Project for Driver's Ed

7/28/2019 Project for Driver's Ed

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1. by Shelby Friesz, Nebraska News Service - 1/19/2013http://northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=24615&pageID=24

Legislators are considering the fine points of turn signal laws.

Currently, Nebraska drivers must signal a turn or lane change for 100feet before turning. But what if they decide they want to turn whileidling at a stop sign?

Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus introduced a bill (LB 83)Thursday, Jan. 10, to make an exception for stopped vehicles in the lawrequiring a turn signal in the last 100 feet before a turn or lane change.

Its a little fix-it bill, Schumacher said. All this does is says thatyouve got to signal for a reasonable period of time before you makethe turn. You dont have to back up and take a run at it for 140 feet.

Columbus lawyer Bill Kurtenbach brought the issue toSchumachers attention after trying a case involving a violation to theturn signal statute.

After pulling up to a stop sign from a nearby diagonal parking spot,a police officer stopped his client for signaling a turn too late,Kurtenbach said.

What if the parking spot is less than 100 feet from the corner? hesaid.

Kurtenbach said he decided to involve Schumacher because hebelieved the statute was wrong because it did not reflect how peopledrive.

This particular way its written now puts people in a bad spot,Schumacher said. They dont want to break the law, but as a practicalmatter they have to.

While it is not a large change to the law, Kurtenbach said it couldhelp Nebraskans avoid this common problem altogether.

The bill is assigned to the Transportation and TelecommunicationsCommittee for a hearing and further action.

Schumacher said it is not big enough to rate as priority legislation butcould come out of committee as a general fix-it bill.


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Just as one should use reason and prudence in the speedat which they drive, the same should be for turn signals over100 feet. While 100 ft is the minimum, 200 ft or more is better.

2. KLKNTV June 9, 2013

http://www.klkntv.com/story/22543476/lincoln-to-match-states-harsher-dui-penalties

"There are really two key elements here basically. The first one,that will extend the penalty time, the revocation period, from 12

months to 18 months and the second would also have a mandatoryinstillation of an interlock device and that would be paid for by theoffender."

City Councilman Jon Camp says drunk driving is both a national andlocal issue.

And that this new ordinance might bring awareness to the often deadly


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problem.

"Basically encourage people to be more responsible in the way theywould drink and if they are driving a motor vehicle, they'll beresponsible there so that we don't endanger the lives of other citizens,"

he says.

Nebraska recently buckled down on second offense DUI penalties.

New state law increases license suspension from one year to 18months and also requires a device to be installed, at the cost of thedriver, that will make sure they're sober before they can drive.

They'll need to have the device for at least a year.

Now Lincoln is adopting the same changes.

"The state of Nebraska has enacted a statute in this case that wouldsupersede a city ordinance and so really what we're doing here isbringing our ordinances in conformity with state statues," says Camp.

Monday marks the second reading of the ordinance, and the public willbe invited to weigh in.

According to police, last year in Lincoln alone, there were more than1,500 drunk driving citations, and 203 drunk driving accidents.

We learned that drunk driving is a major cause of crashesincluding deadly ones. Our instructor also mentioned thatcompared to many European nations, America generally hassofter penalties for drunk driving. Increasing penalties wouldmost likely decrease the amount of drunk driving.


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3. NBC News March 22, 2012

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/get-times-youre-driving-all-wrong-518710

If you're a conscientious motorist who still does everything the way your driver's-edinstructor told you to, you're doing it all wrong.

For decades, the standard instruction was that drivers should hold the steering wheelat the 10 and 2 positions, as envisioned on a clock. This, it turns out, is no longer thecase. In fact, driving that way could cost you your arms or hands in particularlygruesome ways if your airbag deploys.

Instead AAA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and many driving

instructors now say you should grip the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock. A few go evenfurther, suggesting 8 and 4 to avoid the airbag mechanism as much as possible, butwhat formal research has been published on the varieties of hand positions suggeststhat this may lessen your control of the car.

Safer cars make old-school ways dangerousIn its latest guidelines for effectivesteering, distributed by state and private driving instructors nationwide, theAmerican Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association advises that"recommendations relative to hand position on the steering wheel have becomemore flexible."

As cars have become safer over the years, "the steering wheel and associated

mechanisms (have) changed dramatically," it says, meaning the familiar drivingmaneuvers "needed to turn the wheel have all changed." Principal among thechanges is the incorporation of airbag modules in the steering column, which aredesigned to deploy upward to protect your head and chest.

That means the higher up the wheel your hands are, the more likely they are to bedirectly over the plastic cover when it opens that is, when superhot nitrogen gasflashes and inflates the bag at 150 to 250 mph.

Among the injuries the NHTSA reports from improper placement of the hands whenan airbag deploys are amputations of fingers or entire hands, traumatic fractures anda particularly stomach-churning injury called "degloving," which trust us youdefinitely don't want to look up.

AAA says the bags can also slam your hands directly into your head, causing brokennoses and concussions.

"If the bag is going to go, it's going to take my hand and put it into my face eitherone of my hands," Bob Hendrickson, head of AAA's network of driving schools incentral Indiana, told NBC station WTHR of Indianapolis.
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Airbags/airbags.htmlhttp://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Airbags/airbags.htmlhttp://www.wthr.com/story/17203557/aaa-issues-new-recommendations-for-drivinghttp://www.wthr.com/story/17203557/aaa-issues-new-recommendations-for-drivinghttp://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Airbags/airbags.htmlhttp://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Airbags/airbags.html


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Experts also say new research in ergonomics suggests that what's called "parallelposition" makes for safer driving in general.

