Cell phones shouldn't be able to work in moving cars, experts say. The only sure-fire way to keep drivers from dialing or texting when they're… (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles…) Thousands of people die in car crashes each year because drivers were too distracted by their cellphones to pay attention to the road. A pair of researchers from West Virginia University have a radical proposal for reducing that death toll – equip cars with devices that make it impossible to send a text message, check your favorite traffic app or dial home while the car is in motion. “Simply stated, handheld portable devices must be rendered unoperable whenever the automobile is in motion or when the transmission shaft lever is in forward or reverse gear,” they wrote in a Viewpoint essay in Wednesday’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Assn. “Automobile and cell phone equipment manufacturers have the engineering capabilities to implement these safeguards and they should be required to do so.”
Sound extreme? Consider the health costs of distracted driving: Officials Urge L.A. County Drivers to Share Lanes With Bicyclists - Culver City, CA Patch. A Metro bike safety campaign message calls out to drivers to share the road. Culver City Councilmember (and bike aficionado) Meghan Sahli-Wells has nothing but praise for the campaign. The alliance between L.A.'s bicyclists and Metro buses strengthened Monday with a clear message: bike riders are not confined to the far right of the street. Motorists, take note. Metro announced the launch of a new campaign called "Every Lane is a Bike Lane" to increase bicycle safety in L.A. County. The campaign runs between March and May, leading up to Bike Week L.A., which will be held May 13-17. The agency's extensive campaign will help raise motorist awareness that cyclists have equal rights and responsibilities to the road per the California Vehicle Code. Section 21200 of the state code stipulates that bicycle riders may use any lane in the street since they have the same rights and must follow the same laws as car drivers.
"It's clear I'm not the only one who needed educating," she added. Locals begged city to add safety measures to Queens strip where teen was killed. Residents and community leaders in Long Island City, Queens, had begged the city for years to institute traffic-safety measures on the busy street where a teenage boy was struck and killed by a minivan this week, officials said yesterday.
It’s unclear whether the improvements requested could have saved the life of 16-year-old Tenzin Drudak, who was run down by an allegedly distracted driver, but community members say his death highlights dangerous conditions on Thomson Avenue. “It’s impossible to spend any amount of time here and not think it could be safer,” said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer. The cluttered stretch — which features several schools, a public library and the busy 33rd Street subway station — feeds into the Queensboro Bridge.
Community Board 2 and Van Bramer had asked the city to consider safety improvements. The students claimed the signals didn’t give enough time for pedestrians to cross, but the city in response said that timing was adequate. Trucking Industry Says Fatigue Rule Based on Bad Data. The largest U.S. trucking group asked federal appeals judges to throw out limits on driving time that would cost the industry $470 million a year, arguing the Obama administration exaggerated data on fatigue-caused crashes. American Trucking Associations Inc., during arguments today in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, accused the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of using research that favored the agency’s preferred outcome while setting driver- fatigue rules that it claims would add substantial costs without any safety benefits.
“They inflated the benefits of the new rule by using out- of-date crash information,” Erika Jones, a lawyer for the trucking association, said. The rules, set to take effect July 1, will reduce flexibility and may undermine safety by forcing drivers onto the road during rush hour, according to the trucking association, based in Arlington, Virginia. The three judges considering the case asked few questions during the 80-minute argument. Is I-91 rotary any safer? | The Recorder. GREENFIELD — It has been about three years since upgrades to the Interstate 91 rotary on the Mohawk Trail were completed, but it is still a little too early to tell if those improvements are making a significant difference in how many accidents occur there each year. According to an early study done by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments, the number of accidents there each year has been slightly reduced.
In the study done the year after improvements were completed, the FRCOG reported that the average number of crashes on the rotary between 2005 and 2007 was 13, and the first year after improvements were made there were eight crashes there. Stacy Metzger, transportation engineer for the FRCOG, said crash data is limited, because there is no data for “fender benders.” So, the data only comes from crashes that involved $1,000 worth of damage or injuries or fatalities. Metzger said that study will begin sometime between October of this year and September of 2014. Greenfield Police Lt. Teen driver's license laws curb fatalities, but they're no cure-all. March 17, 2013|By Lisa Black, Duaa Eldeib and Andrew Grimm, Chicago Tribune reporters The statistics are sobering: Teenagers are more likely to die behind the wheel than adults, and the risk of a fatal crash increases with every additional teen in the car. That was the motivation behind Illinois' 2008 graduated license law, which is credited with helping save hundreds of lives since then by easing teens into full driving privileges.
In fact, the number of teen motor vehicle deaths in Illinois dropped nearly 60 percent from 2007 to 2012. But the crash that killed four Will County youths Monday offered a bleak reminder of the challenges in enforcing the law. Police say they can't tell by sight if the law — which limits young passengers to one for teens who have been licensed less than a year or are under 18 — has been broken.
