Archived International Road Safety News, September 2005

A powerful drama to highlight road safety among teenage drivers is being staged across schools and colleges in a Midlands county.

The 50-minute production covers relationships, love, music, football and careers before tragedy strikes and a car crash destroys everything.

Herefordshire Council’s Road Safety Unit and Herefordshire Community Safety and Drugs Partnership have teamed up with Walking Forward Theatre Company to bring “Never Saw the Day”.

Ann Mann, Road Safety Officer for Herefordshire Council said: “ This year we have already had many young people, 16 to 19 year olds, injured on our roads.

“Fifty nine casualties involved the car drivers and 41 were passengers. Three young people have died. This is three too many.

“We have used theatre in education before and it works very well with this age group, getting the very important road safety messages home in a way that makes the student think.”...

“This drama looks at the effect a road traffic collision can have on people’s lives, not just the families involved but also the friends of the victim.”...

Jason Taylor spent two weeks in hospital after a car accident, while doctors refused to let him see a mirror because his face had been so horribly damaged.

Today, the teenager, whose face was left permanently scarred after a car accident a year ago has backed today's launch of a new organisation designed to tackle the number of road deaths in Wales.

Jason, 19, of Seven Sisters, Neath, suffered severe facial injuries when he crashed his car into a tree while speeding....

[Jason said,] "It's only recently I've really got back on track, but I still don't have nerves in some places on my face."

A new organisation, called Road Safety Wales, is aiming to promote safety on Welsh roads, on which four people die every week, with young people most at risk.

Last year alone there were 201 deaths and 1,336 serious injuries, which Jason feels could be cut down through greater awareness of how to stay safe.

"Since the accident my friends and me have all been a lot more aware about road safety," he said.

"Before I had my accident I didn't take any notice of that kind of stuff but now I try as hard as possible to get the message across to people.

October 31, 2005: Ford puts Fully-Featured Computers Within the Reach of Drivers -- Literally!

Question: If it is illegal to have a television or DVD screen within the sight of a person who is driving, how can it be even remotely acceptable to put a fully-fledged, touch-screen, business computer within a driver's view and reach?

In terms of safety, this latest offering from Ford is frankly outrageous!

You want scary? You want mind-numbing, color-draining, jaw-unhinging, queasy-gutted, flat-out frightening? There's no collection of low-budget slasher flicks or assortment of animatronic ghouls that compares to the haunted world of police patrol every night they arrest someone for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

If you thought watching any number of flat-footed teens try to outrun the plodding menace of Jason in "Friday the 13th" was unnerving, try looking for a spark of comprehension in the eyes of a drunk driver who's plowed into a family of four....

October 31, 2005: IHIE wins Prince Michael Award for its 'Guidelines For Motorcycling'

At the Stockholm Motorcycle Fair the Swedish Police and Road Safety Department put two vehicles on display to show the horrendous nature of some crashes.

Alan Goodwin, one of our regular correspondents at Drive and Stay Alive, has sent us several photographs and a brief summary of the crash. View them here.

October 29, 2005: UN General Assembly Accepts Second Historic Resolution on Road Safety

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a second historic resolution on road safety on 26 October 2005 which invites Member States to implement the recommendations of the World report on road traffic injury prevention to participate in the First United Nations Global Road Safety Week; and to recognize the third Sunday in November of every year as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

The resolution and related discussions at the UN General Assembly earlier this week commended both the United Nations Secretary General for his report on road safety as well as the World Health Organization for its collaboration and role as co-ordinator on road safety issues within the United Nations. Several speakers expressed strong satisfaction with the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration - an alliance of over 50 organizations - and the products it has delivered so far.

At least 17 people were killed and 31 injured, some seriously, after a mini-lorry carrying them collided with a state transport bus and overturned on Asur road near Thuvakudi on the Tiruchirapalli-Thanjavur National Highway this morning....

Talking to reporters, Tiruchirapalli Range DIG Sunil Kumar Singh said action would be taken against the industrial unit which hired the workers. He said the lorry was overcrowded and the driver lost control resulting in the accident....

As far as 14-year-old Chenise Nakanashi's concerned, new restrictions for teenage drivers that go into effect Tuesday might make Oklahoma's highways safer but state government shouldn't have to tell her when and with whom she can drive....

New rules for Oklahoma's graduated driver's license law were adopted by the Legislature last spring in an effort to improve highway safety and reduce the number of collisions and fatalities among teenage drivers.

But the guidelines are getting mixed reaction from teens who will have to comply with them.

"I wouldn't like it if I was a teenager either. Would you?" said Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, one of the law's authors.

Although not popular with all teens, the rules will help give young drivers the experience they need to make safe decisions behind the wheel, Leftwich said....

But the driver's education guidelines concerned students at the Classen school, who said they are unfair because not all families can afford to pay for it. Driver's education is not mandatory in Oklahoma and not all public schools offer it....

DSA Comments The state government shouldn't have to tell young people when and with whom they can drive?

In our opinion, the media commonly tend to do nothing but unnecessarily stir up resentment with articles such as this.

While the comments that follow are categorically not intended to show any disrespect for teens (quite the reverse), it is a fact that young people's brains do not finish developing until the age of 23-24 and this severely affects their ability to drive safely.

It is also a fact that countries where people cannot start driving until the age of 17 or even 18 have much lower rates of serious injuries and deaths involving inexperienced drivers (largely because of the brain development situation, mentioned above).

In addition, young people with no valid life skills other than a desire for the social freedom that driving brings are far from being the best judges about the age at which that freedom should be granted or the rules under which it will be available.

Sen. Leftwich was politically wise to make restrained comments about this but in the interest of protecting young lives we feel -- at Drive and Stay Alive -- that somebody should speak out more strongly.

So here is one such observation: If saving young lives is the priority then let's just have the sense to get back to some "tough love." Stop asking the kids their opinions on this subject because frankly it shouldn't matter at all! Their lives are what matters, so as responsible adults we should pleasantly but firmly be telling them "That's how it is!"

And as for the media: Please stop your incessant attempts to sensationalize and jazz up every single article. A strictly good sense approach to issues such as this would be delightful!

Young Children Have More Than Twice the Danger of Pedestrian Deaths and Injuries on Halloween

Children aged 12 and under are more than twice as likely to suffer death or injury from being hit by a car on Halloween than on other comparable days in October and November, according to an analysis by the Automobile Club of Southern California. The Auto Club warns motorists and pedestrians to be extra careful on that day. An additional concern is that Halloween falls on the day after Daylight Savings Time ends.

The analysis of California Highway Patrol death and injury statistics for 1995-2004 found children under age 13 are 134 percent more likely to be killed or injured as pedestrians between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Halloween compared to other comparable days in October and November. Last year, Halloween fell on the day that Daylight Savings Time ended and there was a particularly large 156 percent increase in deaths and injuries....

-- Stay alert for children crossing streets at all locations, not just corners and intersections;

-- Check vehicles' headlights, taillights, brake lights and turn signals to ensure they are in proper working condition;

October 25, 2005: 91 Drivers in Cambridgeshire Have Put Their Kids at Risk by Not Belting Up

So far this year, 91 drivers have been fined across Cambridgeshire because a child has not been wearing a seatbelt in the car....

The figures have been released as part of the police's 'be safe – not sorry' road safety campaign which this week is focusing on seatbelt safety and mobile phone laws....

....An increase of almost 5 percentage points in safety belt use by pickup truck drivers played a key role in the overall regional increase.....

....At a recent Save a Life Conference in Austin, NHTSA honored large cities which showed significant increases in safety belt use in 2005.

“On average, a single traffic death costs society $805,000, and every serious injury is an additional $100,000 economic burden shared by the victim and their families, as well as by the public collectively. As a result, this increase in safety belt use in our five states is expected to save the public a whopping $700 million,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) South Central Regional Administrator Georgia S. Chakiris

October 25, 2005: 200 to Die as State’s Road Safety Plan Fails, says Irish Insurance Federation

It is the second time in a week that the Government's record on the issue has been hammered.
Last Wednesday, the chairman of the National Safety Council (NSC), Eddie Shaw, described the coalition's National Road Safety Strategy as "a spectacular failure".