Parallel position "improves stability by lowering the body's center of gravity andreduces unintended and excessive steering wheel movement which is a primarycause of young driver fatalities," the Texas Department of Public Safety says in

guidelines for new drivers (.pdf).

In plain English, that means "9 and 3," said Dallas police Sgt. Paul Hinton, whoteaches law enforcement officers how to drive safely in emergencies like highwaychases or when facing a wrong-way driver.

"That way I can go 180 degrees (one way), 180 degrees back the other way and thenback to center," Hinton told NBC station KXAS of Dallas. "That's the way I'm going tobe able to change lanes (safely)."

One other thingYou're also turning wrong. That ship captain's-style "hand overhand" thing is now out.

Instead, you're supposed to "push-pull" that is, push the wheel up with one handand pull it down with the other, without crossing over.

The reason is the same, State Farm's auto insurance division says in its guidelines forbeginning drivers:

"Hand-over-hand maneuvers during turning should be avoided to prevent arms frombeing in front of a deploying airbag in the event of a crash. Serious injuries mayresult during such occurrences."

Shuffle steering is the safest way to steer a car. We learnedthat it lowers the chance of injury from your arms flying intoyour body.

4. Futuristic News (No Date)

http://futuristicnews.com/automatic-braking-and-pedestrian-detection-system-for-mercedes-benz/

Continental plans to begin production of an automatic-braking andpedestrian-detection system for Mercedes-Benz at the beginning of2013. The Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) business unit
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/120321_TexasDriversGuide.pdfhttp://www.nbcdfw.com/traffic/transit/Five-Nights-That-Could-Save-Your-Life-What-to-Do-to-Avoid-a-Wrong-Way-Driver-133412918.htmlhttp://www.nbcdfw.com/traffic/transit/Five-Nights-That-Could-Save-Your-Life-What-to-Do-to-Avoid-a-Wrong-Way-Driver-133412918.htmlhttp://teendriving.statefarm.com/teaching-a-teen-to-drive/being-a-role-model/steering-wheel-hand-positionhttp://teendriving.statefarm.com/teaching-a-teen-to-drive/being-a-role-model/steering-wheel-hand-positionhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/120321_TexasDriversGuide.pdfhttp://www.nbcdfw.com/traffic/transit/Five-Nights-That-Could-Save-Your-Life-What-to-Do-to-Avoid-a-Wrong-Way-Driver-133412918.htmlhttp://teendriving.statefarm.com/teaching-a-teen-to-drive/being-a-role-model/steering-wheel-hand-positionhttp://teendriving.statefarm.com/teaching-a-teen-to-drive/being-a-role-model/steering-wheel-hand-position


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will be the first unit offered by a major automaker in Europe to use astereo camera to detect and prevent impacts with pedestrians andother obstacles on the road. The camera will be integrated with a radarsystem that will present collision detection of up to 200 meters: theradar will detect a possible danger and the camera will evaluate it. The

system will also feature the Emergency Steer Assist (ESA) thatautomatically steers the car around pedestrians when it determinesthere is scanty distance to stop the car without hitting anybody.Whenever theres an obstacle in the cars way the Emergency BrakeAssist (EBA) brakes automatically at speeds of up to 70 km/h (44 mph).Continental reported that Mercedes would offer the unit as an optionalfeature on high end models.

We learned in class the driver inattention is the leading causeof crashes. With an automatic-braking system, such collisions

would probably start to go down, causing fewer causalities.


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5. Cars. com 07/20/2012http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=safe&story=techAir&subject=safe_tech

Since Ralph Nader's seminal book "Unsafe at Any Speed" came outover 40 years ago, seat belts, padded dashboards, collapsible steeringcolumns, improved bumpers and other safety features have becomestandard fare on cars and trucks. After seat belts, the most significantadvance in automobile safety has been the airbag.

Airbags are gas-inflated cushions that rapidly discharge fromcompartments hidden in steering columns, dashboards, roof rails,doors and seats, hyper-inflating to protect a vehicle's safety-beltedadult driver and passengers.

Driver and front-passenger airbags have been required in cars by thefederal government since the 1998 model year (since 1999 for lighttrucks). Mercedes-Benz first put airbags in all its models in 1986.

By the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's own estimates,airbags have saved nearly 28,000 lives since 1998, that's morethan 2,300 people a year. NHTSA calculates that using a seat belt andhaving an airbag reduces the risk of death by 61 percent. Simply put,this combination is the most basic and effective safety precautionavailable.

In recent years, an armada of airbags has been added to cars andtrucks. Some rides, such as the BMW M3, now possess as many aseight of the nylon inflatables.


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Side-impact airbags, which Volvo debuted in the mid-1990s, are one ofthese bonus bladders. Variations shield the pelvis, chest and head andcan deploy from the door, seat or roof of a vehicle. Side curtain-typeairbags protect the head and, in some models, remain inflated for upto five seconds during rollovers. BMW was an early curtain pioneer.

Side airbags not only help passengers in more rollover-prone sportutility vehicles, but they also protect occupants of smaller cars fromthese same light trucks.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a nonprofit trade groupthat crash tests vehicles and conducts related research. Theorganization's chief operating officer, Adrian Lund, says of SUVs,"When these things hit you on the side if you're in a car, basically theirhood is right at your head."

Side airbags can provide a cushion between bodies and intrudingSUVs. "We've seen about a 45 percent reduction in fatal injuries forvehicles that are equipped with side airbags," Lund says.

NHTSA is working on upgrading side-impact safety standards for allpassenger vehicles. On Sept. 1, 2009, the agency phased in new side-impact standards that required side airbags as standard equipment.

Other airbag innovations continue apace. General Motors was the firstto introduce dual-depth passenger-side airbag. These bags inflate todifferent girths, depending on variables such as seat position, theseverity of the crash and whether the seat belt is clasped or not.

