Articles Posted in Driver Safety

Note: this post has been updated with information courtesy of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts launched a new vehicle inspection program this month, complete with a new logo, website, and toll-free hotline. The vehicle inspection program is expected to take less time and increase the number of car safety checks performed at local service stations. It will cost the same $29 per vehicle.

Owners of vehicles that fail the safety inspection will be required to get safety repairs done immediately and get their vehicles retested within 60 days. However, under the new program, owners with emission repairs that exceed specific cost thresholds are now able to apply for an economic hardship waiver. If granted, the waiver allows the owner to continue driving the vehicle for up to a year.

Vehicles built before 1996 will no longer be required to undergo emission testing, but vehicles with smoke coming out of tailpipes will be failed. Car models from 1996 and later will undergo yearly on-board diagnostic emissions testing.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Environmental Protection have hired Parsons Commercial Technology Group to manage the program and install equipment at 1,400 sites throughout Massachusetts.

New car inspection plan launches tomorrow statewide, Boston Globe, September 30, 2008 Continue reading

A researcher at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst is about to publish two studies on driver distraction. Both will illuminate the hazards of drivers who spend too much time fussing with car gadgets and not enough time focusing on the road.

Donald L. Fisher, an engineer who runs the Human Performance Lab at UMass-Amherst, found that drivers who used an iPod while driving on a simulator looked away from the road for at last two full seconds, long enough to increase the risk of a car accident by a factor of three.

Another finding from the study was using a voice-activated system makes drivers less likely to take their eyes of the road for a dangerous period of time. The Boston Globe suggests that drivers can also decrease the risk of a car accident by presetting a song line-up so drivers don’t have to adjust iPods or letting the passengers handle the playlist.

Study points to hazard of driver iPods, Boston Globe, October 5, 2008 Continue reading