Showing posts with label driving safety. Show all posts

Popular Products Discounted for Nat'l Teen Driver Safety Week

Posted by Unknown in , , , , , , , , on Friday, October 18, 2013

Next week (October 20-26) marks the 2013 observance of National Teen Driver Safety Week (NTDSW), held the third week of October each year since 2007. A legislative effort by Congressional members from Pennsylvania following several teen crashes and fatalities in that state, NTDSW is an opportunity to re-focus national attention on the devastating effects of motor vehicle crashes among teen drivers (the most collision-prone of any motorists), as well as on promising and proven strategies for saving lives.

During NTDSW 2013, we will be offering a 50 percent discount on one of our most popular educational product bundles: Driver-ZED and Teaching Your Teens to Drive.

Driver-ZED (Stock #114) is an interactive risk-management computer program that uses live-action footage to put teens in the driver's seat as they confront 100 scenarios and learn to properly respond to the hazards in each (such as work zone construction, an aggressive tailgater, etc.) Teaching Your Teens to Drive (Stock #351) uses a lesson handbook and DVD to guide families (parents/guardians and their teens) through the complicated process of learning to drive.

From today (October 18) through October 26, customers may purchase Driver-ZED and Teaching Your Teens to Drive together for $19.95 (ordinarily bundled at $39.95). The bundle stock number for obtaining both products is 119. Use promo code "TeenBundle" when ordering online, or when calling our fulfillment center, at 800.305.7233.

Each product can also be ordered separately at a discount: to get Driver-ZED for $7, use promo code "TeenZED." For a copy of Teaching Your Teens to Drive, use promo code "TeenTeaching" to get the special $12.95 price. Each product is ordinarily priced at $29.95.

This year's NTDSW theme is "It Takes Two," referring to the crucial roles played by both parents AND teens in the learning-to-drive process. Parental involvement during this period in their sons' and daughters' lives is something we've explored several times, most recently in our series of naturalistic studies of novice driving. Parents and guardians have a wealth of safe driving wisdom that they can share with the young drivers in their families, and they can play an active role in managing their teens' driving. To learn more about our work in this area, please visit www.traffic-payout.org.







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Your Eyes Are on the Road and Hands Are on the Wheel -- but Where's Your Head?

Posted by Unknown in , , , , on Wednesday, June 12, 2013


Do you think that using a hands-free device is the safe alternative to driving while holding your phone or fidgeting with your car’s controls? If so, you’re not alone. Our latest safety culture index survey found that 71 percent of U.S. drivers think hands-free devices are safer than their hand-held counterparts, and more than half of American motorists who routinely use speech-based in-vehicle systems (e.g., stereo, navigation, text/email, etc.) do not believe these technologies are at all distracting.

Today, however, the AAA Foundation is challenging these perceptions with brand-new research on mental distractions, and the suppressed brain activity and impaired driving performance of motorists who are engaged in cognitively-demanding tasks – even when they keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

Conducted at the University of Utah, this study utilized a combination of brainwave activity measures, driving performance indicators, and other assessments, and analyzed participants in a laboratory, driving simulator, and instrumented vehicle as they completed six common tasks: listening to the radio, listening to a book on tape, conversing with a passenger, conversing on a hand-held phone, conversing on a hands-free phone, and interacting with a speech-to-text email system. Researchers then created a rating scale that ranks these tasks according to how much mental distraction they cause, and the findings may surprise you.

It is perhaps reassuring that listening to the radio or a book on tape create only minor increases in cognitive workload above the baseline, “non-distracted” condition. Much more troubling, however, is the fact that phone conversations (whether hand-held or hands-free) and voice-based interactions with in-vehicle systems create significant levels of cognitive distraction, as demonstrated by suppressed brain activity, slowed reaction times, missed visual cues, and reduced visual scanning of the driving environment (think tunnel vision). Keep in mind that these degradations were found even though drivers kept their eyes on the road and, with the exception of the hand-held phone task, their hands on the wheel.

Succinctly put: “hands-free” doesn’t mean “risk free.”

This seemingly-simple conclusion has broad implications that give all of us a great deal to consider. For example, more than half of American motorists think that hands-free device use while driving is acceptable (while two thirds say hand-held devices are unacceptable). The perception that “hands-free” is the safe way to go may also help to explain the proliferation of speech-based in-vehicle technologies and infotainment systems. Though shipments of these systems are expected to skyrocket in the coming years, use of speech-to-text communications presented the highest level of cognitive distraction of all the tasks we analyzed. This suggests there is much work to be done to ensure that these systems do not interfere with the safe operation of motor vehicles.    

