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The main purpose of this web page is to let drivers, legislators, safety professionals, police officers, parents of young drivers, etc., have an easily accessible yet wide ranging insight into road safety best practice globally, and through this be in a better position to help save some of the many lives wasted in road crashes everywhere. Page edited by Eddie Wren
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International Road Safety News for February 2005
Your 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.
We apologize for the fact that from Feb. 7-28 there was reduced news service on this page due to staff shortages
Russia has become the world leader in terms of car accidents per 10,000 cars, the World Bank has stated. As many as 34,000 people died in car accidents across Russia in 2004, the Russian Information Agency Novosti quoted Kristalina Georgiyeva, the head of the Russian office of the World Bank, as saying as part of a Russian report on driving safety. “In Russia the situation is worse than in the world on average,” she said. “In terms of the number of car accidents per 10,000 cars — 12 accidents — Russia takes first place.” Korea, which has half of Russia’s rate, follows in the list. According to Georgiyeva, Russia has reached the highest accident rate despite a low growth in car ownership. [Source: The Moscow News]
DSA Comments: This estimate, of "as many as 34,000" deaths for 2004 compares to 35,600 deaths for the Russian Federation in 2003. The 2003 per capita rate for the Federation was therefore 24.77 and out of the 52 countries for which year 2003 data is known to Drive and Stay Alive, only Malaysia had a higher per capita death rate. View our table, here. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
In the Basque Autonomous Region of Spain, 99 died on the road in 2004. 24 deaths occurred in Araba and 36 in Gipuzkoa. The large number of deceased in traffic accident in 2004 has decreased 43 per cent. This is the best year in the Basque Country regarding accidents. The vice-councillor of the Basque Government Pilar Martinez has compared the number with the 13 per cent taken place in the Spanish state, the 10 per cent in France and 17 per cent in Italy. 69 out of one million citizens died last year on Basque roads, what places the Basque Autonomous Region close to European countries considered as leaders regarding less mortal accidents. 59 out of one million died in Sweden, 62 in UK and 64 in Holland. The road safety committee has thrown itself into four matters such as insisting on speed control, alcohol-consume reduction, focusing on carriers, and running over. [sic] [Source: EiTB24] ___________________________
Peers [in the House of Lords] complained today that there were no exact figures for the numbers of road crash victims not wearing seat belts after the Government gave an estimate of nearly 5,000 for 2003. About 4,900 people – roughly 28% of those killed or seriously injured in cars or vans in Britain – were not wearing seat belts, said transport spokesman Lord Davies of Oldham. He said road collision reports produced by the police did not record seat belt use and the estimates were “calculated on observed seat belt wearing rates and therefore are not available for larger vehicles”.... “As many as 15 front seat occupants were killed last year by an unbelted rear seat passenger coming through and colliding with them,” said Lord Davies. Tory Baroness Trumpington said: “What is the betting that nine out of 10 peers in this House don’t wear seat belts in taxis although they are offered them?” Lord Davies told her: “You are probably offering fairly short odds.” Full story from the Press Association, via The Scotsman ___________________________
BRUSSELS - A Belgian judge has seriously criticised new road safety laws that came into force last March. Thierry Papart, from the police tribunal in Liege, warned a year ago the laws would be incoherent and problematic. And according to La Libre Belgique, his predictions appear to have been vindicated. Speaking to the newspaper, the judge said the past year had been a turbulent one for road safety. One month after the entry into force of the new law, the government had taken a step back by "declassifying" two serious offences, he said. Then there were a series of decisions such as a ban on cruise control in certain areas, which is very hard to control.... Full story, from Expatica Belgium ___________________________
The death toll on Manitoba highways this weekend was one of the worst in recent memory. By press time last night, there had been 10 known fatalities in less than 24 hours, and police were still investigating dozens of crashes. "It's too many. One is too many. People have to drive to road conditions. Don't be afraid to go below the speed limit," said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Steve Colwell.... Full story, from The Winnipeg Sun ___________________________
A horrific weekend of carnage on New Zealand roads has been followed by five more fatalities in less than 24 hours. Nine people were killed in road crashes at the weekend, the highest weekend toll this year. All the deaths were on North Island roads. [Source: Stuff]
DSA Comments: Apart from the dreadful grief for all loved ones, it should be said that this spate of deaths must be immensely disheartening for road safety professionals in New Zealand, who have just witnessed not only the lowest January road toll on record but also the lowest Christmas-New Year holiday road toll since 1959/60. Police national road safety manager Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald labelled the January result a “real plus”. [Source of info: Editorial dated March 1, 2005, in The Ashburton Guardian.] Journalists have now asked what has gone wrong in the last few days. It is quite possible that the police may attribute some of the deaths to defects in either a vehicle or perhaps even a specific section of road. But it must always be accepted that by far the biggest causative factor in crashes is old fashioned human error. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
Stuttgart: In future Mercedes-Benz will make a further contribution towards a reduction in rear-end collisions by means of flashing brake lights. The EU licensing authority has recently approved this technology, and it will now enter series production in the S-Class for the first time. Research by Mercedes engineers has shown that driver reaction times are shortened by up to 0.2 seconds if a flashing red warning signal is given instead of the conventional brake light during emergency braking. At a speed of 80 km/h this reduces the stopping distance by approx. 4.40 metres, and at 100 km/h by no less than 5.50 metres or so. This means that flashing brake lights are an effective and easily implemented way to reduce rear-end collisions. The Mercedes-Benz S Class is now the first car to feature this innovative, adaptive brake light. It will shortly be followed by the CL-Class Coupés. Specialists at Mercedes tested various warning light systems during their study. Brake lights which light up four times as quickly as the amber hazard warning flashers during emergency braking proved particularly effective in alerting following drivers to the danger of a rear-end collision. The Mercedes study also revealed that switching on the hazard warning system in a dangerous situation has no significant effect on the reaction times of other drivers. [Source: DaimlerChrysler]
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Parents and education are two of the best ways to fight the war on young driver deaths, states NRMA Motoring and Services, and on this Drive and Stay Alive agrees wholeheartedly with the NRMA, but in today's press release they also state that the "NRMA has recommended the Government abandon four proposals, including night-time restrictions and the proposal to raise the minimum age for a P licence from 17 to 18 years." On these aspects DSA must differ with the NRMA. As we always strive to show both sides of various debates you may view the NRMA's full press release, here, together with more detailed comments from DSA. ___________________________
No wonder few Malaysians worry about chalking up demerit points for speeding and other traffic offences. Only one of the country’s 12 million motorists had his driving licence revoked last year under the Road Safety Demerit Point System. The much-touted system has been leaking like a sieve, allowing motorists with stacks of summonses to remain on the road. The New Straits Times understands that the Road Transport Department is revising the system and will be submitting it to the Ministry of Transport soon. "It’s a good system, but there are problems in its implementation," said RTD enforcement director Sollah Mat Hassan. The main flaw with the system introduced in 1995 is that demerit points are only chalked up when a motorist pays his traffic summons or court fines. If the motorist chooses to ignore the summons, he will remain unaffected by the demerit system. Under the system, when a motorist is caught speeding, he is given 10 demerit points. If he is caught speeding twice in the same year, he would have accumulated 20 points and breached the 15-point limit.... Full story, from the New Straits Times ___________________________
RoadPeace, the UK charity for road crash victims, is to lobby ministers discussing the Road Safety Bill at a meeting in Westminster tomorrow. Safety campaigners say they will highlight the suffering of bereaved families as they launch a “war on roads” amid claims that four times as many people die in car accidents [worldwide] than in armed conflicts.... The World Health Organisation estimates 3,000 people are killed and 100,000 injured every day an road’s worldwide. It said around 10 people die each day in the UK, the majority of whom are young men. Full story, from The Scotsman ___________________________
The rising toll of motorcycle deaths will dominate a three-day road safety conference starting tomorrow.
