to reduce collisions and fatalities.”... Full story, from The Globe and Mail ______________________________
The spate of accidents occurred during the past two to three months can be attributed to the reckless manner in which drivers ply the roads. I do not know what the police are doing towards that. All I know is that police only arrest drivers when they "obstruct traffic." That is among the major charges often advanced by police against drivers.... A traffic police vehicle normally hangs out at Jui junction enjoying drivers speeding beyond limit without due regard for the lives of passengers. Police only arrest such drivers if they fail to comply with the usual handshake. Where do those monies go? The consolidated fund? No. This is a question the IG needs to answer.... ...alas, the police turn a blind eye for as long as the drivers grease their palms. This makes our police part of the problems on the road. They see all of these vehicles but refuse to take the required measures to implement the law...... Communication is no longer a problem for our police. At least they communicate to each other at relative ease with their new gadgets provided by the British taxpayers' monies.... Full article, from the Concord Times, Freetown, via allAfrica ______________________________
Mr Charles Njonjo was yesterday among members of an international association that visited Transport minister John Michuki in a bid to curb road carnage. Under the Association for Safe International Road Travel, they met the minister and promised [assistance] to help him stamp his authority on the sector.... Buoyed by the support, Michuki laid out his ministry's plans, including the setting up of a statutory National Safety Council, where the international body will be a member. "We are inviting them to join the council and help us fight road carnage," said Michuki. The association has a local chapter, headed by Channa Commanday Silverstein, the wife of Dr David Silverstein, former President Moi's doctor.... Mrs Silverstein said the association will create awareness through education of matatu owners and publicity. "We are working on a major campaign to educate PSV owners on maintenance, the Highway Code and first aid."... Full story, from the the East African Standard, via allAfrica ______________________________
Two of Queensland's most influential representative groups will join forces today in their campaign for more roads funding in the lead-up to the federal election. Motoring group the RACQ and the Local Government Association of Queensland will target marginal federal seats during a week-long tour... They will demand the Federal Government and the Opposition commit an extra $5.7 billion in funding over the next 10 years to Queensland highways. The "Mayors and Motorists Against Carnage and Congestion Campaign" will also highlight the number of accidents and deaths on the Bruce, Warrego, Cunningham, Gore and Landsborough highways in the past five years. LGAQ acting president Paul Bell said some Queensland roads were "third world standard" and the campaign would pressure local candidates to explain what they were doing to get more roads funding for their electorates.... "The Government's own targets show that one in five road deaths could be prevented through building safer roads," Cr Bell said. "The community wants action to cut the road carnage and the social and economic effects of road trauma."... Full story, from the Courier-Mail ______________________________
An annual Liberty Mutual/SADD teen driving study shows that parental driving behaviors are mirrored by their kids High school and middle school students overwhelmingly say their parents are or will be the biggest influence on how they drive, but the practices many teens say they are emulating represent some of the most risky driving behaviors, according to the 2004 Liberty Mutual/SADD Teen Driving Study. ______________________________
More than 50 per cent of Britain's motorists habitually drive for more than two hours on long motorway journeys without taking a break -- and half of those, a staggering 25 per cent of all drivers never stop for a break during motorway journeys lasting four hours or longer. These are the shocking findings of a nationwide survey undertaken by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and Auto Express magazine as part of National Motorway Month. The survey, conducted by NOP World Automotive, also reveals that a third of drivers admit to having driven continuously for four hours or more without a rest, on at least one occasion. ______________________________
As part of their own press release, dated Aug. 9, SUV Owners of America (SUVOA) stated: "... SUVOA strongly supports technology and design improvements to make all vehicles more crashworthy and help avoid crashes -- including efforts to include stability -- as long as those improvements are affordable to consumers and do not compromise attributes prized by consumers, such as off-road capability and hauling capacity." Hmmmm... so we can all have more crashworthy vehicles that help to avoid crashes just as long as those improvements don't compromise attributes prized by consumers? DSA Comment: Well that's very "generous" of you, SUVOA, but what about those attributes that are prized by grandparents, parents, siblings and offspring, like having their mommies, daddies, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, etc., alive? Do your personal preferences in auto attributes somehow supercede that consideration? ______________________________
The number of alcohol-related traffic deaths is down. Not coincidentally, say officials, the number of people being arrested for drunk driving is up. Iowa lowered the legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers from .10 to .08 a year ago. Alcohol-related crashes in Iowa fell 19% in the second half of 2003. Deaths blamed on drunk driving also fell about 15%. Full story, from WHO TV ______________________________
Rome, Italy -- According to police sources, 39 people died in 29 road accidents during the last week end on the way to their holydays. There were less victims and accidents than during the previous weekend. In last years' same weekend mortal accidents were 41 with 44 victims, while in the same period of 2002 mortal crashes were 37, with 43 victims. 31,779 road police patrols controlled the roads in the weekend. Policemen made 27,353 fines. They cancelled 38,602 points from driving licences and took away 1,275 licences. [Source: AGI -- a special service on behalf of the Italian Prime Minister's office] ______________________________
Safety officials seek funds to upgrade systems for data collection and sharing systems. Data on traffic-related deaths and accidents are two to three years out of date in some states, making it difficult to devise new safety regulations, rebuild unsafe roads, develop safer automobiles, and improve emergency services. Systems used by federal, state, and local agencies to collect and share data need to be overhauled, and the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in late July said it would ask Congress for $300 million over the next six years to upgrade them. The goal is to eliminate antiquated paper-based reporting systems and implement a nationwide initiative to automate and synchronize the collection and sharing of data. The data will include information about vehicle-related injuries and health-care costs, safety stops, driver licenses, vehicle registration, and adjudicated violations.... Better data will save lives and money, says the federal highway-safety administration. Around 43,220 people were killed on the nation's highways in 2003, and another 2.9 million suffered serious injuries. Traffic accidents in 2000, the latest year for which data is available, cost the U.S. economy about $230 billion, the agency says.... Texas has been working on the crash-records system for several years. Last year, it signed a $9.9 million contract with IBM to build a data warehouse using a DB2 Universal Database, WebSphere Application Server, Tivoli Storage Manager, and MQ-Series, its message-queuing product. IBM says Florida, Arizona, and New Mexico are considering similar systems.... Full
story, from Information
Week ______________________________
Re "The Road They All Dread," Aug. 4: Too bad about Hope Johnson and all those other poor souls killed and maimed on Highway 395. But it isn't Ridgecrest that needs a wake-up call but rather the [California] DMV and our state legislators who turn a blind eye to motorists who break California's motor vehicle laws. We have three strikes for criminal offenders; why not similar penalties for motorists? Instead of folksy tear-jerkers, roadside shrines and wider roads, which simply encourage more traffic and clowns with fast cars and too much testosterone, efforts should be made to increase the penalties for traffic violations. Seizing vehicles of offending motorists is a good place to start. Martin Mutsch, Seal Beach. [LA Times - subscription] ______________________________
