|
||||||||||||||
|
All contents copyright ©, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., 2003 onwards, unless specified otherwise. All rights reserved. IMPORTANT: click here to read the DISCLAIMER
|
||||||||||||||
|
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
If you or your organization have safety-oriented driving news for publication, click here to contact us.
Fair use notice of copyrighted material: This site contains some copyrighted material that in some cases has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance the understanding of road safety, both at a global level and by individual people such as drivers and the parents of young drivers. By doing this, we hope to help save lives. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., is a section 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, based in New York State, U.S.A.
|
||||||||||||||
|
International Road Safety News from March 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.
Road Safety Vision 2010 covers the nine-year period from 2001 to 2010. The overall goal is [for Canada to have] the safest roads in the world. The specific goals are:
Lofty goals that can only be achieved when motorists start paying attention and taking an interest in their own safety and that of other road users. The above summary is a small extract from Safest roads in the world a worthy goal, in the Globe and Mail. ___________________________
Parents and residents are being encouraged to name and shame [their region's] most dangerous roads as part of a campaign to cut child road deaths. Brake, the national road safety charity, has launched its Zebra Hotline, asking communities across the UK to call 0800 0687780 and tell them the areas where children on foot or bikes are at risk. Callers will receive a free action pack to set up campaigns and educate local road users and be offered training sessions. Brake is calling on the Government to introduce 20mph speed limits outside every school, provide funding for more safe crossings and pavements and make road safety education in schools compulsory.... Full story, from the Enfield Independent, London. ___________________________
Unauthorized test-drives conducted on public roads by Isuzu Motors Ltd. since 1967 caused 104 accidents after 1985 alone, according to an in-house probe conducted by the automaker, it was learned Thursday.... The police take a serious view of the fact that Isuzu conducted unauthorized tests for years and believe it is necessary to prosecute the case to ensure the automaker abides by the law and follows safety procedures, the sources said.... Full story, from the Daily Yomiuri ___________________________
Governor Donald L. Carcieri has submitted a package of legislative proposals that seeks to make Rhode Island's roadways safer by targeting drunk drivers, aggressive drivers, and drivers who do not wear their safety belts. The package was went before the Senate and House Judiciary committees earlier this week. Carcieri said that Rhode Island must improve its safety record in all areas of driver safety. "My legislative package makes it clear that Rhode Island will not tolerate drivers who make our roads unsafe," Governor Carcieri said. "Drivers who drink, drivers who are aggressive on the road, and drivers who fail to buckle up will be held accountable for their actions."... Full story, from the Insurance Journal ___________________________
Students on foot and riding bicycles must be as cautious of the men in blue as motorists these days. Police have been giving tickets to pedestrians and bicyclists who violate traffic laws for a number of years, but because of recent grant money received by the Tucson Police Department, the agency is cracking down on violators, said Sgt. Carlos Valdez, TPD spokesman. TPD received a $15,000 grant from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety to "create a harmonious environment where pedestrians, bicycles and cars can operate safely," Valdez said.... Full story, from the Arizona Daily Wildcat ___________________________
Family and friends are mourning the deaths of four siblings in a South Texas traffic accident blamed on a drunken driver. Twenty-nine-year-old Juan Jose Garza of Weslaco is charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault. Donna police say Garza's blood alcohol level -- of point-268 -- was more than three times the legal limit for driving. Investigators say the four children were in a mini-van. Their parents and an uncle who were in the vehicle -- survived. The suspect allegedly ran a stop sign Saturday night and his pickup struck the family's van.... Full story, from KGBT4 ___________________________
Traffic accidents are Russia's national problem, deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov has declared at today's meeting of the transport ministry's board. The minister characterized the situation regarding road safety in Russia as extremely worrying, referring to shocking figures, which show that 34,500 people were killed and over 251,000 were injured in 208,000 traffic accidents in Russia in 2004. Enhancing traffic safety is a strategic goal for the next 10 years, whose achievement requires coordinated efforts by specialized agencies, Zhukov emphasized. [Source: RBC] ___________________________
