Articles Posted in Driving Hazards

Over the weekend, a 34-year-old woman from Groveland, Massachusetts was killed when the golf cart she was riding in was hit by a 1995 Ford Windstar minivan. Both vehicles were traveling on Route 16 when the traffic accident occurred around 12:30am.

The driver of the golf cart was identified as a 33-year-old Gloucester man. He sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to Maine Medical Center in Portland. A 31-year-old Newton man and his child were also injured. The two received treatment for minor injuries at Memorial Hospital in Conway.

The driver of the minivan, a 46-year-old man from Maine, was not injured in the motor vehicle crash. According to police, the crash is still being investigated, but they suspect that alcohol may have been a factor. So far no charges have been filed.

Woman killed in golf cart accident, Boston Globe, September 7, 2009 Continue reading

As previously discussed, the National Transportation Safety Board found that drowsy driving was a probable cause in a Newton train accident last year. According to the board, drowsiness is the most common cause of fatal-to-the-driver truck crashes. In fact, the number of fatal truck accidents associated with fatigue is equal to the combined number of crashes related to drugs and alcohol.

Truck drivers and trolley conductors are not the only ones who are susceptible to accidents associated with sleep deprivation. Car drivers are also at risk. In fact, each day, 250,000 United States drivers fall asleep at the wheel, causing 8,000 deaths and 60,000 serious injuries annually.

Because drowsy driving accidents are preventable, the Massachusetts Drowsy Driving Commission made a series of recommendations earlier this year that they hope will reduce drowsy-driving accidents. Educating drivers about the risks of driving while tired is a primary goal, while diagnosing and treating sleep disorders is another important step.

Drowsy-driving tragedies preventable, Boston Globe, August 3, 2009 Continue reading

While Massachusetts legislators and driver safety advocates weigh the pros and cons of new laws aimed at older drivers, statistics show that teen drivers are also at high risk for car accidents.

Here in Massachusetts, more 18-year-olds were involved in fatal auto accidents in the past two years than any other single age. In 2008, Massachusetts teen drivers were involved in 22,313 motor vehicle accidents according to data from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. And, according to national statistics, car crashes are the leading cause of death among 15-to-20-year-olds.

The current debate has dredged up bitterness between drivers at both ends of the age spectrum. Last year, drivers age 80 and older accounted for 2% of car crashes. Several recent, highly publicized accidents involving older drivers have caused legislators to reconsider the need for legislation aimed at this demographic.

Lawmakers already enacted legislation in 2007 that inflicted tougher penalties on younger drivers (specifically 16 and 17 year olds), and they say the changes have led to a drop in speeding and reckless driving citations.

Teens drivers at highest risk of fatal crashes, EnterpriseNews.com, July 10, 2009 Continue reading

A study released last week by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) found that over half of United States highway fatalities are related to poor roadway conditions. According to the report, ten roadway-related crashes occur every minute and contribute to 38% of non-fatal injuries.

More than 22,000 fatalities were attributed to deficiencies in the roadway environment, costing the country more than $217 billion each year. That figure breaks down to $20 billion in medical costs, $46 billion in productivity costs, $52 billion in property damage and other resource costs, and $99 billion in quality of life costs. Massachusetts was among the ten states with the highest road-related crash costs per mile of road.

The study, which is entitled “On a Crash Course: The Dangers and Health Costs of Deficient Roadways,” identifies several ways in which transportation officials could improve road conditions to save lives and reduce injuries sustained during traffic accidents. These include adding rumble strips to shoulders, using brighter and more durable pavement markets, replacing or widening narrow bridges, and reducing pavement edges and abrupt drop-offs, among other improvements.

More than Half of Highway Fatalities Are Related to Deficient Roadway Conditions, PRNewswire.com, July 1, 2009 Continue reading

According to NewsCenter 5, the Masscachusetts Turnpike Authority has given out over 4,000 “non-revenue” transponders, allowing motorists to drive the Turnpike for free, despite the Turnpike Authority’s mounting debt.

Roughly three quarters of those transponders go to state troopers, but many of the others are used by turnpike employees, who pay an annual fee of just $26 in exchange for free unlimited driving throughout Massachusetts with tolls.

