programs was the mix of publicityand enkm:emenl. 'PubUclzlng a beltlaw doesn'l have much effect on userales witbout enfooce- (coot'doop.4)

HIGHWAYSAFFTY

INSURAi\CEINSll rul F

FOR

importance of buckling up. Theemphasis wasn't yet on enforce­

ment. Then. as of the third week, beltlaw enlort.ment began witb bigb-prolil.

theand~IdtyJl'Olll'llllIO_beII... t1cket-oifalllnglO~UP. m.nt and expanding lal.r Inlo enl.;c..

~k loIIowI three pilot JlI'OI'aDII, Th. enforcemen phase Iasled Ihree ment 01 akohoI and speed kmk Iawsi(See

begun May. wbIth used Intenllft pul> weeb and Ih....U a _eek hiatus Stlltus Report. Vol. 28, No.6. May 15.1993.)IIcIly enfortement 10 roIse bell use by lor eoaIualIng the •another week 01 CommIssioner Long pulnts out t/lat lb.1010 381\erten1... pulnts. publidtyand eoI got under way. statewId. program Is about IIscalIaYlngs

Bell ... among Irnnt-seat occupants "But Iloo' gel lb Idea these were lust as w.1I as saYing lives. "Wo're jlndlngwas 69~ lust before the pilot pro. six- or elgbt-week bek PfOIl1ams," that many 01 those who'.. Invqlved In.....~ In Elizabeth City. and Uwas says Joe M. Parker. govemor's blgb- vehicle crasbes and who aren', wear-79 perc,,1 Immedlal.~ly(.!a~ft~.r~. ¥Us~.,--",Wl&IrJilUllllr.l~IlaIi""':I· k:!'eJiiiL....~~~beIIs~aIso~'doo·1 ha"'l'beaJtb

ales rt$e from 65 to 78 percent in ow getting started," insurance. The cost is passed on toHigh Pbint and from 43 10 81 per- Parker's office is ODe of IlYe coordinat. the rest of us ... and it's a pre-cent if Haywood County. groups for the Nertb CarolIna InItiatiYe. ventable cost if we can get J>etple

_---..L'!"-IlillIa.J.....w...J.....LLII.lL..--lI""'ers Include the lnJurance industry. to buckle up," Long explains.Is prnvIdIna major funding and Jead. PnbIIdty. EnIon:emenI MbI E.-

o 0

2-1111S SlalUs Report, Val. 28, Na. 10, Aagusl 21, 1993

Freightliner Is First with Antilock Brakes as Standard EquipmentFreightliner Corporation will make

antilock brakes standard on big trucks be­ginning with 1995 models. The nation'stop-selling truck maker is the first in NorthAmerica to go with standard anlilocks.

All Freightliner trucks weighing 33,000pounds or more will have the antilocks.The company has sold more than 10,000trucks with such brakes to more than 200neets since it began offering antilocks asoptions in 1987.

·We see no reason 10 further delay orwait until federal regulations are adopted10 require anti locks," says FreightlinerPresident and CEO Jim Hebe. He adds thecompany is doing thiS because antilockshave 'proven performance, proven cosleffectiveness, and proven reliabilily.~

Hebe also says antHocks are "important

to enhancing safety on the highways.~

Such brakes reduce truck jackknifing, helpprevent wheel lockup, enhance stability,and help drivers maintain control in emer­gency stops on wet or slippery roads.

The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration (NIITSA) is again consider­ing requirements for antilocks on mediumand heavy trucks. They were mandatedfrom 1975 to 1978, when the requirementwas overturned in court.

NHTSA issued a new advance notice ofproposed rulemaking for antilocks lastyear, and the Institute urged quick imple­mentation. However, NHTSA hasn't issueda rule. Based on favorable results of a two­year antilock study, the agency did recom­mend that motor carriers voluntarily addsuch brakes to their fleets.

Institute President Brian O'Neill con­gratulates Freightliner for its ~imporlanl

safety advance.~ He notes that ~NHTSA hasbeen wall1ing on antilock requirements solong it's a scandal. Officials in Europe andelsewhere are way ahead on this, becausethey recognize the huge benefit of requir­ing this lechnology.~ Japan and the Eurc;pean Community require antilocks onmost new trucks, buses, and trailers.

Freightliner will adopt louHhannelRockwell WABeO antilocks standard on allair-braked FLa, flC, R...D, Business Class8().series, and Fl.-IOO models. To encour­age the switch to antilocks belore they be­come standard on 1995 models, Freightlin­er will offer them at a reduced price of$1,250, beginning in 1994. This price willhold until the brakes become standard.

