|
|||||||||
|
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
We recommend that you repeatedly use your 'Page Down' key to quickly scroll through this often-huge page, so that you may select the countries or topics that interest you.
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.
|
|||||||||
January 2006
January 2006: Following a brief spate of comments we have received, via 'Contact Us' e-mail (which does not provide the sender's e-mail address unless that person deliberately includes it), would readers please note that under no circumstances will we publish anonymous comments, whether or not those comments are intended to challenge anything already published on this website. Only well-written, factual reports, with reliable and preferably citable support information, will be used, and we also do require that contributors provide us with their e-mail address in order that we may ask questions about the information supplied. Correctly supported, well-reported comments from our readers are very welcome indeed, but anonymous messages will be deleted. Eddie Wren
Eighteen passengers were killed and twenty-four others injured on Tuesday when their bus slammed into a truck in the southern Egyptian city of Qena, state media reported. Egyptian official news agency MENA quoted a local official as saying that the bus's high speed was to blame for the accident. The bus collided with the truck and plunged into el-Ramadi canal in a village in Qena, a Nile city 640 kilometers south of Cairo, MENA said. It was the second major road accident on Tuesday. A tour bus overturned on a highway in southern Egypt early Tuesday, killing 14 tourists from Hong Kong and injuring 30 other people, some seriously, Egyptian officials said. The bus was on the outskirts of the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, heading toward the ancient historic city of Luxor to the southwest, when it rolled over while speeding around a bend in the highway, according to MENA. [Source: China View] Related story...
Fourteen tourists from Hong Kong were killed and thirty injured early Tuesday after their speeding bus overturned on a highway in southeast Egypt, government and health officials said. The crash, in which an Egyptian tour guide was also injured, is the second major bus accident in Egypt in a month following the deaths of six Australians on January 10. A statement released by the Egyptian Interior Ministry said that the driver of the bus, which was carrying 44 tourists from the Red Sea resort of Hurghada to the southern city of Luxor, was exceeding the speed limit prior to the fatal crash.... Full story, from Monsters and Critics [SMc] Related story...
January 10, 2006 Fatal Coach Crash in Egypt -- click here __________________________
RFA junior Matt Wanner is one of many students who values each and every friendship he has. But it scares him to think he could lose one of those friends in a blink of an eye. "It scares me because in all reality they could be gone tomorrow and that would be a huge effect on a lot of people's lives here. It's big, " said Wanner. As part of the Erie Insurance Group's Lookin' Out program, agent Debbie Adamo played the role of the grim reaper in RFA's first ever "White Out Day." Every thirty minutes, selected students were taken out of class. Their faces were painted white to represent a vehicle fatality. They were then forbidden to speak to their classmates for the rest of the day. "The program is geared toward promoting safe driving for teenagers not just alcohol and drug use but loud music, cell phone usage, any type of distractions, seat belt usage. Promoting safe driving habits overall," said Adamo.... Full story, from News 10 Now [SMc]
__________________________
Col. W. Fletcher Clay, Commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, today announced a significant reduction in the number of persons killed in traffic collisions investigated by the Highway Patrol. Fatalities were down 6.6 percent from 1,247 in 2004 to 1,165 in 2005. “We are really encouraged that traffic fatalities dropped last year,” Clay said. “We believe the implementation of Troop Stat and the hard work of our Troopers contributed to the drop.” The Patrol implemented Troop Stat in January 2005. Troop Stat is a management philosophy that requires the Patrol’s eight troops to review traffic collision data and respond to any identified collision trends. The overall number of traffic collisions, which included both fatal and nonfatal collisions, was down 3.4 percent, from 129,495 in 2004 to 125,020 last year. Full story, from The Pilot Newspaper __________________________
ADVANCED DRIVING NEWS January
31, 2006 Are
we raising a new generation of angry drivers? [Source: Easier] www.easier.com/ __________________________
Police have launched a new video playback scheme in their effort to tackle bad driving in the capital. Officers using special monitoring gear have begun stopping motorists during the rush hours across Edinburgh. The four-week crackdown, which started on Monday, has been instigated by Lothian and Borders Police in a bid to reduce casualties on the city's roads. Extra officers have been drafted in to patrol in marked vehicles between 0700-0930 and 1600-1800. The move comes after figures showed a dramatic rise in serious road injuries and deaths.... Full story, from BBC News [SMc] __________________________
