As you (or the kids in your household) venture out trick or treating tonight, I want to remind you of a few things regarding safety. Today’s press release from insurance giant StateFarmshowed how dangerous
trick or treating can be for younger children. StateFarm says that its research with Bert Sperling’s BestPlaces, analyzed four million records in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Database revealed the following
Halloween Was Deadliest Day of the Year for Child Pedestrian Accidents
One hundred and fifteen child pedestrian fatalities occurred on Halloween over the 21 years of our analysis. That is an average of 5.5 fatalities each year on October 31, which is more than double the average number of 2.6 fatalities for other days.
The “Deadliest Hour”
Nearly one-fourth (26 out of 115) of accidents occurred from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Over 60% of the accidents occurred in the 4-hour period from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Middle of the Block Most Hazardous
Over 70% of the accidents occurred away from an intersection or crosswalk.
Ages Most at Risk on Halloween
Most of the fatalities occurred with children ages 12-15 (32% of all child fatalities), followed by children ages 5-8 (23%).
Drivers Who Posed the Greatest Risk
Young drivers ages 15-25 accounted for nearly one-third of all fatal accidents involving child pedestrians on Halloween.
Drivers Who Posed the Lowest Risk
Drivers ages 36-40 and 61-65 were involved in the fewest child pedestrian fatalities on Halloween. Together, these age groups accounted for nine child pedestrian fatalities (8%) in the 21 years of the study.
Fatalities Declining
Each of the last six years of the study (2005 – 2010) has seen Halloween child fatalities below the 21 year average of 5.5.
Also, California Department of Public Health today said that on Halloween between 4PM- 10PM, more than 2 times as many kids die in pedestrian/vehicle incidents than during the same time on other days during the rest of year. Scary, right?
One more thing you may want to know is this: Last Halloween, more than 24,700 drivers received a red light violation, according to the Safer Roads Report 2012: Trends in Red-Light Running. So, tonight when you venture out with (or without) your kids, be careful. Dress to be SEEN and do not become a statistic!
The Transportation Research Center (TRC) at the University of Florida is soliciting applications for the position of Director of the Technology Transfer (T2) Center. The appointment will be at the Assistant/Associate Engineer level based upon qualifications and experience. The salary and benefits package are competitive. This is a non-tenure track faculty appointment reporting to the director of the TRC.
It is official. I declare that Air New Zealand is the most fun airline on this planet. You ask why? Check this video below and you will agree with me wholeheartedly. Always known for pushing the envelope, Air New Zealand packaged an important safety message into a well-made hobbit themed video that is not only fun to watch but also compelling enough to get you to pay attention. For this brand new Hobbit inspired Safety Video, Air NZ partnered with WETA Workshop and it features cameo appearances including Sir Peter Jackson. What’s better? Visit http://www.airnzcode.com/hobbitmovie to Find and Unlock the Elvish Code for your chance to win one of six double passes to the World Premiere Screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in New Zealand on the 28th of November 2012
I’ve not had a chance to fly #airnzhobbit but one of these days I’ll definitely do so to experience the fun. Oh, why can’t the other airlines take a leaf (or two) from #airnz and do such creative infusion into their drab and stale “professional looking” safety briefings. “If you need little more inflation, blow into your mouth piece..” LOL.
An interesting competition announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation encourages college students to design a better way to help consumers make smart decisions when booking their bus travel. This is what you need to know about the challenge:
Who: Creative college students with imaginative ideas.
What: A mobile app or web-accessible tool that presents our safety information in a simple, intuitive way that would help the average person choose the safest bus available.
There are many exciting developments in the world of robotics and here is one from the European Union, funded under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme. The video below shows how a drone can take over command and control responsibilities of a swarm on the ground, without any external communication channels like GPS (i.e., Spatially Targeted Communication and Self-Assembly). Some of the example applications shown here are cool, i.e, moving chairs, bringing snacks to a guy watching TV, pushing the water container, etc. But this one has far more devastating implications when deployed for the military in remote battlefields.
You gotta see it to believe how this Antonov AN-24 took off from that swampy mess of a runway (looks like a bog?)..The polit must be drunk on something heavy grade alcohol to even contemplate doing something like this, let alone do it for real.. Balls of steel.
Nissan’s next generation cars are becoming a lot smarter than the current breed. Pedestrians in the road can soon feel a bit more safer when they see a Nissan coming towards them. As demonstrated in the video below, they can SAFELY swerve to avoid hitting a sudden pedestrian (or a deer) incursion on the road without hitting the vehicle in the adjacent lane(s). Also, steering wheels of the next generation Infinity are going to get a lot smoother..yeah, they don’t transmit the vibrations from the wheel to your hands but respond instantaneously to your commands via drive by wire technology. All this innovation makes you get excited about the cars of the future!
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)”
Not often you see a guy get hit by a car and walk away unscathed.. That is exactly what happened in Russia.. Here is a video of the indicent, according to NBC, which showed the footage on the “Today” show, the car was being pursued by police who later released the video.. This man will have some cool stories to share with his grand children..