Irresponsible Decision:FlIWA Waives RulesFor Diabetic Drivers

Around Washington, D.C., a spate of re­cent tractor-trailer collisions is generatingboth news and congressional concern.Meantime. the Federal Highway Adminis­tratiOil (FHWA) is making decisions thatwill compromise truck safety.

FHWA announced it will waive commer­cial license restrictions for drivers usinginsulin. "This is bad public health and badscience.~ says Adrian K. Lund, the Insti­tute's research vice president. "There'sample evidence thai insulin treatment isassociated with increased crash risk.~

FHWA says it'll accept the waivers tostudy the effects of allowing drivers usinginsulin. "BuC Lund points out, "the weak­nesses inherent in the agency's plan forstudying this program are so crippling thatthe infonnation gathered will add nothingto scientific knowledge.·

The Institute told FHWA earlier thisyear what was wrong with its study planand noted that ~medical specialists cannotidentify in advance a large proportion ofthe insulin-using persons who will experi­ence a severe hypoglycemic reaction: (SeeSlalus Rep,,", Val. 28, No.2, Feb. 6, 1993.)

Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, canlead to mental confusion, incapacity, andeven coma, Current medical recommenda­tions call for diabetics to use insulin toachieve near-normal blood sugar levels,but this increases the short-term possibili­ty of ahypoglycemic reaction.

Along with the Institute, the AmericanTrucking Associations, United Parcel Ser­vice, and others opposed the waivers.

This isn't the first time in recentmonths that FHWA has made a decisionagainst scientific evidence. It also waivedrestrictions lor some truckers with goodvision in only one eye. (See Status Report,Vol. 27, No. 12, Oct. 3, 1992.) Plus, theagency is still considering waivers relatedto hearing impairments and epilepsy.

Once the headlines read, "Safety Board Member Touted for NHTSA Job.'Christopher Hart, a National Transportation Safety Board member, was then theleading candidate to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA). But Hart's name soon faded, and we heard nothing for awhile. Thencame a headline tetting us that "Hart's Chances Now Slim."

And so it goes. The Washington rumor mill has been busy lor months 00 whichname is up and which is down lor the NHTSA post. "Hart wasn't the first," InstitutePresident Brian O'Neill points out. "We've heard 8 or 10 names in all, but nobodyhas been nominated,-

In addition to Hart, here's a rundown of people who, the rumor mill has it, havebeen considered for the NHTSA post Judith Stone, president of Advocates forHighway and Auto Safety; Howard Dugoff, official at an environmental consultingfirm in Virginia; Vivian Watts, former secretary of Virgmia's Department 01 Trans­portation; Thomas Coleman, Georgia state highway official; Patricia Waller, direc­tor of the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute; Patti Shway­der, aide to Timothy Wirth when he was in Congress; Ed Collen, a former Senatestaffer who has represented Honda; and Ricardo Martinez, an emergency physi­cian at Stanford University Hospital.

Stone's name was among the first to surlace, But, by only the 14th day of theClinton administration, the Detroit News was reporting that Dugoff and Watts hadjoined the list. The News reported in February that 'President Clinton isn't expect­ed to name a new administrator for at least another week:

That week has stretched to 26 and counting, "Things wouldn't be left so fong ifthis were any other agency that's key to the nation's health. There would be anomination by now: O'Neill points out. "But even though motor vehicle deaths andinjuries are one of our worst public health problems, NHTSA is allowed to drift:

Each potential candidate for the post at NHTSA generates both support andopposition. "It appears thaI. jf the opposrtioo is at all vocal. that candidate's nameis quietly withdrawn Irom coosideralJon," O'Neill explains, "ThIS is happening overand over because, ~ one candidate is close to the consumer movement, Detroitobjects. II Detroit lavors another candidate, consumer groups obfect:

Slone met opposition earty on from aulomakers, reportedly because she's alriend and colleague of consumer activist Joan Claybrook. Tired of waiting, Stonewrote to Transportation Secretary Federico Pena in May to WIthdraw from consid­eration. Hart, on the other hand, ran into opposition from consumer advocates.

"Il's back and forth, on and on,' O'Neil notes. "Even rt somebody is named soon,there's the confirmation process to negotiate. By that time, NHTSA will have driftedfor almost a year, Then we cookl get someone who doesn't know the highway safe­ty field, and it'll take another six months or more to gel up to speed: Meantime, notmuch of consequence is happening.