He was followed yesterday by IIF vice-president John O'Neill, who cited:
The penalty points system: despite it being introduced three years ago, only four of the 69 potential offences are applied....
Read the Article, from Irish Examiner

With road accidents claiming 155 lives so far this year, the Ministry of Interior said on Sunday it was pressing ahead with plans to make road safety awareness part of the school curriculum in the country....

....The need is to inculcate the importance of road safety at a young age. “We need to make the new generation aware of the significance of safety on roads and the dangers of high speed while driving,” he said....

Distracted drivers are dangerous. Inexperienced drivers distracted by cell phones and other devices are doubly dangerous.

....The National Transportation Safety Board estimates that about 1.2 million crashes a year are caused by distracted drivers. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety earlier this year reported that drivers using cell phones -- again, of all ages -- are four times as likely to get in a crash serious enough for hospitalization...

The National Road Safety Council, in another pro-active initiative to reduce the carnage on our roads, yesterday launched a nation-wide road show.

The council's acting executive director Timoci Satakala announced the plan at the launch of its 'Safer Drivers' programme at the NRSC headquarters in Valelevu yesterday.

"At present the road death toll for Fiji stands at 54 and NRSC does not want to see the number increase," Mr Satakala said. He said there was a great need to improve driving behavior in Fiji, mainly in terms of drivers' relationship with other drivers and road users, compliance with traffic rules and regulations and the use of defensive and environmentally-efficient driving techniques.

October 24, 2005: Legislative Panel Endorses Change in State Drunken Driving Law

People suspected of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol should no longer have the option of refusing to submit to blood or urine tests, a legislative study committee recommended Monday....

The current law allows drivers to refuse to give a blood test on their first or second arrests for drunken driving, but they must submit to such tests if arrested for a third offense. If drivers refuse the tests on their first or second arrests, their licenses are revoked for up to a year, although judges sometimes allow people with revoked licenses to drive for work or school....

Sen. Gene Abdallah, R-Sioux Falls, [also] a former Highway Patrol superintendent, said he believes repeat offenders need to be sent to prison. Only those with a third offense, which is a felony, can wind up in prison, he said.

Many offenders who lose their drivers' licenses still wind up driving while intoxicating and endangering the public, Abdallah said.

"There's one thing you can accomplish by incarcerating them - they don't drive," Abdallah said....

Victoria's peak motoring organisation has thrown its support behind the controversial idea of restricting the number of passengers inexperienced drivers can carry.

The RACV has made the call as the State Government considers reform to the licensing system.

RACV general manager Ken Ogden said P-platers should be banned from having more than one passenger during their first year on the road....

[Dr Ogden said,] "Interestingly, there was even a high level of support for this idea among young drivers themselves," Dr Ogden said.

"A number of young drivers also told us that they often felt pressured into carrying a carload of passengers and would welcome a reason to refuse to do so."...

Stickers on lampposts and satellite technology are combining to help emergency crews locate accident scenes more quickly in Wrexham.

The "999 react" signs carry numbers corresponding to the grid references of the street where they are pasted.

The scheme is being tried on 12 Wrexham roads with a high number of accidents, and crash witnesses are asked to give the numbers to 999 operators.

William Graham AM (Conservative Assembly Spokesman for Education) is concerned that the Be Safe be Seen road safety campaign appears to be invisible in Wales.

He said today, "By the time pupils go back to school after their half term break the clocks will have gone back. Children may not have adjusted to darker evenings, therefore parents to make sure their children wear bright, fluorescent or reflective clothing to ensure they can be seen whatever the conditions. At the same time drivers share an increased responsibility to take extra care and look out for children especially near schools, parks and residential areas.

“It is an alarming statistic that for the months October to December 2004 there were 539 children killed in road accidents in the UK, almost 50% of these - 253 were killed between 3pm and 6pm”.

“In England, the Department of Transport has gained wide publicity for its annual ‘be safe be seen’ campaign. In Wales there is nothing....

Cross the road at the safest place possible e.g. zebra, pelican and patrolled crossings.

If you are out at night, choose routes that are well-lit by streetlights and cross at well-lit places.

The need for road safety is an important policy for all road users throughout the country, Mary Gahonzire, the Deputy Commissioner of Police has said. She was responding to queries on the new traffic regulations for motorcyclists during a recent talk show at Hotel Novotel Umubano.....

She also called for the safety of passengers through the use of helmets for both the passengers and motorcyclists.

Officials from the National Police, City Council (MVK) and the Association of Motorcyclists (ASSETAMORWA), jointly pledged to promote road safety around the city....

Story, from allAfrica

Road safety agencies today announced plans for a two-stage $4.5m road safety campaign for State Highway 1 in the South Waikato and Taupo Districts....

All the major agencies with a stake in road safety will contribute – Transit New Zealand, the Police, Land Transport New Zealand, South Waikato and Taupo District Councils, Environment Waikato and ACC.
The full campaign will include:
* A major safety upgrade involving road signs, road markings and road surfacings, by Transit New Zealand
* An increased enforcement and fatigue awareness campaign by the New Zealand Police
* A high profile driver education campaign, with contributions from all agencies....

What happens to the brains of some motorists when they cruise through parking lots?

Maybe some people just don't understand the rules of the road are still in effect even though parking lots are often private property.

"If there's an expectation that the public has access to it, then the rules of the road still apply," says Edmonton Police Service Staff Sgt. Darren Eastcott, adding people can also face charges for collisions in parking lots....

October 21, 2005: Call for Traffic Safety Bill May Wisely Curb Some Cell Phone Use

...It may be unrealistic to expect cell phone users to abruptly change their habits behind the wheel, but folks in the state capital appear ready to provoke a bit of behavior modification. In any case, some common sense wouldn't hurt....

In the cell phone debate, legislators are focusing on fining young drivers who use a cell phone on the road. Whether cell phone restrictions will be extended eventually to cover all adult drivers remains to be seen. But a bill approved by the state House on Thursday may coax motorists to rethink inclinations to multitask while commuting....

Other governments have taken action. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that 40 countries have laws related to cell phone use while driving. In two European nations, drivers also can lose insurance coverage if they crash their vehicle while talking on the phone....

October 21, 2005: Fear of Breakdown Triggers Dangerous Driving Habits Amongst UK Motorists

UK motorists are causing mayhem and unnecessary traffic problems by driving miles out of their way because of their fears of breaking down on a motorway, according to new research from Direct Line Breakdown.

Close to one in five female British motorists fear breaking down on the motorway, so much so that over two million refuse to drive on M roads, resulting in [each of them, on average] driving an extra 384 miles each per year.

During the past 12 months, over a million motorists have broken down on a motorway and worries about doing so are well founded as these breakdowns have resulted in more than 94,000 accidents or near misses on the hard shoulder....

More than one in 10 drivers impulsively exit from the drivers' door -- and into oncoming traffic -- rather than correctly exiting from the passenger side....

[The Institute of Advanced Motorists is training winter drivers in Switzerland and issues advice for everyone.]...

Although business drivers in Britain should not expect to regularly encounter Swiss ski conditions, IAM Fleet’s head of training, Mark Edwards, believes everyone can benefit from a little more understanding.

Said Mark: "In the UK, we have relatively little exposure to snow and ice and perhaps less call for some of the advanced techniques required to drive in such conditions. However, you don’t need several feet of snow for road dangers to increase and there are some basic tips and skills that could make us all safer and ready to deal with winter driving problems."

October 21, 2005: Giving Young Drivers Less License in Massachusetts - Panel is Urged to Tighten Rules

The driver's license, one of the most prized possessions of a teenager, could soon come with a whole new bundle of restrictions in Massachusetts.