Safety experts will [this year] discuss ways of reducing biker deaths which increased 14% between 2002 and 2003. The total number of deaths in road accidents, although well down on the worst years in the 1950s and 1960s, also rose slightly in 2003.... RoSPA’s head of road safety Kevin Clinton said: “Despite superb progress in road safety generally in recent years, the number of deaths has stopped falling and we don’t want to see last year’s rise becoming a trend. We need to redouble our efforts to improve driver behaviour and motorcycle safety. “The conference will be focusing on the Government’s motorcycling strategy and on the role of motorcycle training. But we will also be looking at refresher training for drivers and how high-profile policing, improved car design and innovative traffic engineering measures can be used to reduce the number of car crashes.” Full story, from The Scotsman
DSA Comments: Over the past few years and decades, certain countries have taken different approaches to assessing and combating the scourge of road deaths. An insight into the effectiveness of various countries' regimes may be viewed here. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
More than 8,300 motorists won a dubious distinction on Ohio roads last year: They were ordered to affix bright yellow-and-red license plates to their cars, branding them drunken drivers. The plates - called "scarlet-letter" tags for their power to publicly shame lawbreakers - are required punishment for repeat drunken drivers and some first offenders in Ohio. The tags are supposed to act as deterrents, keeping drunks off the road and reducing more than 400 alcohol-related road deaths in the state each year. But the law doesn't always work the way it was meant to. A year after Ohio started requiring the special tags, a sampling of more than 300 local cases and interviews with lawyers, judges, police officers and legislators indicate that the law is unevenly administered, enforced and monitored.... "If it's not being enforced and if people are getting around it, obviously it's not going to be effective," says Andrea Rehkamp, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Southwest Ohio chapter.... Supporters of drunken-driving laws had high hopes that the plates would be an effective way of fighting drunken driving. They say problems need to be fixed in a state that hears roughly 62,000 drunken-driving cases each year - 9,000 of them in Southwest Ohio. "The public is being endangered," says John Moulden, president of the National Commission Against Drunk Driving. "That's the bottom line."... The tags are required for anyone convicted of two or more offenses in six years and for first offenders who test 0.17 or more for blood alcohol concentration; Ohio's legal limit is 0.08.... Ohio and Minnesota are the only states that require such identifying plates.... Read this important, lengthy article here, from the Cincinnati Enquirer
.....Road accidents claimed over 6,223 people throughout the country in 2004, inflicting loss of some 9 billion ringgit (2.36 billion US dollars). A five-year plan will get under way soon to reduce the death rate in road accidents from current 4.5 deaths per 10,000 cars to 2 deaths per 10,000 cars by 2010, according to earlier reports. Full story (concerning the deaths of five members of one family), from Xinhuanet ___________________________
Despite the advances made in the design of restraint devices such as seat belts air bags and air curtains, road casualties remain high today. Several factors contribute to this, not least of which is the increase in the number of vehicles on our roads. Psychological as well as driving stress have a hand in the increasing number of road deaths. So do drink- or alcohol-related accidents. Government warnings seem to make little impact on those who “drink and drive” and the severe penalties imposed on drunk drivers seem to have only a temporary effect in reducing the number of road deaths. Vehicle manufactures see this as an insoluble problem. Although fatal accidents caused by carelessness or criminal acts are not within their control, these do have an impact on the sales figures. So manufacturers recognise the benefits of designing vehicles which incorporate active safety devices and features.... Read the full article, by 'Daddy Fixit', from the Malaysia Star ___________________________
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- At least 10 children died Sunday when a bus carrying them on a school field trip drove off a highway in southeastern Pakistan, officials said.... Police have launched an investigation, [a spokesman] said, adding that he suspected the vehicle's brakes had failed. Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where most roads are poorly maintained and public transport drivers have often received little training and work long hours. Full story, from AP, via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ___________________________
The "force" was certainly with Star Wars' R2D2, but it was the police force, and they arrested actor Kenny Baker for drunk driving. While in custody, he was logged into a police computer previously nicknamed "C3PO" by officers — after the other famous Star Wars robot. The 3ft 8in actor -- who played the robot R2D2 in five Star Wars films -- was yesterday given a one-year road ban [i.e. suspension] and told to pay £110 fines and costs. Kenny will give his Mercedes to his son and intends to sell his Rolls-Royce. He added: "Being banned will make my life very difficult. I cannot just hop on the bus like other people. But I did break the law, so I have to be punished." A blood test showed he had 92 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood [equivalent to a BAC of 0.092%]. The legal limit is 80mg [0.08%]. [Multiple sources.] ___________________________
The rate of deadly car crashes among the nation's youngest, most accident-prone drivers decreased sharply in the decade after most states enacted laws limiting their access to a driver's license, a new study shows. Nationally, the death rate involving 16-year-old drivers fell 26 percent between 1993 and 2003, as 46 states and the District of Columbia enacted graduated-licensing laws that allow fewer 16-year-olds to drive, according to the study released yesterday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.... The institute also credits restrictions in British Columbia for an estimated 16 percent overall crash reduction among 16-year-old drivers in the province over the decade. In Oregon, where a law took effect in March 2000, injury and fatality crashes declined 37 percent for 16-year-old drivers between 1998 and 2003, according to state Department of Transportation figures. Among 16-year-olds who have full driving privileges, the rate of fatal crashes hasn't fallen nationally, and it remains higher than that of any age group. Researchers said the difference between the two groups points to the effect of the new laws, which keep most 16-year-olds from receiving unrestricted licenses and are intended to curb risky practices, such as carrying teenage passengers and driving at night.... Full story, from the Seattle Times. Also, we now have the full IIHS press release, here.
