October 2018 Summaries of timely road safety news, events, and alerts

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Message from NETS' Executive Director, Joe McKillips

We’ve had an exciting few weeks at NETS! Earlier this month, on October 10th & 11th, over 200 road safety professionals came together for our annual NETS’ STRENGTH in NUMBERS® Benchmark Conference in Frisco, Texas. This year’s event represented yet another milestone for NETS setting a record for our best-attended conference! The annual conference is an opportunity to meet with like-minded road safety professionals, learn about the latest road safety research and gain insights into new and emerging technology. Numerous co-presentations with NETS member companies and sponsor partners placed special emphasis on culture change and road safety leadership engagement. Results of NETS’ annual STRENGTH in NUMBERS® Fleet Safety Benchmark Report were also shared with special emphasis and analysis on historical benchmark results through the expertise of the National Safety Council, a NETS Benchmark partner. The conference was highlighted by a special announcement of the first-ever NETS International Road Safety Satellite Conference scheduled to take place in San Jose, Costa Rica April 2-3, 2019. With many NETS member companies taking on multi-national road safety challenges, the International Road Safety Conference will address regional Latin America road safety issues and challenges. A conference planning committee composed of NETS members, Board members and NETS sponsor partners is currently underway and additional information will be provided in the coming week and months. Mark your calendars now for this exciting inaugural event! To those who were able to attend this year’s conference, a sincere thank you for your time and participation! Additional details and conference highlights, including photos from the proceedings, will soon be posted to our NETS website. Thanks again to everyone for your leadership and commitment to road safety.

SPONSOR SAFETY TIP: eDRIVING

Driver Safety Tips for the End of DST The end of Daylight Savings Time (DST) means drivers will soon be spending more time on the roads during hours of darkness. And, with National Safety Council research showing that the risk of a fatal crash is three times greater at night, it's... Read more www.edriving.com

NETS is proud to partner with the following PLATINUM Fleet Safety Sponsor: www.edriving.com eDriving’s global FLEET division serves 1 million drivers, providing a complete continuum of award-winning risk management and training solutions with proven results and ROI. NETS Fleet Safety Sponsors

LATEST ROAD SAFETY NEWS

U.S. DOT Announces 2017 Roadway Fatalities Down "Dangerous actions such as speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence are still putting many Americans, their families and those they share the road with at risk," said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Heidi R. King. "Additionally,... Read more www.nhtsa.gov

WORKPLACE/ HOME ROAD SAFETY

Why Large Fleets Resist Electric Vehicles According to a new survey from UPS and GreenBiz, higher-revenue companies with vehicle fleets listed three major barriers that are keeping them from more widely adopting battery-electric vehicles even though they have identified an appetite for... Read more www.automotive-fleet.com

Are Roads with Roundabouts Safer than Stop Signs? There seems to be a local trend toward roundabouts. Do statistics show that cities with lots of roundabouts have fewer traffic accidents? That was the question posed to us by a reader of The Telegraph through Macon Me Curious , a new project of... Read more www.macon.com

Hospital ER Reports 161% Spike in Visits Due to Scooters As injured electric-scooter riders pour into emergency departments across the country, doctors have scrambled to document a trend that many view as a growing public safety crisis. A detailed statistical portrait of that crisis won't... Read more www.washingtonpost.com

Autumn is Deadliest Time for Pedestrians A Hopkins man hit by a car while walking along the side of a road over the weekend remains in the hospital with critical injuries Monday morning. David Roger Ashlock, 68, was struck about 7:10 p.m. Saturday as he walked near 22nd Street and... Read more www.startribune.com

Is it Legal for People to Drive with Pets on Their Laps? Alexander from Denver writes, "What is driving you crazy? Good morning Jayson. Is it legal for people to drive with their pets on their laps? It's a "pet" peeve of mine and I'm curious if I'm right or wrong." Alexander, the State of Colorado does ... Read more www.thedenverchannel.com

Teen Passenger with Teen Driver Equals Increased Crash Risk More than 1,050 people were killed in crashes involving a teen driver in 2016 during the 100 Deadliest Days, the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That is an average of 10 people per day - a 14 percent... Read more newsroom.aaa.com

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Drivers Rely Too Heavily On New Vehicle Safety Technology Drivers may recognize the benefits of having blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning and other advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in their vehicles, to warn if a crash is... Read more www.forbes.com

The Countries Best Prepared For Autonomous Vehicles As connected and autonomous vehicle (AV) technology continues to make impressive strides, which countries are best positioned to harness its massive potential? A few years ago, the concept of a driverless car seemed like the realm of science... Read more www.forbes.com

Deadly Convenience: Keyless Cars and Carbon Monoxide Toll Weaned from using a key, drivers have left cars running in garages, spewing exhaust into homes. Despite years of deaths, regulatory action has lagged. Without having to turn and remove a key to shut off the motor, drivers can be lulled into... Read more www.nytimes.com

GOVERNMENT AND NON-PROFIT AGENCY NEWS

Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks. We live in a connected world where multitasking is second nature and communication is instant. This, coupled with the compulsion to stay connected at all times, makes drivers overly confident in their ability to ‘safely’ text and use their cell.... Read more stoptextsstopwrecks.org

Preparing for Automated Vehicles: Traffic Safety Issues GHSA's Preparing for Automated Vehicles: Traffic Safety Issues for States outlines potential highway safety issues that autonomous vehicles will bring to the states. Read more www.ghsa.org

IIHS: Recreational Marijuana Factor in Increased Crashes A new report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) reveals crash data has risen in states that have legalized marijuana, though they failed to show marijuana use factored into crashes. Read more transportationtodaynews.com

INTERNATIONAL ROAD SAFETY

AIP Foundation Shares Helmet Law Case Study at UNITAR AIP Foundation presented at The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) "Road Safety High Level Conference" in Gurugram, India on the topic of best practices in road safety policy and intervention. Read more aip-foundation.org

Abu Dhabi Drivers Warned Against Taking Rain Pics Taking photographs while driving can attract fines of AED 800 and four black points, according to the UAE's Federal Traffic Laws Abu Dhabi police are warning residents against taking photographs of rain while behind the wheel and reminding them... Read more www.arabianbusiness.com

Road Accident Data Collation Has to Be Uniform in All States In 2017, India lost 1.48 lakh citizens in road accidents. Severity of the accident (fatality per 100 accidents) also rose at 31.8. While India has ambitious target of reducing road... Read more timesofindia.indiatimes.com

UPCOMING TRANSPORTATION SAFETY EVENTS AND CAMPAIGNS

World Day of Remembrance The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (WDR) is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year – to remember the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads, together with their families, friends and many... Read more worlddayofremembrance.org

Halloween Buzzed Driving Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving. Halloween is a night for friends and family to enjoy candy, costumes, and memory-making.Tragically, Halloween drunk-driving fatalities are on the rise. Over the last 5 years (2012-2016) there were 168 drunk driving... Read more www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov

Make It to the Table: Don't Drink and Drive at Thanksgiving The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its partners will be running a blitz social media campaign, "Make It to the Table: Don't Drink and Drive this Thanksgiving Eve." On Nov. 22, the day before Thanksgiving, all of the agency's... Read more www.nhtsa.gov

Do you have a particularly successful road safety example to share? NETS Members are encouraged to share best practices, ask questions or contribute their expertise to the NETS Road Safety Leaders Forum, an online discussion forum exclusively for NETS Members and Sponsors. Not yet a member? Check out the benefits at  www.trafficsafety.org/Membership .

Note from the editor: All links to stories have been tested and are active 24 hours prior to distribution; however, links may become inactive over time at the discretion of the publication source.

About NETSWork® NETSWork is published electronically each month by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, Susan Gillies, editor, and Joe McKillips, Executive Director.

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