UIIliIyV_

wood County is in mountainous easternNorlh Carolina, near Asheville. High Pointis in the middle of the state, while Eliza­beth City is in the northeastern part, nearthe Atlantic shore.

~Gelting high belt use rates in thesethree very different North Carolina com­munities shows what can be accom­plished statewide, even nationwide,"Williams says.

PlclwpT..-

.-Cllr~J:IIOllN!I't.....,.....,.,....• ...,...CoInr...~

--

IIHS Status Repart, Vol. 28, No. 10, August 21, 1993-5

P8n:ent IncMN In 8II/t lise by VeIJIde Type

Con

100 ----

7S

00---1

abeth City, 77 percent in High Point, and90 percent in Haywood County. And publicresponse was favorable. Among thosewho said they were aware of the pro­grams, about 85 percent in the three com­munities said they approved. When allsurvey participants were asked whethersuch programs should be implementedelsewhere, more than 75 percent said theyshould. Virtually none of the respondentsto the survey had a nega-tive comment. )' 1

The three pilotcommunities werechosen in largepart for theirgeographicdiversity.Hay-

25------1

0-- --'

Photo, below left: Tom Enright of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (left) with Gov. James B, Hunt. Photo. be­low right: Hunt plans publicity and enforcement strategy for the safety bell program with (from left) insurance commissioner James

E. Long; highway safety representative Joe M. Parker; and Garland B. Garrett. deputy secretary of the state transportation department.I

MIt's really disheartening to know youhave a law, but barely 50 percent of the'people abide by that law," Coleman says,referring to Georgia's belt use rate.

Other states are planning similar pro­grams. Florida, for one, is about to begin itsthird belt initiative, according to CaptainKen Hawes of the state's highway patrol.

~North Carolina has really excitedsome folks," notes Tom Enright, NHTSA'ssoutheast regional administrator.

Survey Shows Support: Most peoplein the pilot communities knew about thepublicity and enforcement programs.telephone surveys of 500 people in eachof the North Carolina locations re­vealed, The survey was conducted justafter the pilots concluded.

Filty-four percent of those sur­veyed in Elizabeth City, 53 percent inHigh Point, and 68 percent in Hay­wood County said they were awarea buckle-up program was going on.Among those who were aware,many said it innuenced them touse belts more often - 52

percent in Elizabeth City, 37 per-cent in High Point, and 46 per-cent in Haywood County.

An even greater numberof survey respondentsknew about the policecheckpoints to lookfor motorists notusing safetybelts - 65percenlin Eliz-

Haywood C«Jnty

• _Pi..""""

The situation in Haywood County wasdifferent. The belt use law hadn't been en­forced as vigorously, and use rates wererelatively low. Police enforcement duringthe pilots was more concerted here thanin the other two areas, and motorists re­sponded. Belt use increased 38 points,from 43 to 81 percent.

Belt use increased throughout the pro­grams, from the first weeks of enforce­ment through the last week of the pilots.Rates increased in all kinds of passengervehicles, not just cars.

Already a Model: The North Carolinaprogram is already impressing officials inother states. Nearby Georgia will kick off asafety belt publicity and enforcement ef­fort on August 28. The three-week pro­gram will involve state police and 35 locallaw enforcement departments, says Dr.Thomas Coleman. director of the gover­nor's office of highway safety.

HWlPoint

PercIInt 8II/t lisebyFront-8eet 0CCup8nIaBeforeandAIIMPIlots

-C/Iy

The vast majority of residents in each ofthe three pilot communities knew thecheckpoints were going on.

More than 2,500 tickets were issued forfailing to comply with the safety belt law ­452 in Elizabeth City, 650 in High Point, and1,459 in Haywood County. North Carolina'slaw allows police to ticket motorists solelyfor not buckling up. They don't have to bestopped first for another violation in orderto be cited for not using bellS.

Belt Use Rates in Three Communities:HSRC researchers conducted observation­al surveys of safety belt use in the threepilot areas. Data were collected at 9-13sites per pilot community.

