Articles Tagged with ''impaired driving''

In the United States, alcohol is involved in more than 15,000 traffic deaths every year. Alcohol goes directly from the stomach into the blood¬stream. The amount of alcohol in your body is commonly measured by the blood alcohol concentration (BAC). BAC is determined by the amount you drink, how fast you drink, your weight and your physical and mental health.

Driving a vehicle for long hours is tiring and even the most careful driver can become less alert. Drivers can do several things to help stay alert and safe. Here are few sug¬gestions: Be Ready to Drive- Leaving on a long trip when you are tired is dangerous. Make sure you get enough sleep before departing on your journey.

Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths dipped slightly – 1% – in 2017, claiming 40,100 lives versus the 2016 total of 40,327. The small decline is not necessarily an indication of progress as much as a leveling off of the steepest two-year increase in over 50 years.

The national opioid epidemic and the growing number of states legalizing marijuana is prompting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to launch a new initiative aimed at drugged driving. The agency says combating drugged driving has become “a top priority” in its bid to improve safety and reduce motor vehicle crashes on the nation’s roadways.

Amid a resurgence in U.S. traffic fatalities now taking roughly 100 lives a day, an advocacy group today issued a report card identifying states that do the most, and least, to improve highway safety. The ratings by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety credited six states — California, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana, Delaware and Rhode Island—with having the most protective road safety laws.

“Safety should not be a competitive advantage.” That’s the message I keep in mind every time I visit groups that represent employers, like the Network of Employers for Transportation Safety (NETS) which focuses on highway safety, or when I meet with the executives at individual companies, who may use many different modes of transportation for their businesses.

You are on a gurney, being wheeled toward an ambulance, past a burning car, a man in handcuffs, police officers, firefighters and other injured people. Suddenly, your condition takes a turn for the worse. You are being given CPR. An oxygen mask is placed over your face. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t look good.

Planes, trains and automobiles…and drones…were frequently in the news this year. Accident investigations found fatigue, substance misuse and bad decisions behind a number of transportation-related accidents. Regulators attempted to keep pace with the development of autonomous vehicles and the growing popularity of drones. Here are the top transportation safety stories of 2017.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the April 3, 2016, derailment of Amtrak train 89 near Chester, Pennsylvania was caused by deficient safety management across many levels of Amtrak and the resultant lack of a clear, consistent and accepted vision for safety. A backhoe operator and a track supervisor were killed, and 39 people were injured when Amtrak train 89, traveling on the Northeast Corridor from Philadelphia to Washington on track 3, struck a backhoe at about 7:50 a.m.