Smart Motorist

In a Journal of Public Health Policy article, "Long Hours and Fatigue: A Survey of Tractor-Trailer Drivers," a team of six investigators reported on interviews they had conducted with 1,249 semi-trailer drivers at inspection stations and truck stops in Connecticut, Florida, Oklahoma and Oregon.

The dangers of drinking alcohol before driving are widely known. But far too many people think little of slumping behind the wheel while fatigued, or continuing to drive while feeling drowsy.

Couple year ago, Hugo Barrera sped east through the desert night along Interstate 10 near Tonopah, Ariz., his tractor-trailer hauling 20 tons of juice. Without braking, he slammed into Linda Saar's Ford station wagon at an estimated 65 m.p.h., pushing it into a double-trailer rig. Barrera was killed instantly. Also killed were Saar and five family members.

As Swann headed west, an eastbound Buick veered onto his side of the road. At the wheel was a 16-year-old girl driving on her learner's permit. She was trying to pass a minivan, but had failed to see Swann's pickup. The vehicles slammed into each other head-on. Swann's truck turned upside down and exploded in flames. 

Rollover accidents accounted for 9186 deaths during the same time frame and 56,000 serious injuries. 63% of the deaths were related to occupants being ejected from the vehicle during the course of the rollover. 17% of the fatalities were wearing their seat belts during the accident. 

The highest priority for car designs should continue to be improving protection for their own occupants. New study of relationships between vehicle weight and occupant death rates helps put in perspective issue of crash compatibility.

Each year there are approximately 500,000 deer/auto collisions resulting in over 100 deaths and thousands of injuries. Each deer/auto collisions cost the auto insurance industry about $2,000 according to the Insurance Information Institute.

NHTSA has advised Americans not to use cell phones or other high-tech gizmos while behind the wheel, and Smart Motorist agrees with them. Don’t try to change lanes on the freeway while you’re putting sugar in your coffee or hunting for a radio station, and don’t argue with your spouse or kids as you dodge through rush-hour traffic. Aggressive driving combined with a distracted driver can quickly escalate into a lethal situation.

Over 10,000 people are fatally injured each year in rollover crashes, however the US Auto Industry denies the relationship between roof crush and occupant injuries.

Mad at Keith Bradsher's controversial new book, High and Mighty: SUV's - the World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way.

Bradsher is a well respected, Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter, known for his investigation of the Ford-Firestone rollover scandal.

After Consumer Reports nearly rolls a sport-utility vehicle in an accident avoidance test, the magazine labels the vehicle unsafe and urges its readers to buy something else. When AutoWeek magazine rolls an SUV in a slalom test, causing slight injuries to the driver, the weekly publication reminds its readers that sport-utilities shouldn't be driven as aggressively as cars.

Because the SUV's are so large the tendency for them to crush other motorists in accidents are common.

What I will do in this report is to define for you what a SUV is and what its' supposed use is.

Drivers who do not have valid licenses are involved in 20 percent of fatal crashes, a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows. "One fatal crash in five involves a driver who is not properly licensed," says David Willis, President of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "These scofflaws pose a serious threat to law-abiding motorists." 

Nearly 10 percent of all the nation's pedestrian fatalities occur on Interstate highways, even though the Interstate system comprises only about one percent of the nation's total road mileage. Furthermore, 12 percent of all Interstate traffic fatalities are pedestrians. These are alarming numbers, especially given that pedestrians are legally restricted from entering Interstate highways in all but ten states.