Dual-stage airbags, present on several new Volvo models, work slightlydifferently. With this technology, a sensor measures the severity of acrash and seat-belt usage to adapt airbag inflation speeds; a severecrash results in a full, rapid deployment, while a fender-bender triggersa slower, 70-percent inflation.

BMW has also been at the forefront of advanced airbag technology. Its7 Series was an early adopter of knee airbags, which protect the legsand help the driver avoid sliding down and forward during a crash.


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Since Sept 1, 2006, NHTSA has required new vehicles come withadvanced frontal airbag systems. Advance front passenger airbags canalso based on your weight and position turn the airbag off. Thesenew models are configured to render moot the belief that theairbags crushed children and small adults the public outcry over

first-generation airbags. Mechanics were regularly asked, against thewishes of manufacturers, to disable passenger-side bags. This led tothe introduction of controversial on/off switches which are stillpermitted until 2012. NHTSA statistics show that 291 people have beenkilled by airbags since 1990.

We learned briefly that airbags are important and increasinglybeing used in more parts of the car. In addition, we learnedits important that you wear your seatbelt (always, but) with

an airbag because they work together.


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6. St. Lious Post-Dispatch

June 12, 2013 http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/dittmer-man-killed-in-rollover-crash-in-jefferson-county/article_16e716a7-2295-5289-876f-3ddb6ad2e67f.html

A Dittmer man was killed Tuesday in a rollover crash in JeffersonCounty, police say.

The Missouri Highway Patrol identified the victim as Steven W. Rogers,49.

The crash happened at about 4:10 p.m. Tuesday on Highway WW,north of Blackhawk Lane.

The patrol said Rogers was driving a 1995 Dodge Ram 2500 pickupnorth on Highway WW when the truck went off the right side of thehighway. Rogers overcorrected, and the truck went off the left side ofthe road and down an embankment. The truck hit a tree andoverturned. He was pronounced dead at the scene.


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We learned that if you drift a little off the highway thatovercorrecting can cause you to rollover. A rollover on ahighway like this can be deadly especially at a high-speed andwhether the occupant wears their seatbelt.


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7. Lincoln Journal Star June 11, 2013http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/crash-claims-drivers-injures-on-u-s-near-elmwood/article_e01e5286-b59d-5e72-8ecd-b2ce02470552.html

WEEPING WATER Two drivers died Tuesday night when a pickupdriven by a 24-year-old went into oncoming traffic and hit anambulance head-on near Elmwood, Cass County Sheriff WilliamBrueggemann said.

William Whitlatch, a 24-year-old rural Syracuse resident, was driving a2002 Ford Ranger east on U.S. 34 around 10:20 p.m. when it driftedinto oncoming traffic and hit a Weeping Water Rescue ambulance thatwas taking a patient to a Lincoln hospital, Brueggemann said.

Deputies had been looking for Whitlatch, who was reportedly drivingerratically before the crash.

Rescue crews pronounced Whitlatch dead at the scene.

Fifty to 75 rescue workers needed about two hours to extricate theambulance driver, 51-year-old Robert Bob Hanes Sr., of WeepingWater, said Mark Bonser, who sits on the board of directors for theNebraska Line of Duty Death and Serious Injury Response Team.

A medical helicopter flew him to Bryan West Campus, where he diedaround 2 a.m., Bonser said.

Weeping Water Mayor Howard Stubbendieck said he knew Hanes for25 years, went to the same church and they volunteered together.

He was a kind and gentle man. He was just a wonderful person,Stubbendieck said. I never met anyone who didnt like him.

You couldnt help but like him.

Hanes worked in Louisville in the parts department at Pankonins Inc.,said Weeping Water resident Pam Taylor. Hanes worked with kidsdown at the baseball field, shoveled the driveway of an elderly

neighbor and helped cook steaks and burgers at the FirstCongregational United Church of Christs barbecue fundraiser.

He was a super nice guy who did a lot for the community. Hell bemissed, Taylor said. Hed do anything for anybody.

Thats the sad part; you lose the nice ones.

Hanes wife, Carol, is holding up very well, Bonser said, adding that


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he talked with her at the hospital and she knows her husband dieddoing something he loved helping people and serving his town.

Bobs loss of life wasnt for nothing, Bonser said.

The medical helicopter also transported two emergency medical

technicians Melissa Hanes, 30, and James D. Flint Jr., 46 -- CassCounty Sheriffs Capt. David Lamprecht said. Elmwood Rescue workerstransferred the original patient, 50-year-old Luther Gunnels of WeepingWater, to their ambulance and relayed him to the hospital.

Doctors treated all of them for non-life threatening injuries, Lamprechtsaid.

A hospital spokeswoman said Flint was in serious condition and Hanes,who is Bob Hanes daughter, was in fair condition.

Bonser said Flint suffered severe head trauma but was alert when hetalked to him at the hospital.

Hes doing OK, Bonser said.

Doctors took Melissa Hanes into surgery for an arm injury, he added.

The Weeping Water rescue crew was taking Gunnels to a hospital for aminor medical problem, Lamprecht added.

Cass County sheriffs deputies and Nebraska State Patrol troopers areinvestigating the crash.

Head on collisions are usually the most deadly as we learnedin Drivers Ed. The combined force of cars going the oppositeway makes it harder for passengers to survive such a collision.


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8. Steve Rosin

Woman uninjured in rollover car crash on County Road 105Riverhead News-Review June 11, 2013

http://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2013/06/45999/woman-uninjured-in-rollover-car-crash-on-county-road-105/

A woman walked away unharmed after her car flipped into the medianon County Road 105 Tuesday afternoon, Riverhead Town police said.