Driving instructors, state Registry of Motor Vehicles officials, and safety activists urged state legislators yesterday to stiffen the laws regulating young motorists. A bill would require teens to spend more time behind the wheel with adult supervision before obtaining their license and would increase penalties for violations, among other provisions....

Kimberly Hinden, the state's registrar of motor vehicles, said that last year, about 30 percent of 16-year-old drivers and 20 percent of 17-year-old drivers were involved in serious accidents....

The proposed bill would double the required number of behind-the-wheel hours during driver's education to 12 hours. It would also increase from 12 to 30 the number of hours an adult must supervise new drivers ages 16 and 17 before the teen can obtain a license....

Those pushing for stricter rules contend that the 1998 law has been unsuccessful in reducing collisions involving teen drivers. Several recent high-profile deadly wrecks involving young motorists have focused lawmakers' attention on the issue. Last week in Southborough, two sisters, ages 15 and 17, died when the sport utility vehicle they were in struck a pole.

''You need over 1,000 hours of training to get your license to be a barber, but you only need 18 hours to drive a motor vehicle," said Representative Bradford Hill, an Ipswich Republican who is the bill's chief sponsor....

A real-world experiment is showing that a few simple changes can make urban arterial streets safer.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) looked at Leesburg Pike in Virginia and saw that there were a lot of rear-end collisions and left-turn T-bones on the busy suburban Washington, D.C., street. Cars were being rear-ended when they stopped while trying to merge onto the street or when they stopped behind buses that were picking up or dropping off passengers. Drivers making left turns were hit as they tried to scurry across three lanes of oncoming traffic....

It’s no fun to just barely avoid hitting a kid with your car on a dark, rainy Kodiak morning.

It is tempting to blame the kid, who may have been wearing dark clothing and chose to ignore the designated crossing area when he dashed across the street in front of your car. However, the onus is on drivers to keep up their vigilance and exercise safety precautions now that fall is upon us....

October 20, 2005: Mercedes Tries New Tack in Campaign to Bring Flashing Brake Lights Stateside

     Mercedes-Benz USA LLC is persisting in its campaign to bring flashing brake lights to the United States.
     The company is counting on thousands of its customers to help convince U.S. regulators of the safety benefits of brake lights that flash rapidly in emergency stops.
     Mercedes-Benz has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a two-year exemption from federal rules that require "steady-burning" lights on vehicles...

DSA Comments The standard and therefore the efficacy of many brake lights in the USA could be much higher.

Many American-made vehicles have red rear indicators -- itself a very poor idea -- and frequently these use the same light bulbs as the brake lights. The result is that if a vehicle is braking and signaling at the same time, not only are all of the visible lights the same color, but one of the two brake lights no longer functions because its bulb is now being used for the flashing indicator.

To quote a popular Americanism, it is a "no brainer" that having yellow (referred to as amber in the UK) signals makes them stand out better from the red rear lights and brake lights -- something that is particularly important and effective in bad weather, such as a drab, rainy, winter morning -- and it is equally obvious that it is undesirable to lose one of the two brake lights (or clusters) whenever one is signaling.

On a similar theme, the US administration will generally not allow matched pairs of red rear fog lights to be fitted to vehicles in America, ostensibly because these might at times be mistaken for brake lights, but which is more important in thick fog: not being able to see the vehicle ahead until it is too late, or being able to see it even if somebody does think that what they can see is brake lights? This is just one situation where the USA would be well advised to look to methodology and legislation in other countries, many of which have significantly better road safety records (as in much lower rates of deaths) than America.

October 20, 2005: New Teen Drivers Take Risks; Parents Can Make a Difference

A new study of more than 500 teenagers found that new young drivers take risks on the road, but that parents can help reduce risky driving behavior.

In the study by University of Maryland professor Kenneth Beck, teen drivers who have had their driver’s license less than a month reported a noticeable amount of risky driving behavior. “But we found that when parents and teenagers agree on driving conditions and consequences for unsafe driving, there is less risky behavior,” says Beck, an expert in driving safety. “When there was discord between parents, the teens were more likely to be risky drivers.”...

In asking the new teen drivers about their risky driving behavior, Beck found that:

* Talking on a cell phone, reading, eating or horsing around with passengers – 48%;

The Eden Lodge Nursery was the first of ten schools to benefit from a new Pilot Road Safety Programme, which has already affected over a hundred schools in the neighbouring island of Trinidad.

Starting yesterday, October 18, this initiative, which is being sponsored by Guardian General, has received the collaborative support of D Idea Shop, the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF), the Road Safety Association, and the Ministry of Education....

Crashes involving commercial vehicles on the Ohio Turnpike increased by 40 percent during the year after the speed limit for trucks and private buses was raised from 55 to 65 miles an hour, even though commercial-vehicle volume grew by just 17 percent during that time, the Ohio Highway Patrol reported yesterday...

October 19, 2005: SAFEX 2006 to Address High Traffic Accident rate in Dubai by Tabling Better Driver

The International Association for Driver Education (IVV) announced today at a press conference that SAFEX, the World Driving Training Conference, will convene its 2006 session in Dubai at the Dubai Police Officer's Club from March 10-12.

SAFEX 2006, jointly organized by IVV and the Belhasa Driving Center (BDC), is meant to highlight the importance of common standards in training and testing to ensure that necessary precautions are taken to prevent road accidents resulting from driving error.

SAFEX 2006 is being organized under the hospitality of Saif Ahmed Belhasa, Chairman and Managing Director, BDC, who is a vocal proponent of safe driving in a bid to reduce automobile accidents in Dubai, where 877 accidents have been recorded in the first 7 months of 2005 alone, resulting in 127 deaths. The conference is organized every two years and aims to bolster driver training practices by inviting a panel of experts to discuss teaching initiatives and global best practices, with the aim of reducing accident related death and injury worldwide....

SAFEX 2006 will see participation by traffic concerned organizations such as Traffic Injury Research Foundation, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, UNECE Transport Division, Global Road Safety Partnership, Transport Canada, Transport Research Laboratory, DG Energy and Transport, Government of India, Danish Road Safety Council, and several others.

The gap in safety between sport utility vehicles and passenger cars last year was the widest yet recorded, according to new federal traffic data.

People driving or riding in a sport utility vehicle in 2003 were nearly 11 percent more likely to die in an accident than people in cars, the figures show....

....The United States has not made as much progress as some other developed nations, because rates of seat belt use remain lower here and because of the growing numbers of S.U.V.'s and pickup trucks, which tend to pose greater hazards than cars both to their occupants and to others on the road.....

October 18, 2005: Sierra Leone Report from the 'Road Safety on Four Continents' Conference in Warsaw

Many schools of thoughts in the causation of accidents have reached a common agreement about the causes of accidents that the technological improvements in the design and construction of motor vehicles do very little in minimizing road accidents without proper and adequate driver training.

In more industrialized countries, which have adequate driver training resources and facilities, giant steps have been taken which have produced encouraging results in minimizing road traffic accidents and improving road safety. In developing countries however, where technical facilities, training material and financial resources are not readily available, the training of drivers is at a low level and therefore improvement in road safety is regrettably slow....

Ford has spent $16.5 million to open a new safety-testing site in Dearborn, Mich. The new facility will help the company test occupant protection systems by simulating a variety of crashes, and the company expects it to help get new safety systems on the road more quickly.

“What it means for the consumer is that we can test our vehicles in almost every configuration possible, for frontal and side-impact testing. All that really translates to is safer products, more comfortable for the consumer to drive and it builds on what we’re trying to do, which is our strong commitment to safety,” said Phil Martens, group vice president, product creation for Ford North America.

North Carolina ranks 19th among the states when it comes to traffic deaths involving tractor-trailer trucks, according to a national survey released yesterday.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety brought victims of truck accidents to Washington - including a Kernersville woman whose father was killed in a tractor-trailer accident 22 years ago - to announce the results from a study conducted by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis.

