Don’t just fasten your seatbelt… If you don’t want internal injuries, THINK!
Continue reading “NHTSA seatbelt-safety photo unwittingly highlights an extra danger”
NHTSA seatbelt-safety photo unwittingly highlights an extra danger
Breakdown at the Roadside? Where Should you Wait, for Greatest Safety?
Many people are killed or seriously injured while waiting for a repair or a tow after breaking down on the side of the road, so how should you protect yourself?
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Myths and Bad Advice in Road Safety (USA) — A Quiz!
Find out which advice you’ve been given is either inaccurate or even potentially dangerous, and why!
Here are ten questions which we hope that American drivers and any people involved in any aspect of U.S. highway safety will participate in. We are looking to see how many have been given the safest advice and how common any inaccurate beliefs may be.
Continue reading “Myths and Bad Advice in Road Safety (USA) — A Quiz!”
The 2-second Rule for ‘Safe’ Following Distances has Long Been WRONG
About 40 percent of all crashes in the USA involve one or more vehicles ramming into another vehicle from behind, and this is a major cause of bad injuries and deaths.
Another state increases safety rules for Amish buggies
In a country where the horse has played such an important role, it is surprising to find that most state drivers’ manuals contain little if any information about drivers safely approaching and passing horses or other animals that are under human control or being herded.
Because of the number of collisions and other bad incidents, Ohio is one of several states to increase the safety legislation.
Continue reading “Another state increases safety rules for Amish buggies”
How the Fear of Guns Makes Road Safety Worse in the USA
“I don’t use my horn, in case the other guy’s got a gun!”
This is only one way in which American road safety culture is adversely affected by the fear of violent retribution, but let’s deal with this aspect first.
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Passengers Putting Their Feet on the Dash then Being Injured or Killed by the Airbags
This is something that many people have neither heard of nor even thought about. When the front airbags are triggered, which can happen because of a mere bump to the vehicle at speeds as low as 12mph, those airbags [explode outwards] at between 165 and 200mph. They are most certainly not nice fluffy cushions, and if you have one or both of your feet up on the dashboard at the time, the results will be serious and can even kill you.
Move Over Or Slow Down (the wording is important)
Around the USA, most states have legislation for which the name is typically shortened to the ‘Move Over Law,’ but some states then go on to give advice that is inaccurate and potentially unsafe.
For example “slow down and move over” is inviting extra danger yet some states do use that wording in the advice they give.
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Scenic Drive – Green Mountains, Vermont (with safety tips)
Our scenic drive across the southern end of Vermont had started with a family apple picking weekend in Brattleboro. Once that was over, the chance of seeing wonderful scenery along with stunning fall foliage was far more tempting than yet another homeward journey via the I-90.
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Unless You Want to Risk Killing People, USE the Parking Brake… Every Time!
Every few months there is a recall here in the USA because the ‘P’ (Park) setting in automatic gearboxes has been failing. Those affected vehicles that haven’t also had the parking brake properly set will then inevitably roll away down any hills or even the gentlest of slopes they happen to be on, and then they build up momentum. This frequently results only in damage but all too often this can maim or kill pedestrians…. especially children playing on driveways or in nearby yards!
Here’s just one example: Another half-a-million vehicles recalled in the USA
Vehicles can even cause harm if left on totally flat ground at the roadside, without a parking brake in use, if they are hit by another vehicle. Think of billiard balls. Your car’s “P” setting will be smashed by any hard impact and your car will then careen away until it runs out of momentum or it hits something.
The humble parking brake is one of the most undervalued and most abused safety controls found in modern vehicles, and this failure to understand and the resultant failure to actually use parking brakes leads to many pointless and preventable crashes, some of which cost lives.
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