The woman was driving southbound about 3:40 p.m. in a red ToyotaTercel when she overturned the vehicle into the median of the road,police at the scene said.

Riverhead ambulance crews were called to the crash scene, but thewoman suffered no injuries and declined further medical attention.

Police closed the left lane of the road while the womans car wasremoved from the median.

County roads are the most susceptible to rollovercrashes. They are usually not as well maintained being madeof gravel, dirt, sand, etc.


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9. The Economist Clean, safe and it drives itself April 20, 2013http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21576384-cars-have-already-changed-way-we-live-they-are-likely-do-so-again-clean-safe-and-it

SOME inventions, like some species, seem to make periodic leaps inprogress. The car is one of them. Twenty-five years elapsed between


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Karl Benz beginning small-scale production of his original Motorwagenand the breakthrough, by Henry Ford and his engineers in 1913, thatturned the car into the ubiquitous, mass-market item that has definedthe modern urban landscape. By putting production of the Model T onmoving assembly lines set into the floor of his factory in Detroit, Ford

drastically cut the time needed to build it, and hence its cost. Thusbegan a revolution in personal mobility. Almost a billion cars now rollalong the worlds highways.

Today the car seems poised for another burst of evolution. One way inwhich it is changing relates to its emissions. As emerging markets growricher, legions of new consumers are clamouring for their first set ofwheels. For the whole world to catch up with American levels of carownership, the global fleet would have to quadruple. Even a fraction ofthat growth would present fearsome challenges, from congestion andthe price of fuel to pollution and global warming.

Yet, as our special report this week argues, stricter regulations andsmarter technology are making cars cleaner, more fuel-efficient andsafer than ever before. China, its cities choked in smog, is followingEurope in imposing curbs on emissions of noxious nitrogen oxides andfine soot particles. Regulators in most big car markets are demandingdeep cuts in the carbon dioxide emitted from car exhausts. Andcarmakers are being remarkably inventive in finding ways to comply.

Granted, battery-powered cars have disappointed. They remainexpensive, lack range and are sometimes dirtier than they lookfor

example, if they run on electricity from coal-fired power stations. Butcar companies are investing heavily in other clean technologies. Futuremotorists will have a widening choice of super-efficient petrol anddiesel cars, hybrids (which switch between batteries and an internal-combustion engine) and models that run on natural gas or hydrogen.As for the purely electric car, its time will doubtless come.

Towards the driverless, near-crashless carMeanwhile, a variety of driver assistance technologies are appearingon new cars, which will not only take a lot of the stress out of driving intraffic but also prevent many accidents. More and more new cars can

reverse-park, read traffic signs, maintain a safe distance in steadytraffic and brake automatically to avoid crashes. Some carmakers arepromising technology that detects pedestrians and cyclists, againoverruling the driver and stopping the vehicle before it hits them. Anumber of firms, including Google, are busy trying to take driverassistance to its logical conclusion by creating cars that drivethemselves to a chosen destination without a human at the controls.This is where it gets exciting.
http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21576213-motor-industrys-fortunes-are-increasingly-divided-says-peter-collinshttp://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21576213-motor-industrys-fortunes-are-increasingly-divided-says-peter-collins


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Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, predicts that driverless cars willbe ready for sale to customers within five years. That may beoptimistic, but the prototypes that Google already uses to ferry its staff(and a recent visitor from The Economist) along Californian freewaysare impressive. Google is seeking to offer the world a driverless car

built from scratch, but it is more likely to evolve, and be accepted bydrivers, in stages.

As sensors and assisted-driving software demonstrate their ability tocut accidents, regulators will move to make them compulsory for allnew cars. Insurers are already pressing motorists to accept blackboxes that measure how carefully they drive: these will provide a massof data which is likely to show that putting the car on autopilot is oftensafer than driving it. Computers never drive drunk or while texting.

If and when cars go completely driverlessfor those who want this

the benefits will be enormous. Google gave a taste by putting a blindman in a prototype and filming him being driven off to buy takeawaytacos. Huge numbers of elderly and disabled people could regain theirpersonal mobility. The young will not have to pay crippling motorinsurance, because their reckless hands and feet will no longer touchthe wheel or the accelerator. The colossal toll of deaths and injuriesfrom road accidents1.2m killed a year worldwide, and 2m hospitalvisits a year in America aloneshould tumble down, along with thecosts to health systems and insurers.

Driverless cars should also ease congestion and save fuel. Computers

brake faster than humans. And they can sense when cars ahead ofthem are braking. So driverless cars will be able to drive much closerto each other than humans safely can. On motorways they could formfuel-efficient road trains, gliding along in the slipstream of thevehicle in front. People who commute by car will gain hours each dayto work, rest or read a newspaper.

Roadblocks aheadSome carmakers think this vision of the future is (as Henry Ford oncesaid of history) bunk. People will be too terrified to hurtle down themotorway in a vehicle they do not control: computers crash, dont

they? Carmakers whose self-driving technology is implicated inaccidents might face ruinously expensive lawsuits, and be put offcontinuing to develop it.

Yet many people already travel, unwittingly, on planes and trains thatno longer need human drivers. As with those technologies, the shifttowards driverless cars is taking place gradually. The cars software


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will learn the tricks that humans use to avoid hazards: for example,braking when a ball bounces into the road, because a child may bechasing it. Googles self-driving cars have already clocked up over700,000km, more than many humans ever drive; and everything theylearn will become available to every other car using the software. As

for the liability issue, the law should be changed to make sure thatwhen cases arise, the courts take into account the overall safetybenefits of self-driving technology.