Last year in North Carolina 198 people died in accidents involving large trucks, according to the Fair Analysis Reporting System - or 2.3 deaths per 100,000 residents.

In the survey released yesterday, Wyoming ranked 1st with 8.1 deaths per 100,000 population, and Hawaii ranked 51st with just over 0.3 deaths....

Traffic deaths in the state are showing a 13 percent decrease and the lowest mark of alcohol-related deaths in more than 20 years.

But even with the decrease, Kathy Swanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said they are hoping to lower that number even further.

“There are some reasons when we look at the 2004 statistics to feel good. It was lower year than we’ve had in a long time and the lowest we’ve seen the alcohol-related deaths ever in Minnesota. On the flip side 567 people were killed in 2004. That’s not a number we can stand to be complacent about,” said Swanson.

In St. Louis County there were 21 deaths in 2004 and 29 in 2003. From 2000 to 2004, there were 135 fatalities in St. Louis County, which averages to about 27 fatalities per year. Fifty-three percent of those killed in the state weren’t wearing seat belts and 60 percent of those killed in St. Louis County weren’t buckled...

Dangerous teen drivers are being sent to a shock road safety course designed to curb the carnage on Hawke's Bay roads.

Police, fire and ambulance staff have joined forces with drama pupils from Havelock North High School to act out the scene of a typical car crash. It shows a simulation of a driver being cut out of a wrecked car.

Twenty young Hawke's Bay drivers attended the course at the weekend. It is coordinated by the police Blue Light education programme. The programme coordinator, Hastings police officer Brad Clark, said the course was a practical way to help young people who had been driving dangerously.

"We saw there was a need to do something for the kids getting referred to us . . . we don't pull any punches, we don't hold back. We see some pretty gruesome sights in our jobs and we show them."...

Speed was the crucial problem for young drivers and the solution could only come through peer pressure, Mr Clark said.

"If you look at the statistics, drink driving is not nearly as big a problem for young people. It's become socially unacceptable, because it's been highlighted through groups like Students Against Drunk Driving."

October 16, 2005: BankMuscat Provides 25,000 Copies of Road Sign Safety Booklets in Oman

BankMuscat has handed over 25,000 copies of the traffic signs booklets, prepared by Muscat Safety and Road Services, to the Ministry of Education. This edition is to be distributed to students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades....

This initiative comes in line with the bank’s endeavour to spread awareness of traffic safety issues among drivers.

No doubt all five members of the Board of Education, the superintendent and her staff and every school employee empathizes with Cynthia Walker, the mom who wants the district to install seat belts in buses following an accident last week that injured her 15-year-old son, Ricky Spriggs II.

They may debate whether school buses so equipped are any safer than those that aren’t; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration claims the benefits are negligible, but six states require them. Pros and cons aside, they will understand a mother’s concern for her own and her desire to see that nobody else’s child is injured....

DSA Comments According to the above article, "the benefits [would be] negligible."

When I met with one of the NHTSA's top officials (who can remain nameless), only ten weeks ago, I asked a question on a similar topic about when or if the NHTSA planned to push for mandatory use of rear seat belts in cars, etc., in line with many other countries that have far better road safety records than the USA.

To say the least, the answer I was given was banal, but in effect it was "not many people travel in the back seats of cars or SUVs so we [i.e. the NHTSA] don't consider it necessary to make rear seat belts compulsory!"

Sadly, this would suggest that as long as such attitudes exist among America's official safety experts, then the country will continue to lose far too many people in fatal crashes each year.

If the USA were able to match the per capita death rate found in the world's top three developed nations (the Netherlands, Sweden and Britain) over 25,000 American lives would be spared each year, and countless hundreds of thousands would avoid or have less severe injuries. And there is no reason why America could not do so, except for a lack of political will.

The Government is drawing up a plan to reduce traffic fatalities from the current 4.5 deaths per 10,000 vehicles to two from 2006 to 2010.

There were 8.4 deaths per 10,000 registered vehicles in 1996. Now, the figure has dropped to 4.5 deaths.

Road Safety Department director-general Suret Singh said the Government was coming up with measures to tackle the risk-taking attitude of Malaysian road users.

"Risk-taking is the biggest problem. We will tackle risk- taking at all levels. If drivers’ behaviour can change, then we can have road safety," he said.

The Government is going to carry out more vigorous road safety education and engineering programmes supported by vigorous enforcement....

The first phase [in education] will involve students in standards one, two and three, and extended later to secondary students.

The emphasis on students is because 876 of last year’s 6,223 traffic fatalities were children below the age of 17.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Road Safety Research Centre director Professor Radin Umar Radin Sohadi said road safety education for children should begin when they are six or even earlier.

Umar said the driving school curriculum should change to place greater emphasis on safety.

"The curriculum is highly focused on driving skills. We need more emphasis on safety," said Umar....

"Every increase in crash impact of 16kph is equivalent to going up another floor and jumping off.

"A crash impact of 40kph is the limit of our human tolerance. It is equivalent to jumping off a two-and-a-half storey building.

"If you crash at 80kph [i.e. 50mph] that’s equivalent to jumping off the fifth floor. Anybody who jumps off the fifth floor knows that he is definitely going to die."

DSA Comments The above figures provide a per capita death rate of 21.04 and the DSA table showing the rates for 52 countries is available here.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators are examining similarities between the deadly Sept. 26 crash of a Utah State University van and two earlier crashes in other states.

October 15, 2005: Massachusetts Bill Targets Young Drivers: More Training Time, Stiffer Penalties Eyed

Young drivers would spend more time learning to drive, have junior operator licenses for longer stretches and face higher penalties for violating these early stage licenses under legislation up for debate at the State House.

One week after an early morning SUV crash claimed the lives of two teenage sisters from Southborough, lawmakers next Thursday will consider changes to the state's driving laws so fewer inexperienced drivers die behind the wheel....

The legislation would make violations of the junior operator license law a primary offense for which police can pull over young drivers. And the penalties those drivers face would increase: from 30 days license suspension to 90 days for first offenses; from 60 days to 180 days for second offenses and from 90 days to one year for third offenses....

Your kids see you at the wheel, warts and all, so make sure you don't pass on bad habits

Parents are rearing a generation of dangerous drivers who think speeding and even drink driving is acceptable.

Everybody thinks they are great behind the wheel and it's the other people on the roads that have problems.

In fact, not only do the majority of us have bad driving habits, but we are unwittingly teaching them to our kids.

Children as young as 11 learn bad habits and attitudes from their parents before they even have their first driving lesson, according to a report by the AA Foundation for Road Safety.

More shockingly, many youngsters condone dangerous behaviour like speeding, drink driving and running red lights.

With 10 people killed every day on the roads in Britain and 10 children [hit by a vehicle] daily in Scotland - where one dies or is seriously injured - the figures reinforce the Scottish Executive's campaign to educate parents and their children on safer driving. It has long been acknowledged that young male drivers speed and show risky behaviour more than females, but now the report has highlighted these attitudes in younger children and pointed much of the blame at parents.

October 13, 2005: Dodging Cones in an Advanced Driving Program [see DSA Comments, below]

[Bob English, of the Globe and Mail, writes] It's obvious (to me anyway) that actually learning how to control a vehicle can be critical, but while licensing requirements today are stiffer, the actual training required is little changed. You still don't need professional instruction, and if you do go to a driving school most (there are exceptions) concentrate on teaching the rules of the road with little or no emphasis on vehicle control....

You... head for the cars and spend the rest of the day dodging cones while performing steering, braking and accident avoidance exercises, and learning about under-steer and over-steer on a wet skid pad. The program ends on a high and fun note, with a competitive slalom....

DSA Comments No matter how much fun such courses undeniably are, one thing they are certainly not is advanced driving!

Advanced car handling skills -- yes. Racetrack techniques (on the 'Fascination' courses) -- yes. But "advanced driving"? No!

Why? Because true advanced driving is about accurately predicting road and traffic scenarios, and thereby avoiding any potentially risky situations, rather than trying to escape from such after a bad situation has already started.

