Accident Prevention

Published on: January 10, 2022

Incoming NHTSA Chief Promises to Focus on Reducing Traffic Accident Deaths

The federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is poised to soon have its first confirmed chief in several years. The good news is that the new head promises to take an extra special look at the increasing rates of traffic accident fatalities in the country.

The Biden administration has zeroed in on Steven Cliff to be the next head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Cliff has been serving as the deputy administrator for the NHTSA since February 2021.

Cliff is no stranger to auto safety, and is currently overseeing the federal administration’s investigation into auto accidents in Tesla automobiles. He is making it clear that the recently-approved infrastructure bill would boost the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s spending budget by 50%. According to Cliff, the funds will help the administration implement strategies to understand the causes of car accidents, and will enhance the quality of data as well expand the use of electronic reporting systems, moving them from paper-based to digital systems.

Published on: January 9, 2022

Latest Crash Tests Underscore Role of Rear Seatbelts in Preventing Car Accident Personal Injuries

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

New crash tests clearly highlight the importance of rear seat belts in preventing serious personal injuries in car accidents. The results of these tests are likely to spur efforts towards keeping back seat passengers safe in auto accidents.

Safety experts at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently released the results of new tests specifically focused on the role of seatbelts in preventing personal injuries to passengers riding in the back. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety was specifically looking at whether seatbelt technologies that have been shown to have excellent personal injury protection capabilities for front seat passengers and drivers, can also perform equally well in protecting rear seat passengers. The crash tests resulted in a new set of ratings for rear seatbelts, and this is the first time that ratings for rear seat belts have been released in the US.

These ratings will guide manufacturers as they design better automobiles that protect not just motorists and front seat passengers, but also passengers at risk at the back. The push towards increasing safety for back seat passengers received a further boost this year with Uber announcing that its app will soon require back seat passengers to buckle in as soon as they get in the car.

Published on: December 24, 2021

Stronger Driver’s License and Child Safety Laws Could Further Reduce Accident Fatalities in Georgia

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A leading non-profit traffic safety advocacy group says that Georgia could do a much better job of protecting motorists and other people on our roads and preventing accidents by implementing key changes to the existing laws.

According to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a non-profit organization, 1,491 persons were killed in traffic accidents on Georgia roads in 2019. Around 13,525 people were killed in traffic accidents in the state over a decade-long period. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety in its Roadmap for State Highway Safety Laws report says that the total cost of traffic accidents in Georgia has been more than 10 billion dollars. The 2021 roadmaps report identifies the areas in which Georgia has succeeded in keeping motorists safe, and suggests areas of improvement that could further help reduce accident and fatality rates in the state.

The report is very appreciative of Georgia’s seat belt laws that allow for primary enforcement. Primary enforcement means that a police officer can pull a motorist over and cite him for failure to wear a seatbelt even if he does not notice any other violations. However, the primary enforcement law applies to motorists and front seat passengers only, and not to rear seat passengers. The report recommends that Georgia implement primary enforcement seat belt laws even for back seat passengers. Georgia’s motorcycle helmet laws that apply to all riders as well as the state’s booster seat were commended, however the report recommended mandating children remain in rear facing booster seats until the age of two.

Published on: December 9, 2021

Call to Scrap Daylight Savings Time for Role in Causing Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

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.

Published on: November 4, 2021

Vision Zero, Other Initiatives Push Zero Accident Fatality for the Future

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

It’s been heartening to see a stronger emphasis on minimizing traffic accident fatalities, not just by auto safety organizations, but also by lawmakers. In recent weeks, a number of non-profit advocacy organizations have come together to support advocacy efforts as well as initiatives by lawmakers to minimize the number of Americans killed in traffic accidents.

Advocacy organizations like the Governor’s Highway Safety Association and Advocates for Highway and Highway Safety have spent months calling attention to the higher numbers of accident fatalities that occurred last year in spite of a 10% drop in the number of vehicle miles travelled. Those statistics indicate that we have a very serious problem with traffic safety in the United States. For one thing, too many U.S. cities are designed to make it easier to drive rather than walk or bike. Our transportation system, unfortunately, makes it easier to get from point A to point B using a car, as opposed to using mass transit or walking. Those are unacceptable realities, and simply add to the problem of our congested streets.

For our streets to be less congested and safer, we need to add bicycling and walking safely to the list of viable transport options. Safety advocates are calling for the installation of more dedicated and exclusive bicycle lanes in metropolitan areas, including the metro Atlanta region. Exclusive bike lanes are lanes that are meant solely for the use of bicyclists, and are separated from car lanes by a physical barrier that prevents them from coming into direct contact with cars. Experts at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute say that for bicycle lanes to be considered safe, they must be separated from car lanes by more than a slap of paint. Our roads need to be designed with the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in mind. An overwhelming majority of metropolitan areas in the country are not designed to make it safer to bike or walk compared to drive.

Published on: October 31, 2021

NTSB Chief Calls for Focus on Overall Approach to Reducing Traffic Fatalities

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board says that focusing only on individual driver behavior or actions may not be sufficient to helping reduce the number of people killed in traffic accidents in Georgia and across the United States every year. She instead is calling for an approach that takes into account all of the different factors that contribute to the various driver behaviors resulting in accidents.

The National Transportation Safety Board is primarily an investigative authority which conducts investigations into air, road, land, and water accidents that involve mass fatalities or casualties. The Board advises or provides recommendations based on those investigations, and is not a regulatory authority. It cannot pass regulations based on its own recommendations. However, the Board’s recommendations are taken very seriously by state administrations, especially those that are looking at making their roads safer.