.....For much of the past century, the most common way to die in a railroad accident was at a highway crossing - usually in a collision between a train and a vehicle. But over the years, highway departments reduced the number of at-grade crossings [i.e. "level crossings"] and railroad companies improved signals at the crossings that remained. Deaths in such accidents declined steadily, while "trespasser fatalities" - government's term for the death of someone, usually a pedestrian, who is not authorized to be on the tracks - held steady or increased. .....in 1997, for the first time since the government began keeping statistics, more people were killed in accidents while trespassing on tracks or other railroad property than at highway crossings. The gap has widened since then. In 2003, the last full year for which statistics are available, 503 trespassers died. The number killed at highway crossings fell to a new low of 331.... To some extent, the federal government has treated the trespasser fatalities as a problem beyond solution.... Full article, from the Baltimore Sun
DSA Comments: A separate key point was raised in this article, as follows: Part of the problem, [a spokesman] said, is that popular entertainment often portrays characters walking down the tracks without harm or consequences. He said his agency is asking the entertainment industry to avoid glamorizing unauthorized use of the rails. An identical appeal is necessary, to request that Hollywood stops showing unbelted car occupants walking away uninjured from dramatic crashes. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
More than one person has been killed on Irish roads for every day this year, it emerged today. A total of 66 people have died in traffic collisions so far, new figures from the National Safety Council revealed. Eight people have lost their lives in the last week alone, with 33 killed so far in February. The number of fatalities already in 2005 is four more than the 62 who died in the same period in 2004, the year which went on to have the highest death toll in three years.... Full story, from Ireland Online ___________________________
Most people realize the importance of getting a safety inspection when buying a new car. But as one Calgary woman found out, getting that piece of paper is no guarantee that the vehicle is safe.... In Alberta, used car dealers may not sell a vehicle "as is". They are now required by law to give the buyer a Certificate of Inspection and Mechanical Fitness. If the vehicle does not comply with vehicle safety laws, the buyer must be told, and the certificate must spell out exactly which parts are missing or faulty. Full story, from CFCN ___________________________
The European Police Traffic Network (TISPOL) is organizing the "Evaluation of oral fluid Screening devices by TISPOL to Harmonise European police Requirements" (ESTHER) project to standardize roadside drug testing practices in European countries. Participating traffic police forces include: Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands and Slovenia. Within the scope of the TISPOL project, operational requirements and specifications will be obtained under police conditions as part of normal traffic enforcement activities and surveillance. Authorities will stop traffic offenders and use oral fluid-based drug tests at roadside to screen for illegal drug use. Over the course of approximately one year TISPOL participants will outline a standard procedure for roadside drug tests. Massachusetts-based Avitar, Inc., will be participating in the project. [Source: Yahoo Finance] ___________________________
A majority of MEPs (548 votes in favour, 103 against and 9 abstentions) decided on 22 February that all European driving licenses should be replaced by a "credit card" model within 10 years and that a single EU driving licence should be introduced within 20 years. They also were in favour of the introduction of a European driving licence information network to combat fraud and "driving licence tourism". MEPs had tabled 130 amendments on the highly sensitive issue of EU driving licences when they voted on the report by Matthieu GROSCH (EPP-ED, B) following a European Commission proposal to replace the existing 110 models of driving licence in the 25 Member States by a single EU format. The proposal would lead to easier movement for drivers and greater safety on the roads. [Source: Energy and Transport in Europe] ___________________________
NEW DELHI: Watch out. You can no longer drive in and out with a driving licence, jump a red-light under the nose of a traffic cop or flee an accident scene without a twinge of conscience. The government is coming up with stringent standards to qualify for driving licence, modern training centres to equip personnel in “accredited” test centres and an exhaustive road safety information database to turn the killer Indian roads into safe havens. The Department of Road Transport and Highways seeks to bring in reforms to make room for “active and extensive” participation of the community, private sector and NGOs in the safety programme.... Full story, from the Economic Times, India. ___________________________
The number of road accidents in the Capital has dropped by more than 25 per cent over the last decade. New figures released today also revealed that the [annual] number of people injured in collisions has fallen by almost 700 in Edinburgh since 1994. And the report confirmed that there have been no child fatalities on the streets of Edinburgh for more than two years. Politicians today claimed that the introduction of lower speed limits, additional speed cameras and education campaigns were among the factors responsible for the "incredibly positive" statistics. The number of road accidents in the city plunged from 2076 in 1994 to just 1550 last year. And casualty totals linked to vehicle crashes fell from 2491 to 1796 over the same period.... Neil Greig, head of policy for the AA in Scotland, said: "This is in line with the trend we are seeing across the country, where there is a significant reduction in the number of accidents. "We would put a lot of this down to safer roads in the city, with skid-resistant surfaces, better design of pedestrian crossings, bends and junctions...." Mr Greig said more than 75 per cent of all fatal accidents in Scotland now happen on rural roads and that large scale investment was needed to curb that figure.... Full story, from The Scotsman ___________________________
Parents teaching their children to drive are raising a generation of poor motorists as they pass their bad driving habits on to their teenage learner drivers. New research from Direct Line reveals Mum and Dad are prompting a range of bad behaviour behind the wheel, from aggressive driving to incompetent parking with a third of young drivers admitting to picking up these bad driving habits from their parents.... Read this full and important report, here, with footnotes (plus additional comments from DSA) ___________________________
1. A traffic accident early Friday in Shaoguan City of Guangdong Province left 16 dead and 30 others injured, according to the local police. The accident took place at 4:10 a.m. on No. 105 national highway. An overloaded coach bus with 50 passengers on board turned over into an eight-meter-deep ditch on the way from Jiangxi Province to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong. Thirteen people were killed on the scene, and three others died later in hospital. Fifteen of those injured are in critical condition, doctors said. Preliminary investigation showed that the bus driver was not familiar with the road and the bus was over speed when the accident occurred, the police said.... 2. Eleven people were killed and 19 others were wounded Friday afternoon in a traffic accident on the highway from Tianshui to Chankou, Gansu Province. The accident took place at 12:50 a.m., when a bus heading for the province's capital Lanzhou collided with a van. Nine of the bus' 32 passengers were killed on the spot, and two others died in hospital. The 19 injured remain hospitalized. [Source: Both of these articles are from Xinhuanet] ___________________________
BEIJING -- China's transportation department will take measures to reduce road accidents, said an official with the Ministry of Communication Thursday. In 2004, 94,000 people in China died from road accidents, the largest number worldwide. Of the total deaths, 87.4 percent were killed in accidents caused by drivers. The driver is the most important factor in road security and the ministry has issued a new guidelines for training drivers, said Zhang Jianfei, director of the ministry's Highway Department. Also a new driver's education textbook will be used beginning March 1. Zhang said the student drivers will find it easier to learn from the new book, which has many illustrations. The new textbook also provides many tips to drivers such as the situations in which the rearview mirror is not reliable and how to overtake other vehicles.
However, he said to get a driving license will be difficult since the
new guidelines are much more strict. Besides improving the education of drivers, the ministry will improve roads and bridges to reduce traffic accidents. [Source: Xinhuanet]
DSA Comments: It is suggested by some authorities that the road-death toll in China is in fact much higher than official figures suggest. (Note the anomaly between the figures quoted in these two articles -- above and below.) Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc.
