School Bus Recall Affects 53,528 Buses Nationwide
Thomas Built Buses announced in October that it is recalling 53,528 buses nationwide to fix a problem with seats that don’t meet federal regulations for leg protection if a crash occurs. Specifically, the seats may have been manufactured with styrene blocks that may not provide acceptable impact absorption in some areas around the steel seat frame of the back support. The recall was filed Oct. 4, 2019 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigations. According to the recall notice, there have not been any reports of injuries related to the defective seats. Official notifications are scheduled to be sent out Dec. 2, 2019.
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What Would It Look Like if Cars Could Stop Drunk Driving?
According to a report by NPR.org, a team of bi-partisan senators introduced legislation last week that would require all new cars and trucks to come built with alcohol detection systems by 2024. The Reduce Impaired Driving for Everyone Act of 2019 (RIDE ACT), would also benefit government funded research into new breath and touch-based sensors that monitor a driver’s blood alcohol level in real-time to the tune of $10 million and allocate an additional $25 million to test and implement the technology in government-owned fleets.
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October 2, 2019 is National Walk to School Day
Sponsored by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, October 2, 2019 is “National Walk to School Day.” Over 4,000 schools have registered to participate on walkbiketoschool.org from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.. According to the event’s press release, this is “…the 23rd annual celebration which highlights the importance of safer, more active transportation for youth in their local communities.”
According to event organizers, “More than half of Walk to School Day events lead to changes in policies and the physical environment that improve safety for walking and bicycling, holding promise for improving safety and transportation options for everyone.” New this year, participants can check out a series of webinars to find out how their event can be a tool for improving pedestrian safety in the community.
Follow Walk and Bike to School Day on Facebook and Twitter!
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September 15-21, 2019 is Child Passenger Safety Week
September 15-21, 2019 is Child Passenger Safety Week and September 21, 2019 is National Seat Check Saturday. Sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council, the organizations have launched a new series of public service ads (PSAs) that remind parents and caregivers to protect their child’s safety at every stage of life from infant to teen, by making sure they secure them in the appropriate car seat for their age, height, and weight. The ads created for Child Passenger Safety week link to a page that helps parents identify the safest seat for their child.
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8 Washington State Motorcycle Laws All Riders Must Follow
Motorcycle laws are in place to keep both riders and drivers safe on the roads. Washington State has eight important motorcycle laws that every rider must follow and it’s in their interest to do so. If a rider is involved in a motorcycle accident, he or she will have a harder time collecting a settlement for their injuries if they were breaking a law at the time of the crash.
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Is Lane Splitting on a Motorcycle Legal in Washington State?
Motorcycle riders are sometimes tempted to move through heavy traffic more quickly by lane splitting. Lane splitting is when a bicycle or motorcycle rider rides their bike in the same direction as the flow of traffic but between lanes or rows when traffic is moving slowly or stopped. Other names for lane splitting are white-lining, lane sharing, filtering or stripe-riding.
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How to Prevent a Blind Spot Motorcycle Accident
Summer is prime motorcycle season in the Pacific Northwest and that means more motorcycles interacting with trucks and cars on the roads. When motorcycle accidents happen between a car or truck and a motorcycle, motorcycle riders are much more vulnerable to injury and death because they don’t have the same type of protection. Blind spots are especially dangerous for motorcyclists because motorcycles are smaller and harder to see than passenger cars. When a passenger car or truck driver cannot see a motorcycle in their blind spot they may move into the space and cause a serious crash.
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Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is dedicated to stopping deadly driving behavior that contributes to the loss of thousands of lives every year. They are using the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign during the week of August 16- September 2, 2019 to remind drivers that drunk driving is a deadly epidemic that takes the lives of more than 10,000 people each year.
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August 4-10, 2019 is Stop on Red Week
The National Coalition for Safer Roads (NCSR) is partnering with organizations and communities across the country to raise awareness about the dangers of red-light running during National Stop on Red Week. Each day of this week focuses on different safety themes around red lights, useful statistics and information.
Running red lights is a common safety problem on our roads; a study of 19 intersections without red light cameras in four states found a violation rate of 3.2 per hour per intersection (Hill & Lindly, 2003). According to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 890 people were killed in car crashes that involved red light running in 2017. An additional 132,000 people were injured by drivers running red lights that year.
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What is the Deadliest Date of the Year for US Car Accident Fatalities?
Thousands of people are killed in fatal car accidents every year. Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that there were 34,247 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2017; killing a total of 37,133 people.
Fatality rates vary dramatically from the season to season and even from day to day. If you had to guess the deadliest date of the year for car crashes, you would probably pick a holiday associated with drinking or a date in the winter date because of the risk for bad road conditions. Most people would be shocked to know that a date in August was identified as the deadliest for car accidents in a study completed by the IIHS. Data gathered between 2012 and 2016 identifies August 2nd (yes, today!) as the date with the highest US car accident fatality rate; 505 people were killed on that date during this period and overall August accounted for 15,914 deaths.