Police are still investigating what caused the car to plunge off a rural bridge and sink into a swollen creek, drowning its four occupants. Campaign targets DUI, seat belt use. #mapcanvas { display: inline-block; float: right; height: 190px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: auto; margin-top: auto; width: 190px; DOVER — Don’t drink and drive, obviously, and remember to buckle up at all times when behind the wheel or riding along in a passenger’s seat.Those are the messages from the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, which is currently making a push for vehicle safety through enforcement and reminders.Today, 13 municipal police departments throughout the state will conduct DUI checkpoints throughout the state in anticipation of St.
Patrick’s Day festivities across the state. Last year 17 DUI arrests were made during the same period this weekend. “Delaware law enforcement will be conducting DUI checkpoints and patrols during the St. Patrick’s holiday and arresting those who choose to drink and drive,” said Jana Simpler, Director of the Office of Highway Safety. “In Delaware when you drink and drive, you lose.” NH State police hope to ramp up bus inspections | New Hampshire NEWS07. Distracted driving? There’s an app for that | 2013-03-18. Every day in the U.S., 9 people are killed and more than 1,060 are injured in crashes that involve distracted driving, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Using a cell phone, texting, and eating are all forms of distracted driving, but so are in-vehicle technologies such as navigation systems. The CDC says texting while driving is the most dangerous, because it combines all three types of distraction: visual; manual and cognitive ( taking your mind off what you are doing).
In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010. An additional, 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver in 2011, compared to 416,000 people injured in 2010. In 2010, nearly one in five crashes (18%) in which someone was injured involved distracted driving. Inexperienced drivers under the age of 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.
We’re the worst Legal efforts. Maryland court to consider whether bars should be liable in drunk-driving crashes. From left, the Rev. William Warr, his wife Angela and granddaughter… (Steve Ruark / BALTIMORE…) March 11, 2013|By Andrea F. Siegel, The Baltimore Sun Michael D. Ten-year-old Jazimen Warr had nestled on her sister's shoulder, the two children sleeping in the back of the family's Cherokee on the drive to a relative's home in Bowie. That was Aug. 21, 2008. Now, that crash on Interstate 270 could upend Maryland law and allow victims of drunken-driving crashes and their families to sue bars and restaurants if their inebriated patrons cause deaths and injuries. Jazimen's grandparents are scheduled to ask Maryland's highest court Tuesday to revive their $3.25 million lawsuit against the Dogfish Head Alehouse, where they allege Eaton, of Fairfax, Va., ran up his tab, some of which may have included drinks for other patrons.
"If you're going to load up somebody with liquor, at least be responsible so they don't get behind the wheel," said the Rev. Arizona highlights ‘Move Over’ law in March | Crime | Downtown Tucson News. Tests Expose Weakness of Trucks' Underride Guards - National News. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety(ARLINGTON, Va.) -- What are your chances of surviving a rear-end collision with a modern semi-trailer truck if you're driving a passenger car? Not bad, according to new tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which show that trucks do a good job of keeping vehicles from sliding underneath them. But the same can't be said if you hit only a small portion of the truck's rear.
In that scenario, the majority of semi-trailers fail to prevent underride. Most trucks are required to have steel bars -- known as underride guards -- hanging from the back to prevent passenger cars from sliding underneath them. IIHS engineers put semi-trailers from the eight largest manufacturers to the test to see just how well they work. "All eight trailers prevented underride in the full overlap crash test at 35 miles per hour.
The one exception was a semi-trailer from Canadian manufacturer Manac. Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio. Las Olas Boulevard traffic signals have been tweaked for the next 30 days to allow an all-red cycle, when only pedestrians can move. March 13, 2013|By Michael Turnbell, Sun Sentinel FORT LAUDERDALE — Signals at two intersections on Las Olas Boulevard have been tweaked for the next 30 days to allow an all-red cycle, when only pedestrians can move. The changes went into effect for the first time Wednesday at Las Olas and Southeast Eighth and Ninth avenues. It's a busy stretch where the right-of-way between drivers and those strolling the street is sometimes determined by a test of wills. Bright yellow signs advise drivers that when the lights turn red, vehicles in all directions must stop.
It's the first such test in Broward County. "It seems like a good idea. You should be able to step off the curb when you've got a walk signal without worrying somebody is going to turn into you," said George Ellis, vacationing from Toronto. If it succeeds, the all-red cycle will become permanent and used at other intersections with a high number of pedestrians. Drivers can expect some delays at rush hour because of the new cycle. Graffiti on traffic signs costing taxpayers $30,000 | Top Video. YAKIMA, Wash. -- It seems like you see it all over the place. Graffiti and gang markings cover fences, homes and buildings around Yakima. There are also plenty of traffic signs getting tagged. They could have the biggest effect on your safety. When graffiti is on a sidewalk or a shed, it's ugly. But, when it's on city property like street signs, it becomes a safety hazard.
"You want to read 'stop,' and a lot of people, if they don't see stop, may go right though it," said taxpayer, Keenan Failing. After several rounds of budget cuts, Streets and Traffic Director Joe Rosenlund says there are only two people in Yakima dealing with traffic signs. "We just don't have the manpower to get out there and respond immediately to most graffiti concerns," said Rosenlund. Rosenlund says they keep a list of the damaged signs. While Rosenlund's staff always tries to clean the signs first, sometimes replacing them is the only option. If your corner sign is tagged, Rosenlund says call it in.