The following web sites examine various issues relating to the safety of vehicle designs.  I believe that safety activism through improved vehicle designs is very important.  Unfortunately no matter how well we drive, accidents will always happen.  No matter how careful we are, we cannot control the other driver who may be drunk, speeding, or impaired by poor driving conditions.  Thankfully I have never been in an accident.  However, I have seen the results of some very serious collisions.  In some of these accidents, if it had not been for the design of the car they were driving, then the people involved might be dead.

This web site advocates safety through the improved design of commercial trucks.  Technical Services conducts laboratory research and collects case studies to determine risk factors, design flaws and unsafe driving practices.  The companys' reports illustrate research and information that if applied, will greatly enhance the safety of commercial trucks.  From their list of links, it appears that this organization receives support from the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) and various law firms.

Since my brother is a commercial truck driver, I was especially interested in this site.  I read several of the reports and passed much of the information on to my brother.  The information I found included statistics on accidents involving trucks, safety tips for drivers, and design suggestions for truck manufacturers. The site also features one company that is taking the lead in truck safety,  Freightliner.  (The photograph is Frieghliner's latest model which is touted as being the one of the safest on the road.)  

Although the site contain lots of valuable information, it was somewhat unclear whether this organization's motives are strictly for safety activism or for profit.  Some of the reports seemed like solicitations for people to file lawsuits against truck manufacturers.  In fact, one portion of the site is solely devoted legal links!    

  

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, is an independent, nonprofit
testing and information organization serving only consumers. We are a comprehensive
source for unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health and
nutrition, and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public, and protect consumers. Our income is derived solely from the sale of
consumer Reports and our other services, and from noncommercial contributions, grants,
and fees.

Do to its visibility, Consumers Union is very effective in its endeavors to promote vehicle safety.  In fact, one of the most important issues of Consumer Reports Magazine is its annual vehicle safety issue.  Included in the issue are the results of government and Consumers Union's own tests on hundreds of vehicles.  Anytime I have even considered purchasing a certain car, I have looked it up in the Consumer Reports vehicle safety issue.  From this information, I was able to make an informed decision regarding the safety of the car I was considering purchasing.
 

 

WHO ARE WE?? The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration
(NHTSA), under the Department of Transportation, was established by the Highway
Safety Act of 1970, as the successor to the National Highway Safety Bureau, to carry
out safety programs under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966
and the Highway Safety Act of 1966. It also carries out consumer programs established
by the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, enacted in 1972.

NHTSA is responsible for reducing deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from
motor vehicle crashes. This is accomplished by setting and enforcing safety performance
standards for motor vehicle equipment, and through grants to state and local governments
to enable them to conduct effective local highway safety programs.

NHTSA also conducts research on driver behavior and traffic safety, to develop the most
efficient and effective means of bringing about safety improvement

Even though the NHTSA is a bureaucracy, it is fairly effective in its efforts to ensure that vehicles are safe.  Their guidelines are important to protect consumers from faulty or dangerous vehicles.  Without the NHTSA, the average consumer would have no way of knowing if a vehicle was safe.  In addition, the NHTSA is able to enforce penalties against companies and individuals who do not follow their regulations.  Although some organizations like Consumers Union would like the NHTSA to raise its regulations, I feel that NHTSA's standards are reasonable.    

Binge drinking is the number one substance abuse problem at
colleges today.  (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University)
        
Binge drinking college students are six times as likely as their light
drinking peers to drive  after consuming alcohol and twice as likely
to accept a ride from an intoxicated driver.  (Harvard University study)
 
Alcohol related highway crashes are the leading cause of death for
adolescents and young adults in the United  States.  (The U.S. Depart-
ment of Transportation) The greatest public health concern regarding
alcohol related behavior is impaired driving within the college community.
(Harvard University study)

 

        MADD's History
        MADD was founded by a small group of California women in 1980
        after a 13-year-old-girl was killed by a hit-and-run driver. He had been
        out of jail on bail for only two days for another hit-and-run drunk driving
        crash and had three previous drunk driving arrests and two convictions.

 He was allowed to plea bargain to vehicular manslaughter. Although  
 he was sentenced to two years in prison, the judge allowed the offender
 to serve time in work camp and later a halfway house.

I agree with MADD on their stand that driving drunk is a choice.  I also support their stance to institute stronger laws against drunk drivers.  Unfortunately there are people on the roads that as well as being antisocial drivers (I use anti-social to mean drivers who break the law and create dangerous situations within our driving society) are also immoral drivers (I use immoral and moral to refer to a person's motivation regarding their driving).  In addition, they are immoral drivers, because they do not care that they are endangering innocent people.

Since, these individuals do not have the necessary internal controls to keep them from acting in an immoral manner they require control to come from an external force.  In the case of drunk driving, stronger laws may inhibit a person from driving drunk out of fear of getting caught.  I also advocate stricter punishments for repeat offenders.  These are the types of individuals for whom no amount of external control will keep them from committing crimes.  As a result, they should be removed from society altogether in order to protect the rest of the population.      