If the notion that the driverless car is round the corner sounds far-fetched, remember that TV and heavier-than-air flying machines oncedid, too. One day people may wonder why earlier generations everentrusted machines as dangerous as cars to operators as fallible ashumans.

We learned that car crashes are one of the leading causes ofdeaths for young people. By having a car that could driveitself, human error could be eliminated, causing fewer crashes.

10. USA Today April 10, 2013http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/10/car-rear-view-cameras/2072611/

DeWITT, Iowa Little Jack Pauly wanted to go with mommy and hisbig sister to the store.

That's what his mother, Karen Pauly, believes, nearly two years afterthe tragedy that took Jack away forever. She had loaded her daughter,Lily, then age 3, into the car seat in the back of the family's mid-sizeSUV. She backed out of the driveway.

"Lily said, 'I think you hit something,'" Karen Pauly remembers.

Pauly found 19-month-old Jack in the driveway, badly injured. She hadbacked over her son.

She screamed for help. Her husband, Patrick, bolted out of their house.He ran their toddler next door to his parents' house, where his mother,a nurse, tried to save Jack's life. A helicopter ambulance flew Jack to


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the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

"But the doctor took us into a room and explained that the damagewas too much," said Pauly, whose family lives in rural DeWitt.

When Karen and Patrick Pauly were getting dressed for Jack's funeraland had a TV on in the background. It aired a public serviceannouncement for a group called KidsandCars.org, a nonprofit,nonpartisan group that lobbies for automobile safety legislation to helpprevent tragedies like the one that took Jack's life.

"My mother said, 'It's a sign. You've got to do that,'" Karen Pauly said.

Pauly will be one of a half-dozen parents sharing their stories withlawmakers and federal transportation officials at noon Thursday inWashington, D.C. They want the U.S. Department of Transportation to

create standards for rear visibility in new vehicles.

Former President George W. Bush signed the Cameron Gulbransen KidsTransportation Safety Act in February 2008. One of the provisions ofthe law requires the U.S. DOT to issue standards to address blind zonesin vehicles that prevent drivers from seeing children and otherpedestrians when backing up.

The law is named for the 2-year-old son of a Bellport, N.Y., couple whodied in 2002 when his father backed over him while moving a car inthe family's driveway.

The review standards were supposed to be in place by February 2011,but have yet to be issued. Pauly and members of KidsAndCars.orgwant the rules to require backup cameras to help cover the blind spotsdirectly behind a vehicle.

KidsAndCars.org estimates that as many as 1,002 children died from1990 to 2010 by being backed over by a vehicle. Fourteen of thosedeaths occurred in Iowa, the organization says.

The activists believe the data underestimates the magnitude of thesafety issue because there is no national standard for collectingbackover data.

One of the stumbling blocks for requiring backup cameras is cost. TheU.S. DOT estimates requiring the devices would add as much as $200to the price of a new vehicle.


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However, Jackie Gillan, president of advocates for Highway and AutoSafety, said she believes "these costs are greatly inflated."

"When rear-view cameras become standard equipment, the price willdrop dramatically," she said.

According to Edmunds.com, a privately held automotive informationfirm, 70 percent of 2012 model year vehicles have backup camerasavailable on one package or more.

However, the cameras alone won't eliminate safety risks when peopleare directly behind a vehicle, safety experts argue.

"A huge issue is driver expectation," said Daniel McGehee, director ofthe Human Factors and Vehicle Safety Research Program at theUniversity of Iowa, which studies crash data. "If the driver does not

expect anyone to be behind the vehicle, they're going to behavedifferently than if they do."

For example, a driver backing out of a parking space at a grocery storeor Little League park might be more mindful of the likelihood ofchildren behind the vehicle than other venues, McGehee said.

Karen Pauly, though, swears by her rear-view camera. Days after herson's funeral, her husband traded in her SUV for a newer model with abackup camera.

Pauly knows she won't be able to prevent every tragedy. She knowsnothing will bring back her son. But she believes a requirement ofbacking cameras will save lives and might have saved her son.

That's why she tells her story often and to anyone who will listen, eventhough it hurts every time.

"If we can prevent just one more, then it's worth it," she said. "I don'twant anyone to have to feel what I've felt."

I learned that backing your car out is one of the mostdangerous maneuvers while driving. Having a rearview camerain your car allows for better visibility while backing up,possibly saving lives.


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11. Michael Wayland Insurance institute: Drivers finding lanedeparture warning systems more annoying than effective March 20,2013http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2013/03/insurance_institute_drivers_fi.html

DEARBORN- Lane departure warning systems may be more annoyingthan they are effective, according to data and results from theInsurance Institute of Highway Safety.

David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer and senior vice president, saidearly testing and research of the systems, which warn drivers that theirvehicle is leaving a lane without a turn signal, are testing about 10
http://www.iihs.org/http://www.iihs.org/http://www.iihs.org/http://www.iihs.org/


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percent lower than the majority of other new vehicle safety equipment.

When we look at lane departure warning systems, we dont see anyevidence that these systems are helping drivers avoid being incrashes, Zuby said during a panel discussion Tuesday at Automotive

Worlds Megatrends USA 2013 conference in Dearborn. In fact,the data from some of the manufacturers goes the wrong way we seemore crashes.

Automakers and suppliers usually equip lane departure warningsystems with haptic/vibrating or audible sounds to warn drivers thatthey are crossing into another lane without using your turn signal.

Zuby said one of the reasons for the low test results is that people mayfind the systems as a "turn signal nanny rather than always identifyinga precursor to a crash."

Following the Automotive World panel, Zuby told MLive.com that IIHSis investigating why lane departure systems dont have high levels ofacceptance or lack of annoyance likeother systems such as forwardcollision warning systemsthat have tested very well.

