Every year, the United States spends billions in medical, road-repair and vehicle costs due collisions between vehicles and animals, not to mention the trauma of all of the human and animal lives that are lost. But is anything being done about this problem? The professionals use their expertise to help shrink the number of animal-vehicle collisions (AVCs) and the resulting horrific consequences. This infographic gives some background on the problem of AVCs and presents some of the solutions currently deployed to mitigate this growing problem.
Prime minister turns traffic cop after hitting East Timor gridlock Image Courtesy: EPA via NBC News
Prime minister turns traffic cop after hitting East Timor gridlock Image Courtesy: EPA via NBC News
How often you see the leader of a nation get down to the street and direct traffic flow? The answer is NEVER. But that changed today. The Prime Minister of East Timor, Xanana Gusmao, turned traffic cop on Monday after his car got stuck in a traffic jam outside the presidential office in the capital Dili.
Came across this video of a dad advocating against drunk driving.. Mind you, this is not your average 2 mins. pitch. It leaves you with a haunting memory of a family that is trying to pick up its pieces after a horrific accident took away and shows you the lasting impact of a drunk driver on the society at large. Something about the man and his compelling but monotonous appeal still tugs my heart. Oh, please don’t think, even for a minute, that it is an isolated case. Here are some statistics from Mothers Against Drunk Driving that will sober you to the reality:
In 2010, 211 children were killed in drunk driving crashes. Out of those 211 deaths, 131 (62 percent) were riding with the drunk driver.
In 2010, 10,228 people died in drunk driving crashes – one every 52 minutes – and 345,000 were injured in drunk driving crashes.
How do you teach a disrespectful driver about road safety? Rotary Club from the city of Blumenau, Brazil, started a campaign aimed at drivers who don’t respect crosswalks. And here is the outcome:
Ever wondered what happens to a driver behind the wheel of a vehicle traveling at 60mph on a highway when he/she is bombarded with information pouring out from the electronics suite on his/her dashboard? We all know how distracted driving can lead to crashes that can kill or main road users and the vehicle occupants. Today’s driver is constantly enveloped in data about not just the car’s operational elements but also from the infotainment systems that aim to bring to you the latest and greatest information via social media tools such as Twitter, facebook, etc. many argue that these internet-connected drivers (and cars) are often a detriment to driver safety but the truth is far from it. Auto companies want to make sure that they are not just providing a better driving experience for the driver but also a safer trip while in their vehicles. Here is an interesting walk and talk through the bowels of Ford’s advanced research facilities with Ford’s CTO Paul Mascarenas that shows what Ford is doing to mitigate the dangers of distracted driving.
You thought texting while driving was bad? How about running a suite of machines like an office while on the move? Here is one such case where it blows everything we preach about driver distraction. Police stopped this above Ford Modeo in Saarland, Germany, for speeding and when they peeped in this is what they saw in the passenger seat – a laptop with docking station, a router and wi-fi antenna tied to a cellular data stick, a printer and a power inverter to keep it all humming. For what it is worth, the German police did not issue any citations for the Mondeo driver for any violations . Maybe because he had his cellphone mounted to the windshield for hands-free use. yes. That’s right. He at least had the sense to leave his cellphone mounted on the dashboard. (via Motoramic – Yahoo! Autos)
Saw this image float through my feed. The intensity of the situation was well captured in the image: “Rescuers attempt to stop a man from committing suicide on a bridge in Wuhan, Hubei province, on October 8, 2012. The man was rescued after he climbed onto the top of a bridge over the Yangtze River and threatened his own life if his economic dispute could not be resolved. (Reuters/Stringer)”
Saw this image on a Reddit forum, courtesy of elfmachine100 who recently returned from a trip to North Korea.. Among all the pictures I saw this one – a North Korean Traffic Warden at an intersection. Amazing how disciplined she looks, as if she in a military parade, rapt in attention. And I’m also digging the aesthetically-pleasing sunshade she is standing under.
The National Conference of State Legislatures has released a chart that highlights those states that have statutes regarding motorists passing bicyclists and provides a brief summary of each state’s statute on motorists passing bicyclists. Click image below to learn more.
This awesome infograph below from Mashable.com illustrates the dangers associated with the texting while driving .. To think about nearly ~1.3 million crashes that happened in 2011 had a cellphone involved makes me shudder..