Related story:
Mounting numbers of traffic accidents and the increasing number of vehicles on the road have prompted China to elevate the standards needed to obtain a driver licence. Training hours are expected to be expanded while additional attention will be given to safety awareness, according to new guidelines on training unveiled by the Ministry of Communications yesterday. The new rules will go into force at driving training schools nationwide next month. The guidelines will help would-be drivers more easily acquire driving skills but make it more difficult to pass examinations. That is until the students are really equipped with sufficient safety knowledge, Zhang Jianfei, director of the ministry's Department of Highways, said at a press conference yesterday. Road accidents in China killed more than 107,000 people last year, an increase of almost 2 per cent from the previous year, according to ministry statistics.... Reckless driving tops the list of the factors leading to traffic accidents, followed by poor road conditions and overloaded vehicles, Zhang said. He drew an analogy between the damage of traffic accidents and "the ruthlessness of tigers," saying the surging accident rates year-on-year have become a hard nut to crack.... Full story, from the China Daily
A world first, after-market emergency brake lighting system and an education programme run by a Tongan church are the joint overall winners in this year's New Zealand Road Safety Innovation Awards. The intelligent brake lighting system also receives this year's award for Vehicle-Based Road Safety Innovation. The 'Road Safety in Organisations' Award goes to Auckland- based infrastructure company Excell Corporation for a multi-faceted driver safety programme resulting in a sharp fall in at-fault motor vehicle accidents by company employees. The Road Safety Education Award goes to Tricky Tracks, a programme undertaken by a group of eight and nine-year-old students... to make the area around the railway tracks close to their school safer. The Road Safety Innovation Awards are being presented at a ceremony tonight hosted at Parliament by Transport Safety Minister Hon Harry Duynhoven. The prize-giving is the culmination of the second national awards programme for breakthroughs in New Zealand road safety. Full details of the awards, here. ___________________________
NCAP four star occupant score with a three star pedestrian safety rating. Honda UK goes so far as to claim that the Swindon-built CR-V i-CTDi is the greenest and most socially responsible SUV in the land. Source: Honda UK ___________________________
[Oh, and just in case you are one of the lucky ones able to afford such a car, Bentley -- in a separate press release -- have today confirmed that UK prices for the Flying Spur will start at £115,000, which is currently the equivalent of US $220,000.] Full report and larger photographs here. ___________________________
Road Safety Minister David Jamieson today announced the publication of the first National Motorcycling Strategy designed to ensure the "mainstreaming" of motorcycling as a means of transport. The strategy recognises that an increasing number of people are turning to motorcycles and scooters in order to beat congestion as well as riding bikes just for the sheer fun of it.... ___________________________
Full details here, from the OECD bookshop ___________________________
[and gives a good insight into the ongoing debates on this topic] ....The nation's yearning for speed has provided fodder for the intensifying debate in Indiana over whether to raise rural interstate speed limits. After all, speed is coveted in the dominion of transportation.... But most traffic safety experts agree that higher speed limits bring about risks that cannot be ignored. Study after study, they say, confirms a grim linkage: Increased speed limits often cost lives. In fact, when Indiana has increased freeway speeds in the past, more people have died. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration charted a 30 percent increase in rural interstate fatalities in Indiana and other states that adopted higher limits after 1987, when Congress approved an exemption to the federal 55 mph limit on interstates.... Engineers often set speed limits on a given road or highway based upon a simple guideline: the speed at which 85 percent of all traffic is likely to be driving.... When Congress abolished the national speed limit in 1995, a federal study showed a 9 percent increase in interstate fatalities in those states that raised interstate limits. Meantime, a prominent 2002 study of U.S. roads by New Zealand traffic officials concluded that interstate fatality rates rose an average of 35 percent in states that increased posted limits from 65 mph to 70 mph.... Read both sides of the debate in the full article, from the Indy Star ___________________________
Road Safety Minister David Jamieson has confirmed the THINK! campaign’s continued support for this year's British Superbikes Championships, giving the campaign opportunities to promote its safety messages at races. Bikers account for almost one in five road deaths but account for only one per cent of total road traffic. In many of these accidents no other vehicles are involved. The sponsorship deal will use the strapline "THINK! Keep racing for the Track". The British Superbikes Championship comprises 13 races between March and October. Each event attracts an average of 22,000 spectators [at the relevant circuit] and is broadcast live on Sky TV, with highlights shown on terrestrial television. Source: UK DfT
DSA Comments: At the press days for the Chicago International Auto show, earlier this month, I had the pleasure of discussing with the AAA their reinstated policy of NASCAR racecar sponsorship. At DSA, we have no doubt whatsoever that promoting safety messages among motor racing fans is a valid and potentially very effective technique. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
Does India lack a traffic culture that is sensitive to millions of pedestrians, rickshaw drivers and riders of two-wheelers who form a majority of road users in the country? Yes, say experts. Unlike in [some - DSA] other countries, Indian motorists have scant regard for traffic lights or pedestrian amenities like zebra crossings. And, pedestrians and cyclists account for the maximum number of fatalities in the reported road accidents, the experts noted. "We are yet to evolve a comprehensive traffic culture in India which respects road users," Rohit Baluja, president of the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), told IANS. "Our behaviour on roads while riding or driving reeks of insensitivity to fellow users of the roads." IRTE is an NGO formed by police officials, doctors, journalists, engineers, educationists... architects and automobile experts to strengthen infrastructure for driver training, traffic engineering and road user awareness.... According to a study by P.K. Sikdar, head of the civil engineering department at Mumbai's Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), India records six percent of the world's total road accidents that kill 1.2 million people every year... [and] accounts for 10 of every 100 deaths in road accidents worldwide.... And yet India has just about one percent of the world's vehicle population. According to Sikdar's study, the major causes of road accidents in Delhi and other cities are poor traffic culture among road users and authorities, non-maintenance of traffic signals and lack of road markings.... According to IRTE, a total of 1,850 people died in road accidents in 2004 in Delhi [alone], which on an average day records 20 million traffic violations.... Lamenting the lack of traffic sense among people, R.K. Meena, assistant commissioner of police (traffic-north), said many using the capital's roads do not have any idea what the rules are.... Read the full article, via New Kerala, from the Indo-Asian News Service ___________________________
Chelsea star Glen Johnson was banned from driving for one month today after speeding at 112mph with five friends jammed into his Mercedes.... He also admitted using a vehicle in a dangerous condition which referred to having too many people in the back seat. Prosecutor Catherine Clapham told magistrates that Johnson had four friends in the back, one of whom was sitting on another's knee, when the car was clocked by police.... Johnson, who earns an estimated £20,000 a week, was fined a total of £1,350 including costs. Full story, from This is London
DSA Comments: Assuming that professional soccer players work the equivalent of a 40-hour week, it is hard to see why Mr Johnson should be fined only the equivalent of 2.7 hours' salary when the same financial penalty could easily have been applied to an ordinary working person earning perhaps one fiftieth of Johnson's income. Norway already fines people the equivalent of a full month's salary for driving while intoxicated and there can be no doubt that this is a very effective deterrent. Perhaps, therefore, this is an approach that should be considered in all countries for any driving offences that carry a demonstrable degree of danger, as was clearly the case here. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
Eleven
fewer motorists died on South Carolina's roadways in January than in
the same month last year, a drop also reflected in The T&D Region
statistics, officials say. Full Article from The Times and Democrat ___________________________
A
row of orange cones marked the driveway to the Beehive today where a
spotlight was put on the largely unrecognised problem of accidents and
fatalities that regularly occur around roadworks. ___________________________
...In the old days, getting your license was a snap. When you turned 16, you could get your permit one day and your license the next. Now, licensing is phased in over several years and requires months of training with an adult driver. That may account for the 16-year-olds, but Bella Denh-Zarr, traffic-safety policy director for AAA, said older teens were waiting longer as well. "There's been a cultural shift. Perhaps getting your license on your 16th birthday, as I did, isn't something teenagers expect or parents want," she said. Allan Williams, chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington, Va., said he also had noticed the trend. "For parents, it's probably good news," he said. Whatever the reason, traffic-safety experts say it can only save lives.... Full Story from The Philadelphia Inquirer. ___________________________