Q. I've read that the government may require vehicles to have in-tire sensors to warn of low tire pressures, which will add to the price of a car. Is that necessary? A. It's probably a good idea. Correct tire pressures maximize vehicle safety, performance and tire life. The trouble is, 85 percent of drivers don't properly check tire pressures, according to a survey by the Rubber Manufacturers Association. The survey found that drivers are more likely to wash their car than correctly check tire pressures. Under-inflated tires cause excessive heat buildup, and heat is the enemy of tires -- it can cause internal damage that might lead to tire failure. Read some other good answers here, from the Chicago Sun-Times ______________________________
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today announced rollover ratings for the remainder of its 2004 test series. The agency also released comparative rankings for all 2004 vehicles tested. ______________________________
An Auckland ambulance officer was forced to dive out of the way of an oncoming car while working at a crash site on the Northwestern Motorway early yesterday. It is the latest in what emergency services say is an increasing problem of drivers speeding through crash sites, rubber-necking and even driving on footpaths to get through accidents.... Auckland Fire Service senior station officer Jeff McCulloch said safety was an ongoing problem for people working in emergency situations anywhere, on the motorway or suburban streets. He said it was not unusual to get people speeding through accident sites, breaking police cordons or even driving up the pavement to get around accident scenes. "It's either lack of driving skills or just total disregard for other people on the road."... Full story, from the New Zealand Herald ______________________________
AT least 29 people have died in road accidents since Friday when the Heroes and Defence Forces long weekend started in earnest — a figure which falls just four short of surpassing last year’s total death toll of 33 over the entire period. Police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Blessmore Chishaka said 176 people were injured in 131 accidents recorded countrywide.... "We still urge motorists to exercise caution when driving. As usual, we call upon motorists to avoid speeding, driving defective vehicles and driving while drunk as this contributes to the occurrence of accidents," said Asst Insp Chishaka.... Meanwhile, police have released the names of the eight victims who perished in a road accident near the 71-km peg along Harare-Bulawayo Road when a Mazda pick-up truck they were travelling in burst its right rear tyre and overturned on Saturday evening.... Full story, from The Herald ______________________________
BLANTYRE -- Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika Sunday declared three days of national mourning in honor of 31 people who died in different traffic accidents in the central highlands of Dedza and the capital Lilongwe on Friday night.... A statement from the Catholic Church, broadcast in the two radio stations the church runs in the country, said 27 of those killed died Friday night when a Toyota truck they were travelling in collided with another truck. The statement said the truck was carrying a group of 40 people, mostly women belong to a women's choir group in Lilongwe.... Traffic accidents are not rare on Malawi's narrow roads, most of which in extreme state of disrepair usually without major repairs for decades. The administration of President Bingu wa Mutharika has since embarked on a program to repair selected roadswhile turning some of them into dual carriageways [i.e. divided highways]. Full article, from Xinhuanet ______________________________
When Deschutes County prosecutors began piecing together their second-degree manslaughter case against two Bend men, they looked to prosecutors around the country with experience trying street racers. In San Diego County, they found Blaine Bowman. Bowman charged two men with second-degree murder for their involvement in a 2002 street race that ended in a fiery crash, killing two teenagers and causing severe brain damage to a third. The men's case — which made national news — ended when a jury convicted both of gross vehicular manslaughter. ...Such convictions aren't unusual, prosecutors say. If anything, they're on the rise as street racing continues to gain popularity around the country.... Full story, from the Bend Bulletin ______________________________
Loopholes in the recent S.C. statute render it ineffective, and alcohol-related road deaths are soaring. Four years after S.C. lawmakers passed what they touted as a historic DUI law, police and prosecutors are all but ignoring it, preferring to bring charges under an older drunken-driving statute. The reason: The newer law, they say, has no teeth. After more than a decade of lobbying from highway-safety activists, lawmakers voted in 2000 to have South Carolina join 48 states with a legal limit for alcohol in a driver’s system. They agreed on a limit of 0.10, and last year lowered it to 0.08. But highway safety advocates say lawmakers foisted a sham on the public. The legal limit, they say, isn’t a legal limit at all. Drivers get to raise an array of defenses based on factors other than how much alcohol they had in their blood. They can claim the arresting officer didn’t properly advise them of their rights. Or they can claim they don’t look drunk on the trooper’s videotape. The law also gives drivers an incentive to refuse being tested. While a conviction for driving over the legal limit carries a six-month loss of driving privileges, refusal to take a test means only a 90-day suspension.... The law was well-intended, said Barney Giese, the Columbia-area prosecutor and president of the statewide prosecutors’ association. “But once it got into the legislative process,” he said, “it turned into a monster.”... “If it’s just flat illegal to drive with 0.08 in your blood, what is the relevance of how many drinks you’ve had, or how well you were driving?” said DMV attorney Valenta.... Read the full story here, from The State ______________________________
Robert Barron was twice charged with DWI in Cumberland County, and twice went free. But on Oct. 12, 2002, his luck ran out. Barron, then 23, lost control of his car while driving 90 mph with nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. The Honda Accord spun, rammed a tree and split in two. His younger brother, seated beside him, was killed. Barron, now serving a 20-month prison term for involuntary manslaughter, accepts blame for his brother's death. "I'm going to be doing a sentence for the rest of my life," he said during an interview at the state prison in Duplin County. Full story, from the Charlotte Observer ______________________________
U.S. Federal Agency Delays Adoption of New Standards to Protect Children in Deadly Side-Impact Collisions WASHINGTON — The government’s auto safety agency says it is at least two years away from meeting a congressional request issued in 2000 to improve protection for children in side-impact crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it can’t move more quickly because it still doesn’t fully understand how children are being harmed in those situations. Side collisions can be particularly deadly for kids even if they’re restrained. About 40 percent of children who died while strapped in child seats were killed in side-impact crashes, according to one analysis of almost 100 fatal crashes by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In the meantime, there’s growing concern in the child safety community that children will be even more exposed during side-impact collisions as more cars come equipped with a rigid latch system for securing child seats. The anchor locations often force parents to put their kids in the seats next to the windows, rather than the middle of the rear seat.... Read the full, important story, from the Detroit News ______________________________
A letter to columnist Abigail van Buren: Dear Abby: I found my dog, "Belle," last year at the pound. We bonded instantly and I knew I had to take her. She was sweet, funny and fearless. I remembered the truck commercials on TV where the message was dogs love trucks. Belle was no exception. The day I bought my used pickup, she hopped into the bed and was ready to go. It seemed that half the vehicles I saw growing up were old pickups with dogs - always unrestrained. At first, there were short trips to the store or on a back road. But after a month, we got more adventurous. Sometimes Belle would get excited and lean over and snap at passing cars. That should have warned me, but at the time I thought it was funny. It never occurred to me to be concerned. Not until she fell out. I watched in the mirror as she tumbled to the road. Belle survived the fall and started to get up, but before she could get out of the way, an oncoming car hit her. It was stupid, awful and completely unexpected. And it could have been prevented. A simple harness, or better yet, keeping my beautiful Belle in the cab would have saved her life. Now, because of a stupid, macho image I had of a man, his dog and his truck, I have lost a beloved friend. Please, Abby, warn your readers that if they have a pet they care about, not to allow it to ride unrestrained in a truck bed. - Grieving in Lexington, Ky. (Letter in the Buffalo News) DSA Comments All of us who are animal lovers will no doubt empathize with this man's painful loss. But there are two key safety points that haven't been addressed in either the letter or the reply: Firstly, let's assume that you -- the reader -- are driving along a