Jennifer Homendy, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, was speaking in remarks to a conference of the Governors Highway Safety Association, and says that an overall approach to increasing traffic safety must take into consideration the fact that so many states have enforced higher speed limits than recommended. Speeding, for instance, continues to be a major killer on American roads, and we must evaluate whether the systems in place to date actually encourages drivers to speed. She points to states that have prohibited local authorities from setting their own lower speed limits for motorists. She also points to the responsibility of manufacturers who frequently design automobiles that are made to travel at more than 100 mph, or sell cars that have no installed speed limiters to prevent excessive speeds. Road design that encourages speeding could be just as much to blame as individuals who take advantage of these roads that are built for excessive speeds.

Published on: October 25, 2021

Better Headlights More Effective in Preventing Night Time Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Driving at night is typically the least favorite time to drive for most people. Reduced visibility and glare are just some of the dangers of driving at night that can cause accidents. Better headlights that have a high safety rating, however, are much more likely to help reduce the risk of night time accidents. According to a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, headlight systems that have a good rating by the Institute can significantly help reduce the risk of accidents that occur in the night time.

In 2016, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety developed a safety rating system for headlights. Until then, there was no real way of measuring how headlights fared when compared with each other and when they were actually used in the real world. The federal standard for headlights was outdated, and under these standards, most headlights were more or less considered equal. However in 2016, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety established a headlight ratings program that measured headlight fitness as “good”, “acceptable”, “marginal” or “poor.”

Five years later, a new study finds that since the ratings went into effect, there has been a 19% reduction in the accident rate involving cars with headlights that have a “good” rating, compared to those that have a “poor” headlights rating. When headlights were rated “acceptable” or “marginal,” there was a 15% reduction in the number of accidents that involved these cars. Additionally the study also found that good headlights specifically helped reduce certain types of accidents. For instance, when headlights had a “good” rating there was a 29 percent drop in the number of accidents involving injuries to the driver. These headlights also contributed to a 25% drop in the number of accidents involving pedestrians.

Published on: October 5, 2021

Auto Tech Could Significantly Reduce Teen Accident Risks

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Teen drivers have some of the highest accident risks. When a teenager is driving a car that is equipped with the latest safety tech, however, those accident risks reduce significantly.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted a study on the effectiveness of crash avoidance technologies and other safety systems on the accident risks of teen motorists. The study found that these technologies, if mandated on all automobiles, could prevent as many as 75% of all accidents involving teen motorists. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study results show that while it is not possible to reduce teen accident rates by 100%, it is possible to significantly reduce the risks of teen motorists being involved in accidents by getting them cars that are equipped with lane departure warning systems, forward collision avoidance systems and other car safety technologies.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that teen motorists have a risk of being involved in accidents that is as much as four times higher than for adult drivers. There are several reasons for those higher accident risks. Teen motorists have fewer years of experience successfully navigating traffic and crash risks. Additionally, teen motorists are more likely to be impulsive and may lack the critical judgment and reasoning skills that are necessary to avoid accidents. Teens are also more likely to be susceptible to crashes involving drunk driving and speeding. Passengers in the car also constitute a huge distraction for a teen motorist. All these factors combined significantly increase teen motorist crash risks.

Published on: September 3, 2021

Call for Updated Georgia Laws to Prevent Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Even with the passing of recent laws such as the Hands-free law banning cell phone use while driving, Georgia could still do more to help prevent car accidents and protect motorists and passengers when they are involved in crashes according to national road safety advocates.

Advocates for Auto and Highway Safety is an alliance of groups that are invested in traffic and highway safety, including enforcement representatives, media personnel, public health advocates and insurance companies, all united in a common mission to reduce the rates of accidents that injure and kill so many every year. The group releases an annual road map for individual states to use as a set of guidelines to reduce the risk of accidents and save more lives ever year. This year too, the coalition has released the 2021 roadmap for traffic safety, and the report has recommendations for Georgia to implement as well. The coalition is dedicated to the reduction of accident and injury risks, and the road map is drafted with a view to helping keep all users of our roads safer.

The roadmap for Georgia kicks off with a call to instate primary enforcement of rear seat belt laws in Georgia. Currently, primary enforcement only applies to front seat passengers. The road map also addresses the protection of child passengers in traffic accidents by calling for a law requiring all children below the age of two to be restrained in rear-facing car seats. Too often, children below this age are moved to forward-facing seats or booster seats at great risk to their safety.

Published on: August 3, 2021

Back to School Safety Tips For Atlanta Motorists

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

With many school districts across Georgia, including in the metro Atlanta region, beginning in-person learning over the next few weeks, it is important for schools, students and parents to keep essential safety tips in mind.

Most school districts across Georgia have announced that they will begin in-person learning soon, and some school districts have actually already begun welcoming students back to school.

If you are a parent, you should be aware of some essential safety precautions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking parents to take extra care while picking up and dropping their children to school. Look out for child pedestrians around the school. Look out school buses that may be very busy in the school zone. Avoid speeding within a school zone. Stick to safe speed limits in these areas and be mindful of the reduced speed limits during school hours. Be additionally careful when you are around a crosswalk. Do not block pedestrians near a crosswalk or force them to walk around your car. Look out for crossing guards or school patrol officers waiting for you to stop.