Highway patrol officers kicked off the two-week special enforcement project to get the attention of motorists. "From the wrecks that we've had, they have been very high rates of speed – anywhere in excess of 70-80 miles per hour – that have caused these fatalities that we've had around that area," said Trooper Jeff Wren... Full Story from News 14 Carolina ___________________________
Car
safety advocates have long argued that stricter seat-belt laws could
help save lives. Now, a recent study seems to support their
conclusion. Full Article from Scranton Times. ___________________________
Ten
out of every 100 people dying in road accidents are in India, a road
safety expert said here Wednesday. Full Article from New Kerala. ___________________________
Watch towers which made their debut last Deepavali and Hari Raya holidays on certain stretches of the North-South Expressway, will also be erected along federal and state roads to check speeding and reckless driving... Read the Full Story from New Straits Times. ___________________________
A unique Valentine's Day message of love was heralded in Corbett Plaza on Monday as local traffic safety officers handed out roses to raise awareness of their Driver Education Awareness Program (DEAP)... Full Story from Southern Highland News. ___________________________
The national council for traffic safety in Israel is distributing tens of thousands of “safety bracelets” encouraging drivers to be patient on the roads, particularly towards pedestrians... Short Article from Sligo Weekender. ___________________________
Sergeant
Dave Best, of the Auckland police strategic traffic unit, makes no
apology for ensnaring motorists in speed traps on his central city
patch. ___________________________
Troopers with the North Carolina Highway Patrol issued more than 2,800 charges last week during Operation Stop Arm, a sting designed to catch drivers who don't stop for school buses. Only 29 of the charges, though, were for passing a stopped school bus. Troopers followed more than 1,400 buses and participated in ride-a-longs on 163 school buses across the state. Authorities broke the arrests down with these stats: 1,133 citations for speeding, 606 seatbelt and child seat violations, 236 for improper driver's license, 29 for passing a stopped school bus, 27 driving while intoxicated (DWI), four DWIs under the age of 21 and 778 other traffic violations..... Read the Full Article from WXII12 ___________________________
Full Article, from Alligator Online ___________________________
Motor
vehicle accidents are the No. 1 cause of death and injury to American
teenagers and primarily because of their inexperience, according to
state transportation officials. Full Story, from Baltimore Sun ___________________________
BURNSVILLE, Minn., Feb. 3 -- Millions of parents who regularly check their engine fluids and tire pressure should add one more thing to the checklist: child safety seats. Fewer than one in six child seats are installed and used correctly, according to data from AAA.... Full details and important guidelines, here. ___________________________
Recent reports suggest that there is an increase in the Cayman Islands of street hawking, vending and promotion which has caught the attention of officers in a number of agencies, including the National Roads Authority (NRA), Planning Department and the Cayman Islands Tourist Association (CITA)... Full story, from Cayman Net News ___________________________
State police issued more than 300 tickets in three counties on Tuesday as part of a campaign to increase safety on Interstate 81. Education and Enforcement to Bring About Compliance (EEC) is a year-long initiative that will feature heightened patrols along the state’s highways and secondary roads... Read full article from Smyth County News & Messenger ___________________________
Along with celebrating the Patriots' second consecutive Super Bowl victory, officers at the Massachusetts State Police Department celebrated their successful attempts at reducing the number of drunk driving violations following Sunday's game... Full Story, from The Daily Free Press ___________________________
More than 8,000 motorists in Northern Ireland have been fined for using hand-held mobile phones while driving since last year's ban was introduced....Research showed drivers using mobile phones were four times more likely to be involved in a collision and were distracted both physically and mentally... Full Article from BBC News. ___________________________
Numbers
of motorists caught breaking Suffolk's speed limits have soared by
nearly 380 per cent over the past three years, it emerged today. Full
story, from Evening
Star. ___________________________
A fall in drink driving is the main factor in the falling number of road deaths in Australia, road safety researchers say. Latest figures comparing road deaths across OECD nations show Australian roads are among the safest in the developed world.... Read the full article from The Age. ___________________________
....In Zambia where the age of the cell phone has just dawned, it is important to enforce tougher regulations on the use of hand-held mobile phones which like alcohol are proving to be catalysts to fatal road traffic accidents. Full Story, from All Africa. ___________________________
Motorists in Scotland will have noticed a new message from Strathclyde Police appearing on overhead signs this week. "R U 2 Close?" gives the impression that an operator has typed in a mobile phone text message by mistake, but there's a serious purpose to this... Full Story, from Car Keys. ___________________________
Motorists who are involved in serious accidents will have their licenses confiscated for two weeks under a law which the Government may introduce later this year. The
proposal to seize the licenses of the drivers immediately after an
accident is among several recommendations by the Road Safety
Department to the Government to reduce accident rates by 40 per cent
in 2010...
DSA Comments: While we applaud all efforts to reduce casualties it is arguable that penalising a driver who is clearly innocent of blame in a crash is at best unfair and at worst quite likely to be counterproductive. We believe that treating innocent drivers in the proposed manner will result in the under reporting of crashes. ___________________________
"Traffic police have a more challenging task with the rising number of vehicles on the road every year," Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Musa Hassan said. He said their duties were also heavier today with police having to work towards the Government’s vision of reducing road accidents and fatalities to the minimum.... Full Story, from Malaysia Star. ___________________________
....Alabama drunk driving laws automatically double DUI fines and punishments anytime a drunk driver has a child under the age of 14 in the car. Read the full article, from WAFF. ___________________________
Official statistics on road accidents nationwide, unfolded last December by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), suggest that accidents and their attendant loss of lives are on the decline. Both the frequency and fatalities even as stated by the FRSC however, remain high and alarming by any road safety standards.... Full Article, from All Africa. ___________________________
The AA [in Ireland] has dismissed changes to the driving test as a relatively
pointless exercise in the absence of major reform of the testing
system. Read
the full article here,
from Ireland Online. DSA
Comments: Given
the facts as reported in this article, we agree entirely with the
comments made by the AA. Merely adding maintenance questions will do
little to enhance safety ___________________________
The automotive market has just begun to witness the emergence of onboard camera systems, primarily used for such applications as lane departure warning. According to new research from market intelligence firm ABI Research, in addition to watching the road ahead, automotive cameras will also be used to monitor the driver and occupants for several new safety applications over the next few years.... Read the full article here. ___________________________
There is much of interest in today's newsletter from Britain's Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety: 1. Stemming the speed epidemic 2. PACTS Press Release re the Home Office 'Review of Road Traffic Offences involving Bad Driving' 3. Progress on the Road Safety Bill ___________________________
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today unveiled a $59.5 billion Fiscal Year 2006 budget request that meets the transportation needs of the country and emphasizes spending restraint.... ___________________________
MUSCAT — Lieutenant-General Malik bin Suleiman Al Ma’amari, inspector-general of police and customs, presided over the launch of a road safety awards scheme at InterContinental Hotel yesterday. The scheme is launched by Shell Oman in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Royal Oman Police.... Dr Muna bint Salim bin Khalfan Al Jardani, education and curricula undersecretary at the Education Ministry, ....said for that purpose the ministry had adopted the introduction of road safety education into the educational curriculum. She added it was among the important educational projects and was supervised by her ministry in coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education, Royal Oman Police, Shell Representative Office in the Sultanate and an entity specialised in the road network and transport sector.... Full story, from the Times of Oman ___________________________