This is by no means just DSA opinion; research in Finland and Australia has shown that young people who attend skid pad or cone slalom-type courses are MORE likely to have crashes afterwards than young people who do not attend such courses. And the reason is that without addressing accident avoidance such courses merely bolster young drivers' attitudes that now they are even more infallible and 'immortal' than they were before.

True advanced driving is not some "Johnny come lately", either. It is now eighty (yes, 80) years old and is the constantly-refined system that has been taught to British traffic patrol police officers throughout that period. And many say that British traffic police are the best road drivers in the world.

The NSW Government says fixed speed cameras in the New England have reduced road fatalities by 90 per cent.

Roads Minister Joe Tripodi has revealed the cameras are also responsible for a 23 per cent reduction in serious crashes resulting in death or injury.

There are eight of the speed traps on the New England Highway between Blandford and the Queensland border at what are regarded as notorious black spots.

Speeding motorists could be escaping fines because only a quarter of speed cameras on Peterborough's roads are fitted with film.

Drivers dreading the postman bringing speeding tickets after being 'caught' by a flashing camera have escaped getting points on their licences.

However, today's news that 75 per cent of the 66 cameras on Cambridgeshire's roads have no film angered the mother of a car crash victim – despite road safety chiefs insisting that cameras slow drivers down whether they are loaded or not....

DSA Comments Previous experience in Britain certainly does seem to indicate that empty cameras which still 'flash' speeding drivers are indeed a deterrent.

Perhaps just as importantly, however, the fact that such empty cameras are common does consummately destroy the bleating complaint that speed cameras are only used to raise money for the Government. Clearly, if that were their purpose, all cameras would have ample film at all times.

RoadSafe welcomes the overall downward trend shown in the detailed analysis of road casualties published by The Department of Transport, however the appalling fact is that in 2004 over 3,200 people were killed on Britain's roads.

The figures show that 3,221 people were killed, some 8 percent less than in 2003. The number of people seriously injured fell to 31,130, also 8 percent lower than in 2003. Total casualties in 2004 were 280,840, 3 percent fewer than in 2003.

Many organisations are working hard to find ways of reducing casualties still further, but all too often drivers simply do not appreciate the real dangers.

With the imminent arrival of winter the figures are a timely reminder that bad weather and longer nights pose a danger they show that about fifty percent of all reported road traffic accidents at night occur in wet conditions; however in the UK it is wet on average only 10% of the nights.

Road Casualties Great Britain 2004 Annual Report contains detailed information on the number of people killed and injured on the roads in Great Britain in 2004, based on information about accidents reported to the police. http://www.dft.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2005_0096

October 13, 2005: 8 Killed and 70 Injured When a Moving Bus Hit a Static One

At least eight workers were killed and 70 others injured in a road accident on a link road on Friday morning....

Police and eyewitnesses said the accident took place when the workers of Hamim Group were disembarking from a hired bus another speeding bus of Nasa Group hit stationary bus from behind [and] left eight workers killed on the spot.

Hearing the news of the accident, local people and agitated workers set fire to the two buses....

The tragic death of collegues sparked a massive protest among the factory workers....

Four people were killed and ten injured when a lorry ploughed through a festive gathering on the road at Ayyanendhal village on the city outskirts.

Police said the mishap occurred last night when a large number of devotees had gathered for the ‘Puratasi Pongal’ for Ayyanar, a popular local deity. The vehicle which lost control rammed into the crowd turning the festive occasion into mourning....

DSA Comments Pedantry perhaps, but vehicles do not lose control, drivers do.

It may seem a trivial point but until passive phraseology such as this is banished from crash reporting, people will still be encouraged to think of crashes as being mere 'accidents' when in fact more than 90 per cent of all crashes and the resultant deaths, worldwide, are caused by human error.

Flashy new cars may have improved on safety for the parents in the front seat, but fewer improvements have been made for the child who may be sitting in the back seat, researchers report.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in the U.S. during 2002, there were 44,065 deaths due to motor vehicle crashes and that crashes were the leading cause of death for ages three to 33 years.

New safety features such as crumple zones, collapsible steering columns, new seat belts, and airbags have been installed. But University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers have found that those safety measures implemented in newer cars favored the driver rather than those in the backseat.

“It is five times more common for the child to do worse than the driver in crashes in new models of cars than older,” says Flaura K. Winston, MD, PhD, director of TraumaLink, an injury research center in Philadelphia. Winston is also an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania. She spoke at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition....

This study points to the need of improved safety for rear seat passengers, which isn’t coming along as fast as safety improvements for those in the front seat....

October 13, 2005: AAA & National Fire Protection Association Issue Consumer Advisory on Vehicle Fires

“In 2004, highway vehicle fires caused more deaths than apartment fires,” said NFPA President James M. Shannon. “The public needs to be more aware of this serious fire safety issue and take measures to lessen the risk of an incident.”

AAA President Robert L. Darbelnet said, “The size and seriousness of the vehicle fire problem in the United States is prompting AAA to advise all motorists to be alert to vehicle maintenance issues that can cause fires, and to know what actions they should take if their vehicle is involved in a fire.”

Darbelnet added, “Although drivers may believe fires occur mostly from collisions, this is not true. Many more are caused by failed vehicle components that could have been maintained or repaired prior to causing or accelerating a fire. For this reason, NFPA and AAA are urging all vehicle owners to arrange for a comprehensive maintenance inspection of their vehicles this fall, if they have not had one performed in the past 12 months.”

Vehicle owners and the technicians who inspect their vehicles need to be especially alert to damaged wiring and loose electrical connections, worn or blistered fluid lines and leaking connections, severely worn brake components, and damaged heat shields, especially those protecting catalytic converters, exhaust manifolds and other high temperature heat sources....

and GLOBAL October 12, 2005: Distracted Driving -- Overview and Guidelines

The subject of distracted driving, perhaps surprisingly, leaves experts in various fields debating precisely what it is!

Indeed, at the first International Conference on Distracted Driving (Toronto, October 2005) a significant proportion of the three-day-event was devoted to exactly this question. For example, researchers had one viewpoint, police officers another, and presumably legislators or educators might lean towards other definitions.

If safety is to be more important than semantics, however, it is perhaps best to take a ‘broad brush’ approach to the subject....

The American Automobile Association is pushing for tougher laws for teen drivers. There's a proposal to limit the number of teen passengers in a vehicle driven by someone under 18.

"When you see four, five or six kids packed in one automobile, then it becomes a major problem," said State Representative Bob Allen of Schuylkill County.

A proposed law in Harrisburg would ban a driver under 18 from having more than one other teenager as a passenger. Immediate family members would not be included.

The new proposal takes a current law one step further. The current law limits the number of passengers in a car driven by a teen driver to the number of seat belts in the vehicle....

"I like driving with a lot of people. It keeps me...I just like having people in the car. I at least have one person," said Rochelle Bulino of Saint Clair.

"I wouldn't want them to pass the law because I would like to have people in the car with me," agreed Nicole Cobely, also of Saint Clair....

Thirty-four other states have passenger restriction laws. There is no word on if or when Pennsylvania will.

DSA Comments International experience and research shows that the current Pennsylvania law limiting young passengers for teen drivers to the number of seat belts in the vehicle is both inadequate and deadly.

Opinions of teen drivers against proposed safety legislation -- as with Rochelle Bulino and Nicole Cobely, above -- serve only to highlight teenagers' blissful ignorance. Quite clearly young people need to learn to respect the responsibility they should show, as drivers, rather than worry about the effects any relevant restrictions may have, in this context, on their inappropriate social lives.

A minivan crammed with 16 people rolled over in southeastern Utah, killing two passengers, the Utah Highway Patrol said.

The van was ferrying immigrant workers Tuesday from Phoenix to Denver, Highway Patrol Sgt. Wade Breur said. Some admitted being in the country illegally.