Belt use increased by 13 percentagepoints in High Point and by 10 percentagepoints in Elizabeth City, the researchersfound. These communities already hadrelatively high use rates because of previ­ous enforcement programs.

eo----,

60----.1

40-----1

20----1

0-----'

--..-----

a

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.A RIA.OJ! '0 .ueur UP1

4-IIHS Status Repart, Vol. 28, No. 10, August 21, 1993

(cont'd from p,1) menl, and the reven,is true, too," says Institute Senior VicePresident Allan F. Williams. "Peopleto know about belt laws. They also ha'to see the laws reatly being eniDthere's a good chance 01 getting a Ii,you don't buckle up. This mix 01 publicityand enforcement is what research showsto be effective in getting belt use rales upto 80 percent and higher.~

Public awareness about the belt pro­grams in the three pilot communitieswas fostered by advertising, localnews coverage, and support activi­ties. Paid media included newspaper,radio, television, and billboards. Freemedia coverage was generated bymultiple news conferences, news re­leases, on-the-air interviews, andeditorial comments.

Support activities included, forexample, signs on police cars:"Seat Belt Enforcement Unit." In­centive programs were also con­ducted, with cash and otherprizes supplied by local busi­nesses in each community.

Enforcement included both check­points and roving police patrols, at leastsome of which concentrated solely on beltlaw enforcement. Officers found thecheckpoints especially valuable in raisingthe visibility of the buckle-up programs., ~ J

eral Communications Commission, unat­tended radar must be capable of bothsending and receiving signals. The returnsignal must perfonn some function. Thismeans unattended drones don't, at pre­sent, comply.

Using the drones lor study purposes,researchers found the reduction in aver·age speeds when drones were turned on tobe ~moderate, at most. ~ Average passen­ger vehicle speeds went down less than1mph at most sites. Tractor-trailer speedswent down by a little more, but the reduc·tions were still moderate. However, theseeffects on average speeds &were associat­ed with more meaningful reductions in theproportion of vehicles exceeding thespeed limit,~ the researchers point out.

Results were most pronounced amongvehicles exceeding the speed limit by morethan 10 mph. The proportion of these werereduced by a third to half when radardrones were on. The biggest speed reduc­tions were observed for tractor·trailers.

The drones are effective becausethey're picked up by the radar detectorunits in many cars and trucks. Drivers us­ing detectors are alerted by the drones,believe there's police radar ahead, andslow down. Researchers confirmed this ef­feet of drones by monitoring drivers' com­ments on CB radios.

When drivers using radar detectorsslow down, so do other drivers nearby.The result is an overall decrease in bothaverage speeds and the proportion 01 ve­hicles going faster than the speed limit.

For a copy 01 -The Effect of RadarDrone Operation on Speeds at High CrashRisk Lncatioos" by M. Freedman, N. Teed,and J. Migletz, write: Insurance Institutelor Highway Safety, 1005 N. Glebe Rd., k·lingtnn. VA 22201.

'Drone' Radar Units Have an EffectOn Speeds Near Roadway Work Zones

Unaltended Radar Uoits Are Found 10 Have an lDfIueoce 00

Both Average and Top Travel Speeds, New Research SbOWll

More than GOO fatal crashesduring 1991 occurred at con­struction and other work zonesalong U.s. highways. Barricadesand other special devices tochanneltralfic around work ar­eas may themselves becomehazards. Slowing trallic helpsreduce the risk of a crash atthese sites but, at the sametime, Federal Highway Admifl.islration guidelines stressthat traffic should move asquickly and efficiently aspossible.

What 10 do? New re­search indicates thatusing unattended, or~dronet~ radar units re­duces both average vehi­cle speeds and the pro-portion of motor vehi­cles going very fast.The researchers usedlaser devices, whicharen't picked up bymotorists' radar de-tectors, to measurespeeds with andwithout the dronesat 12 construc­tion/maintenancesites and otherhigh-crash loca­tions across Mis­souri. Atotal of20,516 speedmeasurementswere taken.

There'sone glitch,though. Ac­cording tothe Fed·

IIHSStalUs Rep,,", Vol. 28, No. 10, Aagast 21,1993-7

Gallup Fmds SupportFor Devices to limitSpeed in Great BritainPoll Results Contrast withWidespread SpeedingOn Britisb Roadways

It shouldn't be possible lor cars to gofaster than 70 mph, say most respondentsto a Gallup poll in Great Britain. Seventy­six percent of respondents believe speed

should be restricted to 70 mph or slower,and 69 percent favor outfitting cars withspeed limiting devices.

The survey also found thai 63 percentof car owners and 83 percent of nonown·ers approve of speed limiters, which auto­matically prevent vehicles from goingfaster than a set speed.