Thirty new high-tech police cars and 170 motorcycles began patrolling city streets yesterday, providing local lawmen with better [tools] to track down traffic violators.... The city spent about 16 million yuan (US$1.93 million) on the new vehicles.... The 30 new four wheelers, also known as the "electronic patrol cars," are equipped with a radar speedometer and a powerful camera connected to a computer system inside the vehicle. The camera can shoot pictures or take videos from any angle and swerve as rapidly as 100 degrees per second. The agile camera, together with the radar speedometer, will work automatically in shooting various images of traffic infractions, such as speeding and illegally cutting lanes. The images could provide vivid clues to support future punishment of drivers. The vehicles also carry an automatic car plate identification system. After shooting pictures of a vehicle, the computer will compare its plate number to its database containing reported stolen and illegal cars. The function is expected to assist police in catching hit-and-run drivers and illegal vehicles. All pictures taken are then stored on a computer disk and turned in to the police headquarters at the end of a shift.... Full story, from Xinhuanet. ___________________________
After a deadly Easter weekend on the roads of Victoria, the police want to look at new ways to reduce road carnage, including double demerit points.... Victoria recorded the highest death toll in the country during the Easter period, with eight lives lost. Nationwide, 26 people died between midnight on Thursday and 11.59pm on Monday. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) Bob Hastings yesterday expressed disappointment that motorists had ignored his plea for a fatality-free Easter, with speed, alcohol, fatigue and failing to wear seat belts the contributing factors. He said he feared that the state's road toll could reach 390 this year, with 100 lives already lost, 19 more than at the same time last year.... Mr Hastings said Victoria Police would consider inter-state and international methods to reduce road deaths, including double demerit points for infringements during long weekends, a scheme used in NSW since 1997.... TAC road safety general manager David Healy said.... that while Victoria's annual toll had fallen by 670 in the 23 years between 1970 - when 1000 people died on the state's roads - and 2003, when just 330 people died, before the death rate again climbed by 12 last year, the rate at which road users were seriously injured had also fallen.... Full story, from The Age. ___________________________
According to the Italian press agency AGI, 46 people were killed on Italy's roads between March 25 and 28, including 21 individuals under the age of 30. Two fifths of the crashes occurred between 10pm and 6am. One sixth of the crashes happened in urban zones. And tragically, almost half of the fatal incidents (46%) involved speeding. The total number of fatal accidents was down on last year, when 46 accidents led to the death of 51 persons. Even the general accident toll was down on 2004, when 1,014 accidents were recorded -- compared to 849 this year. Some 43,459 police patrols were deployed, levying 28 thousand fines, for an equivalent total of 37 thousand driver license points and 1,200 driving licenses [were] withdrawn... Read the full story here, from AGI ___________________________
More people than ever are driving under the influence of their cell phones. According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) survey released earlier this month, eight percent of drivers, or 1.2 million people, are using handheld or hands-free cell phones at any given time during daylight hours. That's double the number from just four years ago.... More and more studies are telling us that, whether it's handheld or hands-free, cell phone conversations are distracting to drivers... According to NHTSA, 2,600 deaths and more than 300,000 collisions each year are related to cell phones, not to mention a fair amount of road rage.... Full story, from CBS News ___________________________
But even so, more than half of all traffic fatalities in Wyoming from 1999 through 2003 occurred on rural highways. And that's despite the fact that less than half of all miles driven in Wyoming during that time were on rural roads. Meanwhile, The Road Information Project reports that Wyoming [does better than] its neighbors in rural traffic deaths. Wyoming's average was a little over two deaths per 100 million miles traveled on rural, two-lane highways. Montana averaged nearly four deaths, and the averages for South Dakota, Colorado, Utah and Nebraska were all around three per 100 million miles.... Full story, from KGWN ___________________________
When 26-year-old Claire Duncan died of a fractured skull after a severe rollover accident in her 2000 Ford Explorer, her family wanted answers. Their questions about how the SUV's roof caved in led to a lawsuit and ultimately a trial this month that uncovered internal Ford Motor Co. documents and memos that raise serious questions about the Explorer's roof and the automaker's contention that stronger vehicle roofs do not prevent deaths and injuries in rollovers. On March 18, a Jacksonville, Florida, jury ruled the Explorer's roof was defective and ordered Ford to pay Duncan's husband $10.2 million for economic damages, pain and suffering. Company documents shown to the jury revealed the Explorer's roof was made weaker when the SUV was redesigned twice in the 1990s -- after engineers recommended strengthening the roof earlier in the decade.... Full story, from the the Detroit News ___________________________
___________________________
The Easter weekend road toll of nine deaths, most of which were a result of excessive speed, is a grim reminder that speed is the number one killer on New Zealand’s roads, says the Director of Land Transport Wayne Donnelly.