Taxi drivers were involved in almost every traffic accident in the first nine months of last year. That may be the reason why taxi companies could not meet the safety standards of the Land Transport Authority. According to figures released by the Traffic Police, there were nearly 1,000 accidents in the first nine months of 2004 - all of which involved mostly taxis.... Full story, from Channel News Asia ___________________________
Most people who travel the major road to Brisbane's north know it as the Bruce Highway. About 71,500 vehicles filled with commuters, families and holidaymakers use if every day. But for a very small number of drivers, it's a racetrack. A 30km stretch of the Bruce Hwy, running through Brisbane's northern suburbs and to Deception Bay – just upgraded and six lanes wide – has become a red rag to a bull for leadfooted motorists. After two years of having to slow down for roadworks, some drivers seem to be making up for lost time. Police have caught a host of drivers travelling at up to 160km/h [i.e. 100mph] in the 100km/h [62mph] zone, some of them conducting illegal drag races.... Full story, from The Sunday Mail QLD section. ___________________________
....Myriad tech devices have joined the "traditional" distractions working to pull drivers' eyes from the road. Who could have imagined years ago that drivers sometimes would be watching DVDs playing in the back seat of another car? The good news is that the consumer electronics industry realizes there is a problem. The bad news is that it's not quite sure how to balance safety needs with consumers' ever-growing hunger for cars chock-full of the latest, greatest gadgetry.... One problem is that no one is certain how much the gadgets are befuddling drivers. Joseph Kanianthra, associate administrator for vehicle safety research for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said crash data "is simply not complete." A 100-car study that started last year has racked up 1.37 million miles over 43,000 hours, yielding about 76 crashes — 38 percent of which were related to distracted drivers, he said. "With new technologies coming into vehicles, it becomes more a challenge now than ever before. . . . Some things engage us with more attention-demanding tasks in the vehicle, and they may require our attention more (often)," he said. "Driving is a very, very difficult task . . . that demands all our attention."... Read this detailed and interesting article, from the Deseret News ___________________________
[Statement by Max Mosely, President of the FIA, Speaking at the European Union High Level Meeting of the ‘eSafety’ Forum in Brussels. on Thursday. 3 February 2005.] ....If consumers can have tax breaks for cleaner cars, why not safer cars too? “The greatest road safety effort made in the EU over the last decade has been to improve occupant protection during car crashes. Industry has made much progress encouraged by initiatives like the EuroNCAP crash test programme. As a result cars are much safer in a crash than ever before. But it is so much better to avoid the crash in the first place. That is why it is very important now to encourage ‘eSafety’ technologies that can help to reduce the number of crashes on Europe’s roads...," said Mosely. ___________________________
MI -- A Clinton Township man with a horrific driving record was arrested early Friday morning for the 16th time since 1980 for drinking and driving offenses.... Clinton Township police Capt. Richard Maierle, while examining [the man's] driving record, said his driver license is revoked "forever." He said it appears as though only jail will prevent Smith from driving. Patti H. Hayden, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's office in Lansing, said [the man] is not eligible for a license review until Aug. 14, 2015.... "He has not had a valid driver's license since it was revoked in 1980," said Hayden.... His license has been revoked 12 times. "... it seems the more times he gets convicted of drunk driving the less time he gets in prison," said Maierle. Full story, from the Macomb Daily ___________________________
One hundred sixty people were killed on Wyoming’s roads and highways last year, down five from the year before.... Of last year’s deaths, 87 involved single-vehicle rollovers, [apparently] often cases of drivers getting tired and overcorrecting upon waking up. Multi-vehicle crashes accounted for 52 deaths. Another 28 deaths involved commercial trucks. Of those, 22 were people who were not in a truck. Seatbelts were not used in nearly 83 percent of rollover deaths. Of all highway deaths, the patrol says seatbelts were not used more than 57 percent of the time. "The cheapest insurance you've got is putting on your seat belt," said [a spokesman]. This important data is from the Associated Press, via the Billings Gazette and KGWN - CBS 5 ___________________________
From 2007, Porsche owners and enthusiasts will be able to visit an outstanding new Museum, dedicated to the world-renowned sports car marque, which will be built alongside the company's production facility in Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, Germany. With the Mercedes-Benz-Museum being located in nearby Untertürkheim, the Stuttgart area will double its pull for auto enthusiasts. The foyer of the new exhibition area will contain the history of the firm up to 1948. From there, the visitor can move straight on to the main exhibition area - represented by the chronologically arranged post-1948 product history as well as the respective 'theme islands' (including, among other things, Targa Florio, Prototypes, The 917 Era, Le Mans and Evolution 911). Whereas some 20 historic vehicles can be displayed in current facilities, the new Porsche Museum will allow the public to view around 80 vehicles. [Source: Porsche UK] ___________________________
BANGKOK -- Personality plays an important role in a driver's tendency to instigate road accidents, with 'A breed' drivers who are naturally competitive and prone to anger most at risk, according to award-winning Thai research. The research, conducted by Asst. Prof. Dr. Tawatchai Laosirihongthong, head of the Department of Civil Engineering of King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, shows clearly that the vast majority of traffic accidents can be attributed to driver behaviour.... Full story, from MCOT, or here. ___________________________
According to the SUV Owners of America (SUVOA) a nationwide SUV safety education campaign launched earlier this week at the New York Central Park Zoo warrants some balance. SUVOA states that while SUVs have a higher center of gravity and therefore a greater propensity to rollover, data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) show that SUVs have the fewest occupant deaths of any other vehicle type. And they add "the best overall measure of a vehicle's safety performance is the fatality rate for that vehicle type." But when they write: "we are concerned that media coverage of this launch has, once again, included inaccurate stereotyping and the repetition of misinterpreted safety data," they omit any mention of the propensity for SUVs to kill occupants in other, smaller vehicles with which they are in collision. At DSA, we believe that if SUVOA wish to be taken seriously they need to address the entire safety picture for SUVs and not just safety for SUVs' own occupants. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
To keep two other aspects of the above photograph in perspective, however, we will add that the "Super" Escape, in the above photograph, features decals of both teams playing in Super Bowl XXXIX, and Steichen will drive the vehicle from Los Angeles to Jacksonville to collect donations for charity. We wish everyone an enjoyable Super Bowl [Come on, the Pat's!] and wish the relevant charity good fortune, too. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
Finding reliable information on traffic calming techniques and implementations will be easier, thanks to a new Web site sponsored by the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB). The site, Traffic Calming in Minnesota (www.mn-traffic-calming.org), offers a searchable database of projects in Minnesota and downloadable reports from LRRB-funded research projects. The term "traffic calming" covers a range of techniques designed to curb undesirable driver behaviors such as speeding and cutting through residential neighborhoods, as well as to increase safety for pedestrians, motorists, and other road users. Although numerous projects have been implemented across the U.S., traffic calming is a relatively new arrival in this country, so there are few available standard references for communities and researchers to consult. more [Source: Center for Transportation Studies, UMN] ___________________________
All new cars in Europe could be equipped with automatic emergency call (eCall) technology as soon as 2009 under a Commission/industry action plan agreed in Brussels on 3 February. This high-level meeting of industry leaders and representatives of EU Member States and the European Parliament received a progress report from the eSafety Forum, a pan-European public/private partnership that promotes road safety. The eCall action plan will be implemented across Europe, as part of the EU’s eSafety initiative. ___________________________
Motorists who cause fatal crashes could be jailed for up to five years if it is found they were using their mobile phone at the time. A new offence of causing death by careless driving -- unveiled by the Government -- would plug a loophole in the law which at the moment sees drivers escape with a fine. Currently anyone who kills on the road and is charged with careless driving can only be given a fine of up to £2,500. [Source: The Press Association] ___________________________