The number of road deaths in Scotland has fallen to its second lowest level for 50 years, according to new figures. In total there were 306 deaths in 2004, 8% fewer than in 2003 and the lowest figure for more than 50 years. Of these deaths, 12 were children, five fewer than the previous year. A further 371 children were injured, the Road Accidents Scotland 2004 report said. This means 55% fewer children were killed or seriously injured in 2004 compared with the 1994-98 averages. The figure fulfils the Scottish Executive target of halving the number of children killed and seriously injured on the roads by 2010.... Full story, from the Scotsman [SMc] __________________________
Nearly 40 percent of young drivers who responded to a radio station survey said they had driven while under the influence of drugs – and more than half of them admitted their driving was adversely affected. Almost 20 percent of the online respondents to London radio station Kiss 100FM's survey confessed to being "very impaired". The survey of nearly 2000 young drivers was used to launch an awareness campaign, supported by London's Metropolitan police, highlighting the risks of driving after using drugs. Insurers believe the problem is out of control and forcing insurance companies and police to tackle it head-on. Insurance company executive Tony Allen said: "People may think they can get away more easily with driving drugged than drunk but that's a myth. "It's prosecuted under the same law as drunk driving – driving while under the influence of drink or drugs – a double whammy because taking drugs is illegal in itself. So you can be prosecuted for driving while under the influence as well as possession. "We take all factors into consideration when assessing people for insurance and will treat each case individually. Those convicted of drugged driving are no different." There has been an eight percent reduction in the overall number of deaths on UK roads in the last few years but the mortality rate for young drivers has risen by 12 percent. Full story, from Motoring [SMc] __________________________
A head-on collision or a road accident, and who is to blame? It is always the other person. Be that as it may, the statistics for road traffic accidents (RTA) are mind-boggling. As per the World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention 2004, RTAs kill 1.2 million people a year or an average 3,242 people every day worldwide. The road crashes injure or disable between 20 and 50 million people a year. With the toll growing every year, road mishaps currently rank 11th as the leading cause of death and account for 2.1% of all deaths globally.... Launched in 2004, Ek Asha Road Suraksha focusses on the role of the individual road user. It promotes defensive driving and safety awareness. In the past, Shell has organised workshops tapping different driving communities such as women scooterists, police drivers, two-wheeler users and even driving school instructors. “With the current workshop, we hope to leverage NGO networks in the service of road safety awareness,” adds Shailaja Sharma, manager-CSR, Shell India. Also present on the occasion was Chamaiparan Santikarn, regional advisor, Disability, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation, WHO. She has conducted studies on child injuries due to road accidents in Thailand. She says, “In most cases, the victims of road mishaps are innocent. The cure lies in making efforts at an individual level.” Full story, from the Financial Express [SMc] __________________________
The political will to enforce road safety is essential if fatalities are to be reduced, writes Michael McAleer , Motoring Editor. If the prime minister of each of the 25 EU member states were to lose a child in a crash, would the issue of road safety finally get the political attention it deserves? While this recent comment by Finnish MEP and former world rally champion Ari Vatanen to The Irish Times was clearly aimed to be provocative, his point is not lost: road safety policy is at best reactionary. As the number of deaths so far this year rose to 31 and road safety activists aired their frustrations in the media, the Attorney General finally announced this week - six years after it was first proposed - that the Garda could indeed operate a random breath testing system to tackle drink driving. Alongside this, 31 new driving offences that will incur penalty points were added to the four introduced in 2002. At that time the Government proposed to have 69 offences incurring penalty points in place by 2003.... Read the full, important article here (with comments from DSA) [SMc] __________________________
Local authorities should be taking much more of the blame for road accidents and the finger of suspicion must move away from drivers, according to partners of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP). Early this morning (Friday), one of the partners, the AA Motoring Trust, hit out at road authorities by accusing them of getting away with meeting their responsibilities. Paul Watters, the Trust's head of roads and transport policy, attacked the councils for not doing enough to make highways safer, hiding behind the popular belief that an accident is always the fault of the driver. He said: "Just because drivers, who are unfamiliar with a notoriously dangerous road, mistakenly take corners too fast and crash, doesn't mean they deserve to die or be severely injured, particularly if they hit, for instance, a lamp post or road sign that better design would have shielded behind a crash barrier.... Full story, from Transport News Network [SMc] __________________________