See also: Tragic Crash Kills Four Young Kiwis and Leaves a Fifth Critical, below. ___________________________
Australia's national road toll for the Easter period is at 25, following four deaths yesterday. There have been [four deaths in Queensland, two in Western Australia,] eight in Victoria, six in South Australia, four in NSW and one in Tasmania over the Easter holiday period. The ACT and the Northern Territory remain fatality free. [The Australian Associated Press] Easter road toll figures are for the period 0001 March 24 to 2359 March 28. Some states and territories may have different periods. Full story, from The Sydney Morning Herald ___________________________
A man caught speeding three times and found drink driving twice in three hours was yesterday cited as the worst motorist on Queensland roads over the Easter long weekend.... The Brisbane man was caught driving while disqualified at 135km/h in a Bruce Highway 100km/h zone, and blew .145 when breath tested. He was [recorded] driving the same vehicle at 148km/h on the same stretch of north Brisbane road less than an hour later by a speed camera. A short time later a police patrol car clocked the man travelling at 133km/h, [and on that occasion] his breathalyser reading was .101. He was charged with drink driving and unlicensed driving and will appear in court at a date to be set. Full story, from NEWS.com
DSA Comments This raises a very serious question, either about Australian law, or about specific police procedure on this occasion. What possible justification can there be for allowing a drunk and disqualified driver out of custody while he/she is still over the limit and -- even more incredibly -- allowing that person access to their vehicle? Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
....The spirit of the [Holi] festival was also marred by over 100 road accidents. “This is a record figure. Such a huge number of accidents has never been reported on a Holi day,” said a police officers. Tata Main Hospital and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College received 75 cases of minor and major road accidents. “Despite the deployment of police at every important place in the city, this year we received more cases compared to previous years,” said a senior doctor at Tata Main Hospital.... The presence of police and para military forces at all the sensitive areas in the city could not prevent over 100 road mishaps due to drunken driving.... Full story, from The Telegraph, Calcutta. ___________________________
The two Hadassah University Medical Centers in Jerusalem have decided to join the fight against road accidents by teaching high school pupils who will soon receive or recently received their driving licenses about the consequences of carelessness on the road. Pupils will come to the hospitals for a day of study, during which they will hear lectures, visit the trauma units and learn how those injured in road accidents are treated. Later, joint activities for pupils and teachers in the schools will be organized, using kits developed by the Or Yarok organization that works to prevent road accidents.... Full story, from the Jerusalem Post ___________________________
.....At a recent traffic safety conference, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration spoke to the urgent need for law enforcement to more specifically target speeding, commendably reporting that it wants to make getting drivers to stop speeding a new priority. Both the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and NHTSA report about a third of all car crashes involve speeding. NHTSA had previously made drunk driving, seat-belt use, and curbing rollover fatalities its top issues, but since the government got rid of the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit in 1995, numerous studies have shown that higher speed limits lead to more traffic deaths. One report noted traffic deaths went up 38 percent when limits were raised from 65 m.p.h. to 75 m.p.h. - a change worth review.... Full commentary here, from the Christian Science Monitor ___________________________
Highway-accident fatalities in Illinois declined by almost 100 in 2004, due in part to the first full year of the state's primary seat-belt law, authorities said. The law allows police to stop vehicles in which drivers or passengers are observed not using seat restraints. Yet more than 1,300 people died in vehicle accidents last year in Illinois. Without additional safety, enforcement and educational measures, the death toll will surely climb as the number of vehicles on the roads increase. The goal of a newly expanded highway safety program focuses on reducing the toll to fewer than 1,000 fatalities by 2008.... The plan will help determine where federal highway safety dollars will be spent in Illinois. Police in Peoria, for instance, told state officials that drunken-driving related accidents could be cut significantly in that community. They said the key is securing more funding to conduct roadside checks regularly instead of primarily on holiday weekends. Alcohol is involved in 44 percent of fatalities on Illinois roads.... Full article, from the Chicago Tribune (registration may be needed)
