The National Safety Commission Alerts
Safety is No Accident
Friday, February 12, 2010
Vehicle Break Downs on the Highway
Breaking down on the highway can be a scary thought, but it can happen to all of us, so if it ever happens to you, it's important that you know exactly what to do. Highway shoulders are only for emergency use and you should only stop on them if you have no other choice, if possible, you should always try to find a safer place to stop off the highway. You shouldn't stop on the shoulder to use a cell phone or check a route or a map; the shoulders are only for emergency use. If an emergency does force you to stop, then there are a few things you should do in order to make sure you, and any passengers, are safe.
First of all, if you think you are about to break down, then you need to safely make your way onto the shoulder. Stop as far away from the highway as you can. Once you have stopped, turn your wheel as far to the right, or in the opposite direction of the road. Leave your vehicle head lights on and turn on your hazard lights to increase your vehicles visibility. If for any reason you cannot make it to the shoulder, switch on your hazard warning lights, and only leave your vehicle when you can clear the highway easily. Do not attempt to place any warning devices on the highway.
When exiting the vehicle exit through the passenger side. This should be the side facing away from the highway. If not, get out the side that is furthest from the road, in order to ensure you are not getting out onto the highway or the shoulder itself, to avoid oncoming vehicles(e.g. the emergency services or other vehicles who may have broken down). You may think you're far from the road, but doing this will ensure you and your passenger's safety.
Next you need to get to a safe place; this would be up the bank or behind a barrier if possible. Once you're in a safe place, use a cell phone to call for help, it's best to call emergency help or road side assistance first. Notify immediate family members so that they know where you are and know that you are safe. Be prepared to describe to someone where you are, it can help to pinpoint your exact location, and allow road side assistance to reach you more promptly.
Breaking down on the highway can be scary, but that doesn't mean you can't do it safely. By following these tips and being responsible, you'll be back on the road in no time, safe and sound.
First of all, if you think you are about to break down, then you need to safely make your way onto the shoulder. Stop as far away from the highway as you can. Once you have stopped, turn your wheel as far to the right, or in the opposite direction of the road. Leave your vehicle head lights on and turn on your hazard lights to increase your vehicles visibility. If for any reason you cannot make it to the shoulder, switch on your hazard warning lights, and only leave your vehicle when you can clear the highway easily. Do not attempt to place any warning devices on the highway.
When exiting the vehicle exit through the passenger side. This should be the side facing away from the highway. If not, get out the side that is furthest from the road, in order to ensure you are not getting out onto the highway or the shoulder itself, to avoid oncoming vehicles(e.g. the emergency services or other vehicles who may have broken down). You may think you're far from the road, but doing this will ensure you and your passenger's safety.
Next you need to get to a safe place; this would be up the bank or behind a barrier if possible. Once you're in a safe place, use a cell phone to call for help, it's best to call emergency help or road side assistance first. Notify immediate family members so that they know where you are and know that you are safe. Be prepared to describe to someone where you are, it can help to pinpoint your exact location, and allow road side assistance to reach you more promptly.
Breaking down on the highway can be scary, but that doesn't mean you can't do it safely. By following these tips and being responsible, you'll be back on the road in no time, safe and sound.
Labels: break downs, emergency, Highway Safety, vehicle safety
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Careless Driving Tickets: Lane Drifting - How Sideswipe Crashes Occur
Most drivers are familiar with the concept of careless driving tickets, but few stop to think about what careless driving really is or how it causes crashes. Careless driving is an umbrella term for a number of violations, including lane drifting, which can lead to head-on or sideswipe crashes. About 10,000 deaths occur annually when vehicles leave the roadway.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drifting is defined as “when a vehicle is moving in a generally straight line, but at a slight angle to the lane. The driver might correct his or her course as the vehicle approaches a lane line or other boundary, or fail to correct until after a boundary has been crossed. In extreme cases, the driver fails to correct in time to avoid a collision.” Whether the collision that occurs is head-on or sideswipe depends on the position of the vehicles and the orientation of the road, among other factors.