The driver, a 17-year-old, left the scene and was found walking along the road about a mile from the accident, Breur said. He was taken to a juvenile detention facility and was expected to be turned over to immigration officials Wednesday.

A poodle which can walk on its hind legs has been honoured by Japanese police for its efforts to promote road safety.

Pluto walked 20 metres on his hind legs over a pedestrian crossing, wearing a sash bearing the words ‘traffic safety’ during a national road safety campaign.

Impressed passers-by put the four-year-old poodle up for an award for educating them on the importance of road safety, reports Mainichi Daily News. The dog walked into the police station at Ise on its hind legs to receive a prize of some dog food from Chief Etsujiro Kurachi.

October 12, 2005: Presentations of Wreaths Mark Child Road Deaths and Start of Safekids Campaign

Wreaths commemorating the lives of children killed as pedestrians in New Zealand will be presented to mayors at special launches in nine communities to mark the start of the national Safekids Campaign on Friday October 14.

The Campaign aims to raise awareness of the issue of child pedestrian injury, and its prevention. During the launch events mayors will be presented with the wreaths, and black cards that outline New Zealand's child pedestrian injury problem. Yellow cards with suggestions on ways councils can help reduce injuries will also be presented....

"This year's campaign will focus on ways we, as adults, can help reduce child pedestrian injury; as drivers, parents, school representatives and local government employees and politicians. Police and Land Transport are doing really well at educating children about pedestrian safety - but we need to keep educating adults."

Secondary teachers are questioning how a proposed driver education programme would fit into the curriculum.

The Automobile Association is calling for driver safety classes to be compulsory for Year 10 to 13 students.

PPTA President Debbie Te Whaiti says the AA probably has ideas about where the programme would fit into the curriculum, but she says in many schools it is hard for the curriculum to get full coverage.

She says before adding yet another subject it needs to be decided what would be taken out.

It was the "accident" no one wanted to happen but the one for which NYP emergency services are now prepared. Sunday, police, SA Ambulance and CFS personnel took part in a realistic mock accident near Paskeville, where a petrol tanker and vehicle had "collided", "trapping" two victims in the car.

A specially designed training tanker, filled with coloured water ("petrol"), provided a dramatic element to the proceedings as crews swung into action.

The exercise was designed to test the responses of the emergency services crews; a fuel tanker was included, given the large number that travel local roads....

October 11, 2005: Road Conditions Raise Fears for Fans Attending Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix [DSA]

The Motorcycle Riders' Association has slammed the condition of the Bass Coast Highway in the lead-up to this weekend's Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

MRA president Dale Maggs says roadwork taking place on the highway has made it unsafe for the 40,000 motorcyclists he expects will ride to Phillip Island this week for the event, which opens to the public on Friday....

Mr Maggs says concrete barriers - particularly unsafe for motorcyclists - have been used in two sections [of roadworks] to merge traffic just after a bend, with little signage to warn motorists.

"The first (barrier) forces motorists from the right-hand side of the road to the left and then as you come around the bend they force you into the other side of the lane, right on the apex of the bend," he said....

VicRoads eastern region manager David Shelton said the roadwork was part of a long-term multimillion-dollar project aimed at improving safety. He said the works began late last year and were due to be completed in mid-2006.

"VicRoads has been working with the Grand Prix Corporation and Victoria Police since May to deliver effective traffic management and appropriate safety measures on the Bass Coast Highway and into Phillip Island," Mr Shelton said.

He said that speed limits along the section of road had been reduced from 100 kmh to 80 kmh for safety reasons.

Mr Maggs had not contacted VicRoads to explain his concerns, Mr Shelton said....

DSA Comments While Dale Maggs may have some very valid points to make on the above issue, it concerns us at DSA that issues like this are commonly not raised until the last minute and, equally commonly, are raised via the press and not through the appropriate authorities.

At that point, one wonders where true concern for safety ends and a lust for mere publicity begins.

The numbers are staggering and sad: 459 teens (between the ages of 15 and 19) died on California highways in 2004, while 37,963 suffered injuries, according to the latest 2004 Statewide Integrated Traffic Safety Records Systems (SWITRS) figures. Nationally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports the number of teen traffic fatalities in 2003 was nearly 6,500.

Across New York state, the number of drivers ticketed for using cell phones is increasing steadily and sharply. But that doesn't seem to be stopping people from talking while driving.

"It is probably one of most flagrantly violated sections of the law, after speeding," said Capt. Thomas Argetsinger of the Chemung County Sheriff's Department. "I don't think the general public takes it seriously."...

Citations for cell-phone violations are up all over the state, according to figures released recently by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Statewide numbers show that since the law was first enacted in December 2001, tickets for using phones while driving have steadily increased. In 2002, the first full year, 81,323 citations were handed out. That number grew to 142,425 in 2003 and 212,242 in 2004.

As of July, 115,304 tickets had been written. In all, that's more than half a million tickets for cell-phone use....

Although some people may feel that cell-phone laws are difficult to enforce, Corning Police Lt. Jim Allard disagrees.

"We don't have to prove (violators) were speaking or receiving," he said. "If you're seen holding a cell phone to your ear, we can presume you were making a call."...

Each year more than 42,000 people die in traffic accidents in America. Those that patrol the streets say there is one common thread between all deadly traffic accidents.

[Trooper] Larry Coggins, Jr.: "Every single vehicle crash that we investigate where someone is seriously hurt they're left with life long injuries or they're killed, every single one of them is the result of a poor driving habit. Whether it’s failure to yield, driving too fast, not wearing a seatbelt, you name it."

We caught up to Trooper Coggins and about a half dozen other Florida Highway Patrol Trooper as they performed a random safety check near Mango, Florida.

Troopers briefly stop motorist checking to make sure they all the safety features on their vehicles are in working order. They check the horn, hazards, tail lights and they make sure each driver has a valid driver license....

As part of the Brakes on Fatalities campaign, October 10, 2005 has been dedicated to lowering the number of deaths on the road....

At the request of the Florida Governor Jeb Bush the Florida Highway Patrol holds a random safety check somewhere in the state every day.

DSA Comments Random safety checks have been used to very good effect in many countries yet appear to be extremely rare in the U.S.A.

We congratulate Governor Bush and the Florida Highway Patrol for such a worthwhile initiative.

World Health Organisation (WHO) data has revealed that [within India] the largest number of road accidents are reported in Uttar Pradesh after Tamilnadu. The chief causes being breaching of speed limit, rash driving, distraction especially mobile phones during days and alcohol at night.

This was revealed at an awareness workshop organised by the Health Promotion Cell..., Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute Of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) on Saturday.

The workshop was part of an awareness campaign on Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) started by department under a WHO-aided project called 'developing SGPGIMS as a health promoting unit'. The chief guest on the occasion was inspector general of police, Lucknow zone, OP Tripathi who said that certain 'Es' are a must to avoid RTA.

The first E stands for 'education' which means imparting knowledge on driving discipline and rules. Second is engineering which includes upkeep of vehicles and enforcement of law....

DSA Comments We suspect a typographical error in the final sentence, above, as the 'engineering' also involves the design and maintenance of roads, and the 'enforcement' mentioned is in fact the third of the 'E's.

October 6, 2005: Flashing Cones and Convoy Escorts to Help Motorists Safely Through Roadworks

Flashing cones and new types of convoys to escort drivers safely as they approach roadworks are being introduced by the Highways Agency as part of a wider initiative to make roads safer for workers and drivers.

The flashing cones, which have just been authorised by the Department for Transport for use on the Highways Agency roads, and the new convoys, known as controlled convoy working, currently under trial, are major parts of the Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 8. The manual, which gives guidance on which equipment to use on the roads, has just been passed to the road industry for consultation....

This Thanksgiving Day Weekend, the Ontario Provincial Police will join police services from across Canada for Operation IMPACT. Promoted by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, this will mark the fifteenth year for this National program which raises public awareness regarding issues of public safety on our roadways.

