After decades of steady decline, deadly car accidents are on the rise again in the U.S. According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety, 17,775 people died on American roads during the first six months of 2016. Compared to the same period of 2015, the number…
Clarence Ditlow, a very influential and effective activist who protected consumers from unsafe vehicles died from colon cancer on November 10. He was 72 years old. Clarence Ditlow who started as a lawyer for Ralph Nader’s Public Interest Research Group in 1971 had been at the head of the Center for Auto…
Car accidents are the number one cause of fatalities among teens. 2,679 teens died and 123,000 were injured in car accidents in 2014 in the US according to the most recent statistics. Distracted driving including distraction from other passengers, speeding, alcohol use and lack of seat belts are among the main factors…
The Traffic Injury Prevention Journal recently released a study comparing traffic accidents involving novice teen drivers and experienced adults. The study uses data from the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP2) Naturalistic Driving Study. Naturalistic driving is a new approach of analyzing driving behavior. In the SHRP2 naturalistic driving study, 2,360 drivers of all…
Human error is the main factor in fatalities and injuries related to car accidents. The introduction of automated vehicles (AV) is expected to lead to a significant improvement of safety on American roads. However just like actual cars, new automated vehicles must pass safety standards. The US Department of Transportation’s role…
Distracted driving is the number one cause of car accidents in the U.S. Among age groups, statistics indicate that teen drivers are the most at risk of being involved in a fatal crash related to distracted driving. Distracted driving is not only about cell phone use. Distracted driving can be…
An estimated 438 people will die and 50,300 will be seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident this Labor Day Holiday. These estimates were released recently by the National Safety Council and cover the period beginning Today at 6:00 pm and ending Monday at 11:59 pm. The estimated number of…
A surveillance video shows that Will Smith initially hit the car of the man who then murdered him in an act of road rage. The surveillance shows Smith’s car bumping into a Hummer. While the hummer’s driver, identified as Cardell Hayes, pulled to the right side of the road, Smith just drove…
As billboards are getting more and more sophisticated, the risk of car accidents caused by drivers distracted by these billboards is increasing. Jerry Wachtel, a traffic safety consultant just released a compendium of 22 recent studies related to potential consequences for driver distraction from Commercial Electronic Variable Message Signs (CEVMS) along the roadside. The…
43 year old Kimmy Dubuque was about to enter a Cumberland Farms convenience store when she was fatally pined against the store wall by an out of control SUV. The car accident happened in Chicopee, Mass, the hometown of the victim in 2010. Yesterday, the Dubuque family was awarded $32.4 million plus interest…