DSA Comments As we have commented before, it is good to see Illinois taking this very creditable approach to the issue. Like many countries, Illinois is setting a target of reducing the actual number of people killed each year, rather than taking the more common approach -- in the USA -- of striving just to reduce the rate of people in relation to the overall mileage traveled by all motor vehicles in the country; something commonly referred to as the VMT Rate. Yet even though it is readily possible to reduce the VMT rate without significantly reducing the number of people killed, many U.S. bodies focus upon it as though it were some sort of Holy Grail. In our opinion, Illinois has the only truly justifiable target. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
Two-wheeler and cycle tracks on highways, and additional central funds to bring down the number of fatal accidents in 2005 by 50 per cent — these were suggestions at the recently concluded 8th Annual National Road Safety Council (NRSC) meeting in New Delhi. NRSC member Chandmal Parmar said... data of accidents on all the national highways if made public would create awareness. To rake in funds, Parmar said 50 per cent of fines collected under various heads of traffic rule violation should be given to NRSC for work at the State-level. Parmar said already Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have started using safety measures... Full story, from Pune Newsline
DSA Comments If the above story has been accurately reported, it should perhaps be suggested that nothing on earth is likely to succeed in reducing Year 2005 road deaths by 50 per cent at this late stage. Such a massive reduction would be more likely to take several years to achieve. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
.....The proposed Road Safety Education (RSE) curriculum by the Transport and Education Ministries, says Dr Radin Umar, is based on the Australian model. “We worked hard with teachers and the curriculum division of the Education Ministry and we found that incorporating RSE into English and BM classes is the most effective approach.” Currently, he adds, research is being done on the impact of RSE on driving knowledge, attitude and practices of motorists in a bid to make Malaysian roads safer in the future. “I strongly suggest that RSE efforts be made nationwide. We must invest in the young as it takes only a seven-year cycle to create a new generation of drivers on the road...." More importantly, he stresses that the success of RSE will determine the success of other safety interventions. “For example, it is so difficult to persuade [people in the rear seats of vehicles] to wear seatbelts. "We need law and enforcement to make this happen. However, if we impart a safe culture right from childhood, it will become natural,” he says, adding that his own children wear seatbelts in the backseat without being reminded. He adds: “If parents love their children, this is the least they can do.” Full article, from The Star ___________________________
The number of teenagers killed in traffic accidents in South Carolina rose slight[ly] to 114 last year - many were not wearing seat belts. Only 20 of the 114 teens who were killed were wearing seat belts, compared with 23 of 101 teens who died in 2003, according to state Department of Public Safety data.... Full story, from Dateline Alabama
DSA Comments A 13 percent rise in teen road fatalities is "slight"? -- No. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. __________________________
__________________________
Road safety experts in Australia have warned that the Federal Government will fail to meet its target of a 40 per cent reduction in the road toll unless it is prepared to force motor companies to improve safety standards. Last night, as the national Easter road toll stood at 17 deaths, including six in Victoria, Australasian College of Road Safety president Raphael Grzebieta said the Government was ignoring "silver bullets" that could lead to a dramatic reduction in fatalities. These included mandatory standards for airbags, seatbelts, speedometers, breathalysers [this refers specifically to alco-locks on a vehicle's ignition system - DSA] and the prevention of rollovers, he said. "About 50 per cent of the road toll hasn't been addressed by current measures, and any realistic reduction in the road toll will require firm commitment and a political will to implement such countermeasures," he told The Sunday Age.... Full story, from The Age. ___________________________
A 16-year-old youth died holding a stranger's hand as three of his friends perished in an inferno when their car crashed near Pukekohe yesterday. Their deaths mean the Easter road toll already equals the four people killed [for the whole of New Zealand] during the entire Easter holiday weekend last year. The young man died in a ditch after he was thrown from the car with another backseat passenger moments before it crashed into trees and burst into flames.... A taxi driver told police that just before the accident at 2.30am, the car overtook him in a passing lane, travelling at between 130km/h and 140km/h [about 80 to 90mph]. Sergeant John Yearbury of Counties Manukau said last night that police were confident they knew who the victims were. They were likely to be named later today after formal identification using dental records. Police believe two were aged 16 and the others 19 and 25. The sole survivor, also 16, was yesterday transferred from Middlemore Hospital to Auckland Hospital and is in a critical condition.... Full article -- Boy, 16, dies holding hand of stranger -- from the New Zealand Herald