The program will run between noon local time on Friday, October 7th through until midnight local time, Monday, October 10th.

Operation IMPACT supports Canada’s Road Safety Vision 2010, which is a plan to make Canada’s roads the safest in the world by 2010. This year, police will focus on impaired driving, use of occupant restraints and intersection related offences. O.P.P. members from Kenora to Lancaster, and from Leamington to Moosenee, and everywhere in between, will be highly visible, looking for motorists who continue to practice high risk driving habits. There will be no tolerance for violators....

DSA Comments While Canada really would have to "pull out all the stops" to become the "safest roads" country by 2010, who cares?

It is surely the act of aiming for such targets and achieving significant cuts in the number of deaths that is most important, and with that we wish them great good fortune and maximum success.

Speeding drivers are set to be offered reduced fines if they agree to take a speed awareness course. The course, which has been unveiled by Britain's Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), will cost £60 and by taking it motorists will escape three points on their licence.

To qualify, a driver could only break the speed limit by 10 per cent plus 6mph – e.g., 39mph in a 30mph limit. The course would not be available to anyone who speeds [more excessively than that].

Father-of-one and businessman Jon Waller considers himself to be a law-abiding citizen, but, like thousands of other motorists, he has broken the law.

Not just once, but five times in the past six years – and three of those occasions were in the past year....

"On none of the occasions when I was caught speeding was I driving excessively fast, and on one occasion I was only rushing because I was late to pick my daughter Jodie (8) from school.

"On another occasion, I was doing about 46mph in a 40mph zone, which I don't think is really breaking the law, and I think the punishment far outweighs the crime....

[Pc Mick McCready, casualty reduction officer for Cambridgeshire police] said: "Unfortunately when people are involved in a crash, the faster they are going the greater chance there is of them or others being injured. Inappropriate speed causes most crashes.

"Safety cameras are not just a way of raising revenue. The sites are well advertised, the cameras are bright yellow, and they are only placed at sites where people have been killed or seriously injured. All forces have been set Government targets to reduce the number of fatalities and the number of people seriously injured on roads by 2010 and no one can argue that the cameras do not work in slowing drivers down at these hotspots.

"Some people think if they are only a few miles over the speed limit that it doesn't do any harm.

"But you try telling that to a person whose relative has been killed in a 30mph zone and the driver was doing 40mph...."

DSA Comments It is hard to grasp how thoughtless some drivers can be, over the issue of speeding.

Mr Waller says "On one occasion I was only rushing because I was late to pick [up] my daughter Jodie (8) from school."

Is it really too much to expect that parents -- above all others -- will consider that the safety of children is paramount, especially at school starting and finishing times?

What if you had hit somebody else's child, Mr Waller? Or, God forbid, what if Jodie were hit by somebody doing 15 per cent over the speed limit (such as 46mph in a 40 limit)? Would you tell THAT driver that it was okay because it wasn't really speeding?

And perhaps just setting off earlier every day to make sure that you were never late collecting your daughter from school might be a better plan, too.

To refer to your own comments once more, Mr Waller, perhaps you should try telling the parent of a child who has been killed by a speeder that "the punishment [for speeding] far outweighs the crime". I think most people can at least partially imagine the response you might get.

So no, Mr Waller, if you have been caught speeding three times in one year, you are not the law-abiding citizen that the article suggests. You are a dangerous and selfishly thoughtless driver.

October 6, 2005: 'When Drunk Driving Deterrence Becomes Neo-Prohibition' [and Fox News talks BS - DSA]

This fall Mothers Against Drunk Driving marks its 25th anniversary. The organization certainly has much to celebrate: Deaths from drunk driving are down more than 35 percent since the early 1980s. We no longer chuckle at the bumbling drunk who can barely get his key into the ignition — we scorn him. Hopefully, we arrest him, too.

Unfortunately, MADD has come to outlive and outgrow its original mission. By the mid-1990s, deaths from drunk driving began to level off, after 15 years of progress. The sensible conclusion to draw from this was that the occasional drunk driver had all but been eradicated. MADD's successes had boiled the problem down to a small group of hard-core alcoholics....

MADD also seemed to expand its mission to one of discouraging the consumption of alcohol in general — what critics call "neo-prohibition."...

DSA Comments And there we were, laboring under the misconception that Fox News was a responsible organization!

a) The reduction of drunk driving is actually more complex than their simplistic condemnation of MADD suggests;

b) If not all of the 50 states had reduced the limit to 0.08 BAC, then the remaining 0.10 states would have the equal highest BAC limit in the known world (the only other country with such a high limit being Swaziland);

c) Of the 83 countries for which the BAC limit is known, over 70 percent [i.e. 59] of these countries have a limit of 0.05 percent or less, including those countries that have done most to reduce road deaths caused by drinking and driving, such as Sweden and Norway;

d) The enforcement of drunk driving laws and the successful prosecution of drunk drivers in the USA are excessively complex and frequently fail in their aims;

e) Given paragraph (d), above, perhaps Fox News should be examining a legal system that effectively allows over 15,000 Americans to be killed each year specifically due to drunk drivers. That, annually, is about five times the number of people killed in the 9/11 massacre;

The National Transit and Land Transportation Institute (INTTT) will meet with police forces from around the country to find ways to reduce the number of accidents and intensify driver education. INTTT chief Marco Antonio Padovani said that 255 people died in road crashes and 2,171 were injured in 9,308 accidents in September – a month of heavy vehicle traffic as people return home from summer vacation.

Last week alone, INTTT recorded 31 deaths and 297 injured in 990 collisions. Padovani said most of the accidents were caused by excessive speed, drinking and driving and carelessness. He said that the institute is looking at giving stiffer penalties to drivers who break traffic laws. He said that on average, 790 traffic tickets have been issued in September.

Most of the crashes occurred in the states of Lara, Carabobo, Zulia and Anzoatégui, the INTTT chief said. “The road to Cojedes (state) the Autopista Regional del Centro and the Lara – Zulia route have the most accidents,” Padovani said. The INTTT chief also called on local governments to maintain road signs in good condition.

If you think you are seeing things blinking at some signalised junctions in Toa Payoh, don't worry your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. New intelligent road studs and pedestrian signs have been put up to enhancing pedestrian safety, especially for the elderly.

They are part of a three-month trial by the Land Transport Authority, which, if successful, will be implemented islandwide.

Last year, 23 elderly pedestrians were killed in road accidents, so the Land Transport Authority is not taking any chances.

Once a pedestrian presses the button [at the adapted crossings] and the green man comes on, the road studs are activated to warn drivers of pedestrians ahead.

Said Ho Seng Tim, head (road safety and engineering) at LTA, "We spent three months examining how other countries deal with this situation, visiting the US and Japan, and we found that this was effective, so we decided to try it out."

Also under consideration is giving elderly pedestrians more time to cross the road....

DSA Comments What follows may annoy some Americans but that is not our intention.

Despite the risk of causing offence, we feel it is important to state that the USA may be one of the worst possible countries on which to base reviews of pedestrian crossings or pedestrian safety.

Why? Because the vast majority of the USA has extraordinarily bad facilities -- and often none at all -- for pedestrians, and the reason for this is that Americans generally tend to avoid walking.

Because of the long-term reliance on private motor vehicles, even for very short trips, the resultant lack of facilities has created something akin to a self-fulfilling prophecy. People now will not walk because of the lack of sidewalks and pedestrian crossings [crosswalks].

Even in some of the biggest cities, the crossing facilities can be stunningly poor. New York, for example has a very high proportion of 'push the button to walk' crossings which have long since had the wiring disconnected so that the push-button simply does not function, even though there is nothing to inform people of the situation. The reason? Because it would cost too much to remove the pedestrian lights or even to put a 'not in use' sign beside each button.

Frankly, we are therefore baffled as to why the good folk of Singapore chose the USA as a model. Many other countries have vastly more advanced, varied and ubiquitous, pedestrian facilities.