Dyslexia can impair a driver’s reactions as seriously as drinking several pints of beer. The language disorder can make people up to 30 per cent slower than normal to react when behind the wheel, scientists in Norway have found. The delay in response times is about three times longer than in drivers who are just over the legal limit for alcohol. People who are slightly over the limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, which can be exceeded by drinking two pints of beer, are generally 10 per cent slower to react. The findings do not necessarily mean that people with dyslexia drive as if they were drunk. Experts said that the study was exceptionally small, involving only 17 volunteers, and that more research would be needed to confirm the effect.... If the Norwegian study is confirmed, it could provoke demands for extra driving tests for people who have dyslexia diagnosed. Experts agree, however, that there is no case for an outright ban. Reaction time is only one of many skills important to good driving and there is no evidence that dyslexia impairs any more of these.... [But] alcohol also impairs driving skills in other ways: drivers over the legal limit are more likely to miss objects in their peripheral vision and to drive more aggressively, Dr Carsten said. It is not suggested that dyslexia affects either factor.... Read this full, important article, from The Times and - almost identically - in the New Scientist ___________________________
And the Chairman of the State Parliamentary Road Safety Committee Proposes Satellite Speed Control for Cars The chairman of the state parliamentary road safety committee said he believed he knew how to drastically cut the road toll in coming years. Comments by Labor MP Paul Gibson were made as NSW met a target to reduce its annual road death toll to 500 -- five years late.... The NSW government had hoped to see a reduction in road deaths to 500 or less by December 31, 2000. Mr Gibson, who chairs the NSW Parliament Staysafe Committee, said based on current trends it would be difficult for the state government to achieve a planned reduction in road deaths to less than 300 by 2010. He said trials in Europe of satellite technology that limits the speed cars can travel may hold the answer to reducing the road toll. Intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) technology uses satellites to map roads and then sends signals to cars to ensure they cannot drive faster than the posted speed limit.... "I think if there's a magic bullet in road safety it's intelligent speed adaption [sic] technology," Mr Gibson said. Mr Gibson said 40 per cent of young drivers in Norway drove cars which were fitted with ISA devices.... He said fitting the devices, which cost $200 to $300, would eliminate the need for police highway patrols to monitor speed.... Mr Gibson said the loss of revenue [from speed cameras and speeding tickets would be offset by savings in] medical and other costs to the economy, as well as lives. Full story, from NineMSN
DSA Comments: One alarm bell should be ringing very loudly in New South Wales over this approach. In Britain, cost- cutting policies dictated that the number of traffic patrol police officers was reduced because speed cameras and red light cameras were allegedly doing the officers' jobs. The result has been that although fatalities have been reduced where cameras were erected at accident blackspots, deaths elsewhere on the roads network have increased by a larger margin, seemingly because of the reduction in police officers and the resultant loss of enforcement in the many other aspects of traffic law that combat a wide range of dangers. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
The South Australian Government today hailed the safety record on the state's roads over the past three months. Transport Minister Trish White said the period from November to the end of January was the first time SA had recorded fewer than 10 roads deaths for three consecutive months.... "The ongoing challenge remains to extend this to each month in 2005 and stop this tragic waste of life," Ms White said. Last year, SA recorded its lowest road toll for 50 years, with 139 people killed on the state's roads. [Source: The Australian] ___________________________
___________________________
....Researchers using MRI pictures are showing that the parts of the brain that inhibit risky behavior don't fully form until about age 25. Now Temple University, using a driving-style video game, has found that people ages 22 and younger consistently take greater risks when their friends are watching, according to The Washington Post.... We ran [a] story listing 13 Florida crashes since 1989 in which four or more people died. I checked: In eight of them, drivers were in their 20s or younger. The most emblematic was the 1996 crash in which Nicholas Copertino, 19, hurtled his overstuffed Honda Civic at 85 mph on Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton. He lost control and killed five people. One was 14-year-old Dori Slosberg -- whose father, Irv, has made himself the foremost advocate of highway safety in the Florida Legislature. This isn't to say that immaturity is the only danger on the road. There's alcohol. Cell phones.... Nationally, 7,693 drivers ages 16 to 20 died in car crashes in 2003 -- by far the highest rate by age group, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says. (This doesn't count other people who died in these crashes -- people of all ages.). Forget drug use and suicide. The leading cause of death for teens between the ages of 15 and 20 is car wrecks.... According to a 1998 report by the safety administration, one teen passenger increases a teen driver's crash risk by 50 percent. With three or more passengers, the risk is up to four times greater than if the driver were alone. Read the rest of this excellent article, by Howard Goodman, for the Sun-Sentinel
related story
Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have found that children transported by teenage drivers are at a much higher risk of injury. ___________________________
More people are killed in road accidents in the United States on July 4th, Independence Day, than any other day of the year, researchers said on Thursday. On average about 117 people died every day on US roads between 1986-2002, although the daily numbers varied from a low of 45 to a high of 252. "July 4 has more crash deaths on average than any other day of the year, with a relatively high number of deaths involving alcohol," said Charles Farmer, of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in Arlington, Virginia. More road deaths occur in summer and autumn than during the other seasons. But New Year's Day has the most pedestrian deaths and the fifth-largest number of daily deaths, according to the research reported in the journal Injury Prevention.... Read the full article, from Reuters. ___________________________
LOS ANGELES -- The nighttime hours of Super Bowl Sunday are among the most dangerous periods of the year for drinking and driving, according to a study by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The analysis of California alcohol-related crash data for 1994-2002 measured alcohol-related deaths and injuries on 10 national holiday periods and four special occasions. Comparing DUI deaths and injuries during the study period, Super Bowl Sunday ranks as the second most dangerous at night. Nighttime hours extend from 5 p.m. Sunday to 4 a.m. Monday. The study compares the number of DUI-related deaths and injuries with what typically would be expected on non-Super Bowl Sunday night periods in January and February. It found that there is a 40 percent increase in alcohol-related crash deaths and injuries. Only the New Year's period had a greater increase. "In the hours leading up to the Super Bowl, there is no notable increase in DUI-related deaths and injuries, but that changes dramatically as the hour nears halftime," said study author Steven Bloch, Ph.D., senior research associate for the Auto Club. "For eleven hours, beginning at five in the evening, there is a 40 percent increase in alcohol-related crash fatalities and injuries." [Source: Automobile Club of Southern California] ___________________________
The Canada Safety Council has enjoyed a longstanding and beneficial relationship with CTV and its affiliate stations but now feels obliged to express serious concerns about the upcoming series Canada’s Worst Driver. According to the Safety Council: "The series producer is quoted as saying that Canada ranks among the five worst out of 30 countries for injurious traffic accidents. He claims that Canada is far behind even China, and that the statistics paint a dismal portrait of this nation’s drivers. He claims the planned series fills an alleged urgent need to identify the contributing factors to poor driving and to make a real effort to correct them. These statements reflect a profound ignorance of traffic safety in Canada and internationally." Read the Safety Council's letter to CTV, here. ___________________________
REGINA – There was a major decline in fatal collisions on Saskatchewan's highways and rural roads in 2004, according to the RCMP. Statistics released Wednesday indicate 115 people died on roadways under RCMP jurisdiction, 24 per cent fewer cases than in 2003. There was also a 40 per cent decrease in impaired driving fatalities and a 33 per cent decrease in the numbers of deaths of people not wearing seatbelts. On the other hand, not all the news on traffic statistics showed improvement. There was a seven per cent increase in fatalities involving vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and people on motorcycles.... The statistics don't include communities that have their own police departments Regina, Saskatoon and other cities. Full story, from CBC ___________________________
Ford Motor Co. ignored its engineers' advice that the Explorer sport-utility vehicle needed design revisions to prevent rollover accidents and fatal injuries, according to internal company documents and employee depositions. In 1993, Ford engineers James Cheng and Jessy Li advised the company to reinforce Explorer roof supports to prevent collapses in rollovers, company records show. Ford didn't make changes because the U.S. government didn't require any, Ford engineering supervisor Christopher Brewer said in a 2003 deposition. In 1999, Ford engineers in Venezuela warned that Explorers were rolling over and had caused at least nine deaths because of flaws in the suspension. Three years earlier, Ford engineers had said in writing that the deficiency could be solved by moving the shock absorbers toward the wheels. Ford didn't make the change. Attorneys suing Ford are using these and other documents obtained by Bloomberg News in as many as 500 lawsuits claiming defects in Explorers. Ford's past emphasis on profit before safety risks future sales.... Full story, from Bloomberg associated article
