Articles Posted in Accident Prevention

The recent shortage of available cars for purchase has made it difficult for consumers to get their vehicle of choice.  Ideally, one would want to get the safest car available to protect them in an accident.  However, the average American driver is much more likely to be aware of all the features on his large screen television than the car uses to get around safely every day. This lack of knowledge is even more glaring among used car buyers who often have little knowledge about the accident prevention features that their car includes.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found recently in a study that buyers of used cars do not have all information about the technologies in their vehicles.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted a survey of drivers who had bought automobiles between 2016 and 2019. The survey group included more than 400 owners who had bought their new vehicles in a showroom, while the rest consisted of motorists who had bought used cars.

The survey found that buyers of both old and new cars were not completely aware of the safety features that their vehicle included.  Just about two-thirds of new car buyers, for instance, were aware of information relating to the adaptive cruise control feature on their cars. This feature includes all the conveniences of traditional cruise control, but also slows and speeds up depending on the distance with the car ahead, thereby reducing the risk of a fender bender or accident.  However, this feature needs to be turned on to be effective.

Car accidents are one of the leading causes of serious injury and even death every year.  Safer vehicles play a key part in helping prevent a large number of fatal accidents every year.  The federal administration is considering upgrades to its rating system for new vehicles so customers can make safer and informed decisions about the vehicles they drive.

Statistics show that more than 3,000 people die on American roadways every month.  Many of these deaths occur in accidents that are preventable through better vehicle design.   Safer auto design used to be a key element in safety efforts a few years ago which is why we had important safety legislation like laws strengthening roof strength in order to prevent the kind of serious injuries that result from rollover accidents.  That lead to a cut in the number of fatal rollover accidents recorded every year. However, there doesn’t seem to have been as much legislative focus on vehicle safety design or changes to the existing system that make it possible for customers to buy safe cars in recent years.  This could also probably explain, at least in part, the increasing number of traffic accident fatalities recently. According to new statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, those numbers increased to record highs this year.  The agency is currently planning an update to its star rating system for new vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s five star rating system known as the New Car Assessment Program will be upgraded to better reflect the various new technologies that are now included in automobiles to prevent accidents. In particular, the plan is to include four new safety technologies including blind spot prevention and intervention, lane departure warning systems and pedestrian accident-avoidance technologies in new vehicles.  The plan also includes more updates to the current testing procedures for new vehicles as well as stronger criteria for driver assisted safety systems.

Driving at night or in inclement weather in a car with poor visibility due to headlights can be very dangerous and a recipe for a car accident.  However, for decades, federal laws have prevented high beam and low beam lights in a car from being operated at the same time. That comes to an end soon as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration scraps the old standard, thereby allowing adaptive headlights to become common in automobiles.

While most other types of car components and tech, including seat belts, have adapted and evolved over the years, headlight tech has remained the same. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 determined that both high beam and low beam lights could not be operated together. That prevented the widespread adoption of technology like adaptive headlights which are found in other countries that do not have such restrictions.

The technology consists of dozens of cameras that can provide different types of lighting depending on the road conditions and can direct the flow of the lighting with precision. That means that high beam and low beam lights can be deployed simultaneously to extend visibility in all directions without blinding other drivers.

Daylight savings time has ended in Georgia which has many people bemoaning about the shorter days.  However, researchers have found that the darker morning hours during the daylight savings period may actually do more harm than good, especially for people on the road.  Debates are rising about the effectiveness of this measure in keeping people rested and safe.

In Georgia, daylight savings time kicked off on March 14, 2021 and ended on November 7, 2021.  Most states that have the measure in place are no longer on daylight savings time as of the last week of November. Debates are now rising about the need for daylight savings time in the first place.

The Department of Transportation says that daylight savings time helps reduce the risk of traffic accidents, and has a number of other benefits including the prevention of crime. Not all experts agree, however. There is concern that daylight savings time which results in the elimination of an extra hour of sleep for many Georgians simply increases their risk of drowsiness and fatigue. Both of these are factors that are very often cited in car crashes.