Ford's Lane Keeping System helps avoid unintentional lane departureand will be available on the 2013 all-new Fusion.

According to the early research, Zuby said forward collision warningsystems reduced crashes 7 percent compared to the same vehicleswithout the system, and a 14 percent reduction with a warning systemequipped with emergency braking that can automatically attempt tostop a vehicle before a crash.

Don't expect automakers to immediately give up on lane departurewarning, however. Zuby said there is a lot automakers can do to makethe systems more or less intrusive.

Zuby was on a panel moderated by Michael L. Prince, Michigan Officeof Highway Safety Planning director, with Steve Underwood, director ofConnected Vehicle Proving Center at the University of Michigan; TonyBromwell, TASS International director of Americas; and Steve Kenner,Ford director of Global Automotive Safety.

Kenner, following Zuby's remarks on lane departure systems, saidevery automaker uses the system differently.
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Ford's system on the new Fusion uses a digital camera mountedon the windshield to detect any unintentional lane departures. It hasthree levels of assistance -- Lane Keeping Alert, Lane Keeping Aid andDriver Alert -- depending on the severity of the lane departure.

When the system detects the car is approaching the edge of the lanewithout a turn signal activated, the lane marker in the icon turnsyellow and the steering wheel vibrates to simulate driving over rumblestrips. If the driver doesnt respond and continues to drift, the lane iconturns red and system will nudge the steering and the vehicle backtoward the center of the lane.

The Automotive Megatrends conference, sponsored by the UK-basedmagazine Automotive World, featured more than 300 experts anddelegates from around the country to discuss car safety, passenger carconnectivity and electric vehicle technology.

Lane changes can be dangerous, and lane changes intooncoming traffic are deadly. While we should look for

technology to lower the chances of collisions, sometimes beingto careful (as in this case) can be annoying. It is like thereason we have the 3 point seatbelts instead of 5 pointseatbelts.
http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/12/2013_ford_fusion_first_midsize.htmlhttp://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/12/2013_ford_fusion_first_midsize.htmlhttp://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/12/2013_ford_fusion_first_midsize.htmlhttp://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/12/2013_ford_fusion_first_midsize.html


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12. NBC News May 19, 2013 Mercedes S-Class wows with 3Dcameras and night vision

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/mercedes-s-class-wows-3d-cameras-night-vision-1C9960709

There was a time when luxury cars were defined by their sheer sizeand mass, their power, performance and, of course, exclusive detailslike leather seats and wood trim.

Those factors distinguish the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but theresmore to the redefined German flagship that fit the changing nature of


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the auto industry. From its LED lamps to the 3D cameras, radar andnight vision systems that allow the new sedan to virtually drive itself,the new S-Class is a technical tour de force that will likely havecompetitors racing to catch up.

We learned in Drivers Ed, that night is one of the mostdangerous times to drive. There is less visibility, it is possibleto be blinded for a couple of seconds by another cars lights,deer are usually out around that time, etc. Technology, suchas night vision systems, could help prevent problems such asthese from happening in the future by allowing more vision atnight for drivers.


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13. autoevolution Bosch Introduces the Side View Assisthttp://www.autoevolution.com/news/bosch-introduces-the-side-view-assist-25844.html

Yet another safety feature is making its way through Boschs portfolio,coming as a blind-spot assistant, helping drivers handle complex trafficsituations. Dubbed Side View Assist, the driver assistance system fromBosch uses ultrasonic sensors, just like the companys parking aid andparking assistant.

The Side View Assist system is capable of registering objects threemetres to the side and diagonally to the rear of the vehicle, coveringthe blind spot areas.

If the sensors detect a vehicle, their signal is first checked by thesystem's electronics to prevent false alarms. Then it can warn thedriver in two ways: first optically, and then, if the driver fails to react,acoustically.

The Side View Assist system's ultrasonic sensors are mounted in thesides of the vehicle's front and rear bumpers. The two rear-sidesensors monitor the blind spot on the lanes to the right and left.

The sensors use the same technique to detect parked vehicles, roadsigns and to register when drivers are passing other cars. In thosecases, they do not set off an alarm. It is only when one of the rear sidesensors reports an object that has not already been detected by thefront sensors that danger is imminent.

The Side View Assist system works at speeds of between 10 and140kph. Outside that range, it does not warn drivers. The system aidsdrivers in complex traffic situations when relative speeds are low, and


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therefore mostly helps them on urban roads and highways and onmulti-lane roads where speed limits are in place. The system warnsdrivers but does not intervene directly in their actions.

I learned in Drivers Ed, that making sure a car is not in a blindspot is one of the most important aspects of switching lanes. Itis dangerous for cars to be in the blind spots of other trucks orcars.

14. Insurance Journal Electronic Stability Control in Cars Saving Lives: NHTSADecember 3, 2012http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2012/12/03/272554.htm

Electronic stability control technology (ESC) is saving an increasingnumber of lives each year, according to a three-year study by the U.S.Department of Transportations National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration (NHTSA). The NHTSA study estimates that ESC saved2,202 lives from 2008 to 2010 alone.

Electronic stability control was mandated on all light-duty trucks andpassenger vehicles under a federal safety regulation issued in 2007.


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The requirement was phased in over the years covered by the studyand applies to all new light vehicles manufactured on or after Sept. 1,2011.

These numbers send a clear message about this technologys life-saving potential, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Asmore vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC in the coming years,we know the technology will save even more lives.

ESC systems use computer-controlled braking of individual wheels tohelp drivers maintain control of a vehicle that is beginning to losedirectional control and/or stability. NHTSAs analysis estimates ESCtechnology saved the lives of a growing number of passenger vehicleoccupants each year between 2008 and 2010. There were 634 lives

saved in 2008, 705 lives in 2009 and 863 lives in 2010, according t theNHTSA.

