San Francisco Website Launches Bike Accident Tracker

The staff at Editor and Publisher (E&P) announced on February 08, 2011 that “The Bay Citizen in San Francisco has launched a bike accident tracker on its website, BayCitizen.org.” P &E also reports that the user-friendly interactive map shows viewers, “every bicycle accident that has been reported to the police in nearly two years.”   Here…

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Victims Speak Out the Story on FocusDriven

Some of you may have heard of the group FocusDriven, an advocacy unit for victims of motor vehicle crashes that involve drivers using cell phones.  The goal of FocusDriven is to make roadways safer for all motorists and the method by which they deliver their powerful message is an extraordinary one. Basically the idea of…

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Pedestrian & Bicyclist Safety

Experts tell us that identifying unsafe behavior and educating our youth on how to keep themselves out of harm’s way is a critical element of crime prevention.  In this vein, enforcement activities become more effective when parents make sure that children know and follow safety rules. In addition—it is not realistic to believe that all…

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7 People Hurt in SF Taxi and Limousine Collision

In today’s San Francisco Chronicle an accident involving seven people was reported at the intersection of Jones and Sutter streets on February 6, 2011 around 2 a.m. Although several details remain unclear, the report does reveal that at least seven people were sent to the hospital “when a taxicab and limousine collided early Sunday morning…

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U-Turns: How it’s Done Right

According to the National Safety Commission, “Crashes at intersections cause the most fatalities than any other type of crash location.”  First of all—I must admit that this particular statement did not surprise me much, given my chosen profession. But what did surprise me was the next line I read on the Commission’s website, “Not only…

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Cell-Phone Laws & Driving

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute posted the following findings in this month about cell-phone laws in the United States.  The information below can also be found here http://www.iihs.org/default.html. After taking an initial look at the laws below regarding cell-phone use on American roadways, I began to ponder exactly…

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School Bus Safety: Belts or No Belts?

For as long as I can remember school buses have never had seatbelts…until now.  Earnie Grafton at the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, “seatmates buckle up in San Diego, where newer school buses are equipped with shoulder-harness belts at an additional cost of $12,000 (U.S.) per vehicle.” But where did the rational for the practice behind…

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Are Roads Safer In Urban Areas?

What makes a road safe?  The answer to this question depends upon whom you ask.  For example, a new study this week put out by USA Today asserts,” Roads are safer in urban areas.” But how could this be?  First of all, you might look to a body of independent studies published over the past…

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Urban Motorcycle Accident Prevention

Motorcycle enthusiast, Robert Vaughan, from motervike.com suggests, “perhaps the most renowned study of motorcycle accident causes and countermeasures was done for the University of Southern California by researcher Harry Hurt.” As it turns out, Vaughan also discovered that Hurt investigated “900 motorcycle accidents and analyzed another 3600 motorcycle traffic accident reports.”  And as a result,…

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