road and without warning a dog fell into the road in front of your vehicle. Would you swerve to try and miss it? Would you slam on the brakes to try and miss it? Worse still, would you do both? Many people would automatically attempt one of these variations. If you were to do any of those things (but particularly anything involving a swerve) then people's lives could be put at risk. The sad loss of the dog could become a tragic and totally unnecessary loss of human lives, too. All the more reason to sensibly and safely restrain any animal that is being carried in the bed of a pick-up or in a vehicle that has the windows wide open, etc. Secondly, if an animal is carried inside a vehicle, it should be restrained so that it cannot make contact with the driver while the vehicle is in motion -- period. If ever a driver is forced by an emergency situation to either swerve or brake hard, and a pet is either catapulted into that driver by the force, or panics and jumps at the driver for reassurance then what might be an escapable emergency has now become infinitely more likely to cause a complete loss of control and a resultant loss of human lives. Personally, for my own dog, I use a leash (fastened to any suitable, reliably strong anchor point) that keeps the dog behind the front passenger seat. He can see me, he can move around to be comfortable, and when he wants he can see out of the window. This also stops one's dog running onto a road and causing an incident when one stops the vehicle and opens the door to let the dog out. And what about those people who actually drive along with their pet sitting on their lap??? A life-time ban from driving springs to mind as a suitable punishment, on the basis of potentially homicidal lunacy. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ______________________________
A Greyhound bus slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer truck on Interstate 40 early Friday morning, killing the bus driver and two passengers. At least 18 were taken to the hospital, but all but three of those had been released by Friday night. Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Pamela Marshall said initial reports indicate the Memphis-bound bus hit the tractor-trailer as the truck's driver, who apparently had been parked on the shoulder, was re-entering traffic in the right lane. The bus, which carried 20 passengers, hit the semi with such force that the bus driver's seat was pushed back a few rows into the bus, she said. There were no skid marks to indicate the bus tried to stop, Marshall added. ''As he (the truck driver) was getting back on the interstate, as he was shifting gears, the bus rear-ended him,'' she said. Full article, from the Jackson Sun DSA Comment While it would be entirely wrong to pre-judge official findings regarding the cause of this crash, this is an opportune moment to remind drivers that if they are forced, for any reason, to stop on the shoulder at the side of a road it is important, wherever possible, to use that shoulder (unless it is a soft shoulder) as an acceleration lane and build up one's speed to a reasonable level before starting to move back into a proper lane, when re-joining the traffic flow. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc.
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North Carolina will spend more than $7 million over the next two years on rumble strips. The state Board of Transportation said the rumble strips will improve highway safety. Federal studies show rumble strips can reduce the number of crashes involving single vehicles running off the road, and can cut the number of crashes by up to 50 percent. [Source: News 14 Carolina] ______________________________
Each year, in the USA, an estimated 200 human deaths result from crashes involving animals (i.e. deaths from a direct motor vehicle / animal collision or from a crash in which a driver tried to avoid an animal and ran off the roadway). This represents just under half of one percent of the people killed each year in road crashes in America. Overall, however, in 2000, an estimated 6,100,000 light-vehicle (passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and pickup trucks) crashes on US roadways were reported to police. Of these reported crashes, 247,000 (4.0%) involved incidents in which the motor vehicle directly hit an animal on the roadway. As a result, in 2001 and 2002, an estimated 26,647 motor vehicle occupants per year were involved in crashes from encounters with animals (predominantly deer) in a roadway and treated for nonfatal injuries in U.S. hospital emergency departments -- somewhat more than 500 people per week, on average. Drive and Stay Alive has two links for you: 1. A summary, from Medical News Today; 2. The full article, with tables, from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Related story:
MONTANA: A man died on a Flathead Valley road after the car he was in struck a cow [which then] crashed through the windshield, the Flathead County coroner's office said Saturday. The victim suffered head injuries in the accident late Friday and died at the scene, about 22 miles west of here, the coroner's office said. He was identified only as a 22-year-old resident of Libby. Full story, from the Billings Gazette
Related story:
COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa -- A Mount Pleasant man has died after a traffic accident that involved a deer. Seventy-one-year-old James Slobodnik was killed in the accident Wednesday night around 9pm in Columbus Junction in southeast Iowa. Police say he was heading west on Highway 92 when the vehicle struck a deer and rolled over in a ditch. Full story, from the AP, via KCRG ______________________________
BANGALORE: M. Ramkumar, a techie driving his car with headphone on, was stopped in Jayanagar by the traffic police on Tuesday night. His offence: talking on the cellphone while driving. He disagreed with the police: "I was using headphone, and not holding the cellphone in hand, while answering a call..." ...Not many road users are fully aware of the motor vehicle rules. And the stressed-out policemen seldom have patience to inform the motorists of it. The question: Does the law of the land approve of headphone while driving? A senior police officer said: "Using a headphone or a blue-tooth device to use cellphone while driving is not permitted as per law. Traffic police can impose penalty ranging between Rs 100 and 3Rs 00." Section 230-A of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 (amended in 2001) states: "No person shall, while driving any motor vehicle in a public place, use or hold in his hand a mobile phone... If no person other than the driver is sitting in or on the motor vehicle, the mobile phone, if any, shall be switched off, during the journey." The traffic police are planning to intensify the drive against those who use cellphones while driving.... Full story, from The Times of India ______________________________
The Traffic Police will step up their presence on the roads over the long National Day weekend to blunt the spike in fatal and serious accidents that have marred this holiday in recent years. In the past three years, seven people have been killed and four others seriously hurt on Aug 8 and 9. So this weekend, road users can expect more road blocks, speed checks and more police patrol cars and motorcycles on the roads, to ensure that motorists follow traffic rules and drive safely.... Tiredness, the influence of alcohol and speeding could all lead to accidents, Traffic Police Commander Teo Kian Teck said. Don't drink and drive; stop driving if you feel tired; keep within the speed limit and you will 'arrive alive', he said. '[And] for those who want to try speeding, don't. We will be on the lookout for you.' He also urged pedestrians not to make themselves a 'moving hazard' by jay-walking. [Source: The Straits Times] ______________________________
MUSCAT — With accidents on the rise in Oman resulting from cars impacting pedestrians, motorcycles and bicycles, Honda’s unique G-Con frontal design to protect vulnerable road users can make a significant contribution in reducing this toll. [In addition], to reduce the likelihood of whiplash injuries during rear impacts, a new front seat design has been adopted. The headrests have been moved slightly forward, while the bending characteristics of the upper seat structure provide a more controlled energy-absorbing role to lessen the forces exerted on the neck of the occupant as he or she is pushed back in such situations. An unobstructed [gap] between the bonnet [i.e. 'hood'] and the engine below, bonnet hinges that compress upon impact, a specially designed front bumper and energy absorbing wiper pivots all contribute to pedestrian safety [in the event of a car hitting a person]. As a further commitment to road safety, Honda has become a founding signatory of the European Road Safety Charter, a major part of the European Commission’s plan to reduce road deaths, by fifty per cent by 2010. Full story, from the Times of Oman ______________________________