ADD has been very active in Canada.  It is a member or affiliate member of several organizations including:

OCCID - A founding member of the Ontario Community Council on Impaired Driving.
OACP - An affiliate member of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.
Peel Regional Police - Affiliate member of the Community Accreditation Representatives.
Founding member of the OPERATION LOOKOUT® Communities
Founding member of the Metro Toronto Safe and Sober Driving Coalition.
Founding member of the Safe and Sober Driving Coalition of Peel Region.
Founding member of the Brampton Safe City.
Member of the Mississauga Board of Trade.

In it's  Position Paper, ADD outlines its mission regarding how organizations can combat drunk driving.  Among their views, ADD supports strict punishments for drunk drivers, rehabilitation for drunk drivers, community awareness of the hazards of drinking and driving, safe ride home projects and legislation to prohibit alcohol advertisements that are attractive to minors.

One of ADD's programs is Operation Lookout this simple campaign empowers communities by encouraging people to report suspected drunk drivers to police.  ADD contends that Operation Lookout is an effective deterrent, because not only police, but ordinary citizens could land drunk drivers in jail.  

I like this program, because it encourages citizens to be proactive in the fight against drunk driving.  It is important that drivers always be on the lookout for those people who are irresponsible enough to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking.  Hopefully, by reporting these drivers, the police will be able to apprehend them before they injure or kill an innocent victim. 

I agree with Mr. Golden that the alcohol industry does have strong political influence when it comes to passing drunk driving legislation.  However, Mr. Golden seems to be suggesting that if alcohol companies were legislated more, than perhaps less people would become addicted thereby decreasing the number of drunk drivers.  I am not sure such a plan would be effective-just look at our drug problem.  However, I do agree that this is a serious problem and perhaps some unbiased, non-political research could shed some light on the situation.     

National Group Rides And Designated Drivers is a non-profit organization working to save lives from drunken driving by maintaining a national network of safe ride home programs in college communities. National GRADD assists in the development of new programs and the improvement of existing services by providing programming resources and making it easy for schools to work together.

I have been to parties at colleges that have used this type of system.  Often the safe ride was a shuttle (usually a bus) that ran numerous times back and forth between the party and the dorms.  I appreciated the shuttle, because I did not have to worry about my friends getting behind the wheel of a car nor did I have to worry about where to park.  Although there are some critics that argue that this type of program encourages college students to drink more, I disagree.  These parties were no different from any other.  Most everyone drank relatively the same amount and most people were intoxicated.  The difference, however, was that no one drove home drunk!

Although some may argue that staging a violent and bloody crash is traumatic to students, I disagree.  Like most high school students I thought I was invincible.  At age eighteen, you think that nothing can harm you.  However, when I saw the aftermath of the alcohol related crash site where one of my friends was killed and four others landed in the hospital it really hit home.  Even though the driver was below the legal limit, his BAC level violated Nebraska's zero tolerance law for minors and his driving was likely impaired.  When I saw the site, the victims had already been removed.  I had no idea at the time who they were, but I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.  I saw the mangled cars, tree that had been cut in half and the blood on the pavement and I remember feeling like I had been hit with a brick.  You cannot image the seriousness of such an accident until you see it for yourself.

I am not sure if seeing these accidents will deter young people from drinking and driving, but I think it will make them think before they drink.  However, if someone does not plan out their entertainment ahead of time and finds that they should not drive home they can always call their local T.O.W.E.D chapter.  With support from law enforcement agencies, other activists groups including MADD and corporations like Wal-Mart, Taco Bell, and Pepsi, I hope that every community will soon have a  T.O.W.E.D chapter.

I found this site to be very practical and informative.  I agree wholeheartedly with Command Training System's philosophy that teaching drivers how to think and react at the wheel makes them better drivers.  Their technique seems very through, because it teaches drivers that driving is a cognitive and motor skill.  In addition, Command Training System stresses that driving is a privilege and all drivers must be responsible.  If all drivers learned these mental and motor skills, then perhaps our roads would be a little bit safer.

 
The Village consists of Home Pages (Web sites) and a database with free and restricted areas. The free browsing area has interesting articles and news about driver behavior, traffic safety and education. The restricted area has a password for paying subscribers and offers access to in-depth articles, conference proceedings, periodicals, abstracts and reference materials for traffic safety professionals.

One particular article I found, Effectiveness and Role of Driver Education and Teaching in a Graduated Licensing System discussed whether graduated licensing systems should give "time credits" with the completion of driver education/training programs.  The article found that, "There is some evidence that at least some driver education programs can successfully teach driving skills and impart knowledge, but skills and knowledge acquired in training do not necessarily produce driving behavior that leads to reduced crash involvement."  As a result, the author recommended that young drivers should not be allowed full driving privileges sooner if they complete a driver education/training course.

Although I found Traffic Safety Information Village very interesting, I was frustrated because I could not access all of the site.  In order to access certain parts of the site, one must purchase a membership.  Although the cost of the membership is fairly modest, $55.00 per year, the site would be more effective in getting it's message to people if it was entirely free.  Perhaps Traffic Safety Information Village could generate revenue by selling advertising instead of memberships.
 