In addition, there are reportedly over 200 retired turnpike employees who pay even less ($5/year) to drive the turnpike without paying tolls. Some Massachusetts commuters say this arrangement is unfair, and in fact, the free rides may be ending on November 1 when the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is dissolved, becoming part of the newly-created Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Turnpike Giving Out Hundreds Of ‘Free Rides’, TheBostonChannel.com, July 2, 2009 Continue reading

Last Thursday morning at Logan Airport, a construction vehicle almost collided with an airplane when the vehicle strayed into an unauthorized area. The incident occurred at 6:36am and halted all construction at the airport until authorities determine if the near collision occurred because of individual error or a system failure.

According to officials, the driver of a Ford Explorer was on a taxiway and evidently failed to stop at the runway intersection and radio the tower for permission to cross as required by safety procedures. An alarm sounded in the control tower warning about the vehicle on the runway. The truck cleared the runway just as the plane just through the intersection. The unidentified truck driver has been suspended pending an internal investigation. The jet, a US Airways Flight 27, took off safely and arrived in Phoenix as planned.

The last time a high-risk incursion was in 2005 when two jets speeding toward takeoff almost collided at more than 160 miles per hour. Logan Airport has had 16 incursions since January of 2008, but none was as serious as the near accident last week.

Plane, vehicle near a collision, Boston Globe, June 19, 2009 Continue reading

According to the 100-Car Naturalist Driving Study, which tracked the behavior of the drivers of 100 vehicles for a year, driver inattention is an even more dangerous problem than expects previously believed. Almost 80% of car crashes and 65% of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention, which includes not only distractions but also fatigue.

The study found that the most common distraction for drivers is the use of cell phones. However, the number of auto accidents and near-accidents related to dialing a cell phone is almost identical to the number associated with talking or listening on a cell phone. Younger drivers also had a higher incidence of distraction. Research found that the rate of distraction among 18- to 20-year-old drivers was four times higher than drivers age 35 and older.

Massachusetts and five other states have banned drivers from talking on a hand-held cell phone, but no state has banned the use of hands-free devices, despite the fact that the NHTSA has found that the car accident risk is comparable to that of regular cell phones.

Researchers at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute are preparing for a nationwide study involving over 2,500 vehicles, which will give the researchers a wider understanding of different drivers in different environments.

DWD – driving while dialing – among top driver distractions, study finds, Dayton Daily News, March 23, 2009 Continue reading

In Massachusetts, a new initiative called Road Respect Mobilization is currently in effect statewide. State and local police are working to curtail road rage thought grants from the state Executive Office of Public Safety. The grants range up to $2,000 and cover overtime for radar patrols so that officers can monitor unsafe lane changing, speeding, tailgating, and red light violations. The program runs through April 26.

According to Norton police spokesman Lt. Todd Jackson, “aggressive driving is the cause of many crashes. Our community has seen an increase in incidents involving this behavior, such as ‘road rage’ incidents.”

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration states that around 6.3 million auto accidents occur every year in the United States. Although the number of accidents related to aggressive driving and road rage is unknown, it is suspected that many of those crashes were related to angry or frustrated drivers.

If you are confronted by an angry driver, police recommend that you avoid eye contact and try to get safely out of the way. If the incident escalates and becomes serious, dial 911.

Look for more patrols to combat aggressiveness, The Sun Chronicle, April 6, 2009 Continue reading

Last July, a state auditor’s office discovered that in 2005 and 2006 as many as 9,000 drivers had valid driver’s licenses for two to four years after a judge ordered their licenses suspended. The glitch in the Registry of Motor Vehicle’s system meant that some repeat drunk drivers may have used valid licenses for years after they were supposed to be permanently revoked. Until recently, the case dispositions were handled by ground mail, which may have delayed license suspensions.

An internal review revealed that 988 Massachusetts drivers who were convicted of vehicular homicide or DUI between 2003 and 2008 did not have their licenses suspended. The Registry was also missing records for nearly two thousand criminal case dispositions. According to a spokesperson for the Registry, many of the drivers already had their licenses suspended for other offenses.

This week, registry and court officials announced that 58 of Massachusetts’s 62 district courts can electronically transfer driving-related convictions to the RMV at the end of each day to avoid delays or miscommunications.

Registry computer glitch kept suspended drivers on the road, WickedLocal.com, March 23, 2009 Continue reading