Lane drifting occurs due to driver error. Specific causes of lane drifting include:
Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
Drowsiness or falling asleep
Speeding, especially around a curve
Lack of alertness, including daydreaming, reaching for something in the vehicle, or looking at something outside of the vehicle
For drivers, remaining sober and alert and maintaining a speed appropriate for conditions help prevent lane drifting. Roadway engineering and in-vehicle technology offer support to drivers who do drift and increased protection for all road users.
NHTSA says that about 90% of all rural crashes with fatalities occur on two-lane roads. Two-lane roads in rural areas usually do not have medians to separate two-way traffic; with vehicles in opposing directions traveling in such close proximity to one another, the margin of error is small and the potential for tragedy is enormous. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), sideswipe or head-on crashes that occur when vehicles cross the centerline comprise approximately 20% of fatal crashes on rural two-lane roads and cause approximately 4,500 deaths every year. Many drivers are familiar with rumble strips along the right side of long stretches of highway; the rumble is both felt and heard when the vehicle’s tires drift onto the shoulder of the road. The IIHS advocates the addition of rumble strips along the centerlines of undivided rural two-lane roads.
In a report released on July 1, NHTSA said will determine whether or not lane-departure warning systems will be required on new vehicles beginning in 2011. Lane-departure warning systems alert drivers when their vehicle is leaving the lane; in some instances, the system has the capability of moving the vehicle back into the lane. IIHS says lane-departure systems could impact up to 483,000 crashes annually by helping vehicles stay on the road.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drifting is defined as “when a vehicle is moving in a generally straight line, but at a slight angle to the lane. The driver might correct his or her course as the vehicle approaches a lane line or other boundary, or fail to correct until after a boundary has been crossed. In extreme cases, the driver fails to correct in time to avoid a collision.” Whether the collision that occurs is head-on or sideswipe depends on the position of the vehicles and the orientation of the road, among other factors.
Lane drifting occurs due to driver error. Specific causes of lane drifting include:
For drivers, remaining sober and alert and maintaining a speed appropriate for conditions help prevent lane drifting. Roadway engineering and in-vehicle technology offer support to drivers who do drift and increased protection for all road users.
NHTSA says that about 90% of all rural crashes with fatalities occur on two-lane roads. Two-lane roads in rural areas usually do not have medians to separate two-way traffic; with vehicles in opposing directions traveling in such close proximity to one another, the margin of error is small and the potential for tragedy is enormous. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), sideswipe or head-on crashes that occur when vehicles cross the centerline comprise approximately 20% of fatal crashes on rural two-lane roads and cause approximately 4,500 deaths every year. Many drivers are familiar with rumble strips along the right side of long stretches of highway; the rumble is both felt and heard when the vehicle’s tires drift onto the shoulder of the road. The IIHS advocates the addition of rumble strips along the centerlines of undivided rural two-lane roads.
In a report released on July 1, NHTSA said will determine whether or not lane-departure warning systems will be required on new vehicles beginning in 2011. Lane-departure warning systems alert drivers when their vehicle is leaving the lane; in some instances, the system has the capability of moving the vehicle back into the lane. IIHS says lane-departure systems could impact up to 483,000 crashes annually by helping vehicles stay on the road.
Labels: careless driving, careless driving ticket, vehicle safety
Friday, December 19, 2008
Aggressive Drivers And The Physics Of A Car Crash
In my last article I mentioned that aggressive drivers seem to concentrate on what they feel are unreasonable and unfair traffic laws passed by the state but forget that there are physical laws that come into play when they are driving that they can’t break no matter how hard they try. In this article we are going to take a closer look at those laws and how they come into play in a car crash.
Now this article involves a little math and I flunked high school algebra (twice) so instead of trying to do the math myself, I found a calculator online that I will share with you so you can check the figures yourself.
Let's take the scenario of an aggressive driver driving at 40 mph (in a 30 mph zone) who chooses to run a red light (he will try to say the light was yellow and he didn’t have time to stop). Meanwhile another driver traveling at the posted speed limit enters the intersection on the green light.
Now the first thing we have to consider is how many feet per second the two cars are traveling. The aggressive driver going at 40 mph is covering 58.8 feet per second (fps). The other driver going 30 mph is covering 44 fps. That means that the speed at which they are approaching each other is 70 mph or 102.9 fps.