If you are a resident of Los Angeles or Orange County, and you have not attended TRAFFIC SCHOOL in the past 18 months, you can take class with MR. TRAFFIC. The world famous comedy club THE IMPROV operates the largest COMEDY based traffic school in America. You'll spend 8 hours having fun and learning while getting your traffic ticket taken off your record and avoiding the insurance consequences.

This section showcases some of the things that police, politicians, and the automobile insurance industry are doing to promote safety.  Often, police, politicians, and the insurance industry are only portrayed negatively.  I wanted to include this section to show that these people do more than just give us tickets and make our car insurance expensive.  The sites in this section prove that these folks are trying to make a difference by making our highways safer.

Although the campaign is not featured on the web site, I think it is an excellent idea.  Motorist who observe cars with young children not buckled in car seats call the license plate into police.  The police send a letter to the owner of the car explaining the seat belt law and reminding them to keep their kids buckled at all times.  I think this type of campaign is good, because it involves the community and helps the police department be more proactive in promoting safety.  In addition, it gives parents the opportunity to correct the problem to avoid a possible $200.00 fine and/or serious injury to their child.

I used the site to check the safety of the car I currently drive.  I found that my 2-door, Chevy Cavalier, does not fair well in collisions.  However, it scored "above average" in theft.  So, although my car is not likely to be stolen, it is likely to get me killed in a serious accident!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 13, 1997

The risk of crash involvement per mile driven among drivers 16-19 years old is four times the risk among older drivers. In fact, the crash rate per mile driven are almost three times as high among 16 year olds as among 18-19 year olds    Statistics from DriveSafe

Ah, to be sixteen with the keys to your own car...  With my parents help (the down payment) I bought a brand new 1992 Chevy Cavalier shortly after turning sixteen.  Although I was (still am ) a responsible individual, I love speed!  My first speeding ticket was on I-80 in Nebraska on my way from Omaha to Lincoln, a month after getting my car.  I was doing 93 mph in a 65 mph zone.  Thankfully the cop was understanding of what it is like to be young and stupid and he only gave me a ticket for the my speed and did not give me a citation for reckless driving (30 mph over the speed limit qualifies as reckless driving in the State of NE and citations can be given at the officer's discretion).  Having been sixteen, I understand why teenage drivers are the highest risk group for accidents and tickets.  Hopefully some of these links will help both parents and young drivers be safe.

Now, as a more responsible driver, I love this idea!  Although I must admit that at sixteen I would have been appalled if my parents put a DriveSafe sticker on my new car.  However, this simple sticker gives parents a good way to monitor their teen's driving even when they are not around.  It is a well known fact that teenagers drive very differently when their parents are not in the car!  Perhaps the fear of getting in trouble will make these teens drive safer.  In addition, teens who receive calls commending them on their driving performance, are eligible for awards and prizes.

It is widely accepted that the traditional driver ed course of 6 hours in a car and 30 hours in a classroom is simply not enough to make safe drivers. The New Driver Car Control Clinic provides instructors, parents and students with an organized, tested curriculum of exercises that significantly improve the new driver's chances of successfully dealing with his or her first driving emergencies.

I agree that driving is a psycho-motor skill.  Not only does it require the motor skills to be able to maneuver a 2000 pound machine, but also skills to help young people make good judgments.  I also agree that this skill cannot be learned in a classroom and must be experienced.  I knew how I was supposed to drive in snow, but the first time I drove in it, I was not prepared.  Thankfully, I have never had an accident, but I think that the majority of accidents involving teens are due to poor judgment and lack of skill.  I believe that programs like New Driver Car Control Driving Clinic could significantly improve new drivers, thereby making the roads safer for all of us.

When you join TEENVUE, you register one or more vehicles in our database for a year. We send you uniquely numbered TEENVUE stickers to display on your vehicles. Caring fellow drivers, neighbors, and parents simply call 1-800-TEENVUE to reward TEENVUE drivers for good driving or alert parents of potentially unsafe driving.  Subscribers receive an anonymous transcribed report by your choice of mail, fax or e-mail.

I agree with Dr. Driving's opinion that drivers are generally not sympathetic to the plights of other drivers.  As a result, we tend to feel that the other person is trying to take away some of our power and that makes it easy for us to get angry.  Dr. Driving suggests that driving is a moral act and requires a certain level of emotional intelligence.  I agree with him that if we think of driving as a moral act, then we will be less likely to behave in an immoral fashion.  For example, many of us do not speed out of fear of getting a ticket.  However, the moral driver does not speed, because speeding is endangers others.  Moreover, if we self witness our own will and motivations while driving we are more apt to consider the wills and motivations of other drivers.  This exercise would lead to more tolerant drivers and greatly reduce road rage.

 Driving Range at Waikolo Resort - a different type of driving 

Mining the Generational Curriculum  Report 1: Virtual Relationships  Report 2: Safety Activism on the Information Highway

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