National Safety Council

Emphasis on pedestrians as US safety group admits: 'What we're doing isn't working'

The Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) has used Waycare’s artificial intelligence-based platform to deploy five strategic traffic management sites (STMS) to help prevent speeding and crashes. NHP says the STMS locations provide the police with elevated platforms, which encourage drivers to slow down on the high-risk corridors of I-15 and US-95. NHP, in partnership with the Nevada Department of Transportation and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC), received a $200,000 federal grant f

Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths in the first six months of 2017 are one per cent lower than they were during the same six-month period in 2016. However, it says the country is fresh off the steepest estimated two-year increase in motor vehicle deaths since 1964 and it is too early to conclude whether the upward trend is over. The estimated deaths during the first six months of 2017 still are eight per cent higher than the 2015 six-month estimates, and the

New York City has ended the first six months of 2017 with the fewest traffic fatalities ever measured, according to figures released by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Under the Vision Zero program, as of 30 June, the city had recorded 93 fatalities, the first time ever that fewer than 100 lives had been lost in such a period. The full fiscal year ending 30 June recorded 210 fatalities, 31 fewer than the prior fiscal year. The reductions come as the City is increasing traffic enforcement against dangerous violations

Chicago Mayor Emanuel has announced the city’s Vision Zero Chicago Action Plan, a multi-Agency approach which aims to improve traffic safety for all road users. The ultimate goal of Vision Zero is to reduce roadway crashes and eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Chicago by 2026. A dozen City departments and agencies have been working for months with traffic safety stakeholders to develop the Vision Zero Action plan, which covers the first three years of the effort and is based on the princi

A National Safety Council review of motor vehicle crash reports from across the US found no state fully captures critical data needed to address and understand the rise in roadway fatalities. Crash reports from all 50 states lack fields or codes for law enforcement to record the level of driver fatigue at the time of a crash, while many others lack fields to capture texting, hands-free cell phone use and specific types of drug use if drugs are detected, including marijuana. Excluding these fields limits the

The US Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has joined the US Department of Transportation's (US DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Safety Council to launch the Road to Zero coalition with the goal of ending fatalities on US roads within the next 30 years. US DOT has committed US$1 million a year for the next three years to provide grants to organisations working on proven, lifesaving progra

A new study by the University of Iowa found that a majority of drivers expressed uncertainty about how many potentially life-saving vehicle safety technologies work. The survey also showed that 40 per cent of drivers report that their vehicles have acted or behaved in unexpected ways. The study, conducted by the University of Iowa Transportation and Vehicle Safety Research Division, examined drivers' knowledge of vehicle safety systems, as well as their understanding and use of defensive driving techniqu

Texting while driving with Google Glass is clearly a distraction, a new University of Central Florida UCF) study has concluded, but there is a twist. In the study, texting Glass users outperformed smartphone users when regaining control of their vehicles after a traffic incident. The study, conducted in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory, is the first scientific look at using Google Glass to text while driving. Distracted drivers are a hazard on the road and according to the National S

Preliminary data collected by the US National Safety Council indicates deaths from motor vehicle crashes during the first six months of 2014 are down four per cent, compared to the same six month period last year. In 2014, 16,180 traffic deaths occurred from January through June, compared to 16,860 in 2013. Definitive reasons behind the decrease are not known.