If official bodies in the USA are actually offering advice on pedestrian crossing designs and applications then the comment must surely be: Physician, heal thyself!

The World Bank agreed Wednesday to provide a concessional loan of US$31.73 million to support a road safety project in Vietnam in the 2005-2009 period....

The World Bank has been working with the National Traffic Safety Committee and other Vietnamese agencies to develop the Road Safety Project, which seeks to reduce the rate of road casualties.

[The international bank’s Acting Country Director for Vietnam] Rakesh Nangia said a key element of the project would be the introduction of “safe highway” demonstration corridors at three of the riskiest sections of national highways 1 and 51.

Transport safety in Vietnam has been deteriorating for the past decade. The official fatality rate in 2004 was around 8.3 persons per 10,000 registered vehicles, the injury rate 10.7 persons, and the accident rate 12 cases.

October 5, 2005: Suzuki Assists Traffic Safety Education for Pupils in Central Viet Nam

Viet Nam Suzuki corporation will grant 37,500 USD to help the central provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue implement a traffic safety education project in the 2005-2006 period.

The project, conducted by the Casualty Prevention Asian Fund in Ha Noi, aims to improve Vietnamese pupils’ understanding about traffic safety.

Under the project, pupils from 23 primary schools, together with their parents and teachers in those two provinces, will benefit from lessons on traffic safety with equipment, signs and documents supplied by the Viet Nam Suzuki corporation.

The Viet Nam Suzuki corporation also presented 10,000 helmets to primary schools pupils all over the country.

Auto accidents caused by careless drivers who disregard red traffic lights ruin too many lives every year. State lawmakers were right to double the fines for the offense, an action that sets red-light running as a high priority for roadway law enforcement....

So far, too many others have paid a high price for lawlessness at intersections. Too many motorists are killed, and too many others are injured in collisions caused by irresponsible drivers who decide they are in such a great hurry that they need not obey traffic signals.

Don't think it's that much of a problem? It's estimated that traffic signal-related accidents account for more than half of the motorists that each year end up in Florida trauma care centers.

The steady stream of critically injured motorists from violent intersection crashes has also put a great strain on the state's trauma centers. That's why lawmakers have directed that the additional money raised from the fines, approximately $30 million per year, will be disbursed to the trauma units.

There's much that still can be done to reduce the carnage on the streets. Local traffic engineers could help by synchronizing street lights so frustrated drivers don't feel the need to speed though intersections to beat ill-timed light changes.

Ultimately, though, the solution lies in the hands of hasty drivers across the state. They must understand that their recklessness costs lives, and isn't worth the minutes saved by avoiding one more light change....

Nissan Motor has developed a third-generation Advanced Safety Vehicle (ASV) installed with a vehicle-to-vehicle communications system which alerts the driver to potential collisions in five common driving scenarios.

When using the ASV system, the driver's attention is alerted to potential danger through color-coded displays on an on-board monitor and an audio alert. If the driver releases the brake and continues despite the alert, the warning becomes louder.

The five scenarios handled by the systems inside the ASV, which include a potential head-on collision at a junction with bad visibility and accidents involving motorcycles, account for 60% of all traffic accidents in Japan, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Like other Japanese automakers, Nissan is currently working with the government to develop a standardized vehicle-to-vehicle communications system to reduce traffic accidents further. The company said it is also working on an Intelligent Transport System that communicates with existing road infrastructure to reduce traffic accidents and alleviate congestion.

October 5, 2005: Safety Spot-checks for West Midlands Farmers Driving on the Road

Farmers in Shropshire and Herefordshire may find themselves stopped by the police over the next two months if driving on the roads.

The Health and Safety Executive and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency are working together in an initiative designed to reduce the number of accidents involving agricultural vehicles....

VOSA Examiners will be stopping agricultural vehicles being used on the road and, along with HSE Inspectors, assessing the safety of vehicles and trailers for use both on the road and on the farm.

Both VOSA and HSE Inspectors have the power to prohibit further use of the vehicle if they feel there is a serious risk to other road users or the driver, regardless of the inconvenience this may cause the farmer....

In what is becoming a familiar scene in courtrooms nationwide, information collected from a car’s “black box” was used to convict a motorist of criminal charges.

On June 30, a Peabody, Mass., District Court jury found Michelle Zimmerman guilty of misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in the death of her front seat passenger, Kenneth Carlson. The jury concluded Zimmerman was driving negligently when she skidded out of control and struck a tree on Jan. 4, 2003. Information collected from the event data recorder (EDR), or black box, in her GMC Yukon reported that Zimmerman was driving 58 mph in a 40 mph zone—on an icy road, according to Essex Assistant District Attorney William J. Melkonian. EDR data also showed that Zimmerman never applied the brakes....

October 3, 2005: Look out! Experts confer on cell phone-using drivers and other highway hazards

Put down that cellphone and pay attention a minute: A lot of highway safety experts are in Toronto this week for what's called the International Conference on Distracted Driving, and they'd just as soon you didn't run them down as they try to cross the street.
A hot topic at the meeting is whether the dangers of using a phone at the wheel are overblown or underestimated...

DSA Comments Our editor is currently at this conference (and we are glad to report that nobody has tried to run him down in Toronto!).

Three Indian nationals, including two women, were killed and 39 others injured when a bus carrying Indian pilgrims overturned after being hit by a heavy vehicle in Nepal's Dhading district, 120 km west of capital Kathmandu.

The ill-fated bus with 42 Indian passengers was heading to Kathmandu from Birgunj in southern Nepal when it overturned in Baireni area of Dhading district after it was hit by a loader -- a heavy vehicle belonging to local road construction department -- last evening, an army official said....

The bus passengers were heading to Kathmandu after visiting Manakamana Temple in Gorkha district.

When you're on the highway, driving at 65 mph, does it seem as if all the traffic is passing you?

Actually, most of it probably is. According to state Department of Transportation readings taken this year, the average traffic speed at several points on state highways is over the speed limit.

State lawmakers are considering lowering the speed limit in response to the rise in gas prices. If they do, they had better find a way to enforce it. The current speed limit is being flouted at will....

Young drivers are greatly over-represented in overall road safety fatalities. While overall road fatalities are decreasing

gradually in most OECD countries, young driver fatalities remain particularly high. At the same time, overall fatalities

are increasing in a number of ECMT countries particularly in Eastern Europe -- and likely young driver fatalities as well.

Research indicates that levels of young driver fatalities will need to be significantly reduced if the fatality reduction targets

At their Ministerial session in 2002, the European Conference of Ministers of Transport set a -50% road safety fatality target for 2012 and more recently OECD and ECMT Transport Ministers approved a new Joint OECD/ECMT Transport Research Centre project on “Achieving Ambitious Road Safety Targets”. This project, which began in 2005, is focussing on research that can assist high level decision making on road safety measures and contribute to progress towards the ECMT and national road safety targets.

The working group involved is undertaking an in-depth analysis of road safety performance in OECD/ECMT countries, including an assessment of recent road safety measures and emerging road safety issues. The study will build on other current work (e.g. Speed Management, Young Drivers). It is also researching the areas most resistant to fatality reductions in identifying the innovative approaches that will be needed in the future.

Analysis undertaken to date indicates that, in many cases, simply continuing current strategies will not be sufficient to achieve the targets that have been set. The study will therefore be drawing research-based conclusions on the best future approaches to achieving the further reductions in fatalities required, as well as on funding and resource allocation matters important to achieving successful road safety outcomes.

The JTRC project work is being undertaken in consultation with the ECMT's Road Safety Group which reports annually to Ministers on progress towards the safety targets set. The project's key findings and conclusions will be available for discussion by Transport Ministers at their Dublin meeting, in May 2006.

DSA Comments Interestingly, however, it may be added that some regions in Europe are already very close to achieving the 40-50 per cent, target reductions in deaths and serious injuries, and even though the need for further research-based guidelines is clear, this surely shows the value of setting significant targets in the first place.