Writing in the New Statesman, nef’s Policy Director, Andrew Simms, argues that SUVs are as dangerous to health as tobacco and should be made to carry similar warnings They clog the streets and litter the pages of weekend colour supplements. Sport utility vehicles or SUVs, otherwise known as 4x4s, four-wheel drives and all-terrain wagons, have become badges of middle-class aspiration. They are also dangerous, fabulously polluting and, as part of a general transport problem, set to become, according to the World Health Organisation, one of the world's most common causes of death and disability - ahead of TB, HIV and war. But as the advert for the original British urban crossover car, the Range Rover, puts it, the SUV stands 'above it all'. It's a place to go, say the advertisers, to 'preserve your inner calm'.... At the least, cigarette-style car labelling would help the industry move out of denial. A recent advert for the Chrysler Crossfire invited the reader to 'kiss the sky' with the car. But in an age of global warming, a more honest slogan for a 23mpg vehicle would have been 'rip it apart'. Label up, and let's go. Full opinion piece, from New Economics Foundation [SMc] __________________________
ADVANCED DRIVING NEWS January 27, 2006: Brakes to Make you Slow -- Gears to Make you Go! This week's initiative [in Britain] to offer an advanced driving scheme to "white van man" was welcomed by everybody except, predictably, the people it was aimed at. Nobody likes to be told that possibly they could improve their driving. And when the news broke, White Van Men took to the airwaves from their cabs to protest. They claimed they were being picked on and that there are plenty of other drivers who are equally poor (mini cab drivers, [SUV] owners for example). But despite this initial hostile reaction to Transport Secretary Alistair Darlings initiative, common sense tells us that there is some excellent thinking here.... Read the full story here, from the IAM
[Note: 'Advanced Driving News' is a new addition to DSA's International Road Safety News coverage. As always, readers' feedback is welcome.] __________________________
Officials on Thursday were trying to pinpoint why a semi-trailer crossed into oncoming traffic in a construction zone on Interstate 57, causing a several-vehicle wreck that killed six people, authorities said. Those killed in the accident shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday near Marion included the driver of the southbound semitrailer that swerved out of control, State Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Claffey said. "The information IDOT has was that he was speeding and driving erratically, and that he crossed over and struck two vehicles head-on,'' Claffey said. Illinois State Police Trooper Ray Minor confirmed that a tractor-trailer crossed the grassy median and entered oncoming traffic, causing the accident that included at least two other semi-trailers and a pickup truck.... Full story, from the Chicago Tribune [SMc] __________________________
[DSA have added the above 3 descriptions to cover different national terminology] Two children died in a crash as they rode in their father's truck returning from a fresh produce drop at Warrnambool and Hamilton early yesterday. Police said 11-year-old Amanda Chinitidis and her 14-year-old brother Kirk were thrown through the windscreen of their father's prime-mover when it slammed into another truck parked on the verge of the Western Freeway.... Police are yet to determine if the children were in the truck's sleeper compartment or passenger seats.... Full story, from the Warrnambool Standard, Australia [SMc] __________________________
About 34,000 people were killed in road accidents in Russia in 2005, 1.6% fewer than in the previous year, traffic police department's press service said Wednesday. With a population of about 142.8 million, Russia's road fatalities in 2005 averaged at 238 deaths for every million people. This is more than double the European Union's 2005 average of about 95 road deaths per million people. "Last year, the situation on the roads slightly improved," the press service said. During the year, 1,341 children died in car crashes, 4.6% fewer than in 2004. The number of road accidents caused by drunk driving declined 9.3%, with fatalities down 13%. The police warned that the situation on the Russian roads remained volatile: "The total number of accidents increased by 7.1%, reaching 223,342." Addressing a conference Tuesday on the traffic police department's work in 2005, Viktor Kiryanov, the head of the department, said: "We can say today that the state and the public are now united in their aspiration to improve the situation on the roads." [Source: Ria Novosti] [SMc] __________________________
Six people died, including four Brazilians, and thirty more people were hurt on Tuesday morning when an inter-city bus turned over in southern Peru, local media reported. The accident happened on a curve close to Uchumayo, in the city of Arequipa, 1,200 km south of Lima, when the bus to Nasca, a municipality in Ica department, took the wrong road. The driver lost control when he was going too fast on a narrow curve, leaving the road and turning the bus over. A group of university students from neighboring Brazil were traveling in the bus. The Peruvian university has not yet named the victims of the accident. Marciolio Lana, official spokesman of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said that Brazil had sent a top diplomat to Peru to speed the repatriation of the victims, who had been traveling to the World Social Forum in Caracas. The university had also asked for the Brazilian air force to help repatriate the bodies, he said. [Source: China View] [SMc] __________________________
Seven of a marriage party were killed and 15 others injured critically in a head-on collision between two vehicles at Tarn Taran on Wednesday. All the killed, four of them women, were occupants of a Tata Sumo which was heading towards village Patti for the marriage ceremony, SSP Tarn Taran PS Grewal said. The 15, who were seriously injured, were travelling in another vehicle, he said adding they were hospitalised. [Source: Hindustan Times] [SMc] __________________________
Minister of Transport and Aviation Glenys Hanna Martin on Monday expressed alarm over the high number of traffic fatalities that occurred on Grand Bahama in 2005 and announced initiatives aimed at significantly reducing that number this year. Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Minister Hanna Martin compared the high fatality rate to statistics out of New Providence. She pointed out that there were 23 traffic deaths on Grand Bahama last year and 33 in New Providence. "I think there’s more than three times, maybe four times the population in New Providence," Minister Hanna Martin said. "There are many more vehicles [in New Providence] and yet Grand Bahama has this extremely high alarming rate."... "We want Bahamians to understand that this is not a government issue solely," Minister Hanna Martin said. "This is an issue that involves every single member of the community." According to statistics from a world report on road traffic injury prevention, road crashes are the second leading cause of death globally among young people aged five to 29 and the third leading cause of death among people aged 30 to 44. Full story, from The Bahama Journal [SMc] __________________________
....The Virginia Senate this week voted out Senate Bill 137, which restricts teenagers from using cell phones while driving. It now goes to the House of Delegates. The bill, introduced by Va. Sen. Jay O’Brien (R-39th), was one of three addressing teenage driving.... A third Bill that did not emerge from the Senate committee would have restricted cell phone use by all drivers. “The committee did not like that bill for two reasons,” O’Brien said. “It would have given teens a hands-free exception. And [the committee] objected to applying teen standards to adults as well.” Full story, from the Times Community [SMc]
DSA Comments The committee "objected to applying teen standards to adults”? Teen standards? May we take it, then, that Virginia is unlike the rest of the world and that adults using cell phones never cause crashes and deaths there? Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. __________________________
The state's tough new restrictions on beginning teenage drivers have left many teens and their parents confused. Thinking the law doesn't apply to them, some teens out there are taking people for a ride when they shouldn't be.... If you are younger than 18, and you have had your driver's license for less than one year, you cannot drive after 11 p.m., and you cannot have people younger than 20 in your car with you. Yes, that includes teens who got their licenses in 2005, before the new restrictions became law. You can read about it on the state Department of Motor Vehicles Web site. The first page to check is: www.dmv.ca.gov/teenweb/permit_btn1/permit.htm But there is more detail on: www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/dl_info.htm#cpdlr_012006 .... We have another question: Will law enforcement really pay much attention to this law? Truth is, safety officials say, the real enforcers are the parents. It's no sure thing, but teens generally will be safer, experts say, if their parents set firm expectations and pay close attention to where, when and how their teens drive. Full story, from MotorTrend Magazine [SMc]
DSA Comments On the subject of whether "law enforcement [will] really pay much attention to this law", how can American officers truly and accurately enforce teen driving laws until the USA makes it compulsory to mark the cars of unqualified drivers with 'L' Plates (i.e. 'Learner') or -- more likely in America -- 'S' Plates (for 'Student' driver)? At DSA we know of no other developed country that does not have this requirement, and apart from helping law officers to do their job, such plates also give other drivers fair warning that an inexperienced driver is present. Can anybody give us a genuine argument why the alleged "invasion of privacy" of the teen driver is more important than the additional safety that comes from such measures? For further detail on this topic, click here. Eddie Wren, Executive Director, Drive and Stay Alive, Inc. __________________________
The number of people who died in a traffic accident in Ankara on Monday morning increased to nine. When the driver of a bus lost control, the bus passed to the other lane and hit a shuttle carrying MFA staff. Eight people died on the spot and 12 others were injured. Later another woman who was injured in the accident died at the hospital, increasing the number of casualties to nine. Earlier it was said that four of the injured were in critical condition. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul who arrived on the scene said that the eight persons who died in the accident were members of the Foreign Ministry and expressed his condolences. [Source: The Anatolian Times] [SMc] __________________________
A road accident has killed six people and injured 15 others in
northwest China's Qinghai Province, local traffic police said Sunday.
