1. by Shelby Friesz, Nebraska News Service - 1/19/2013 http://northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?

show=news&action=readStory&storyID=24615&pageID=24

Legislators are considering the fine points of turn signal laws. Currently, Nebraska drivers must signal a turn or lane change for 100 feet before turning. But what if they decide they want to turn while idling at a stop sign? Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus introduced a bill (LB 83) Thursday, Jan. 10, to make an exception for stopped vehicles in the law requiring a turn signal in the last 100 feet before a turn or lane change. Its a little fix-it bill, Schumacher said. All this does is says that youve got to signal for a reasonable period of time before you make the turn. You dont have to back up and take a run at it for 140 feet. Columbus lawyer Bill Kurtenbach brought the issue to Schumachers attention after trying a case involving a violation to the turn signal statute. After pulling up to a stop sign from a nearby diagonal parking spot, a police officer stopped his client for signaling a turn too late, Kurtenbach said. What if the parking spot is less than 100 feet from the corner? he said. Kurtenbach said he decided to involve Schumacher because he believed the statute was wrong because it did not reflect how people drive. This particular way its written now puts people in a bad spot, Schumacher said. They dont want to break the law, but as a practical matter they have to. While it is not a large change to the law, Kurtenbach said it could help Nebraskans avoid this common problem altogether. The bill is assigned to the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee for a hearing and further action. Schumacher said it is not big enough to rate as priority legislation but could come out of committee as a general fix-it bill.

Just as one should use reason and prudence in the speed at which they drive, the same should be for turn signals over 100 feet. While 100 ft is the minimum, 200 ft or more is better.

2. KLKNTV June 9, 2013 http://www.klkntv.com/story/22543476/lincoln-to-match-statesharsher-dui-penalties

"There are really two key elements here basically. The first one, that will extend the penalty time, the revocation period, from 12 months to 18 months and the second would also have a mandatory instillation of an interlock device and that would be paid for by the offender." City Councilman Jon Camp says drunk driving is both a national and local issue. And that this new ordinance might bring awareness to the often deadly

problem. "Basically encourage people to be more responsible in the way they would drink and if they are driving a motor vehicle, they'll be responsible there so that we don't endanger the lives of other citizens," he says. Nebraska recently buckled down on second offense DUI penalties. New state law increases license suspension from one year to 18 months and also requires a device to be installed, at the cost of the driver, that will make sure they're sober before they can drive. They'll need to have the device for at least a year. Now Lincoln is adopting the same changes. "The state of Nebraska has enacted a statute in this case that would supersede a city ordinance and so really what we're doing here is bringing our ordinances in conformity with state statues," says Camp. Monday marks the second reading of the ordinance, and the public will be invited to weigh in. According to police, last year in Lincoln alone, there were more than 1,500 drunk driving citations, and 203 drunk driving accidents.

We learned that drunk driving is a major cause of crashes including deadly ones. Our instructor also mentioned that compared to many European nations, America generally has softer penalties for drunk driving. Increasing penalties would most likely decrease the amount of drunk driving.

3. NBC News March 22, 2012 http://www.nbcnews.com/business/get-times-youre-driving-all-wrong-518710

If you're a conscientious motorist who still does everything the way your driver's-ed instructor told you to, you're doing it all wrong. For decades, the standard instruction was that drivers should hold the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 positions, as envisioned on a clock. This, it turns out, is no longer the case. In fact, driving that way could cost you your arms or hands in particularly gruesome ways if your airbag deploys. Instead AAA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and many driving instructors now say you should grip the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock. A few go even further, suggesting 8 and 4 to avoid the airbag mechanism as much as possible, but what formal research has been published on the varieties of hand positions suggests that this may lessen your control of the car. Safer cars make old-school ways dangerousIn its latest guidelines for effective steering, distributed by state and private driving instructors nationwide, the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association advises that "recommendations relative to hand position on the steering wheel have become more flexible." As cars have become safer over the years, "the steering wheel and associated mechanisms (have) changed dramatically," it says, meaning the familiar driving maneuvers "needed to turn the wheel have all changed." Principal among the changes is the incorporation of airbag modules in the steering column, which are designed to deploy upward to protect your head and chest. That means the higher up the wheel your hands are, the more likely they are to be directly over the plastic cover when it opens that is, when superhot nitrogen gas flashes and inflates the bag at 150 to 250 mph. Among the injuries the NHTSA reports from improper placement of the hands when an airbag deploys are amputations of fingers or entire hands, traumatic fractures and a particularly stomach-churning injury called "degloving," which trust us you definitely don't want to look up. AAA says the bags can also slam your hands directly into your head, causing broken noses and concussions. "If the bag is going to go, it's going to take my hand and put it into my face either one of my hands," Bob Hendrickson, head of AAA's network of driving schools in central Indiana, told NBC station WTHR of Indianapolis.

Experts also say new research in ergonomics suggests that what's called "parallel position" makes for safer driving in general. Parallel position "improves stability by lowering the body's center of gravity and reduces unintended and excessive steering wheel movement which is a primary cause of young driver fatalities," the Texas Department of Public Safety says in guidelines for new drivers (.pdf). In plain English, that means "9 and 3," said Dallas police Sgt. Paul Hinton, who teaches law enforcement officers how to drive safely in emergencies like highway chases or when facing a wrong-way driver. "That way I can go 180 degrees (one way), 180 degrees back the other way and then back to center," Hinton told NBC station KXAS of Dallas. "That's the way I'm going to be able to change lanes (safely)." One other thingYou're also turning wrong. That ship captain's-style "hand over hand" thing is now out. Instead, you're supposed to "push-pull" that is, push the wheel up with one hand and pull it down with the other, without crossing over. The reason is the same, State Farm's auto insurance division says in its guidelines for beginning drivers: "Hand-over-hand maneuvers during turning should be avoided to prevent arms from being in front of a deploying airbag in the event of a crash. Serious injuries may result during such occurrences."

Shuffle steering is the safest way to steer a car. We learned that it lowers the chance of injury from your arms flying into your body.

4. Futuristic News (No Date) http://futuristicnews.com/automatic-braking-and-pedestrian-detectionsystem-for-mercedes-benz/

Continental plans to begin production of an automatic-braking and pedestrian-detection system for Mercedes-Benz at the beginning of 2013. The Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) business unit

will be the first unit offered by a major automaker in Europe to use a stereo camera to detect and prevent impacts with pedestrians and other obstacles on the road. The camera will be integrated with a radar system that will present collision detection of up to 200 meters: the radar will detect a possible danger and the camera will evaluate it. The system will also feature the Emergency Steer Assist (ESA) that automatically steers the car around pedestrians when it determines there is scanty distance to stop the car without hitting anybody. Whenever theres an obstacle in the cars way the Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) brakes automatically at speeds of up to 70 km/h (44 mph). Continental reported that Mercedes would offer the unit as an optional feature on high end models.

We learned in class the driver inattention is the leading cause of crashes. With an automatic-braking system, such collisions would probably start to go down, causing fewer causalities.

5. Cars. com 07/20/2012 http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp? section=safe&story=techAir&subject=safe_tech

Since Ralph Nader's seminal book "Unsafe at Any Speed" came out over 40 years ago, seat belts, padded dashboards, collapsible steering columns, improved bumpers and other safety features have become standard fare on cars and trucks. After seat belts, the most significant advance in automobile safety has been the airbag.

Airbags are gas-inflated cushions that rapidly discharge from compartments hidden in steering columns, dashboards, roof rails, doors and seats, hyper-inflating to protect a vehicle's safety-belted adult driver and passengers. Driver and front-passenger airbags have been required in cars by the federal government since the 1998 model year (since 1999 for light trucks). Mercedes-Benz first put airbags in all its models in 1986. By the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's own estimates, airbags have saved nearly 28,000 lives since 1998, that's more than 2,300 people a year. NHTSA calculates that using a seat belt and having an airbag reduces the risk of death by 61 percent. Simply put, this combination is the most basic and effective safety precaution available. In recent years, an armada of airbags has been added to cars and trucks. Some rides, such as the BMW M3, now possess as many as eight of the nylon inflatables.

Side-impact airbags, which Volvo debuted in the mid-1990s, are one of these bonus bladders. Variations shield the pelvis, chest and head and can deploy from the door, seat or roof of a vehicle. Side curtain-type airbags protect the head and, in some models, remain inflated for up to five seconds during rollovers. BMW was an early curtain pioneer. Side airbags not only help passengers in more rollover-prone sport utility vehicles, but they also protect occupants of smaller cars from these same light trucks. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a nonprofit trade group that crash tests vehicles and conducts related research. The organization's chief operating officer, Adrian Lund, says of SUVs, "When these things hit you on the side if you're in a car, basically their hood is right at your head."

Side airbags can provide a cushion between bodies and intruding SUVs. "We've seen about a 45 percent reduction in fatal injuries for vehicles that are equipped with side airbags," Lund says. NHTSA is working on upgrading side-impact safety standards for all passenger vehicles. On Sept. 1, 2009, the agency phased in new sideimpact standards that required side airbags as standard equipment. Other airbag innovations continue apace. General Motors was the first to introduce dual-depth passenger-side airbag. These bags inflate to different girths, depending on variables such as seat position, the severity of the crash and whether the seat belt is clasped or not. Dual-stage airbags, present on several new Volvo models, work slightly differently. With this technology, a sensor measures the severity of a crash and seat-belt usage to adapt airbag inflation speeds; a severe crash results in a full, rapid deployment, while a fender-bender triggers a slower, 70-percent inflation. BMW has also been at the forefront of advanced airbag technology. Its 7 Series was an early adopter of knee airbags, which protect the legs and help the driver avoid sliding down and forward during a crash.

Since Sept 1, 2006, NHTSA has required new vehicles come with advanced frontal airbag systems. Advance front passenger airbags can also based on your weight and position turn the airbag off. These new models are configured to render moot the belief that the airbags crushed children and small adults the public outcry over first-generation airbags. Mechanics were regularly asked, against the wishes of manufacturers, to disable passenger-side bags. This led to the introduction of controversial on/off switches which are still permitted until 2012. NHTSA statistics show that 291 people have been killed by airbags since 1990.

We learned briefly that airbags are important and increasingly being used in more parts of the car. In addition, we learned its important that you wear your seatbelt (always, but) with an airbag because they work together.

6. St. Lious Post-Dispatch June 12, 2013 http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-andcourts/dittmer-man-killed-in-rollover-crash-in-jeffersoncounty/article_16e716a7-2295-5289-876f-3ddb6ad2e67f.html

A Dittmer man was killed Tuesday in a rollover crash in Jefferson County, police say. The Missouri Highway Patrol identified the victim as Steven W. Rogers, 49. The crash happened at about 4:10 p.m. Tuesday on Highway WW, north of Blackhawk Lane. The patrol said Rogers was driving a 1995 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup north on Highway WW when the truck went off the right side of the highway. Rogers overcorrected, and the truck went off the left side of the road and down an embankment. The truck hit a tree and overturned. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

We learned that if you drift a little off the highway that overcorrecting can cause you to rollover. A rollover on a highway like this can be deadly especially at a high-speed and whether the occupant wears their seatbelt.

7. Lincoln Journal Star June 11, 2013 http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/crash-claims-drivers-injures-on-us-near-elmwood/article_e01e5286-b59d-5e72-8ecdb2ce02470552.html

WEEPING WATER Two drivers died Tuesday night when a pickup driven by a 24-year-old went into oncoming traffic and hit an ambulance head-on near Elmwood, Cass County Sheriff William Brueggemann said. William Whitlatch, a 24-year-old rural Syracuse resident, was driving a 2002 Ford Ranger east on U.S. 34 around 10:20 p.m. when it drifted into oncoming traffic and hit a Weeping Water Rescue ambulance that was taking a patient to a Lincoln hospital, Brueggemann said. Deputies had been looking for Whitlatch, who was reportedly driving erratically before the crash. Rescue crews pronounced Whitlatch dead at the scene. Fifty to 75 rescue workers needed about two hours to extricate the ambulance driver, 51-year-old Robert Bob Hanes Sr., of Weeping Water, said Mark Bonser, who sits on the board of directors for the Nebraska Line of Duty Death and Serious Injury Response Team. A medical helicopter flew him to Bryan West Campus, where he died around 2 a.m., Bonser said. Weeping Water Mayor Howard Stubbendieck said he knew Hanes for 25 years, went to the same church and they volunteered together. He was a kind and gentle man. He was just a wonderful person, Stubbendieck said. I never met anyone who didnt like him. You couldnt help but like him. Hanes worked in Louisville in the parts department at Pankonins Inc., said Weeping Water resident Pam Taylor. Hanes worked with kids down at the baseball field, shoveled the driveway of an elderly neighbor and helped cook steaks and burgers at the First Congregational United Church of Christs barbecue fundraiser. He was a super nice guy who did a lot for the community. Hell be missed, Taylor said. Hed do anything for anybody. Thats the sad part; you lose the nice ones. Hanes wife, Carol, is holding up very well, Bonser said, adding that

he talked with her at the hospital and she knows her husband died doing something he loved helping people and serving his town. Bobs loss of life wasnt for nothing, Bonser said. The medical helicopter also transported two emergency medical technicians Melissa Hanes, 30, and James D. Flint Jr., 46 -- Cass County Sheriffs Capt. David Lamprecht said. Elmwood Rescue workers transferred the original patient, 50-year-old Luther Gunnels of Weeping Water, to their ambulance and relayed him to the hospital. Doctors treated all of them for non-life threatening injuries, Lamprecht said. A hospital spokeswoman said Flint was in serious condition and Hanes, who is Bob Hanes daughter, was in fair condition. Bonser said Flint suffered severe head trauma but was alert when he talked to him at the hospital. Hes doing OK, Bonser said. Doctors took Melissa Hanes into surgery for an arm injury, he added. The Weeping Water rescue crew was taking Gunnels to a hospital for a minor medical problem, Lamprecht added. Cass County sheriffs deputies and Nebraska State Patrol troopers are investigating the crash.

Head on collisions are usually the most deadly as we learned in Drivers Ed. The combined force of cars going the opposite way makes it harder for passengers to survive such a collision.

8. Steve Rosin Woman uninjured in rollover car crash on County Road 105 Riverhead News-Review June 11, 2013 http://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2013/06/45999/womanuninjured-in-rollover-car-crash-on-county-road-105/

A woman walked away unharmed after her car flipped into the median on County Road 105 Tuesday afternoon, Riverhead Town police said. The woman was driving southbound about 3:40 p.m. in a red Toyota Tercel when she overturned the vehicle into the median of the road, police at the scene said. Riverhead ambulance crews were called to the crash scene, but the woman suffered no injuries and declined further medical attention. Police closed the left lane of the road while the womans car was removed from the median.

County roads are the most susceptible to rollover crashes. They are usually not as well maintained being made of gravel, dirt, sand, etc.

9. The Economist Clean, safe and it drives itself April 20, 2013 http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21576384-cars-have-alreadychanged-way-we-live-they-are-likely-do-so-again-clean-safe-and-it

SOME inventions, like some species, seem to make periodic leaps in progress. The car is one of them. Twenty-five years elapsed between

Karl Benz beginning small-scale production of his original Motorwagen and the breakthrough, by Henry Ford and his engineers in 1913, that turned the car into the ubiquitous, mass-market item that has defined the modern urban landscape. By putting production of the Model T on moving assembly lines set into the floor of his factory in Detroit, Ford drastically cut the time needed to build it, and hence its cost. Thus began a revolution in personal mobility. Almost a billion cars now roll along the worlds highways. Today the car seems poised for another burst of evolution. One way in which it is changing relates to its emissions. As emerging markets grow richer, legions of new consumers are clamouring for their first set of wheels. For the whole world to catch up with American levels of car ownership, the global fleet would have to quadruple. Even a fraction of that growth would present fearsome challenges, from congestion and the price of fuel to pollution and global warming. Yet, as our special report this week argues, stricter regulations and smarter technology are making cars cleaner, more fuel-efficient and safer than ever before. China, its cities choked in smog, is following Europe in imposing curbs on emissions of noxious nitrogen oxides and fine soot particles. Regulators in most big car markets are demanding deep cuts in the carbon dioxide emitted from car exhausts. And carmakers are being remarkably inventive in finding ways to comply. Granted, battery-powered cars have disappointed. They remain expensive, lack range and are sometimes dirtier than they lookfor example, if they run on electricity from coal-fired power stations. But car companies are investing heavily in other clean technologies. Future motorists will have a widening choice of super-efficient petrol and diesel cars, hybrids (which switch between batteries and an internalcombustion engine) and models that run on natural gas or hydrogen. As for the purely electric car, its time will doubtless come. Towards the driverless, near-crashless car Meanwhile, a variety of driver assistance technologies are appearing on new cars, which will not only take a lot of the stress out of driving in traffic but also prevent many accidents. More and more new cars can reverse-park, read traffic signs, maintain a safe distance in steady traffic and brake automatically to avoid crashes. Some carmakers are promising technology that detects pedestrians and cyclists, again overruling the driver and stopping the vehicle before it hits them. A number of firms, including Google, are busy trying to take driver assistance to its logical conclusion by creating cars that drive themselves to a chosen destination without a human at the controls. This is where it gets exciting.

Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, predicts that driverless cars will be ready for sale to customers within five years. That may be optimistic, but the prototypes that Google already uses to ferry its staff (and a recent visitor from The Economist) along Californian freeways are impressive. Google is seeking to offer the world a driverless car built from scratch, but it is more likely to evolve, and be accepted by drivers, in stages. As sensors and assisted-driving software demonstrate their ability to cut accidents, regulators will move to make them compulsory for all new cars. Insurers are already pressing motorists to accept black boxes that measure how carefully they drive: these will provide a mass of data which is likely to show that putting the car on autopilot is often safer than driving it. Computers never drive drunk or while texting. If and when cars go completely driverlessfor those who want this the benefits will be enormous. Google gave a taste by putting a blind man in a prototype and filming him being driven off to buy takeaway tacos. Huge numbers of elderly and disabled people could regain their personal mobility. The young will not have to pay crippling motor insurance, because their reckless hands and feet will no longer touch the wheel or the accelerator. The colossal toll of deaths and injuries from road accidents1.2m killed a year worldwide, and 2m hospital visits a year in America aloneshould tumble down, along with the costs to health systems and insurers. Driverless cars should also ease congestion and save fuel. Computers brake faster than humans. And they can sense when cars ahead of them are braking. So driverless cars will be able to drive much closer to each other than humans safely can. On motorways they could form fuel-efficient road trains, gliding along in the slipstream of the vehicle in front. People who commute by car will gain hours each day to work, rest or read a newspaper. Roadblocks ahead Some carmakers think this vision of the future is (as Henry Ford once said of history) bunk. People will be too terrified to hurtle down the motorway in a vehicle they do not control: computers crash, dont they? Carmakers whose self-driving technology is implicated in accidents might face ruinously expensive lawsuits, and be put off continuing to develop it. Yet many people already travel, unwittingly, on planes and trains that no longer need human drivers. As with those technologies, the shift towards driverless cars is taking place gradually. The cars software

will learn the tricks that humans use to avoid hazards: for example, braking when a ball bounces into the road, because a child may be chasing it. Googles self-driving cars have already clocked up over 700,000km, more than many humans ever drive; and everything they learn will become available to every other car using the software. As for the liability issue, the law should be changed to make sure that when cases arise, the courts take into account the overall safety benefits of self-driving technology. If the notion that the driverless car is round the corner sounds farfetched, remember that TV and heavier-than-air flying machines once did, too. One day people may wonder why earlier generations ever entrusted machines as dangerous as cars to operators as fallible as humans.

We learned that car crashes are one of the leading causes of deaths for young people. By having a car that could drive itself, human error could be eliminated, causing fewer crashes.

10. USA Today April 10, 2013 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/10/car-rear-viewcameras/2072611/

DeWITT, Iowa Little Jack Pauly wanted to go with mommy and his big sister to the store. That's what his mother, Karen Pauly, believes, nearly two years after the tragedy that took Jack away forever. She had loaded her daughter, Lily, then age 3, into the car seat in the back of the family's mid-size SUV. She backed out of the driveway. "Lily said, 'I think you hit something,'" Karen Pauly remembers. Pauly found 19-month-old Jack in the driveway, badly injured. She had backed over her son. She screamed for help. Her husband, Patrick, bolted out of their house. He ran their toddler next door to his parents' house, where his mother, a nurse, tried to save Jack's life. A helicopter ambulance flew Jack to

the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. "But the doctor took us into a room and explained that the damage was too much," said Pauly, whose family lives in rural DeWitt. When Karen and Patrick Pauly were getting dressed for Jack's funeral and had a TV on in the background. It aired a public service announcement for a group called KidsandCars.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that lobbies for automobile safety legislation to help prevent tragedies like the one that took Jack's life. "My mother said, 'It's a sign. You've got to do that,'" Karen Pauly said. Pauly will be one of a half-dozen parents sharing their stories with lawmakers and federal transportation officials at noon Thursday in Washington, D.C. They want the U.S. Department of Transportation to create standards for rear visibility in new vehicles. Former President George W. Bush signed the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act in February 2008. One of the provisions of the law requires the U.S. DOT to issue standards to address blind zones in vehicles that prevent drivers from seeing children and other pedestrians when backing up. The law is named for the 2-year-old son of a Bellport, N.Y., couple who died in 2002 when his father backed over him while moving a car in the family's driveway. The review standards were supposed to be in place by February 2011, but have yet to be issued. Pauly and members of KidsAndCars.org want the rules to require backup cameras to help cover the blind spots directly behind a vehicle. KidsAndCars.org estimates that as many as 1,002 children died from 1990 to 2010 by being backed over by a vehicle. Fourteen of those deaths occurred in Iowa, the organization says. The activists believe the data underestimates the magnitude of the safety issue because there is no national standard for collecting backover data. One of the stumbling blocks for requiring backup cameras is cost. The U.S. DOT estimates requiring the devices would add as much as $200 to the price of a new vehicle.

However, Jackie Gillan, president of advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said she believes "these costs are greatly inflated." "When rear-view cameras become standard equipment, the price will drop dramatically," she said. According to Edmunds.com, a privately held automotive information firm, 70 percent of 2012 model year vehicles have backup cameras available on one package or more. However, the cameras alone won't eliminate safety risks when people are directly behind a vehicle, safety experts argue. "A huge issue is driver expectation," said Daniel McGehee, director of the Human Factors and Vehicle Safety Research Program at the University of Iowa, which studies crash data. "If the driver does not expect anyone to be behind the vehicle, they're going to behave differently than if they do." For example, a driver backing out of a parking space at a grocery store or Little League park might be more mindful of the likelihood of children behind the vehicle than other venues, McGehee said. Karen Pauly, though, swears by her rear-view camera. Days after her son's funeral, her husband traded in her SUV for a newer model with a backup camera. Pauly knows she won't be able to prevent every tragedy. She knows nothing will bring back her son. But she believes a requirement of backing cameras will save lives and might have saved her son. That's why she tells her story often and to anyone who will listen, even though it hurts every time. "If we can prevent just one more, then it's worth it," she said. "I don't want anyone to have to feel what I've felt."

I learned that backing your car out is one of the most dangerous maneuvers while driving. Having a rearview camera in your car allows for better visibility while backing up, possibly saving lives.

11. Michael Wayland Insurance institute: Drivers finding lane departure warning systems more annoying than effective March 20, 2013 http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2013/03/insurance_institute_drive rs_fi.html

DEARBORN- Lane departure warning systems may be more annoying than they are effective, according to data and results from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety. David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer and senior vice president, said early testing and research of the systems, which warn drivers that their vehicle is leaving a lane without a turn signal, are testing about 10

percent lower than the majority of other new vehicle safety equipment. When we look at lane departure warning systems, we dont see any evidence that these systems are helping drivers avoid being in crashes, Zuby said during a panel discussion Tuesday at Automotive Worlds Megatrends USA 2013 conference in Dearborn. In fact, the data from some of the manufacturers goes the wrong way we see more crashes. Automakers and suppliers usually equip lane departure warning systems with haptic/vibrating or audible sounds to warn drivers that they are crossing into another lane without using your turn signal. Zuby said one of the reasons for the low test results is that people may find the systems as a "turn signal nanny rather than always identifying a precursor to a crash." Following the Automotive World panel, Zuby told MLive.com that IIHS is investigating why lane departure systems dont have high levels of acceptance or lack of annoyance likeother systems such as forward collision warning systemsthat have tested very well.

Ford's Lane Keeping System helps avoid unintentional lane departure and will be available on the 2013 all-new Fusion.

According to the early research, Zuby said forward collision warning systems reduced crashes 7 percent compared to the same vehicles without the system, and a 14 percent reduction with a warning system equipped with emergency braking that can automatically attempt to stop a vehicle before a crash. Don't expect automakers to immediately give up on lane departure warning, however. Zuby said there is a lot automakers can do to make the systems more or less intrusive. Zuby was on a panel moderated by Michael L. Prince, Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning director, with Steve Underwood, director of Connected Vehicle Proving Center at the University of Michigan; Tony Bromwell, TASS International director of Americas; and Steve Kenner, Ford director of Global Automotive Safety. Kenner, following Zuby's remarks on lane departure systems, said every automaker uses the system differently.

Ford's system on the new Fusion uses a digital camera mounted on the windshield to detect any unintentional lane departures. It has three levels of assistance -- Lane Keeping Alert, Lane Keeping Aid and Driver Alert -- depending on the severity of the lane departure.

When the system detects the car is approaching the edge of the lane without a turn signal activated, the lane marker in the icon turns yellow and the steering wheel vibrates to simulate driving over rumble strips. If the driver doesnt respond and continues to drift, the lane icon turns red and system will nudge the steering and the vehicle back toward the center of the lane.

The Automotive Megatrends conference, sponsored by the UK-based magazine Automotive World, featured more than 300 experts and delegates from around the country to discuss car safety, passenger car connectivity and electric vehicle technology.

Lane changes can be dangerous, and lane changes into oncoming traffic are deadly. While we should look for technology to lower the chances of collisions, sometimes being to careful (as in this case) can be annoying. It is like the reason we have the 3 point seatbelts instead of 5 point seatbelts.

12. NBC News May 19, 2013 Mercedes S-Class wows with 3D cameras and night vision http://www.nbcnews.com/business/mercedes-s-class-wows-3dcameras-night-vision-1C9960709

There was a time when luxury cars were defined by their sheer size and mass, their power, performance and, of course, exclusive details like leather seats and wood trim. Those factors distinguish the 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but theres more to the redefined German flagship that fit the changing nature of

the auto industry. From its LED lamps to the 3D cameras, radar and night vision systems that allow the new sedan to virtually drive itself, the new S-Class is a technical tour de force that will likely have competitors racing to catch up.

We learned in Drivers Ed, that night is one of the most dangerous times to drive. There is less visibility, it is possible to be blinded for a couple of seconds by another cars lights, deer are usually out around that time, etc. Technology, such as night vision systems, could help prevent problems such as these from happening in the future by allowing more vision at night for drivers.

13. autoevolution Bosch Introduces the Side View Assist http://www.autoevolution.com/news/bosch-introduces-the-side-view-assist25844.html

Yet another safety feature is making its way through Boschs portfolio, coming as a blind-spot assistant, helping drivers handle complex traffic situations. Dubbed Side View Assist, the driver assistance system from Bosch uses ultrasonic sensors, just like the companys parking aid and parking assistant. The Side View Assist system is capable of registering objects three metres to the side and diagonally to the rear of the vehicle, covering the blind spot areas. If the sensors detect a vehicle, their signal is first checked by the system's electronics to prevent false alarms. Then it can warn the driver in two ways: first optically, and then, if the driver fails to react, acoustically. The Side View Assist system's ultrasonic sensors are mounted in the sides of the vehicle's front and rear bumpers. The two rear-side sensors monitor the blind spot on the lanes to the right and left. The sensors use the same technique to detect parked vehicles, road signs and to register when drivers are passing other cars. In those cases, they do not set off an alarm. It is only when one of the rear side sensors reports an object that has not already been detected by the front sensors that danger is imminent. The Side View Assist system works at speeds of between 10 and 140kph. Outside that range, it does not warn drivers. The system aids drivers in complex traffic situations when relative speeds are low, and

therefore mostly helps them on urban roads and highways and on multi-lane roads where speed limits are in place. The system warns drivers but does not intervene directly in their actions.

I learned in Drivers Ed, that making sure a car is not in a blind spot is one of the most important aspects of switching lanes. It is dangerous for cars to be in the blind spots of other trucks or cars.

14. Insurance Journal Electronic Stability Control in Cars Saving Lives: NHTSA December 3, 2012 http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2012/12/03/272554.htm

Electronic stability control technology (ESC) is saving an increasing number of lives each year, according to a three-year study by the U.S. Department of Transportations National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA study estimates that ESC saved 2,202 lives from 2008 to 2010 alone. Electronic stability control was mandated on all light-duty trucks and passenger vehicles under a federal safety regulation issued in 2007.

The requirement was phased in over the years covered by the study and applies to all new light vehicles manufactured on or after Sept. 1, 2011.

These numbers send a clear message about this technologys lifesaving potential, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. As more vehicles on the road are equipped with ESC in the coming years, we know the technology will save even more lives. ESC systems use computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to help drivers maintain control of a vehicle that is beginning to lose directional control and/or stability. NHTSAs analysis estimates ESC technology saved the lives of a growing number of passenger vehicle occupants each year between 2008 and 2010. There were 634 lives saved in 2008, 705 lives in 2009 and 863 lives in 2010, according t the NHTSA. NHTSA research has consistently shown ESC systems are especially effective in helping a driver maintain vehicle control and avoid some of the most dangerous types of crashes on the highway, including deadly vehicle rollover situations or in keeping drivers from completely running off the roadway, said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. NHTSA published a final rule in April 2007 establishing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 126, which requires manufacturers to install ESC systems on all passenger cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, and pickup trucks. NHTSA said the study was undertaken following President Obamas Executive Order 13563, which requires that each agency periodically review its existing significant regulations. In May, NHTSA proposed a new federal motor vehicle safety standard to require ESC systems on large commercial trucks and large buses for the first time ever. Applying ESC technology to the heavy-duty fleet could prevent up to 56 percent of rollover crashes each year and another 14 percent of loss-of-control crashes in these vehicles, according to the federal agency.

We learned that approximately half of all crashes occur with only a single vehicle. Most of these are causes by inattention or careless driving. Electronic stability control technology could help reduce accidents by helping drivers regain control of their automobile.

15. Fox News 3 killed in 95-car pileup on Virginia highway April 1, 2013 http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/31/3-killed-in-75-car-pileup-onvirginia-highway/ Interstate 77 near the Virginia-North Carolina reopened early Monday following a series of chain-reaction wrecks involving nearly 100 vehicles along a mountainous, foggy stretch of the highway, killing three people and injured 25 others. Virginia State Police determined 95 vehicles wrecked in 17 separate crashes within a mile span near the base of Fancy Gap Mountain, spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. The crashes began around 1:15 p.m. Sunday when there was heavy fog in the area. "This mountain is notorious for fog banks. They have advance signs warning people. But the problem is, people are seeing well and suddenly they're in a fog bank," said Glen Sage of the American Red Cross office in the town of Galax. Since 1997, there have been at least six such pileups on the mountain but Sunday's crash was the most deadly, according to The Roanoke Times. Two people died in crashes involving dozens of vehicles in both 2000 and 2010. State police said traffic along the interstate in southwest Virginia backed up for about 8 miles in the southbound lanes after the accidents. Authorities closed the northbound lanes so that fire trucks, ambulances and police could get to the wrecked vehicles. Overhead message boards warned drivers since about 6 a.m. Sunday to slow down because of the severe fog, Geller said. The crashes were mostly caused by drivers going too fast for conditions. At the "epicenter" was a wreck involving up to eight vehicles, some of which caught fire, Geller said. Photos from the accident scene showed a burned out tractor-trailer and several crumpled vehicles badly charred. Those taken to hospitals had injuries ranging from serious to minor. School buses took stranded people to shelters and hotels. Nina Rose, 20, and her mother, were driving home to Rochester, N.Y., when they encountered the pileup.

"With so much fog we didn't see much around it," Rose told the Roanoke newspaper. "As we got further up we just saw a bunch of people standing on the median, just with their kids and families all together. There were cars smashed into other cars, and cars just underneath other semi-trucks." Authorities reopened the northbound lanes Sunday night and the southbound lanes around 12 a.m. Monday. Police did not immediately release the names of those killed.

Fog, mountains, and other conditions can severely effect driving and lead to accidents. As we learned, one should only drive at prudent and reasonable speeds especially in low visibility and mountainous terrain.

16. Rutter Mills Watch For Pedestrians When Making Left Hand Turns June 7, 2013 http://www.ruttermills.com/news/personal-injuryinformation-blog/watch-for-pedestrians-when-making-left-handturns.html A new study, conducted by the University of Oregon, finds that pedestrians crossing the street at permitted left turns have a high risk of being hit by an oncoming vehicle. According to this study, when drivers have a permitted left-hand turn, they are less likely to observe pedestrians crossing the street - and more likely to cause an accident. Motorists must pay close attention to the traffic signal as well as breaks in approaching traffic, thus less likely to make that extra step to look out for pedestrians. Research shows the heavier the traffic, the less likely the motorist will pay attention to those crossing the street. It is the law for motorists to yield to pedestrians using marked crosswalk, however, studies suggest crosswalks have very little impact on accidents regarding left hand turns. Roughly 4 to 9 percent of the time, motorists do not look for pedestrians during a left turn. This seems to suggest that walkways create a false sense of security for those who expect drivers to both see them crossing and allow them to have the right-of-way. The risk of an accident is considerably lower in those cases where the driver can only turn left with a green left arrow.

In this scenario, researchers found that the motorists were more likely to notice pedestrians - possibly because they do not have to gauge traffic patterns. Data proves that danger is sufficiently higher for pedestrians in this situation. They are, of course, amongst the most vulnerable on the roads. To avoid a senseless accident, we must take that extra second to look out for those crossing the street. If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, please call the auto accident attorneys of Rutter Mills. Over the last 50 years, we have handled hundreds of accidents in which pedestrians where hit by automobiles through no fault of their own. Please be careful on the road ways, whether you are on foot of behind the wheel - awareness can be one of our greatest safety tools!

An important thing I learned in Drivers Ed, is left-hand turns are very dangerous. As this article states, people making lefthand turns have a high risk of hitting pedestrians.

17. BrandonPatch (a local section of a network of news called Patch) March 19, 2013 http://brandon.patch.com/articles/drivers-hospitalized-after-valricostop-sign-crash

Two Valrico drivers, ages 75 and 21, were involved in a serious accident at East Lumsden Road and South St. Cloud Avenue today, March 19, after the older motorist reportedly failed to stop at a Valrico stop-sign intersection just east and south of the Abbey Grove and Valrico Grove subdivisions, respectively. Kathryn A. Means, 75, of 122 Oakhill Ridge Road, and Kelly Thomas Fort, 21, of 828 Rocky Mountain Court, were sent to area hospitals with "incapacitating" and "life-threatening" injuries, respectively, according to a report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Means, who was driving a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire convertible, reportedly was wearing a seat belt. So, too, was the more seriously injured Fort, who reportedly was driving a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible. Fort was airlifted by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital, where he was reported in critical condition. Means, in stable condition, was transported to South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City, according to the report. The report notes that the accident occurred at around 10:15 a.m. An investigator on the scene reported the time at around 9:45 a.m. The report notes that Means was driving her Pontiac south on St. Cloud Avenue when she "failed to stop for the stop sign and struck a 2001 Mitsubishi in thepassenger side."No charges were filed "pending further investigation." It was noted, too, that "alcohol does not appear to be a factor."

One should always come to a complete stop at the prescribed place to stop at a stop sign. Failing to stop can have serious consequences that can cause a crash.

18. The Buffalo News Hydroplaning vehicle triggers crash in Hanover May 11, 2013 http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20130511/CITYANDREGION/130519814/1024

HANOVER One person was taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash late Friday in Chautauqua County. The crash occurred about 7:30 p.m. Friday on Routes 5 and 20 in the Town of Hanover, Chautauqua County sheriffs officials said. Lydia R. Baake, 18, of Angola, was traveling east when she lost control of her vehicle, which hydroplaned into oncoming traffic, officials said. Baake struck a vehicle driven by John W. Peterson, 78, of Dunkirk, then continued on and collided with a building. Baake and her passenger, Matthew J. Mardino, 20, of North Collins, were not injured. Peterson also was uninjured, but his passenger, Carol D. Peterson, 73, of Dunkirk, was taken to Lake Shore Hospital to be treated for minor injuries, officials said. Baake was issued traffic tickets for speed not reasonable and prudent and failure to keep right. She is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

Hydroplaning occurs when water gets between your car and the pavement. To prevent crashes like this one, it would be a good idea to significantly slow down, and if possible to follow in another cars tracks on the road.

19. By ABC News Hands-Free Texting Devices Pose Great Risk to Drivers Jun 12, 2013 9:08am http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/06/hands-free-textingdevices-pose-great-risk-to-drivers/ Voice-activated in-car technologies to send text messages and emails while driving may not be the safer option compared with hand-held cellphones, according to a new study conducted by the AAA. Cars are now coming with new voice-activated gadgets designed to keep drivers focus on the road and their hands on the steering wheel. Turns out, though, that the speech-to-text system caused more distractions than anything else the researchers tested, according to the study that was released today. Researchers at the University of Utah who conducted the study with the AAA measured drivers brainwaves, eye movement, driving performance, along with other indicators. Drivers were fitted with special skull caps to record their brain activity. Your brain is so overloaded with these talk-to-text tasks or talking on a cellphone that you have very little residual capability to attend to the roadway, said Joel Cooper of the University of Utah.

Texting while driving is always bad and always dangerous. Even if you have a hands off device, it still distracts you mentally.

20. Fox News Sleep-deprived teen drivers more likely to crash May 21, 2013 http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/21/sleep-deprived-teen-drivers-more-likelyto-crash/

Too little sleep increases the risk of car crashes for young drivers, a new study confirms. In the study, drivers ages 17 to 24 who reported sleeping six or fewer hours per night were about 20 percent more likely to be involved in a car crash over a two-year period, compared with those who slept more than six hours a night. Car crashes among the sleep-deprived were more likely to occur between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. than at other hours. The findings held even after the researchers took into account factors that affect people's risk of a car crash, such as age, the number of driving hours per week, risky driving behavior such as speeding and a history of car crashes. Sleep deprivation is known to be a risk factor for car crashes it's estimated that drowsy driving is responsible for 20 percent of all car crashes in the United States, the researchers say. However, most studies to date have not focused on young people. Young drivers should be a focus of education efforts to prevent drowsy driving "because this group experiences more impairment in alertness,

mood and physical performance compared with older age groups with similar sleep deprivation," the researchers said. The new study involved more than 19,000 young, newly licensed drivers living in New South Wales, Australia, who answered questions about their sleep habits, including how many hours they slept on weeknights and weekends. Researchers then tracked the participants for two years, and obtained police reports to document car crashes. Among drivers who reported getting six or fewer hours of sleep a night, 9.4 percent were involved in a crash, compared with 6.9 percent of those who reported more than six hours of sleep a night. The new findings "may help increase awareness of the impact of reduced sleep hours on crash risk and highlight subgroups of young drivers and times of day for targeted intervention," the researchers write in the May 20 issue of the journal JAMA Pediatrics. The researchers noted that participants were only asked about their sleep habits once during the study, and the exact number of hours participants slept on the day before they were involved in a crash is not known. You should only drive if you are well rested. A driver that is drowsy (whether they know it or not) is more likely to cause an accident. As was mentioned in class, driver inattention is the leading cause of accidents. Drowsiness is part of this inattention.