U.S. safety regulators will begin predicting the probability that a vehicle will roll over, cause of more than half the fatalities for sport-utility vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, responsible for issuing rollover ratings since 2000, will assign scores to supplement results based on test track performance and a mathematical formula, spokesman Rae Tyson said. The agency starting Monday will rank from best to worst cars, SUVs, minivans or pickups, he said. Rollovers accounted for 55 percent of U.S. fatal accidents by sport-utility vehicles last year. SUV deaths rose 11 percent last year from 2002, to 3,995. Total U.S. highway deaths rose by 395 to a 12-year record of 43,220, the agency said in April. "The purpose of the ratings is to provide consumers with good, solid information about the likelihood of rollovers,'' Tyson said. "We hope they will use this as one of the factors that will go into a purchase decision.'' Full story, from Bloomberg ______________________________
TEXAS: Emergency workers routinely put themselves in danger to help others. San Marcos Fire Chief Mike Baker showed firefighters, police, and road crews how to stay safe at emergency scenes on highways and other hazardous circumstances at a training class, Friday. The class started with a bang -- a real life example of what can happen, just in case it crossed workers’ minds that they are immune to accidents. Workers were shown a case study in Oklahoma where two firefighters were killed at the scene of a highway accident.... The class ended up outside at a staged "accident" where they learned to use the vehicles as a shield to give themselves plenty of room to work safely.... Officers said other drivers can help the effort just by paying attention and slowing down [when they see emergency vehicles ahead]. Full story, from News 8 Austin ______________________________
This is one just for the electrical boffins! Shifting its focus from occupants surviving auto crashes to accident avoidance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has set the stage for rapid growth in consumer awareness and demand for so-called active vehicle safety systems. Way ahead of the curve, the world's automakers and suppliers are primed to further explore in three technical sessions at Convergence 2004, Oct. 18-20, in Detroit, the dynamics of bringing to market advanced safety systems.... ______________________________
The KwaZulu-Natal Taxi Council says it will have to embark on an intensive drivers' training programme to ensure that they minimise road accidents involving taxis. Christopher Ngiba, the chairperson of the Council, says although taxis may not always be at fault, what they can do is to ensure that drivers are well trained. Full story, from SABC News ______________________________
Shock was spreading through the Spencer Gulf city of Port Pirie last night following the death of four local young people in a high-speed car crash. Two men and two women, all believed to be in their late teens or early 20s, died when the SS Commodore in which they were travelling hit a tree about 5.20pm.... Police major crash experts last night drove from Adelaide to begin an investigation into the cause. "It is too early to make a comment on the cause of the crash," Insp Carter said. "An exact cause may not be known for some time." The crash takes South Australia's road toll to 92 compared with 86 at the same time last year. Full story, from News.com ______________________________
AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine State Police say they’re planning a major highway safety enforcement effort beginning this weekend and lasting [for four weeks] through Labor Day. The chief of the state police, Col. Craig A. Poulin, said August is the most traveled and one of the deadliest months on Maine roads. State troopers will target high crash and violation areas in a program state police are calling S.A.F.E. -- Strategic Area-Focused Enforcement, said Poulin.... According to the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, 122 people have died on Maine roads this year, compared with 118 highway deaths during the same period last year.... Full story, from the Portsmouth Herald ______________________________
You know the trip takes two hours going the speed limit. The temptation is to push it. When the speed limit is 55, you push it to 65, sometimes beyond. The 30-mph limits in small towns can be stretched to 40. On the interstate, you join the pack on the left, moving along at speeds up to 80 and beyond. In the end, you arrive just a few minutes ahead of schedule - with no particular need to have done so. David E. Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas, calls the phenomenon "our society's insatiable demand to be there now." The problem is that too many people aren't getting there at all.... Full editorial, from The Times and Democrat ______________________________
NASHVILLE: The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is sending a message to motorists traveling this summer, obey the rules of the road or be prepared for the HEAT. THP is once again conducting the "100 Days of Summer HEAT" enforcement blitz this weekend, Aug. 6-8. In addition to the focus on speeding motorists, impaired drivers and those not buckled up properly, Troopers will also aggressively patrol the work zones located throughout the state. [DSA Glossary Note: In some countries, work zones are known as road works.] Last year in Tennessee, there were more than 5,919 work zone crashes resulting in 29 fatalities. National statistics show that work zone crashes tend to occur more frequently in the summer months. To bring added attention to the importance of work zone safety, the Governor's Highway Safety office has produced a series of radio public service announcements. Full story, from The Chattanoogan ______________________________
Honda faces a U.S. safety investigation and potential recall of 240,193 of its 2004 Accord sedans after the driver-side airbag failed during two crash tests. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began the inquiry last week after airbag failures during tests of damage when higher-riding light trucks crash into cars from the side, agency spokesman Rae Tyson said. The bag fabric had a large tear and didn't fully inflate, the Washington-based agency said. The U.S. agency is reviewing steps to reduce side crashes, which account for 25 per cent of road deaths. Fatalities among car occupants are 29 times those in light trucks when a truck hits a car from the side. Auto makers have agreed to put head-protection airbags in half of 2008 models. Such airbags are an option on the 2004 Accord. [Source: The Globe and Mail -- Megawheels] ______________________________
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"Being a safe driver is not a part-time job that starts just because you notice a police officer or a billboard." Motorists who pose a safety threat to other road users by driving at unsafe speeds are targets of a seven-week campaign organized by CAA Insurance, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and police services in the Greater Toronto Area. "We call this program Mission Possible because we believe that unsafe habits of motorists can and must change," said Anna Halkidis, traffic safety specialist for CAA Central Ontario. Mission Possible combines enforcement with education to save lives and prevent injuries caused by unsafe driving on 400-series highways, municipal expressways and residential streets, with a special focus on school zones and street racing. In addition to a series of high-profile billboards, CAA is using messages on radio and MTO electronic signs, mobile speed boards and print material to warn drivers that unsafe driving can endanger themselves as well as others. Full story, from The Globe and Mail ______________________________
The Ministry of Works in collaboration with that of Education and Culture has prepared a curriculum that would be used to teach the Road Safety subject in primary and secondary schools as well as colleges in a bid to reduce accidents. The subject which being taught on trial basis in Coast, Dar es Salaam and Morogoro regions will also spread to other regions after the government secures funds to publish enough books, the Deputy Minister for Works, Hamza Mwenegoha, told the Parliament yesterday. He was responding a question by Ruth Blasio Msafiri, (Muleba), who had wanted to know when humps on the Muhutwe – Kagoma road in Kagera Region would be constructed so as to reduce accidents.... The deputy minister [added that] a driver who knocks down a pedestrian especially on the zebra crossing would be sentenced to between two and three years in jail and pay a fine as determine by the court, according to the Road Safety Act No 30 of 1973. Full story, from The Guardian, via IPP Media ______________________________
A total of 319 people have been killed on the country's roads since the beginning of the year. Full story (with details of several individual crashes), from Haaretz ______________________________
...Pakistan would give Rs 10 million aid to Afghanistan and would also train Afghan highway and motorway police... Full story, from The Pakistani Newspaper ______________________________
Hangzhou reported a total of 575 traffic accidents in July this year, which left 100 dead, 631 injured and caused a direct economic loss of about 1.8 million yuan(US$217,654), sources from Hangzhou Traffic Police Substation said. The number of traffic accidents in July is 53.6% down from the same period last year, however, the death toll is 26.58% up from last July, 21 more than that the same period last year. Full story, from Zhejiang Online ______________________________
The number of traffic police patrolling the roads of Merseyside has been cut by almost half over the past six years, the Daily Post can reveal. The Police Federation* warned last night that reducing the number of traffic officers from 220 to 120 was encouraging motorists to drive recklessly. A hundred officers have been redeployed into neighbourhoods as part of Chief Constable Norman Bettison's drive to get more uniformed police on [town beats]. Police Federation secretary Ian Leyland said: "The reduction of traffic policing is having a negative impact on driving behaviour. It's a massive, massive reduction. "There is an awful lot of criminal behaviour on our roads. I am talking about undertaking**, jumping red lights and speeding. You probably see it every day.... "Traffic work does bring officers into confrontation with members of the public. It is not very popular, but it is vital." He believes that speed cameras, calming measures and trial technology such as the alco-lock -- a device which stops a car from being started until a driver has completed a breath test - will only work [properly along with the availability of] traffic police in patrol cars. "We are not saying cameras do not have a role - they do.. But what you see is that motorists slow down for the camera and then speed up again.... Mr Bettison says cutting traffic police is part of the dilemma of having limited resources. He told the Daily Post: "People have told me that what they want to see is more bobbies on foot patrol. "I did strip people out from road traffic and other departments to build the neighbourhood policing model. Unfortunately, you can not have [everything].... The Police Federation's call for more traffic police last night won the support of the AA in the North West. Spokeswoman Claire Price said: "Speed cameras can tackle speeding to an extent but the more you take officers off the roads the worse the behaviour of drivers."... Full story, from the Liverpool Daily Post / IC Liverpool Explanatory notes for non-British readers: * By law, British police officers are not allowed a union. The Federation is their negotiating body; ** Undertaking is simply the opposite of overtaking, namely passing on the wrong side. ______________________________
Over the last two decades consequent to a rapid increase in the number of motor vehicles and a phenomenal expansion of the road network, there has been a steep rise in the incidence of road accidents in India. Road accidents considered both a social problem and a medical challenge result in the death of about 85,000 people and injury to about half a million people a year on about two million km road network spread across the country. Incidentally, India holds the dubious distinction of registering the highest number of road accidents in the world. According to the experts at the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NTPRC) the number of road accidents in India is three times higher than that prevailing in developed countries. The number of accidents for 1000 vehicles in India is as high as 35 while the figure ranges from 4 to 10 in developed countries....
Interestingly, field studies carried out in Finland and Denmark show that “people who are failures in their personal lives and those who have low levels of occupational satisfaction are the one who get enraged on the roads”.
Full article, from The Tribune - Science and Technology
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ExxonMobil has undeniably applied considerable foresight and responsibility in the implementation of a global cell phone safety program, in respect of all of its employees and contractors in more than 200 countries and territories -- music to the ears of road safety practitioners, wherever they may be. ______________________________
...Reuters reports that just knowing the road rules is no longer enough to get a driving licence in Turkmenistan. To get that licence, a 16-hour course in the sacred Rukhnama is now a must in the drivers’ education programme, to ensure future drivers are indoctrinated in the high moral values of Turkmen society.... [Source: 'Road-death stats alarm governors', August 5, 2004; The Nation.] ______________________________
Girl, 16, hit by camper after rusted hitch breaks A 30-year-old Lackawanna man has been charged with leaving the scene of an injury accident after Lackawanna police said a camper he was towing broke loose, striking a 16-year-old girl in front of her house. ...[The man] was towing the camper on Fisher Road shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, when the rusted-out trailer hitch broke... Full story, from the Buffalo News ______________________________
They weave in and out of traffic - from the fast lane to the slow lane, overtaking on the left and then on the right and then on the left again. Flashing headlights, hooting and using obscene gestures, they are fast, furious and always in a hurry. They are highly strung South African drivers in flashy cars and minibus taxis. And if you don't adjust your behaviour by giving way to their demands you gamble with the odds that their fury might fall on you.... Recent South African studies into road rage and aggressive driving have revealed that advertising, our violent culture, male personality power games and a perception of lax traffic regulation enforcement have fuelled the race to be first and the fastest. The studies have also shown that aggressive driving is positively linked to the high number of road deaths in South Africa. Most drivers surveyed in a University of Natal Interdisciplinary Accident Research Centre (UNIARC) study denied driving aggressively. However, their responses to questions on traffic related scenarios revealed the exact opposite.... The study suggested that the attitude and behaviour of motorists had led to South Africa having one of the highest road accident death rates in the world.... Read the full, interesting article here, or here, from the Pretoria News ______________________________
A police helicopter will chase speeding motorcyclists in a bid to cut an alarming death toll of bikers on Argyll roads. The drastic move comes after three bikers were killed in crashes on Scots roads yesterday - two of them in Argyll. Six bikers have now died in the region since April, accounting for 75% of all road accident fatalities there. Police said some of the deaths were caused by speeding, with some bikers seeing themselves as "beyond the law". Full story, from the Evening Times ______________________________
Safety Symposium will Focus on Motor Vehicle Safety The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will hold a motor vehicle safety symposium to drive the message to the federal workforce that wearing seat belts while traveling on business delivers safe employees. The event will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004, at 10:30 a.m., during the National Safety Council Congress & Expo in New Orleans, Louisiana.... "Car and truck crashes are the leading cause of Americans being killed on the job," says NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, MD. "We are happy to team up with OSHA to save lives by getting every federal employee buckled up."... [Source: OSHA, via US Newswire] ______________________________
Fresno County sees reduction in accidents and fatalities A revenue-sharing agreement between Fresno County and the city of Fresno put more police officers on the streets and is credited with reducing the number of injury accidents countywide by 21% last year. The county had 560 injury traffic accidents in 2002. The following year, the county had 444 injury accidents. The majority of those accidents occurred within Fresno city limits or in county islands. The statistics were part of a report on the effects of the revenue-sharing agreement presented Tuesday to the county Board of Supervisors by Fresno police Lt. Andy Hall and Dr. David Pepper, an advocate for the agreement.... Read the full details here, from the Fresno Bee ______________________________
VICTORVILLE — California Highway Patrol officers in the Victor Valley are putting in overtime to target unsafe drivers and reduce the number of collisions involving big rigs, officials said Tuesday. CHP officers will be traveling on Interstate 15 and local highways to specifically watch for truck drivers who do not follow state regulations, as well as vehicle drivers who cut-off trucks and drive recklessly. The CHP received nearly $1 million from the state Office of Traffic Safety to reduce the number of truck-involved collisions earlier this year. The program kicked off July 19. Each of the CHP's eight field divisions will receive a share of the funds based on its percentage of deaths and injuries caused by truck-involved collisions, officials said.... Full story, from the Daily Press ______________________________
The shopping mob follows Government Decree No 15 CP and a Ministry of Public Security decision to dole out punishments and fines to helmet-less riders who are caught driving on major roads which require head protection. The law went into effect on Sunday, August 1. But many of the helmets on sale have been imported illegally, so no one knows whether they are of decent quality. But quality is not the point. The problem is: how many people actually intend to use the helmets they’re buying? Many people don’t seem to realise that wearing a helmet is for personal protection. A lot of motorists travel with helmets on their bikes but not on their heads — try explaining that to a cop! So for these drivers, helmets have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with avoiding a ticket.... [This article goes on to explain that many people only put helmets on briefly, to go through police checkpoints. They also mention a growing business in hiring helmets to riders at one side of a checkpoint and the helmet is then handed back to a worker from the hire company at the other side!] Full story, from VNS ______________________________
Chandigarh: A delegation led by Sikh Nari Manch president Manjit Kaur today met IG (Police) Rajesh Kumar and SP (Traffic) Amitabh Dhillon and demanded that Sikh women be exempted from wearing helmets. Later Kaur told Newsline that the officers had taken a liberal view of the matter and assured them that they would relook into the whole matter. She said the traffic department police were harassing Sikh women by issuing chalans against them for not wearing helmets. ‘‘The Motor Vehicles Acts of Punjab and Haryana clearly states that Sikh women should be exempted from wearing helmets, ’’Kaur said.... Kaur said if the Traffic police continued issuing challans against Sikh women they would be left with no other option but to protest. She added that the manch would not let traffic police harass Sikh women any further. Full story, from the Chandigarh Newsline ______________________________
It hasn’t been said enough — wearing a helmet can save your life. And to make two-wheeler and pillion riders more conscious of this, the city’s traffic police are planning to make them aware of accident statistics.... The statistics are ominous. Fatal accidents involving motorcycles from January to June this year have been higher than all of 2003.... “I propose going to the public with the statistics to convince them to wear helmets while riding. We cannot fine anybody for not wearing a helmet until the government directs us to but this is for the riders’ safety,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satish Mathur.... The last time cops wanted to enforce the rule to make helmets compulsory, manufacturers cried foul saying they couldn’t supply the six lakh [i.e. 600,000] helmets needed for the city. The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court later stayed the order. The government is now working towards implementing the rule making helmets compulsory, in a phased manner, starting with Pune, which has a high percentage of two-wheelers. Full story, from SIFY Cities ______________________________
In Renault F1 Team's first ever international ad campaign, launched in May, Formula 1 fans were invited to 'feel it' - that is the human side of racing - the passion, tensions and emotions as felt by the drivers. Now fans are again invited to 'Feel It' but this time online with an enhanced version of the 'Feel It' F1 experience module. ______________________________
Recently, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a life-threatening racing accident. But, according to news reports, he walked away with minor injuries because of the safety technology that has made the racetrack a safer place for drivers. Here's a look at some of the latest safety innovations that have saved drivers' lives. Safety equipment like the six-point harness and strong supportive seats virtually make the driver part of the seat to protect them in a crash. But just as important, the seats also allow the driver to get out of the vehicle quickly following an accident. Side impacts are the most common form of accidents in racing, whether getting hit there by another car or hitting the wall. A safety net protects the driver by limiting the travel of the head and thereby limiting neck injuries, the most common form of serious injury in driving. More and more drivers are using the head and neck support, known as HANS, to protect against whiplash type injuries. And the good news for non-racers? Safety experts say the work being done on the racetrack to improve safety translates to improving safety for the average driver on the highways as well. [Source: General Motors, via Newstream] ______________________________
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Late last week, the Asian Crime Prevention Foundation Bangladesh (ACPF, B) held a seminar on road safety with exhibits of accident victims presented on the sidelines designed to sensitise all concerned about the high incidence of road and highway tragedies. It is true we need to raise awareness among vehicle drivers, pedestrians and passengers about traffic rules and signs, but this is only touching on the fringe of the issue rather than addressing it head-on. The speakers drew upon some survey reports to say that drivers are responsible for 80 percent of road accidents and that 84 percent of vehicles do not have any fitness certificate. In other words, the odds against road safety, in a manner of speaking, work out to an absurd 164 to 100! This is a screaming indictment on our road and traffic management deficiencies. ....the principal reason for road accidents lies in man-made factors which, needless to say, are eminently controllable and containable. In other words, there is a no-nonsense house-cleaning job to be done there, before we turn our attention to the other rather peripheral causes of road accidents. The speakers have recommended enactment of stringent laws to curb road accidents. We believe though that absence of law is not so much of a problem as non- or mis-application of the law is. Full story, from the Daily Star ______________________________
HYDERABAD: Black on white, white on black, blue on white, red on black: number plates of vehicles in our city run the full spectrum of confusion. No wonder traffic police find it difficult to track errant drivers. To get some order into this riot of colour and type style, traffic and road transport officials are at long last enforcing the colour and type codes for vehicle number plates. Full story, from the Times of India ______________________________
Every year around 100,000 drivers are convicted of drink driving in the UK. About 20% of them are repeat offenders. In 2002, around 13,000 drink related accidents resulted in about 20,000 casualties, of which an estimated 560 were killed - representing 16 per cent of all road deaths. Drink drive deaths fell from around 1,700 in the late 1970s to 460 in 1999 but have since started to creep up again. Alcohol ignition locks will be now fitted into cars of convicted drink drivers as part of a research project across Birmingham and Bristol. The alcohol lock limit is usually set at around 20mg/100ml [equivalent to a 0.02% BAC] so that the device will not be triggered by small amounts of alcohol in certain foodstuffs and medicines. If the 18-month pilot is a success new legislation could follow allowing the courts to use alcohol locks as part of their drink drive rehabilitation programmes. Several states in the USA, Canada, Australia and Sweden operate alcohol lock programmes. Other countries in the EU including Belgium, France, Germany, Norway and Spain are also undertaking alcohol lock trials. Full News Release (2004/0109), from the UK Department for Transport. [Search words: drunk driving, drunk drivers, drink driving] ______________________________
Every speed camera in England and Wales would be reviewed and motorway speed limits would rise to 80mph under Tory plans announced today. Shadow transport secretary Damian Green said the measures would be "on the side of the responsible driver". The Tories claim the Treasury received more than £15 million from fines last year, with millions more going to 42 safety camera partnerships, which administer the cameras and fines. The Tories say the partnerships are "cash guzzling bureaucracies" and police should be given the power to decide where cameras go. The party plans to audit all 5,000 speed cameras to gauge their effectiveness. Its also proposes to reduce the speed limit to 20mph near schools and hospitals, and increase the limit to 80mph on some motorway stretches. More traffic police will tackle criminals in cars, rather than relying on cameras to identify "rogue drivers". The current (Labour) Government supports cameras saying they save about 100 lives a year. [Source: This is London]
DSA Comment: Since the advent of speed cameras and safety cameras in Britain, the number of traffic patrol police officers undeniably has fallen, and it is alleged that as a result the numbers of other types of dangerous traffic offences have actually risen and thereby brought about more casualties which have offset the benefits of cameras. The reintroduction of the former number of traffic patrol officers is -- in our opinion -- essential. The reduction of speed limits to 20mph near schools also has to be seen as a very good thing. We believe, however, that an increase in the motorway speed limit to 80mph will probably cause higher numbers or greater severities of crashes and casualties. After all, when the speed of an ordinary car increases from 70mph to 80mph the overall stopping distance increases by 27 per cent, from 315 feet to 400 feet (British-originated figures). Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc.
Related story:
The Conservatives today attempted to reinforce their image as the "friend of the motorist" with a promise to cut the number of speed cameras and raise speed limits.... [Shadow transport secretary Damian Green] said casualty figures were worsening because of an over-reliance on cameras. [He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme] "There are 10 people killed on the roads every day, which is a terrible statistic; we would all go very, very mad if that happened on the railways. "And yet for years that figure was coming gradually down and it has now stopped and started reversing itself, so the number of people killed on the roads has started going up again since the government started relying too much on cameras and not enough on traffic police. "What we want are traffic police cracking down on the most dangerous drivers; overwhelmingly these tend to be those driving round uninsured. What cameras can't do is catch them. "What our package today presents will be speed limits that people respect, cameras only in places where they save lives and traffic police concentrating on the real criminals in cars: the ones driving around uninsured, often drink-drivers. "If we had that kind of approach, we would actually have safer roads, and that seems to me both a sensible and a popular policy."... Full story, including the Labour perspective, from The Guardian ______________________________
Hyderabad: In a strong protest against harassment by traffic police, an auto rickshaw driver Mohammed Irfan committed self immolation on Monday. The shocking incident occurred on the busy Chandrayangutta cross roads in old city of Hyderabad as Irfan poured petrol on his body and set himself on fire. The Chandrayangutta police said the incident occurred after the traffic police fined him thrice in the span of one hour while he was going from Chandrayangutta to Charminar. In his dying declaration, Irfan told the police that the traffic police imposed a fine of Rs 2000 [U.S. $43] in three challans and he became desperate as he had no money left to pay the hefty fine. A badly burnt Irfan was rushed to Osmania hospital by the other auto rickshaw drivers. The doctors at the hospital said that with 70 per cent burns, chances of his survival were very dim. The incident sent waves of shock and anger and the auto drivers resorted to protest by stopping the traffic on the busy Charminar road for nearly two hours. They held the traffic police responsible for the incident and said that harassment of the auto rickshaw drivers by the traffic police had crossed all the limits. [Source: SIFY] ______________________________
Washington, D.C. - The National Transportation Safety Board determined today that the probable cause of an accident last year in Santa Monica, California was the unintended acceleration by the driver who drove through a temporarily closed street, and his failure to maintain control of the vehicle. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the lack of barrier systems to protect pedestrians.... On July 16, 2003, an 86-year-old man, driving a Buick LeSabre, struck a stopped car, continued through an intersection and drove through a farmers' market, striking pedestrians and vendors' displays before coming to a complete stop. The accident resulted in 10 fatalities and 63 injuries. ______________________________
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators should make auto manufacturers equip all new vehicles with data recorders to give authorities better information when they probe accidents, safety investigators recommended on Tuesday. While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has urged the Transportation Department to take that step, the board had not previously issued any recommendation on recorders based on specific findings of a crash investigation. The safety board's recommendations are not binding, but usually are the product of extensive research and investigation and in many cases lead to changes.... Full story, from Reuters
Related story:
The National Transportation Safety Board wants “black box” data recorders in all cars and trucks. After investigating a 2003 car accident in Santa Monica, Calif., where an 86-year-old driver plowed a 1992 Buick LeSabre into a farmers’ market, killing 10, the board concluded that a data recorder would have helped determine what happened. The boxes track speed, seat-belt use, braking and other factors seconds before a crash. Full story, from the Detroit News ______________________________
Friday’s first crackdown on speeding and other reckless driving on Interstate 75 through Lee County shows what tough law enforcement can accomplish. It also shows that the local Florida Highway Patrol troop is understaffed for the kind of action that will make a difference. It took virtually the entire county trooper corps, plus reinforcements from Collier County, to pull this off; that kind of effort can’t be sustained. Yet precisely this intense law enforcement presence is needed on a regular basis to change behavior on the interstate and elsewhere. Full story, from The News-Press ______________________________
A grant totaling $100,000 has been awarded to Prince George's County’s State’s Attorney’s office and five municipal police departments to deter drunk driving. State Highway Administration (SHA) for Maryland officials presented a check of $54,807 to the State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey and the five police departments Tuesday at the Hyattsville Municipal Building... The rest was in-kind donations, programmatic discounts and tax incentives.... Officers from the five police departments will conduct sobriety checkpoints in their municipalities in conjunction with state and county police officers, said Greg Shaffer, special assistant to the State’s Attorney. "This is the first municipal drunk driving task force. Sobriety checkpoints are usually done by state and county officers. This is the first time that they’re being actively done by municipal officers in coordination with state and county police," he said. Full story, from The Gazette ______________________________
[Libya has become the 100th country to be included in DSA's "Road Safety in the News" pages] The first national conference on the prevention of traffic accidents kicked off Monday 2nd of August under the auspices of Amel orphans society. The conference carries the theme "lives are killed and money squandered". The conference is organized in cooperation with the People's Committees of Justice, and public security, transportation and communications in Tripoli, as well as Libya and United insurance companies. The two day conference will include presentation of several papers on security and safety and means to save lives and properties, squandered in recent years because of the increase of car accidents. A source at Amel orphans society said that from 1998 to 2002 there were 59542 traffic accident, which led to the death of 7191 people and caused permanent handicaps and deformation of 1502 people as well as material damages estimated in millions of dollars. [Source: LJBC] ______________________________
Although there were no deaths or serious injuries on Toronto-area highways over the Civic Holiday long weekend, the OPP's safety blitz found that 90 per cent of children riding in cars are not buckled in properly. Officers laid almost 700 charges in the weekend blitz, called Mission Possible. Seventeen vehicles stopped for driving at dangerously high speeds had children as passengers, said Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Cam Woolley. "When we consider the fact that in most of those cases children weren't properly restrained, there's a very tangible danger to the children," he said. Of the almost 700 charges laid, two-thirds were for speeding and the rest for aggressive driving, including tailgating, passing on the shoulder and unsafe lane changes.... The OPP took 200 unsafe vehicles off the road for such infractions as faulty brakes and what Woolley called "a Fred Flintstone floor."... Full story, from the Toronto Star ______________________________
In the first six months of this year, 6,327 people died and 8,714 people were injured in 9,100 traffic accidents, according to official statistics. In a bid to reduce Vietnam's alarming death toll on the roads, police have begun fining motorbike drivers not wearing helmets on highways and certain road sections across the country. Last year more than 11,800 people were killed in traffic accidents in the communist nation, with over 70 per cent of them involving motorcycles, the principal form of transport here. With a growing number of cars competing with an estimated 12 million motorbikes for limited road space, government action to prevent an escalation in the accident rate and the associated costs of treating victims became pressing. Consequently, police began Sunday fining helmet-less motorcyclists around one dollar each. Nationwide, more than 3,000 people were stopped and fined. In Hanoi alone, the figure stood at over 410, police said Monday. Full story, from Brunei Online ______________________________
Representatives from 50 countries are expected to attend the event, at a date and venue yet to be finalised. The conference will feature studies carried by representatives from Africa, the US, Asia, Europe and the Middle East on means of promoting and improving traffic safety at an international level. "The studies will focus on increasing awareness of the consequences of accidents, promoting the training of specialists, exchanging experiences in the field of traffic safety and researching all matters related to the issue," said Traffic Awareness Directorate head Captain Mohammed Bin Dayna. Full story, from the Gulf Daily News ______________________________
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign today reminded parents and caregivers that leaving children unattended in a motor vehicle can quickly lead to fatal consequences, especially in warm weather. The NHTSA also issued summer safety tips for parents and caregivers. Young children trapped in a hot, closed vehicle are at particularly great risk on a day that is sunny or humid. Even when the temperature is as mild as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, a closed vehicle can heat to levels that are dangerous for children within a short span of time. "It's not only parents and caregivers who should be extremely vigilant. Anyone who observes a small child alone in a closed vehicle should contact emergency services immediately," says Martin Eichelberger, M.D., president of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign. Full details, with tips, here. ______________________________
ASIA August 2, 2004: The Mean Streets of Asia ... One of the dismaying side effects of [Asia's] economic growth—and the accompanying boom in motor-vehicle purchases by the newly prosperous—has been a staggeringly high traffic-fatality rate. With just 16% of the world's cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles, Asia accounts for more than half of the roughly 1.2 million traffic fatalities that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates occur globally every year. More than 600,000 Asians are killed and another 9.4 million are severely injured in traffic accidents annually.... In Thailand, for example, road accidents are now the third leading cause of death after aids and heart attacks, according to the country's Ministry of Public Health. In China and India, where members of expanding middle classes are taking to the roads in record numbers, crash rates are growing out of control. Car ownership in China jumped 41% between 1999 and 2002, while over the same period accidents increased twice as fast, by more than 83%. P.K. Sikdar, director of the Central Road Research Institute, a New Delhi-based traffic consultancy, ranks the carnage in India right up there with his country's natural disasters—except that "earthquakes and cyclones don't come every year. Road accidents come routinely," he says. "Like clockwork, more than 80,000 people [a year] simply get wiped out on our roads."... Excellent article, from Time ______________________________
Five years since being injured in car crash, an Indian doctor is celebrating the first successes in his campaign to revolutionise roadside medical treatment in the country. Since 1999 Dr Subroto Das has already managed to establish a Highway Rescue Project in his home state of Gujarat that goes to accident victims and takes them to the nearest medical centre. And he is now working to establish a network that will help road accident victims receive attention within 60 minutes - the so-called "golden hour" which is crucial to helping victims survive.... Partly because India is such a vast country and partly because it is very economically poor, there is no national helpline number such as 999 or 911. As a result, people involved in accidents are often left for dead and emergency services are rarely sent for by anyone. Even if a call is made, ambulances are often not geared up to respond quickly and adequately.... Dr Das said that, for example, Traffic Aid Posts established every 100 km on the highway in Gujarat were not working - partly because the medical staff posted there had little motivation, and partly because when they did respond to an accident they had to work at the side of the road and not in a specialised treatment centre. But this is changing. Read the full, interesting article, from the BBC ______________________________
Kota Kinabalu: City Hall Director-General Dr Chua Kim Hing said the effort to inculcate road safety awareness from an early age will reduce road accidents. According to him, statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed that 1.2 million people were killed in road accidents every year. “And that does not include the 50 million who were injured and lost their physical ability,” he said, at the annual Shell Traffic Educational Game (STEG) prize presentation ceremony in Tanjung Aru on Saturday.... Hence, he said the public should obey the laws so that fatal accidents involving the lives of road users could be reduced.... Shell has been the prime mover of the educational game since its inception in the early 60s in Sabah and Sarawak. The game is staged at traffic gardens or tracks specially designed to stimulate a complete miniature road system or traffic movement.... Full story, from the East Malaysia Daily Express ______________________________
More than 40 per cent of motorists are 'an accident waiting to happen' as they drive too close to the car in front on motorways, according to a group of leading motoring bodies launching National Motorway Month, in Britain, today. Clearly, this applies to all roads, anywhere in the world, so don't be put off by the reference to 'motorways' if you happen to be in the USA or elsewhere. Read this important article here. ______________________________
Road Safety Minister David Jamieson today welcomed publication of the 'Advisory Group on Motorcycling: Final Report to Government'. The Report concludes the work of the Advisory Group on Motorcycling, which was established in 1999 to consider the role of motorcycling within an integrated transport policy, including important issues such as safety and environmental impact. ______________________________
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August
31, 2004 
August
31, 2004: Traffic police out in force for start of school tomorrow
August 31, 2004: Trillion cedis spent on road safety annually
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28, 2004: 
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27, 2004: 
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26, 2004: 
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20, 2004: 
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August 15, 2004: Kawale
in a State of Shock as Residents Mourn 29 Deaths At One Go
* August 15, 2004: 
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August 12, 2004: Tourists Tell of Mountain Crash Nightmare in
Austria
August 11, 2004: 
August 10, 2004: Reckless
Drivers And Traffic Police, in Sierra Leone
August 10, 2004: 
August 9, 2004: 29 Perish in Crashes in Zimbabwe
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and 
August 5, 2004: Pakistan
is to Train Afghan Highway and Motorway Police 
August 5, 2004: 100
Die in Traffic Accidents in Hangzhou During July
* August 5, 2004: 
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August 4, 2004: Curbing
Road Accidents in Bangladesh -- The most obvious
solution ignored
* August 3, 2004: 
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August 2, 2004: ‘Road safety
awareness should be inculcated at an early age’