A bus collided with a tip truck at around 7:30 p.m. Saturday at
a road section six km from the Delingha City, the capital city of the
Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Haixi in southwestern
Qinghai, police said.
The 15 injured people have been hospitalized. The bus was
speeding from Xining, capital of Qinghai, to Delingha when the
collision took place, according to police. Investigation into the
cause of the accident is underway. [Source:
CRI ]
[SMc] __________________________
Seventy-three people were
killed and 536 injured in 403 road accidents January 14-20, a police
official said.
Deputy Commander of Highway
Police?s Traffic Operations Department Colonel Seyyed Hadi Hashemi
also told IRNA the death toll shows an increase compared with the
corresponding figure for December 31-January 7, during which 58 people
were killed and 495 injured.
He said the drivers of 54.1%
of sedans and pickups, 14.4% of motorcycles, 17.9% of lorries, 4.8% of
heavy vehicles and 8.8 % of passersby were to be blamed for the
accidents reported during January 14-20.
The police official further
said 21.6% of these accidents took place due to diversion to the left,
21.74% because of high speed, 18.3% for not observing traffic
regulations and 21.6% over the exhaustion of drivers and sleepiness.
Hashemi noted that 5.16% of accidents are related to other
driving offences. [Source:
Iran
Mania]
[SMc] __________________________
Three people were killed, including a five-year-old boy, and
eight others seriously injured in a freak road accident involving two
trucks, a tractor, a mini van and a motorcycle, on a highway in
Zamboanga del Sur, officials said.
Officials said a 14-wheeler truck rammed a parked military
truck and ran over a motorcycle and hit a mini van before crashing on
three houses on Padap Highway in Labangan on Saturday.
All three passengers of the motorcycle—a couple and their
boy—were killed, while two soldiers and two civilians were injured
in the collision that also destroyed three automatic rifles of the
soldiers. No one was reported hurt or killed inside the houses,
officials said.... Full story, from ABS-CBN News [SMc] __________________________
In many countries, the road death toll has fallen dramatically
with the use of decoy cars.
These cars are used to fool drivers who think they can drive
over the speed limit without being caught.
In Canada, for instance, old cars painted in police colours are
stationed along major highways with a dummy at the wheel.
About two kilometres from the decoys wait the real thing —
highway patrols with their radars and breatherlyser equipment.
A survey found when speeding drivers see the decoy, they slow
down but as soon as they pass it, they start to speed again, only to
drive right into the trap and be caught red-handed.
Since the introduction of decoy cars, so many drivers have been
booked for speeding that most people now willingly stay within the
speed limit; and with it the road death toll has dropped
significantly. The question is, can decoy cars be introduced on our
roads or would it become just another failed strategy.... Full article, from the Fiji Times Online [SMc] __________________________
The death toll in the pilgrims' bus accident today at Ahirant |
and 
January 28, 2006:
January 26, 2006:
January 25, 2006:
January 24, 2006:
