Safety Activism on the
Information Highway:
The Future is in Your hands
Semi's:
Things You Need to Know
With the recent traffic fatality
involving over 9 automobiles and a Semi Truck, near the Makakilo off ramp,
on Oahu, I realized this would be a good time to do a little research on
Semi Trucks. (but, a little too late) For those of you who are not
familiar with the accident... On Thursday, March 19, 1998 a pickup
truck sped on the freeway, cutting off a semi truck. The semi truck
swerved to avoid the pickup, banged into another truck, pinned the driver
of the truck in and the truck caught on fire. We as drivers should realize
that it is not easy nor safe to drive a semi truck.
Trucker
Perspective
The author of this page is
a Semi truck driver. Advice is given to all non semi truck drivers.
The author, A. Cummins, Basically wants everyone to realize that is important
not to follow too close behind semi's and to be courteous to them.
He gives his view on how we can help them. Driving a "Big Rig" is
a very dangerous occupation and non truck drivers don't realize how hard
it really is.
The
Truck Safety Page
This is a site aimed towards
Semi Truck Drivers. In it you will find many tips on, "How to avoid
getting killed in your big rig." There are many dangerous situations
that may arise while driving a semi. First of all, 55% of all semi
driver fatalities occur in rollover accidents. And many of these
fatalities can be avoided, Up to 2/3!, with the tips provided. I
feel that this site is very thorough and well written. I have friends
that drive semis and I only hope that they'll never get into a situation
that they will have to use these tips, but if they do, at least they'll
be a little more prepared for it.
Truck
Safety
This article gives safety advice
to the drivers of semi trucks. It covers various topics: Anti lock
brakes, Cab Safety, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations, Hazardous
Materials Transportation, Truck Conspicuity and Lighting, Truck Size and
Weight Limits, Truck Tires, and Truck Underride/Override Protection.
Truck Safety is very important.
I feel that with the amount of accidents involving semi trucks is too high.
Many times the truck is the major cause of the accident. There are
so many times that I have avoided those pieces of re-capped tires on the
freeways. My cousin wasn't as fortunate. A tire from a semi
blew up on the side of him and hit his car. Why, is it legal to use
these tires? Every day I see these pieces of tire on the road.
I feel that it should be banned from being used. It may prevent many
accidents from happening.
Anti
lock Braking Systems (ABS)
The requirement of anti lock
brakes on semi trucks should cause a major decline in accidents.
Many accidents that occur are a result of skidding and/or jack-knifing.
This is caused by the locking of brakes. On March 8th,
1995 the U.S. Department of Transportation passed a law that required all
medium and heavy trucks to have anti lock brakes. The Requirements
or the new regulation include:
-
ABS on the front axles and at least
one rear axle of tractors, trucks and buses;
-
Independent wheel control on at least
one rear axle of tractors, trucks and buses;
-
Separate tractor and trailer ABS malfunction
lights in tractor cabs and no manual override switch will be allowed that
can turn off ABS;
-
Separate ABS power supply to avoid
voltage drops that can result in the loss of ABS on second and third trailers
in multi-trailer combinations; and
-
ABS equipment performance checks.
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) estimated that 320-560 lives will be saved each
year.
Personally I feel that ABS is a
great idea, however, I wonder why it isn't required for all tractor and
trailers, trucks and buses. Perhaps, the Makakilo accident (mentioned
above) could have been avoided.
Senate
Vote to Ban Large Trucks Nationwide
On March 11, 1998 a nationwide
freeze on large double and triple trailer trucks, but allowed then to operate
on the inter states in the states of Maine and New Hampshire. It
seems strange that there is a nationwide freeze, but I still see double
trailer trucks driving around. It's true that the double trailer
rigs are very dangerous and perhaps unnecessary. I don't think that
there is anything big enough to need a double, yet alone, a triple trailer
truck.
Back
to top
Safe
Driving
Let's face it, we are not perfect
drivers, and I don't think anyone is. However, we can improve ourselves.
Practice makes better, not perfect. Even if you could be a perfect
driver, you may still get into an accident because, others around you are
not. There are many things that can be done to improve you driving
skills, one of the most important is staying alert. Pay attention
to the road and your surroundings. Also, please learn to respect
others and let's just be courteous to everyone. Show that Aloha Spirit
even if/when you're not in Hawaii. Mahalo!
How
to Drive Safe, Avoid Tickets, and Save Money
This article by Robert B. Henn,
basically is about following another vehicle and being more aware of your
surroundings. You can avoid many accidents if you stay further behind
a car (at least 2 seconds) because, the average driver response time is
1/2 second, which leaves you with only 1 1/2 seconds to respond.
I feel that these techniques are very basic, yet possibly forgotten or
ignored. We as drivers must use our brains while driving. If
we all used our brains while driving we will be avoiding tickets and accidents,
therefore saving money. There are no quick and easy solutions to
avoid tickets and save money. It will probably take us years to uncondition
ourselves. We have become too accustomed to speeding and aggressive
driving. If you really want to change you WILL have to PRACTICE.
Driver
Safety Agreement
The Driver Safety Agreement
is for all of you parents out there with teenage children that are about
to become drivers. It is basically a form, a contract if you will,
that the young driver carefully reads and signs to help them understand
the responsibilities the come with driving.
I feel that it is a good idea,
in the sense that many of today's teen drivers think that driving is a
game. I also believe that they feel it is all fun and no responsibility.
I remember when I got my license to drive, I went "Gung Ho" Taking the
car anywhere and everywhere, without really realizing the responsibility
behind it. Luckily everything turned out all right.
Real
World Driving Tips
The National Motorist Association
has provided driving tips that should be followed by everyone. They
have a funny view of traffic speed on the highways. They said that
don't follow the speed limit, and to follow the speed of traffic.
This might be part of the problem. Sure you can look at it that way
but, you can also see it another way. Instead they should give advice
to everyone saying, everyone should follow the speed limit. The speed
limit was set for a reason. I'd like to see the author of this article
speed in front of a police officer.
Seven
Sensible Signals
In this site you will find
signals that may someday be used by all motorists. There are many
signals mostly hand gestures. I feel that this might work, but I
really doubt it. I feel that most people are generally aware of their
actions. Therefore, they wouldn't really use these signals.
In fact it might cause problems. If someone flashed their highlights
from behind me and wanted to pass I probably would get irritated by it,
and do something to irritate them. (Normally, that's what I would
have done, before taking this course.)
The people today must first
have the respect for other drivers of these signals will not work.
Perhaps, in the future we will understand that driving with respect will
change road rage and we'll be safe from violence on the roadways.
The
Rearward View with Mirrors
Mirrors are very important.
The NMA Motorist's Association say proper mirror adjustment is essential
for safer driving conditions. To insure proper mirror adjustment,
one first must, eliminate most of the blind spots. You can't remove
all of them, but you can remove some of them. I noticed that some
people have mirrors that extend to the whole length of the car. I
feel that this might be another option for drivers that wasn't mentioned
in the article. However, I also noticed that some people have doubled
their five panel mirrors (stacked on on top the other). I feel that
it is not safe to put two of the five panel mirrors together, you can see
so much with those mirrors, you can practically see into the past.
Back
to top
Seat
Belts
Advocates
Responds to Clinton Administration Proposal to Increase Safety Belt Use
In this article, The Advocates
for Highway and Auto Safety voice their opinion towards the Clinton Administration's
plan to increase the use of seat belts. Basically, the Advocates
group supports the President's plan to increase safety belt use by redirecting
funds from a state's highway construction budget towards its' safety belt
use program. This would be a good idea if cost benefit from reducing
money paid for injuries and death outweigh the amount taken away from highway
construction. Proper distribution of government funds is essential
for the efficient operation of government.
Advocates
Commend Indiana Legislature for Boosting Safety Belt Law to Primary Enforcement
Status
The Advocates for Highway and
Auto Safety posted this article. The State of Indiana passed its
safety belt law. Under their past law, police officers were not allowed
to hand out traffic citations to people who were not using their seat belts.
The only was a officer could give someone a ticket for not using a safety
belt is if they offender had a primary traffic violation. (e.g. broken
tail light) I feel that the officers should have been able to give
out traffic citations to these violators because, IT'S THE LAW, and if
you break the law mere technicalities should not let you escape from getting
a ticket.
Buckling
Up: Safety Belt Laws and Enforcement
This is an article by the Safety
Advocates Group. It was written to inform the public about the life
saving advantages of wearing seat belts. The article mentions how
the increased use of seat belts over a time period spanning the last two
decades has saved many lives. However, it goes on to say that seat
belt use is still below the desired rate. This article says that
it is necessary to get another one-third of the population to wear their
seat belts to achieve the desired 85% to 90% rate. The article stresses
the fact that it is not only a benefit to the driver and passengers but
to the tax paying population as a whole. As deaths and injuries are
prevented, the taxpayers will save billions of dollars in expenses.
To achieve the goal of increased seat belt usage, the authors of this article
suggests implementing uniformed nation wide laws. These suggestions
are backed up with examples of how states who enforce these types of laws
have experienced a decrease in fatality rates and hospital cost.
Although I am not an advocate
for increased governmental control, this article brought up some very important
facts about the advantages of seat belt usage. This was an interesting
and informative article which quickly caught my attention. It made
me see how the simple act of buckling up is not only beneficial to the
user but to everyone else in the nation as well. Amazingly reading
and absorbing this eye opening information has influenced me to buckle
up and encourage others to do so as well.
Buckling
Up: Kids, Cars and Crashes
This article by the Safety
Advocates Group talks about the problem of children being injured in automobile
accidents due to inadequate state laws on child restraint. This is
a terrible problem which must be addressed not only by government but by
parents acting responsibly. Variances in laws across the United States
must be amended so that it becomes standard. Of course, law enforcement
officials will be key in implementing these new laws. If parents
do not act responsibly in ensuring the safety of their children, there
needs to be an outside force which will look out for children.
Maryland's
New Safety Belt Law
The Advocates for Highway
and Auto Safety posted this article. The State of Maryland passed
its safety belt law. Under their past law, police officers were not
allowed to hand out traffic citations to people who were not using their
seat belts. The only was a officer could give someone a ticket for
not using a safety belt is if they offender had a primary traffic violation.
(e.g. illegal lane change)
It seems unbelievable that
there were 470 traffic fatalities involving front seat occupants in this
state alone. Maybe, seat belt usage is not what they should be focusing
on. It seems to me that there is a bigger problem. Instead
of passing the seat belt law they should be passing a mandatory driving
test law. How can one state have this many traffic deaths in one
year. I only hope that it was a typographical error. But seriously,
they are facing a major problem that should be corrected and being able
to give tickets to the seat belt violators is a small factor.
Back
to top
Drinking
and Driving
Driving Under the Influence
(DUI) is a very serious problem, and it is on the rise. Who are these
people? Come on, I'm sure you know at least 3 people that Drive after
drinking alcohol. Yes, it is people we know... Friends, Relatives,
and Co-workers. In fact you may be one of them. I am one of
the rare ones. I'm proud to be Alcohol free, many of my friends depend
on me to be their designated driver. Actually, I made myself the
designated driver. I'm "Ke`oke Cool" among my friends, relatives,
and co-workers. I don't really enjoy driving them around all the
time, but I rather be there to stop them from getting a ticket for DUI
or even worse getting into an accident. I feel that there should
be at least one designated driver per group of friends, relatives, and
co-workers. Even if everyone drinks in your group, then you should
take turns being the designated driver.
MADD
Mothers Against
Drunk Driving has been around for awhile now.
You may see the signs of there existence everywhere you go. Those
red ribbons on cars are all supporters of this organization. They
are very active in the never-ending battle against people driving under
the influence of alcohol. Its members are not limited to mothers.
They have members of all ages, gender, and races. I feel that MADD,
SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving), and RADD (Racers Against Drunk Driving)
are all doing a great job on ridding the streets of Drunk Drivers.
They should even make another group and call it AADD (Alcoholics Against
Drunk Driving) Who knows, it might not be such a bad idea.
Think about it.
Safety
Advocates and MADD Respond To Coors Suggestion to Lower the Drinking Age
Coors vice chairman Peter
Coors suggested lowering the drinking age law. What is he thinking?
Well, I believe he felt that by reducing the drinking age, the alcohol
related problems would be resolved. How, I have no idea. Perhaps,
it would work if they raised the driving age to 21. As you may know
the reason for raising the drinking age in the first place was because
of alcohol related automobile accidents among teenagers was extremely high.
Maybe, raising the driving age and lowering the drinking age might work.
I don't know if anyone thought of this but, it might work.
Knowing
Your Limit
This site is a result of a
research done on Drinking and Driving. The legal limit of blood alcohol
content is .10. For the Average Male (160 lb..) it amounts to 5 drinks
within an hour on an empty stomach. It wasn't specific on the type
of alcohol consumed but I think it must be beer. Because I feel that
if that average male drinks 5 shots of 151 proof alcohol in one hour on
an empty stomach, his blood alcohol content will exceed the .10 blood alcohol
content. I feel that the current sobriety test is a little difficult
even for a sober person. Try it yourself, stand on one leg, tilt
your head back, extend your arms outward, and touch your nose. Not
so easy is it? Well, you can always refuse to take the tests, but
then you will automatically lose your license for a year (I think) well,
in Hawaii anyway. The solution is simple, if you drink... DON'T DRIVE.
Let your sober friend or a taxi take you home. It's not worth losing
your license, your life, your friends life, or even a innocent bystanders
life.
Impaired
Driving
Driving Under the Influence
(DUI) is a major problem in the United States, I personally feel that it
will continue to be a problem until a drastic change is made. Sure
if you suspend the driver license from drunk drivers, some of them won't
drive until they get it back, however, I feel that most of these people
will just drive without their license. I remember that there was
a device that could be installed into automobiles that measure a persons
alcohol level. I feel that maybe this device should be installed
into all forms of transportation. The cars with the device can only
be started by a person passing the test.
Zero
Tolerance Laws
President Clinton in
favor of "zero tolerance" laws. I feel that there should have always
been a "zero tolerance" to underage drinking. It's the law.
What is this? It makes me very angry to hear such a thing.
Hello... Are they saying that a law is not really going to be enforced
unless it is a "zero tolerance" law? That's ridiculous. What
type of society are we living in if our laws are not enforced. What
type of image is it giving our government? Something is seriously
wrong here.
Back
to top
Reactions
To My Classmates Reports
Everyone has worked very hard
on their reports, Deborah Welicki's Report however stood out. She
had a very creative page. I liked the way that she used images that
complemented her comments. In conclusion, I found that doing these
reports have changed my attitudes. Everything from, the way that
I drive to the way that I process information.
Conclusion
There are many problems with
Safety while driving. The only thing we can do is learn the most
that we can about other drivers and ourselves. I covered just some
of the many problems we face while driving. It is up to you to make
a difference. The future is in your hands, explore for yourself and
you will realize the problems of today's drivers. Yes, that's people
like you and me, and that is why it is up to us to make driving safer for
everyone.
Comments?
E-mail me