Long-distance buses manufacturedsince 1974 and new trucks weighing morethan 7.5 metric tons are already reqUiredto have speed limiters that allow maxi·

mum speeds of 70 mph for the buses and60 mph for the trucks. (See Status Report,Vol. 26, No.7, Aug. 3, 1991.)

More women than men responding tothe Gallup poll favor speed limiters - 79to 57 percent. People older than 65, bothmen and women, overwhelmingly favorlimiters. Eighty-three percent in thisgroup said they approve.

"Speed limiters are the most effectivemeans 01 consistently reducing highspeeds of motor vehicles and thus some­thing which must be taken seriously by

the government and motor manufactur­ers: says David Rogers, safety advisor forthe Royal Society for the Prevention ofAccidents, which commissioned the poll.

'"The misuse of speed is known to be amajor factor in the causation of road traf­fic accidents and in increasing the severi­ty of injuries,~ Rogers adds.

Results of the Gallup poll contrastsharply with actual speeds on roadwaysin Great Britain. More than half of the carstraveling on nonurban motorways in 1992

exceeded the 70 mph speed limit. Thisfinding is from Vehicle Sp€eds in GreatBritain in 1992, published by the Depart­ment of Transport Statistics.

Nineteen percent 01 the cars surveyedat 18 motorway sites traveled faster than80 mph, and 2percent went faster than 90mph. Forty-one percent of motorcyclesexceeded 70 mph, 19 percent exceeded 80mph, and 8 percent exceeded 90 mph.Forty percent of large trucks exceededtheir 60 mph speed limit.

On two-lane roads in nonurban areas,39 percent of cars exceeded 70 mph, and10 percent exceeded 80 mph. Twenty-fourpercent of motorcyclists exceeded 70mph. Thirty percent of buses and coachesexceeded their 60 mph limit.

Japan's 1992 ToUOn Highways LeadsOfficials to Plan aRange of Remedies

Japan's motor vehicle death toll in1992 was higher than in any year since1974. Last year, a total of 11,451 peoplewere killed in crashes. This is 341 moredeaths than in 1991.

[n an effort to curb the rising numberof highway fatalities, the Japanese Min­istry of Transport has strengthened thecountry's motor vehicle regulations. Re­qUired front-end collision testing 01 sam­ple vehicles will begin in 1994 for domes­tic vehicles and in 1999 for imports. Testmethods will generally follow those speci­fied in the U.s. automatic protection starrdard. Requirements for rear.end crashtests will be strengthened, too.

Three-point belts will be required inrear seats. Warning lights reminding driv­ers 10 buckle up also will be required.Both of these take ellect in April 1994. Be­ginning in September of the following year,requirements for antilock brakes on trac­tors and trailers will be expanded to in­clude more vehicles.

Vol. 28, No. 10, August 21,1993

On The InsideNorth Carolioa safety belt programyields first results p.l

Frelghtllner Corporation makes an-tilock brakes standard p.2

Trucken who use i08ulln will get li-censing waiver, FHWA decides p.3

lots of names are Rooted for lop postat NHTSA, but nobody is picked p.3

Radar drones slow traffic at highwaymaintenance/construction sites p.6

Around the World covers speed inGreal Britain, death toll in Japan........p.7

S"~~''''IMlilunlOR

lila l\\.'\lwin

1005 ,~h Giebt RoadArlington, VA Z2201(7C13) 2H·]5(K) fAX (703) 247·1678

Director of ?ublicaliom/Editor. Anne FlemingWrilef5: Mirla Kaufmann, Kim Lancaster.

and ShafOn J RasmU55CllFAiloril1Au~L Clr\erJe ftugbes_Sl>d•..........,.Art Director: ShtiIa JKbon

.....-"""'-Tbt nunnce institute kw Iighway Safgy is an iI'Jdtptn­dmt lKllIpI'OOt. sdmliflc IIld educa1icJIlllI orp81U1ioll. IIIs dedDlfCIlO redtIcil& the lossft - d9lJll.loJurjeI.. andpr~ darDact-lt$lIItmg froIIl cmbes on the IlIlIOll'S

hIpwl)... Tbt Iostitule Is supported by the AIllMcIll In­:AIRllCe Hipo"ty s.Iety AssocIation. tht Aml'rlwI Nurtn'HltIno"l} s.Iety MIilnce, tilt Sabona) Associal:lon of bw.peD6tllt lnsi.mJ Saldy Assoc:iition. and • IllIlIlber u lndi­vidual iIISurWt C'OlllP'f\ll'$.

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