NHTSA research has consistently shown ESC systems are especiallyeffective in helping a driver maintain vehicle control and avoid some ofthe most dangerous types of crashes on the highway, including deadlyvehicle rollover situations or in keeping drivers from completelyrunning off the roadway, said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland.

NHTSA published a final rule in April 2007 establishing Federal Motor

Vehicle Safety Standard 126, which requires manufacturers to installESC systems on all passenger cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans,and pickup trucks.

NHTSA said the study was undertaken following President ObamasExecutive Order 13563, which requires that each agency periodicallyreview its existing significant regulations.

In May, NHTSA proposed a new federal motor vehicle safety standardto require ESC systems on large commercial trucks and large buses for

the first time ever. Applying ESC technology to the heavy-duty fleetcould prevent up to 56 percent of rollover crashes each year andanother 14 percent of loss-of-control crashes in these vehicles,according to the federal agency.


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We learned that approximately half of all crashes occur withonly a single vehicle. Most of these are causes by inattentionor careless driving. Electronic stability control technologycould help reduce accidents by helping drivers regain controlof their automobile.

15. Fox News 3 killed in 95-car pileup on Virginia highway April 1,2013http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/31/3-killed-in-75-car-pileup-on-virginia-highway/

Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina reopened early Monday

following a series of chain-reaction wrecks involving nearly 100vehicles along a mountainous, foggy stretch of the highway, killingthree people and injured 25 others.Virginia State Police determined 95 vehicles wrecked in 17 separatecrashes within a mile span near the base of Fancy Gap Mountain,spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. The crashes began around 1:15p.m. Sunday when there was heavy fog in the area."This mountain is notorious for fog banks. They have advance signswarning people. But the problem is, people are seeing well andsuddenly they're in a fog bank," said Glen Sage of the American RedCross office in the town of Galax.

Since 1997, there have been at least six such pileups on the mountainbut Sunday's crash was the most deadly, according to The RoanokeTimes. Two people died in crashes involving dozens of vehicles in both2000 and 2010.State police said traffic along the interstate in southwest Virginiabacked up for about 8 miles in the southbound lanes after theaccidents. Authorities closed the northbound lanes so that fire trucks,ambulances and police could get to the wrecked vehicles.Overhead message boards warned drivers since about 6 a.m. Sundayto slow down because of the severe fog, Geller said. The crashes weremostly caused by drivers going too fast for conditions.

At the "epicenter" was a wreck involving up to eight vehicles, some ofwhich caught fire, Geller said. Photos from the accident scene showeda burned out tractor-trailer and several crumpled vehicles badlycharred. Those taken to hospitals had injuries ranging from serious tominor.School buses took stranded people to shelters and hotels.Nina Rose, 20, and her mother, were driving home to Rochester, N.Y.,when they encountered the pileup.


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"With so much fog we didn't see much around it," Rose told theRoanoke newspaper. "As we got further up we just saw a bunch ofpeople standing on the median, just with their kids and families alltogether. There were cars smashed into other cars, and cars justunderneath other semi-trucks."

Authorities reopened the northbound lanes Sunday night and thesouthbound lanes around 12 a.m. Monday.Police did not immediately release the names of those killed.

Fog, mountains, and other conditions can severely effectdriving and lead to accidents. As we learned, one should onlydrive at prudent and reasonable speeds especially in lowvisibility and mountainous terrain.

16. Rutter Mills Watch For Pedestrians When Making Left Hand TurnsJune 7, 2013 http://www.ruttermills.com/news/personal-injury-information-blog/watch-for-pedestrians-when-making-left-hand-turns.html

A new study, conducted by the University of Oregon, finds thatpedestrians crossing the street at permitted left turns have a high riskof being hit by an oncoming vehicle. According to this study, whendrivers have a permitted left-hand turn, they are less likely to observepedestrians crossing the street - and more likely to cause an accident.Motorists must pay close attention to the traffic signal as well asbreaks in approaching traffic, thus less likely to make that extra step tolook out for pedestrians. Research shows the heavier the traffic, theless likely the motorist will pay attention to those crossing the street.

It is the law for motorists to yield to pedestrians using markedcrosswalk, however, studies suggest crosswalks have very little impacton accidents regarding left hand turns. Roughly 4 to 9 percent of thetime, motorists do not look for pedestrians during a left turn. Thisseems to suggest that walkways create a false sense of security forthose who expect drivers to both see them crossing and allow them tohave the right-of-way. The risk of an accident is considerably lower inthose cases where the driver can only turn left with a green left arrow.


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In this scenario, researchers found that the motorists were more likelyto notice pedestrians - possibly because they do not have to gaugetraffic patterns.Data proves that danger is sufficiently higher for pedestrians in thissituation. They are, of course, amongst the most vulnerable on the

roads. To avoid a senseless accident, we must take that extra secondto look out for those crossing the street. If you or a loved one has beeninjured in a pedestrian accident, please call the auto accidentattorneys of Rutter Mills. Over the last 50 years, we have handledhundreds of accidents in which pedestrians where hit by automobilesthrough no fault of their own. Please be careful on the road ways,whether you are on foot of behind the wheel - awareness can be one ofour greatest safety tools!

An important thing I learned in Drivers Ed, is left-hand turnsare very dangerous. As this article states, people making left-hand turns have a high risk of hitting pedestrians.

