Accidents

We may think we know the reasons that crashes occur: speeding, drunk driving, and cell phone distraction would probably top many of our lists. But these reasons may not be the real reasons, and not knowing exactly what is causing crashes is hindering our efforts to prevent further deaths and injuries. With 40,000 persons dying in motor vehicle collisions every year across the U.S., and with serious injuries numbering into the millions—4.6 million, to be exact—we have a lot of lives we need to keep safe from harm. So what is the true problem? The National Safety Council (NSC) calls the problem incomplete crash data. Why is Crash Data Incomplete? Did you know that accident report forms are different in all 50 states, and that some states ask more questions or provide more fields than others? It is the lack of questions and fields that leads to incomplete data. A police officer might list running a stop sign as the reason for a crash, but the real reason could be distraction due to the driver’s reaching for a buzzing cell phone on the passenger seat. Or, the real reason could have been fatigue, because the driver fell asleep and never[…..]

When you have a teenaged child who’s got the keys to a vehicle, it might seem as if the things you can worry about become endless. What if they speed? What if they text someone while driving? What if they get behind the wheel after having had something to drink? It turns out that the biggest risk for teens is dying in a crash because of drowsy driving: teens simply don’t sleep enough. A number of reasons contribute to this situation. Teens may be working, playing sports, or involved with other worthwhile activities. Or, they may be spending more time out of the house with friends, pushing their bed time later. However, one of the biggest reasons teens can’t get enough sleep is physiological. Teens actually need more sleep than the rest of us, and they have trouble falling asleep early enough to get the sleep they need. Early rising times for school or a job only exacerbate the situation. Did You Know? Did you realize that remaining awake for 18 hours straight and then driving approaches the impairment level of being legally drunk (having a 0.08 blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, level)? That’s one reason drowsy driving is so[…..]

It was 1970 when serious accident investigation began at Volvo. They wanted to determine which were safer—lap belts or “three-point” seat belts. Engineers at Volvo formed a team and studied the results of crashes where the “three-point” seat belts were in use. It’s one reason we have the seat belt design we do today. In 2017, we have teams that involve both the automakers and the National Center for Statistics and Analysis’s (NCSA) Special Crash Investigations (SCI) Program. The SCI Program has provided detailed data to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) since 1972. Every year, more than 100 crashes are chosen for study. The investigators focus on certain data points concerning the road, the vehicles, the occupants and their injuries, and the safety systems installed in the vehicles. Basically, SCI is similar to CSI; Dr. Carl Schulman, a surgeon and injury prevention specialist at the University of Miami’s William Lehman Injury Research Center, has noted that “instead of a crime scene, it’s a crash scene.” How Does the SCI Program Operate? Cases are selected by the NCSA based on what the agency believes it needs to study. These days they often want to check the performance of emerging[…..]

We like to think that we have a certain amount of control over ourselves – how we think, how we feel and how we react to the things around us. In many aspects of our personal lives, we do have control. But our subconscious minds can be much more complicated and powerful than we realize. Recent research has shed light on one way our bodies respond to traumatic events. Specifically, one study examines how children are affected physically and emotionally after being involved in a vehicle crash. Before we look at the results of this study, let’s understand how our biology is shaped by traumatic events. Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder We are hardwired to respond to certain situations in ways that are simply beyond our control. Consider the reflex test that doctors give you, the test where they strike below your knee and your leg goes flying without any direction from your conscious mind. Likewise, our minds are conditioned by the experiences we’ve had and our brains then use certain defense mechanisms to protect us from future harm. Post-traumatic stress disorder is like the response we have to the reflex test. Built into our biology is a system that responds[…..]

After a contentious past, red light cameras, along with speed limit cameras, are coming back to the streets of Baltimore for the first time since 2013. It’s estimated that doing so will create $5 million in city revenue as well as catch those who would endanger public safety by running lights and breaking the speed limit. Previously, the cameras were shut down amidst a scandal of false readings. The abandoned cameras still sit where they were installed, unused. New cameras will be installed. The California Appeals Court ruled in 2015 that red-light cameras were unreliable. Their ruling was bolstered by videos demonstrating camera failures that ticketed motorists when no violation had occurred. If red light cameras are supposedly unreliable, why is Baltimore bringing them back? Red Light Cameras Save Lives One big reason why red light cameras are popular is that they save lives. In a 2016 study, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety established that red light cameras save lives. Some of the study’s findings: Cities with red light cameras operating were found to have 21 percent fewer crashes that were caused by running red lights. Crashes of all kinds at intersections using signals were reduced by 14 percent.[…..]