Backover deaths: Are new rules worth the price?

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Jeremiah S

By year’s end, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could adopt rules requiring rear-view cameras on every vehicle manufactured in 2014 and beyond – a measure that, although costly, could save scores of children from back-over deaths each year.

But the proposed policy has run into resistance from the auto industry, according to a recent report by Bloomberg News. Automakers accuse NHTSA of overregulation and say the agency’s demand for rear-view cameras will saddle them with as much as $2.7 billion in additional installation costs each year.

Trouble is, accidental backovers are killing children in driveways and parking lots every week. An estimated 292 children die each year behind vehicles, according to Bloomberg, and 18,000 are injured.

Although driver inattention leads to some, or many, of those deaths, poor visibility leads to others. A study by Consumer Reports found that SUVs have rear blind zones that extend 12 to 14 feet. Pickups have considerably longer blind zones, stretching 30 feet in some instances.

NHTSA estimates that rear-view cameras will cut the number of deaths in half, to 146 a year. But automakers contend that the price is awfully high, amounting to about $18.5 million per life saved.

So what do you think? Is government overreaching? Or are new safety rules, however high the cost, worth the lives saved?

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Are the best bad-weather drivers out West?

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Jeremiah S

Let’s be honest: When the first snowstorm hits, we discover a whole lot of morons in our midst.

They’re stranded in snow banks, spun out in medians and sharing bumpers all over America’s highways.

Sheesh. We shake our heads and thank our lucky stars that we are better, safer drivers. But are we?

Here’s a look at the weather-related collisions that happen each year across the United States. The numbers – compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – show that some regions are better at driving in adverse weather than others.

Seriously.

The Midwest, for example, is home to 22 percent of the nation’s population. But it accounted for 40 percent of the nation’s weather-related crashes. The West, in contrast, had 23 percent of the population, but only 10 percent of the crashes.

Interested? Here’s the data:

 

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Funny bumper stickers: But not too many, please

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Jeremiah S

Were you looking at my bumper? Thought so. With all the talk about safe driving, Collision Guard figured it was time for a laugh with some of the all-time funniest bumper stickers.

But watch out for drivers with too many bumper stickers on their vehicles’ backsides. Colorado State University social psychologist William Szlemko determined in a recent study that drivers who personalize their cars are more likely to exhibit road rage than those who don’t.

Interesting, huh? Now it’s time for a laugh:

1. Laugh at your problems, everyone else does.

2. Consciousness: that annoying time between naps.

3. I had a life, but my job ate it.

4. Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes.

5. It’s called tourist season, so why can’t we shoot ‘em?

6. I’ve got a perfect body, but it’s in the trunk and beginning to smell.

7. I love animals, they taste great.

8. Hard work never killed anyone, but why take the chance.

9. He who laughs last, thinks slowest!

10. Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

11. I’m not perfect, but parts of me are incredible.

12. If you are psychic – think “HONK”

13. If you can read this, I can slam on my brakes and sue you!

14. My road to success is under construction.

15. A boss is like a diaper, always on your butt and full of crap.

16. Guns don’t kill people, postal workers do.

17. Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.

18. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

19. I don’t suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.

20. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

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Really? Parents distracted while teaching driving

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Jeremiah S

Parents: Tsk, tsk.

With all the cash that has been spent on safe-driving campaigns to keep teens from chitchatting on the phone while driving, parents apparently are teaching their kids to do the opposite.

That’s according to State Farm, which found that 61 percent of teens said their parents had been distracted by a cell phone at least once while teaching them how to drive.

Most parents admitted it. Fifty-three percent of parents owned up to talking on the phone during a practice drive.

It’s the wrong example at the worst time for teens, which already have tendencies toward distracted driving in this technological age.

“These results are troublesome on multiple levels,” said Laurette Stiles, vice president of strategic resources at State Farm. “Parents should know that how they handle themselves behind the wheel creates a powerful example for their teens – for better or worse. During practice drives, parents should be alert at all times to coach teens and serve as a second set of eyes. Being distracted even once while teaching not only sends the wrong message, it creates real dangers for those inside and outside the vehicle.”

The findings come as part of a State Farm-commissioned survey of 517 teen driver/parent duos by the research company Synovate.

Talk about a wake-up call for parents, particularly when 89 percent of teens – in a separate survey – told researchers that their parents have the biggest influence on how they drive.

Feel the pressure? Good.

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