The average driver’s reaction time is 3/4 of a second. That is how long it takes for them to realize there is a problem ahead. They still have to decide what to do and then act on their decision so, taking the aggressive driver’s lightning fast reactions into account, we will assume that it takes him 1.25 seconds before his foot actually hits the brake. In that time he has traveled 73.5 feet.
Now Newton’s laws of motion come into effect. The first law says that an object in motion tends to remain in motion. Simply put, you can’t stop a 3,000 pound car traveling at 40 mph instantly. It will take about 120 feet before his car can be brought to a complete stop. The other driver is also trying to stop so let’s assume both cars slow by 10 mph to 30 and 20 mph (50 mph closure speed) before the crash.
Using the calculator I found at http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/carcr.html#cc2 considering that both cars weigh approximately 3,000 pounds (6,000 pounds combined), the collision force will look like this:
Weight - 6,000 lbs
Speed - 50 mph
Crash Force - 501,779 lbs
or
Crash Force - 250 tons
Let's take it further and assume that one of the passengers is a girl who weighs 100 pounds. Unfortunately she wasn’t wearing a seat belt. Newton’s laws again come into play and the force of her body hitting the dashboard looks like this:
Weight - 100 lbs
Speed - 30 mph
Crash Force - 3,010 lbs
or
Crash Force - 1.5 tons
The greater the speed, the less time the driver has to react and the greater the collision forces will be. The aggressive driver’s driving skills and lightning fast reflexes don’t even come into play here. To see the approximate results of this crash click here: http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2008/05/large_051208crashLML1.JPG
To learn more about driver safety and education please visit our Driver Safety Alerts at SafeDriver.com
Be careful out there and drive safe.
Now this article involves a little math and I flunked high school algebra (twice) so instead of trying to do the math myself, I found a calculator online that I will share with you so you can check the figures yourself.
Let's take the scenario of an aggressive driver driving at 40 mph (in a 30 mph zone) who chooses to run a red light (he will try to say the light was yellow and he didn’t have time to stop). Meanwhile another driver traveling at the posted speed limit enters the intersection on the green light.
Now the first thing we have to consider is how many feet per second the two cars are traveling. The aggressive driver going at 40 mph is covering 58.8 feet per second (fps). The other driver going 30 mph is covering 44 fps. That means that the speed at which they are approaching each other is 70 mph or 102.9 fps.
The average driver’s reaction time is 3/4 of a second. That is how long it takes for them to realize there is a problem ahead. They still have to decide what to do and then act on their decision so, taking the aggressive driver’s lightning fast reactions into account, we will assume that it takes him 1.25 seconds before his foot actually hits the brake. In that time he has traveled 73.5 feet.
Now Newton’s laws of motion come into effect. The first law says that an object in motion tends to remain in motion. Simply put, you can’t stop a 3,000 pound car traveling at 40 mph instantly. It will take about 120 feet before his car can be brought to a complete stop. The other driver is also trying to stop so let’s assume both cars slow by 10 mph to 30 and 20 mph (50 mph closure speed) before the crash.
Using the calculator I found at http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/carcr.html#cc2 considering that both cars weigh approximately 3,000 pounds (6,000 pounds combined), the collision force will look like this:
Weight - 6,000 lbs
Speed - 50 mph
Crash Force - 501,779 lbs
or
Crash Force - 250 tons
Let's take it further and assume that one of the passengers is a girl who weighs 100 pounds. Unfortunately she wasn’t wearing a seat belt. Newton’s laws again come into play and the force of her body hitting the dashboard looks like this:
Weight - 100 lbs
Speed - 30 mph
Crash Force - 3,010 lbs
or
Crash Force - 1.5 tons
The greater the speed, the less time the driver has to react and the greater the collision forces will be. The aggressive driver’s driving skills and lightning fast reflexes don’t even come into play here. To see the approximate results of this crash click here: http://blog.syracuse.com/news/2008/05/large_051208crashLML1.JPG
To learn more about driver safety and education please visit our Driver Safety Alerts at SafeDriver.com
Be careful out there and drive safe.
Labels: agressive driving, defensive driving course, vehicle accidents, vehicle safety