See also: The Easter Death Toll in New Zealand is a Grim Reminder that the Abuse of Speed Kills, above. ___________________________
Venezuela's Civil Protection Office (PC) reports on Wednesday evening that the number of dead in road accidents has reached what it considers alarm status with 65 dead and at least 1,500 wounded. The government has expressed concern and ordered more vigilance setting up a record 2,100 control points throughout Venezuela. The main exodus of holidays makers started last night work, as most public offices and private companies closed for the Holy Week holiday. [But] schools have been on vacation since last Friday.... Full article, from VHeadline ___________________________
The Delhi Police has launched a massive drive to check Holi revellers.... Fifty-eight motorists were challaned by the Traffic Police for drunken driving and 26 were arrested. More than 1,400 motorists were challaned for traffic violations like drunken driving, riding without helmet, over-crowding vehicles and jumping red lights.... Full story, from Delhi Newsline ___________________________
Dutch Police Arrest a 'Lazy' Ghost Rider On Thursday night, police arrested a 27-year-old Oss man who deliberately drove the wrong way on the A50 Oss-Den Bosch motorway. "He was too lazy to take the normal route," a police spokesman said. The man bought a packet of cigarettes from a petrol station on the A50 and simply took the shortest route home. He was also driving without a valid licence. Motorists who drive against the flow of traffic in the Netherlands are called 'ghost riders'. Source: Expatica Netherlands ___________________________
A PORTUGUESE motorist was yesterday convicted of causing a crash on a Dutch motorway that killed three Welsh motor racing fans. Luis de Quintas Loureiro was driving a car that smashed into a Ford Fiesta carrying Jonathan Chandler and Shaun Williams, both 28, and 34-year-old Dean Andrews. The friends, from Newtown, Powys, had been travelling through Holland en route to the Belgian grand prix last August when they were killed in the pile-up, on the A16 north of Rotterdam. Yesterday a court in the city found de Quintas Loureiro guilty of causing a lethal accident.... He was ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service, to be replaced by 120 days in prison if he fails to do it, and was placed on probation for two years. If he commits an offence within two years he will be jailed for four months. He was also banned from driving for a year.... A statement from de Quintas Loureiro read to [an earlier] inquest said, "I looked to my girlfriend to tell her something had happened. "I looked back to the road the next moment the airbag on my car inflated. "I didn't realise that the cars in front of me were standing still.".... Full story, from icWales
DSA Comments It is always dangerous to speculate about the outcome of court cases unless one has sat in the courtroom oneself, and heard the entire proceedings. Given the man's admission, however, that even though he knew something was happening ahead, he actually looked at his girlfriend instead of keeping his eyes on the problem, his utterly unacceptable and lethal negligence appears to have gone virtually unpunished. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. ___________________________
(and the NHTSA Recommend Using Booster Seats for ALL Children Under 4'9" in Height) Children 4, 5 and 6 years old are required to use booster seats while riding in a motor vehicle, under a new New York state law that takes effect on Sunday. Until now, only those younger than 4, or weighing less than 40 pounds, had to use safety seats. But there has been a push across the country for booster seat laws, because many children who have outgrown car seats aren't big enough to be safely restrained by adult seat belts. Children wearing seat belts can suffer life-threatening internal injuries during a car accident, because the seat belts don't fit them correctly and put pressure on the neck and abdomen, said Thomas McDonnell, a safety officer with the State Police. ....The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration suggests using booster seats until the child reaches 4 feet, 9 inches tall.... Full story, from the Buffalo News ___________________________
The NH Coordinator of the Governor's Highway Safety Agency has a Standpoint that Shocks Experts and Cops The director of the state's highway safety agency is taking heat from some New Hampshire police chiefs for his opposition to a proposed mandatory seatbelt law. In a letter last week, Belmont Police Chief Vinnie Baiocchetti blasted Peter Thomson, coordinator of the governor's highway safety agency, for what he called "irresponsible, degrading and insulting" testimony during last month's hearing on the seatbelt bill. Read the full article, here, from the Concord Monitor, together with DSA Comments ___________________________
|
March 31, 2005: 
March 31, 2005: 
March 31, 2005: 
March 31, 2005: 
March 30, 2005: 
March 30, 2005: 
March 30, 2005: 
March 29, 2005: 
and 
March 29, 2005: 
March 28, 2005: Drunken
Revellers Leave a Trail of Blood over the Holi Weekend, in Jamshedpur,
India
March 28, 2005: 
March 27, 2005: 
March 25, 2005: 
March 25, 2005: 
March 24, 2005: