Posts Tagged ‘safe driving’

For many parents, the idea of buying your teen a new car is frightening. If your son or daughter’s new drivers license wasn’t enough, buying them their own car grants an unparalleled freedom that is at times difficult to monitor. That’s why many families draft a parent-teen safe driver contract to assure safe driving decisions even when you’re not in the car. But it’s also important to research the safest cars on the market, to assure that your teen driver will stay safe even if something unpredictable happens. Over the past year, Consumer Reports has done a great job of highlighting safe cars for teen drivers, with a special emphasis on affordability. Their new list goes even further.

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April is distracted driving awareness month, which means that safety advocates and lawmakers will put the issue front and center, trying to find a solution to eliminating distracted driving, which the federal government says is responsible for 6,000 deaths and 500,000 car accident injuries each year. More than 30 states now have some sort of law against distracted driving, so you can expect the remaining states to catch some negative attention this month. North Dakota seems to have missed this scrutiny, as its Senate passed two major anti-distraction bills right in time for Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

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With just about every driving-related sector trying to make distracted driving less prevalent, is dashboard Facebook access necessary? Clearly, no. But that’s the newest development in a distracted driving “arms race” that has engulfed car companies, each trying to develop cutting edge technology designed to make distraction easier and safer behind the wheel. Of course, some are concerned that making technology easier to use while driving will automatically harm road safety. But due to our society’s focus on business, stopping this trend may be difficult.

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Just about everyone knows that distracted driving is dangerous, but almost no one knows how to stop it. Technology is only growing more prevalent, and although cell phone and tech companies have developed distracted driving prevention software, none have made a significant impact. But it’s encouraging to see organizations getting creative about distracted driving prevention. This week, the Canadian 180 Film Contest announced short video winners in three categories: impaired driving, speeding, and distracted driving. Each of the videos are interesting, haunting, and should crush the urge to drive distracted.

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Have you ever turned the wrong way on a one-way street? How about entered the freeway going the wrong direction? That’s what happened to 83 year-old Clarence Kinney yesterday, right before his pickup truck caused a multi-car accident near San Diego. Fortunately, no passengers including Kinney were hurt in the accident. But the episode raises questions about how old is too old to drive, and suggests that states should begin cracking down on privileges for older drivers.

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Over the past year, the national consensus about distracted driving has solidified as safety advocates, cell phone companies, and celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, agree that it is a dangerous practice that must be reduced. Most notably, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has made the fight against distracted driving one of his signature goals. Regardless, a new study by a duo of economics professors has predicted that talking on the phone while driving could actually reduce car accidents. It’s an interesting headline-grabbing thought, but most likely wrong according to the science, statistics, and common sense.

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Each year, the holiday season brings excitement about seeing family, eating delicious meals, and even opening a few presents. For some, the season marks a series of events complete with dinner parties and elaborate decorations. In addition to this seasonal mirth, families must consider safety issues related to driving long distances in rough conditions, the potential for shopping mall mishaps, and dangers associated with holiday decorations and lights. To help navigate those additional considerations, we’ve developed a list of some of the most common holiday-related injuries and some precautions families can take to avoid trips to the emergency room this winter.

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Although the brain is 80 percent developed at adolescence, new research indicates that brain signals essential for motor skills and emotional maturity are the last to extend to the brain’s frontal lobe, which is responsible for many of the skills essential for driving. This research suggests that emotional immaturity, not inexperience, is the primary reason that teenage drivers are responsible for far more car accidents than any other age demographic. Click through for our animated brain development infographic.

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There are a handful of great reasons to drive safely. If you want to avoid vehicular injuries, car damage, or just dodge tickets from police officers, obeying traffic signs while paying close attention to the habits of other drivers are good ways to do so. But I suspect the most common reason that drivers stay under the speed limit is a fear of getting a ticket or being harassed by police officers. And why operate based on fear when we don’t have to?

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Just looking at the yearly statistics for auto accidents here in the United States, it’s clear that safety laws don’t go far enough. Last year, for example, more than 6,000 people were killed and 500,000 were injured by accidents related to distracted driving. The “epidemic,” as Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood calls it, is now the number one killer of teenagers nationwide, but barely half of the states have restrictions on cell phone use while driving. And while new states continue to jump on the anti-distracted driving band wagon each day, nationwide legislation banning the practice has stalled in Congress.

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