Two agencies provide invaluble crash test ratings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), under a range of crash conditions. However, neither agency provides direct information on the importance of a particular crash test condition relative to day-to-day driving, or how a rating compares to that of another agency, leaving the consumer to wonder how to compare vehicles. The non-profit site informed for LIFE has taken up this challenge, aggregating the NHTSA and IIHS ratings with accident/roll-over statistics, fatality percentages, and other vehicle charateristics, to provide a combine risk SCORE (Statistical Combination Of Risk Elements) of vehicle safety.

1. Driver Inattention
2. Vehicle Speed
3. Alcohol/Drug Impairment
4. Perceptual/Decision Errors
5. Incapacitation (Fatigue/Medical)
 

Approximately 66% of all traffic fatalities annually are caused by aggressive driving behaviors, such as passing on the right, running red lights and tailgating.

• Young people ages 16-29, especially males
• Shift workers or others whose sleep is disrupted by working at night or working long or irregular hours
• People with untreated sleep-apnea and narcolepsy
• People who drive between midnight and 6 a.m.

If you take your eyes off the road for 3-4 seconds at highway speeds, your vehicle travels the length of a football field.

Story and photo courtesy of:
Robert J Chartier, Area IV KORO DPW

Ten vehicles were damaged in the parking lot of the hospital by a fire that started in the trunk of a POV. The trunk contained two 5-gallon gas cans filled with gasoline. The Fort Leonard Wood Fire Department suspects that the fumes built up inside the closed truck and then were ignited by an electrical source (taillights, brake lights, etc.). The gas containers did not have the lids on tight. They only had the spouts with caps, which would allow for leakage of vapors.

Fortunately, no one was injured. This incident could easily have caused serious injuries and much greater damage. This should call to our attention the facts that gasoline and other fuels are extremely dangerous and that we must use great care when using, transporting, or storing them.

Operational Safety Of Use Message for ALL M-Gator Vehicles. ...There exists the possibility for serious injury or severe vehicle damage if the M-Gator is operated without regard to the many warnings in the Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) John Deere technical manual(s)...

By Sue Anne Pressley
Washington Post

DC, Mar. 3, 2006 - It's the law that nearly everyone supports -- and nearly everyone ignores. In the year and a half since the District began restricting drivers' cell phone use...

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2006 - Defense Department installations have begun implementing new cell phone restrictions for drivers on military bases...