TRUCKS SAFETY * Canada & USA - Ontario boasts N.A.'s safest roads

* Canada - "Truck-related fatalities down 24%

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Truck News -May 24, 2011:  --   The most recent road safety statistics indicate Ontario has the safest highways in North America...  Ontario recorded a fatality rate of 0.70 per 10,000 licensed drivers in 2008, reaching its lowest level since 1945 and the lowest in all North America...  The province says its roads have ranked first or second in North America for 10 years in a row...  Transport Minister, Kathleen Wynne, credits Ontario's distracted driving legislation and tough impaired driving rules for making the province's roads safer...  The province saw drinking and driving-related fatalities decline 29%, speed-related fatalities drop 17% and fatalities involving large trucks drop 24% in 2008...  There were 130 people killed in accidents involving large trucks on Ontario roads in 2008, down from 170 in 2007. Of the 130 fatal accidents, the truck driver was "not driving properly" in 47 (or 36.2%) of them. A vehicle defect was detected in just 2% of trucks involved in fatal accidents...  Of 135 large trucks involved in fatal collisions in 2008, 52 were straight trucks and 41 were tractor-trailer units. Twenty-nine involved only a tractor while only two involved tractors pulling A-, B- or C-trains...  In 2008, there were 184,961 tractor-trailer combinations registered in Ontario... (Image from truckaccidents360: MI semi-truck accident. Dec 14. 2010)

Truck Safety * USA - Push unites police, labor and crash survivors

Washington,DC,USA -Star Telegram, by Maria Recio -May. 22, 2011:  ...  A somewhat unlikely ally joined longtime consumer activist, Joan Claybrook, one of the coalition's leaders: Teamsters President, James Hoffa, who represents truck drivers. Hoffa called on the Obama administration to issue tougher regulations on driving hours and for Congress to pass a bill, the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Protection Act, that would outlaw larger, heavier trucks... The bill was introduced last month in the House by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and in the Senate this month by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J... Hoffa said his efforts were prompted by his members -- more than 600,000 of the 1.4 million Teamsters are drivers -- and the need to promote safety... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is in the final stages of two related rules: to limit service to 10 consecutive hours and to require trucks to convert to electronic on-board recorders to keep tabs on hours driven continuously. The Truck Safety Coalition is pushing for quick approval of the rules, while the trucking industry supports the on-board recorders but not changing the driving limits...

TRUCKS SAFETY * USA - ATA Reaffirms Commitment to Safety During U.N. Decade of Action

Arlington,VA,USA -PRNewswire-USNewswire -May 11, 2011: -- Officials from American Trucking Associations highlighted the trucking industry's commitment to improving safety on our nation's highways as part of the United Nations' Decade of Action for Road Safety... The Decade of Action program, which launched around the world today, aims to reduce the nearly 1.3 million highway-related fatalities and 50 million serious injuries suffered around the world... As part of its Decade of Action, the U.N. has highlighted a five-pillar approach to safety: building management capacity, encouraging safer user behavior, building safer roads, building safer vehicles and improving post-crash care...


* Sweden - Blind-side accidents tackled by Volvo. A truck has more blind spots than a car

Gothenburg,Sweden -Transport Engineer, by John Challen -9 May 2011: -- Volvo Trucks has announced measures to tackle the problem of blind spots at every level, using new technology and public traffic education...  As a truck has more blind spots than a car does it is particularly difficult – despite the fitting of four rear-view mirrors – to get a good rear view along the vehicle's right side. Statistics show that 20 per cent of all accidents between road users and trucks occur when the truck turns at a junction...  Malte Ahrholdt, project manager at Volvo Technology, works with Intersafe-2, an EU-financed project that focuses on making crossroads less dangerous. Volvo Trucks' contribution to the project is a system that aims at solving the problem of the truck driver's blind spot on the passenger side. In a test truck, he and his colleagues have fitted laser scanners and ultrasonic sensors that monitor the area on the right of the vehicle. When a cyclist or pedestrian gets too close, the truck driver is alerted by flashing lights and audible warning signals... 

* USA - Simple ideas improve transportation safety

(istockphoto)

Washington,DC,USA -Stateline, by Daniel C. Vock -May 11, 2011:  --   When Washington State transportation officials looked at highway crash data seven years ago, they were struck by how many accidents could be prevented with a relatively cheap improvement to their roads. Adding center-line rumble strips — which warn drifting drivers that they are crossing over into the opposite lane — turned out to be one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce crashes...  Washington’s experience with rumble strips is just one instance of how states are using data to make decisions about ways to spend money on transportation. But a study released Wednesday shows that they do this much better in some categories than in others... The accidents are the results of many causes. In bad weather, drivers cannot see lane markers through snow or fog. Other drivers are distracted, drunk or sleepy. After installing center-line rumble strips, Washington saw the numbers of cross-over accidents fall even when drivers were fatigued, distracted, intoxicated or speeding...  A study, released by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Pew Center on the States (Stateline’s parent organization), concluded that when it comes to safety, all states do a solid job of collecting performance data and putting it to use. They consistently take into account information on crashes and fatalities when they design and improve highway facilities...  But in areas such as economic development and environmental stewardship, most states are only beginning to learn how to employ performance measurement to enhance the quality of their transportation programs. Only 16 states received high marks in using transportation data to benefit environmental stewardship; the same small number drew high grades in using it for economic development. All the other states either received middling grades in these categories or trailed behind...