17. BrandonPatch (a local section of a network of news called Patch)March 19, 2013

http://brandon.patch.com/articles/drivers-hospitalized-after-valrico-stop-sign-crash


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Two Valrico drivers, ages 75 and 21, were involved in a seriousaccident at East Lumsden Road and South St. Cloud Avenue today,March 19, after the older motorist reportedly failed to stop at a Valricostop-sign intersection just east and south of the Abbey Grove andValrico Grove subdivisions, respectively.

Kathryn A. Means, 75, of 122 Oakhill Ridge Road, and Kelly ThomasFort, 21, of 828 Rocky Mountain Court, were sent to area hospitals with"incapacitating" and "life-threatening" injuries, respectively, accordingto a report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Means, who was driving a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire convertible, reportedlywas wearing a seat belt. So, too, was the more seriously injured Fort,who reportedly was driving a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible.

Fort was airlifted by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital, where hewas reported in critical condition. Means, in stable condition, wastransported to South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City, according tothe report.

The report notes that the accident occurred at around 10:15 a.m. Aninvestigator on the scene reported the time at around 9:45 a.m.

The report notes that Means was driving her Pontiac south on St. CloudAvenue when she "failed to stop for the stop sign and struck a 2001Mitsubishi in thepassenger side."No charges were filed "pendingfurther investigation." It was noted, too, that "alcohol does not appear

to be a factor."

One should always come to a complete stop at the prescribedplace to stop at a stop sign. Failing to stop can have seriousconsequences that can cause a crash.


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18. The Buffalo News Hydroplaning vehicle triggers crash in HanoverMay 11, 2013 http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130511/CITYANDREGION/130519814/1024

HANOVER One person was taken to the hospital after a two-vehiclecrash late Friday in Chautauqua County.

The crash occurred about 7:30 p.m. Friday on Routes 5 and 20 in theTown of Hanover, Chautauqua County sheriffs officials said.

Lydia R. Baake, 18, of Angola, was traveling east when she lost controlof her vehicle, which hydroplaned into oncoming traffic, officials said.

Baake struck a vehicle driven by John W. Peterson, 78, of Dunkirk, thencontinued on and collided with a building. Baake and her passenger,Matthew J. Mardino, 20, of North Collins, were not injured.

Peterson also was uninjured, but his passenger, Carol D. Peterson, 73,

of Dunkirk, was taken to Lake Shore Hospital to be treated for minorinjuries, officials said.

Baake was issued traffic tickets for speed not reasonable and prudentand failure to keep right. She is scheduled to appear in court at a laterdate.


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Hydroplaning occurs when water gets between your car andthe pavement. To prevent crashes like this one, it would be agood idea to significantly slow down, and if possible to followin another cars tracks on the road.


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19. By ABC News Hands-Free Texting Devices Pose Great Risk toDrivers

Jun 12, 2013 9:08amhttp://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/06/hands-free-texting-devices-pose-great-risk-to-drivers/

Voice-activated in-car technologies to send text messages and emailswhile driving may not be the safer option compared with hand-heldcellphones, according to a new study conducted by the AAA.Cars are now coming with new voice-activated gadgets designed tokeep drivers focus on the road and their hands on the steering wheel.Turns out, though, that the speech-to-text system caused moredistractions than anything else the researchers tested, according tothe study that was released today.Researchers at the University of Utah who conducted the study with

the AAA measured drivers brainwaves, eye movement, drivingperformance, along with other indicators. Drivers were fitted withspecial skull caps to record their brain activity.Your brain is so overloaded with these talk-to-text tasks or talking ona cellphone that you have very little residual capability to attend tothe roadway, said Joel Cooper of the University of Utah.

Texting while driving is always bad and always dangerous.Even if you have a hands off device, it still distracts youmentally.


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20. Fox News Sleep-deprived teen drivers more likely to crash May 21, 2013http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/21/sleep-deprived-teen-drivers-more-likely-to-crash/

Too little sleep increases the risk of car crashes for young drivers, anew study confirms.In the study, drivers ages 17 to 24 who reported sleeping six or fewerhours per night were about 20 percent more likely to be involved in acar crash over a two-year period, compared with those who slept morethan six hours a night.Car crashes among the sleep-deprived were more likely to occurbetween 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. than at other hours.The findings held even after the researchers took into account factorsthat affect people's risk of a car crash, such as age, the number of

driving hours per week, risky driving behavior such as speeding and ahistory of car crashes.Sleep deprivation is known to be a risk factor for car crashes it'sestimated that drowsy driving is responsible for 20 percent of all carcrashes in the United States, the researchers say. However, moststudies to date have not focused on young people.Young drivers should be a focus of education efforts to prevent drowsydriving "because this group experiences more impairment in alertness,
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mood and physical performance compared with older age groups withsimilar sleep deprivation," the researchers said.The new study involved more than 19,000 young, newly licenseddrivers living in New South Wales, Australia, who answered questionsabout their sleep habits, including how many hours they slept on

weeknights and weekends. Researchers then tracked the participantsfor two years, and obtained police reports to document car crashes.Among drivers who reported getting six or fewer hours of sleep a night,9.4 percent were involved in a crash, compared with 6.9 percent ofthose who reported more than six hours of sleep a night.The new findings "may help increase awareness of the impact ofreduced sleep hours on crash risk and highlight subgroups of youngdrivers and times of day for targeted intervention," the researcherswrite in the May 20 issue of the journal JAMA Pediatrics.The researchers noted that participants were only asked about theirsleep habits once during the study, and the exact number of hours

participants slept on the day before they were involved in a crash isnot known.

You should only drive if you are well rested. A driver that isdrowsy (whether they know it or not) is more likely to cause anaccident. As was mentioned in class, driver inattention is theleading cause of accidents. Drowsiness is part of thisinattention.

Documents

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