Sport utility vehicles are beastly, or at least beastlike. That is the message of a new public service campaign from the governments of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The $27 million campaign, paid for with settlement money from a lawsuit against the Ford Motor Company, starts this week and is aimed at informing young men in particular about the rollover risks of sport utility vehicles. This latest dent to the aura of the S.U.V. stars "Esuvee," who looks like a cross between the Star Wars characters Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt, with headlights for eyes and a grille for a nose. Esuvee - pronounced "S.U.V." - also rides like a bucking bull.... The money for the campaign, by the New York office of the British agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, comes from a 2002 settlement of lawsuits brought by the states that accused Ford of misleading consumers about the safety of S.U.V.'s and of not disclosing the risk of tire failure. In addition to TV and movie commercials, the campaign will use billboards and ads in magazines like Sports Illustrated and Spin. Esuvee has his own Web site, www.esuvee.com, and will barnstorm the country in a series of promotional appearances.... Read the full article, from the New York Times (registration may be required)
DSA Comments: To put it mildly, we are far from convinced about the efficacy of this gimmicky -- to use their own word -- bull! Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
A niece of the Buffalo Police Chief is claiming that she is a responsible driver despite using a cell phone while driving. And although blatantly contravening New York state law, her defense attorney claims that global research is "nonsense" and boasts that he still uses his own phone while driving.... important associated article
...."If you put a 20-year-old driver behind the wheel with a cell phone, his reaction times are the same as a 70-year-old driver," said David Strayer, a University of Utah psychology professor and principal author of the study. "It's like instant aging." And it doesn't matter whether the phone is hand-held or handsfree. Any activity requiring a driver to "actively be part of a conversation" likely will impair driving abilities, Strayer said. In fact, motorists who talk on cell phones are more impaired than drunk drivers with blood-alcohol levels exceeding .08, Strayer and colleague Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology, found during research conducted in 2003. Their new study appears in this winter's issue of Human Factors, the quarterly journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.... The study found that drivers who talked on cell phones were 18 percent slower in braking, had a 12 percent greater following distance and took 17 percent longer to regain the speed they lost when they braked, Strayer said.... The new research questions the effectiveness of cell phone usage laws in states such as New York and New Jersey, which only ban the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.... Full story, from the Associated Press, via Yahoo! News ___________________________
HELENA -- Teenage drivers would be restricted until they get more experience behind the wheel under a bill that cruised through the Senate on Tuesday. The measure, approved on a 48-2 voice vote, would make Montana the 49th state with a graduated driver's license program for young drivers, leaving Wyoming as the only state without one. A final vote to send the measure to the House is expected Wednesday. Similar bills failed or were vetoed by former Gov. Judy Martz in the past three sessions.... Bill sponsor Sen. Kim Gillan, D-Billings, touted the program as a safe way for novice drivers to get more experience on the road in hopes of reducing accident and death rates. Other states that have adopted graduated driver licenses saw steep declines in such numbers, she said. Full story, from the Billings Gazette
DSA Comments: Given the weight of evidence available to show the life saving effects of graduated driver licensing, which is now being adopted around the world, one can only wonder why any responsible person would veto it. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
WHITE MARSH, Md., -- Comcast today announced a partnership with the families and friends of accident victims titled Drive, Think, Live, beginning on Tuesday, February 1, 2005. "Drive, Think, Live" will feature $1 million worth of airtime donated by Comcast for public service messages, and the spots will air on multiple channels throughout the entire Washington Metropolitan Area. ___________________________
Next week, N.C. Highway Patrol troopers... will be riding with students on school buses, watching for motorists who pass illegally. "We've had some recurring violations," said Sgt. L.C. Harrell of the Rocky Mount Highway Patrol station. "It's not been rampant and wild, but it does happen — maybe one every two weeks." Starting next Monday, Operation Stop Arm will get under way in North Carolina, part of a resolution by Gov. Mike Easley in which he designated next week as "Watch Out for the Child Week" in the state. Each year, nearly 13,000 school buses travel North Carolina roadways, according to the resolution. In 2004, stop arm violations increased to 2,188, some causing injuries or deaths, Easley said in his written statement. It's unlawful to pass a stopped school bus that has its "stop arm" extended.... "We want to be proactive and not wait until a child gets hurt," said Harrell. Full story, from the Rocky Mount Telegram ___________________________
Police today revealed they had caught more than 1,000 motorists for driving offences during a recent crackdown in the greater Belfast area.... Police detected 652 speeding drivers, 188 careless drivers and 267 drivers for seatbelt offences. A further 25 motorists have received notice for prosecution in relation to dangerous driving offences. Chief Inspector Mark Purdon, head of Urban Region Roads Policing Unit, said there would be even more road safety operations this year. "It continues to amaze and sadden police officers that some motorists persist in disregarding the basic rules of road safety. "All drivers have a responsibility not only for their own safety, but the safety of other road users. It is important that this message gets through."... Full story, from the Belfast Telegraph ___________________________
FRANCE was reminded of the horrors of the Mont Blanc tunnel inferno yesterday as the trial of 16 people facing manslaughter charges over the blaze that killed 39 people in 1999 finally got under way. Television channels across the country broadcast footage of the charred wreckage of cars and trucks incinerated in the confines of the Alpine passage linking France and Italy as the long-awaited court case began.... The inferno broke out shortly before 11am on 24 March, 1999 in a Volvo lorry carrying flour and margarine. The blaze trapped cars, lorries and their occupants in the seven-mile tunnel and burned for 53 hours at temperatures of more than 1,000C before French and Italian firefighters managed to extinguish it. The tunnel remained closed for more than three years while repairs were carried out and new safety equipment was installed.... The court will aim to establish whether the blaze was caused when a cigarette came into contact with the lorry’s air filter, by a fault in the vehicle’s engine, or by poor maintenance.... Full story, from The Scotsman ___________________________
Responding to a question regarding road safety in the UAE, Anwarul K. Chowdhury, United Nations Under-Secretary- General, and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States, expressed concern over the high rate of road accidents in the country. “The safety record here is a matter of concern,” he stated. On how the international organisation can help in this, he said the UAE could be picked up as a UN training centre for road safety in the region. He said the issue would be discussed with the authorities concerned in the UAE, promising full support from the organisation.
“Road
safety should be considered an important element for development of
sustainable transportation. Every day, thousands of people are killed,
maimed and injured while using a mode of transportation. According to
UN statistics, 1.2 million people are known to die only in road
accidents worldwide every year. Millions of others sustain injuries,
with many suffering permanent disabilities. Road traffic injuries cost
developing countries nearly two per cent of their GNP, more than the
total development aid received by them,” Mr Chowdhury said. He said the prevention of road accidents must be pursued vigorously and immediate policy measures must include the development and management of road infrastructure, provision of safer vehicles, law enforcement, provision of health and hospital services, urban and rural planning. This
extract is from Road
toll
[charges]
won't affect tourism in Dubai,
from the Khaleej
Times
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February 28, 2005: 
(Basque
Region) February 28, 2005: 43
Per Cent Decrease in People Killed due to Traffic Accidents in 2004
February 28, 2005: 
February 28, 2005: Judge
slams new road safety laws in Belgium
February 28, 2005: Killer
Day on Manitoba's Roads
February 28, 2005: Five
more deaths in 24 hours follow weekend road carnage
and 
February 28, 2005: Flashing
Brake Lights: Effective Against Rear-End Collisions
February 28, 2005: Ways
to Stop Young Driver Deaths
February 27, 2005: 
February 27, 2005: 
February 27, 2005: 
February 25, 2005: 
February 25, 2005: 
February 25, 2005: 
February 25, 2005: 
February 21, 2005: 
February 15, 2005: 
* February 11, 2005: 
February 10, 2005: 
February 10, 2005: 
February 8, 2005: 
February 6, 2005: Road Safety Awards Scheme Launched in Oman
February 6, 2005: 
February 4, 2005: 
February 1, 2005: 
February 1, 2005: