Posts tagged "car accident"

Most California drivers know that using a phone while driving a car is always a risky proposition - everything from texting and checking emails to dialing or reviewing map directions can turn into a fatal distraction.

A recent study looked closer at the human ability to multitask. By comparing two different types of distractions, the researchers concluded that visual multitasking is particularly dangerous. Even more concerning, the research also found that people are surprisingly overconfident in their ability to juggle tasks like driving and texting. This has big implications for roadway safety: distracted driving is a big source of severe accidents.

Like 39 million other Americans, many Californians will be hitting the road in the next few days to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with loved ones. Many drivers might not know that Thanksgiving week is one of the most dangerous times on our highways.

In 2010, 431 people died in fatal traffic accidents on Thanksgiving Day alone - more than any other holiday that year. On average, the Thanksgiving week saw 798 fatal accidents between 2005 and 2010. This is a big increase from the overall average of 748 weekly fatalities for those years.

Drivers should be aware of several factors that can combine to cause motor vehicle accidents.

Exciting action movies usually translate poorly into the real world and illegal drag racing is no exception. After a major Hollywood blockbuster glamorized drag racing in 2001, races began occurring more frequently in American cities, often with destructive consequences. The National Highway Traffic Safety Association reported that drag races killed 153 people between 2001 and 2010.

This month, a criminal prosecution arising from a fatal car accident put drag races back in the news. A mother and her 2-year-old daughter died after a 23-year-old driver slammed into their car. The driver was participating in a drag race at speeds exceeding 85 miles per hour when the crash occurred. His passenger, a 13-year-old boy, also died. The driver will now serve a 45 month prison sentence.

As discussed in the previous post, it may soon be a requirement that car manufacturers install seat belt reminders for rear seat passengers in new cars. What exactly will be required by car manufacturers is yet to be laid out, but it is probably a step in the right direction for safety. Since the 1970s, car manufacturers have been required to install seatbelt reminders for drivers. According to cars.com, a 2010 government study has found that enhanced seat belt reminders lowered driver fatalities by 6 percent.

The new requirements may most reduce teen fatalities. According to cars.com, all ages of backseat passengers buckle up less frequently than front seat passengers and drivers, but a 2008 study found that 20 percent of teens rode in the backseat of vehicles without wearing a seat belt. Not wearing a seat belt significantly increases the risk of injury and death in a car accident. According to cars.com, 56 percent of people aged 16-20 years that were fatally injured in car accidents were not wearing a seat belt.

Congress passed a highway bill this summer that calls for putting seat belt use reminders in new cars for rear seat passengers. Most new cars already have seat belt reminders for the front passengers and the reminders are required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for the car's driver. Now, safety advocates want those reminders in place for backseat passengers in order to reduce fatalities and injuries in car accidents.

According to cars.com, backseat passengers are 44 percent less likely to be fatally injured in a car accident if they are wearing a lap and shoulder belt in a car and 73 percent less likely to be fatally injured if they are wearing a lap and shoulder belt in the backseat of an SUV or van. Backseat passengers are also 40 percent less likely to injure another passenger in the car by becoming a projectile in the event of an accident.

Emergency rooms in California are on notice during the Fourth of July holiday, waiting for burn injuries from fireworks, drownings from boating accidents, pool injuries from parties, or traumatic brain injuries from car accidents.

Car accident and motorcycle accident injuries are expected on the Fourth of July. Many of these accidents are caused by aggressive driving or by a driver impaired by alcohol, which makes these accidents also preventable.

The month of June is National Safety Month. The National Safety Council focuses attention during the third week of June on safe driving. The NSC aims to bring awareness during this week around things people can do to prevent car accidents.

One simple thing that people can do to prevent car and pedestrian accidents is to pledge to put away cell phones while driving. According to estimates by the NSC, a full quarter of all car accidents involve using mobile phones while driving. Distracted drivers can easily cause fatal crashes by taking their eyes off the wheel to text or by not paying as close attention while talking on a handheld cell phone. Motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians are particularly vulnerable to distracted drivers.

It's Work Zone Safety Awareness Week and the U.S. Department of Transportation wants drivers in California and across the country to hear the message: Don't barrel through work zones!

According to the DOT, 576 people were killed in 2010 in work zone car crashes. An additional 37,000 people were injured in car accidents in road construction zones. Of the people killed, 10 to 15 percent were road construction workers, while 85 to 90 percent were drivers and passengers passing through the work zone.

Even though fatal car accidents have been decreasing overall, there are still too many people dying on America's highways in car accidents caused by speeding and aggressive driving. According to a recent piece on "The Car Connection," most of the reduction in fatal car accidents can be attributed to improved safety features in vehicles, rather than improved driving skills or habits by motorists.

The Governors Highway Safety Association says that one-third of all fatal car accidents are caused by speeding. That's 10,530 lives lost in 2010 because a motorist was driving too fast. The GSA wants states to do more to curb dangerous speeding on America's highways in order to further reduce traffic fatalities from speeding-related car accidents.

Car accidents are the number one cause of fatal brain injuries in teens, says a recent report from State Farm Insurance and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Fatal car accidents involving teens have decreased in the past six years, but across the country and in California too many teens are still suffering concussions and traumatic brain injuries in car accidents.

Severe brain injuries are catastrophic injuries that will change a person's life if they survive. The brain is a complex organ and difficult to treat. In addition, everyone responds differently to a brain injury and rehabilitation must be extensive and tailored to the individual in order to be most effective, which is costly.

As discussed in the previous post, Ford is currently developing lane keeping technology in order to try to prevent car accidents caused by a drowsy driver. If a fatigued driver falls asleep and begins to drift across the lines of traffic, the lane keeping technology will sense the drift and try to wake the driver by causing the steering wheel to vibrate. If the driver doesn't manually correct the issue, the car will engage the power steering and correct the vehicle.

Ford has addressed concerns that the technology will not work in all road conditions by expanding the technologies' capabilities. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has other concerns as well. They think more research and testing should be done before releasing the systems to the public. Other people are worried that if drivers have these systems available they will rely on them too much and take bigger car accident risks while driving.

Santa Clara County commuters will be happy to learn that Ford is in the process of adding "lane keeping technology" to its 2013 Ford Fusion and Ford Explorer models. The company hopes to reduce accidents caused by drowsy drivers. Toyota, Lexus and Mercedes have been using similar technology for a couple of years already.

Ford's new lane keeping system works by having a camera mounted on the rear view mirror. The driver will need to manually switch the system on. Once it is on and the car is going over forty mph, the camera will sense the road's lane markings. If the car's turn signal is off and the car begins to drift toward the edge of a lane, the steering wheel will vibrate.

If the driver does not notice the vibration and the car continues to drift, the system will engage the power steering and guide the car back to the center lane. This technology has the potential to prevent numerous car accidents.

The Transportation Secretary of the U.S., Ray LaHood, wants the number of drunk driving car accidents to continue to decrease this year. The holiday season is historically a time of increased drunk driver-caused car accidents and the DOT has launched a nationwide campaign to cut down on drunk driving.

The message of the campaign is "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over." LaHood wants people to get the message that if they make the choice to drive drunk, they will get caught. The effort will be a coordinated one through and between local law enforcement agencies across the U.S.