Safety
Lower Speeds Mean Safer Streets
Justin Glick | Feb 19th, 2010
Next American City
Hard to think of a more obvious headline, right? Well, somehow this nugget of common sense has yet to catch on in American cities nationwide, where speed limits inside dense areas remain dangerously high at an average of 28 m.p.h. It's important to remember that the chance of death by automobile increases exponentially with the vehicle's speed:
- 5 percent of people die when struck by a motorist going 20 mph
- 45 percent of people die when struck by a motorist going 30 mph
- 85 percent of people die when struck by a motorist going 40 mph
- When cars exceed 20 mph, the comfort level of cyclists and pedestrians drops significantly
- Eye contact between drivers, and between drivers and pedestrians, drops rapidly at speeds greater than 20 mph
- Driving 20 mph requires a stopping distance of 150 feet, driving 30 mph requires a stopping distance of 200 feet, driving 35 mph requires a stopping distance of 250 feet.
Study: Nighttime teen driver fatalities jump because of cell phones
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | MAY 6, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas — Nighttime driving is becoming more hazardous for American teenagers and the likely cause is talking and texting on cell phones while operating a vehicle, according to a study released Thursday.
The report by the Texas Transportation Institute said the proportion of fatal crashes at night involving drivers 16 to 19 years old nationwide increased 10 percent from 1999-2008. The percentage of nighttime fatal crashes involving drivers 20 years and older rose nearly 8 percent from 1999-2008.
While the increase in nighttime crashes in the older age group can be attributed primarily to alcohol use, the study authors pointed to driver distraction caused by talking and texting on cell phones as a likely cause of the increase in fatalities among younger drivers.
Austin's most dangerous intersections in 2009
By Kelsey Wilkinson
Community Impact
AUSTIN — Based on crash data collected from the Texas Department of Transportation, reporters at Community Impact Newspaper compiled a list of the 20 most dangerous intersections in Austin. The list is based on the number of collisions recorded at each intersection between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009. Collision numbers may vary as some collision locations were reported as unknown.
The Central Public Health Challenge of Our Times
Sharon Astyk's blog
Even before NASA released its study demonstrating that road transport was the single largest driver, in economic terms, of anthropogenic global warming, with all the public health implications that included, we knew that our current transportation paradigm, which prioritizes personal vehicles, was a major detriment to public well-being.
Worldwide, we can attribute 1.2 million deaths per year and 40 million injuries significant enough to merit a doctor visit to auto-related accidents. There are 40,000 deaths in the US alone annually that are car-related. The disability claims alone from car-related loss of work and permanent injury come in the hundreds of millions of dollars (all data from Pat Murphy's _Plan C_ 168-169 originally taken from the NTSB). Motor Vehicle accidents remain the leading cause of death in children.
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - Texas Data