This is an issue that we will continue to study, and we hope you will take some time to learn about cognitive distraction and how it may impact your driving. Please visit www.traffic-payout.org and newsroom.aaa.com to learn more, and remember the three keys to attentive driving: eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, mind on the task.

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Is Your Child Safe In Their Car Seat?

Posted by Unknown in , , , , , on Monday, August 20, 2012


Proper installation for a child under 2
Every day, two children under the age of 12 die in car crashes and 325 are injured.  A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine  found that car crashes are the leading cause of death in kids over age 3 in the U.S., yet many parents still don't know how to properly install car seats or know the age guidelines for booster seats.

Requiring that children travel in proper restraints reduces the risk of fatality and injury so much that each U.S. state and territory has adopted its own regulations on child safety seats.  Although most parents understand that babies must travel in child safety seats, varying state regulations can create some confusion.  According to AAA polling, only 39 percent of parents know the specific rules in their states.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which updated their child passenger safety guidelines in 2011:
  • Children should remain in child safety or booster seats until they are at least 4’9”, the minimum height for using standard seat belts
  • Rear-facing car safety seat (CSS) for kids until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer of their CSS.
  • All kids 2 years or older, or those younger than 2 years who have outgrown the rear-facing weight or height limit for their CSS, should use a forward-facing CSS with a harness for as long as possible, up to the highest weight or height allowed by the manufacturer of their CSS.
  • Back seat riding with seat belt until age 13
Don’t forget to check the expiration dates on the child safety seats you’re using, too.  Exposure to sun, cold, and heat, as well as general wear and tear, degrade the plastic and foam in the seats, so they begin to lose their effectiveness. 

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Buckle up! The roadway did...

Posted by Unknown in , , , , on Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The viral video of a car being launched airborne by a buckled Wisconsin highway may already be old news, but – given that we’re less than three weeks into the summer of 2012 – the conditions that created this dangerous situation hardly are. Many of us have already endured record-breaking heat and powerful storms – and it’s not yet even mid-July.

As we gulp down bottle after bottle of water, head to the pool, crank up the AC, take refuge in movie theaters, and find other ways of beating the heat, it’s important to remember that our vehicles need some TLC to survive these brutal months, too. And when the heat’s this bad, breakdowns can be particularly problematic, as motorists may be stranded in extreme temperatures with insufficient water and shade.

To protect yourself and your car this summer, make sure to check and top off vital fluids to keep your engine running smoothly and avoid overheating. Ensure that your tires are inflated properly, as extreme temperatures exacerbate the risk of a blowout. Keep sufficient fuel in your tank in case power failures or long lines at the pump make it difficult to find accessible gas stations in your area. If storm debris has damaged your windshield, have it replaced or repaired as soon as possible. And always carry some extra water in the trunk, just in case.

Of course, extreme heat and humidity often culminate in severe storms, which can bring down trees and utility lines, and create sudden changes in visibility and roadway conditions. Be on the lookout for fallen branches, and intersections with traffic signals that have lost power (which should be treated as all-way stops). Be patient with changes in traffic patterns, and remember that spending a few extra minutes sitting in your air-conditioned car is probably not such a bad thing after all. Taking these and other precautions can go a long way toward ensuring you – and your car – make it through the summer safely.

And remember: always wear your seatbelt. After all, you never want to encounter a situation in which the roadway is buckled…and you’re not.

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Part 1: Teens and Distraction- Males vs. Females

Posted by Unknown in , , , , , on Monday, March 26, 2012


With teen crash rates roughly four times higher than those of adult drivers, traffic crashes remain the leading cause of death for teenagers in America. Today, the Foundation released the results from our new teen driver study which showed that females display more distracted behaviors behind the wheel than males. 
 
Using in-car video footage, researchers identified the prevalence and consequences of various distracted driver behaviors and distracting conditions among teens during high g-force maneuvers, such as swerving, hard braking, or rapid acceleration. 

Interestingly, gender played a role in some of the distractions observed. Females were nearly twice as likely as males to use an electronic device while driving, and overall were nearly 10% more likely to be observed engaging in other distracted behaviors, such as reaching for an object in the vehicle (nearly 50% more likely than males) and eating or drinking (nearly 25% more likely).

Males, on the other hand, were roughly twice as likely to turn around in their seats while driving, and were also more likely to communicate with people outside of the vehicle.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll discuss more findings from this study, including how electronics, passengers and other distractions affect teen driver behavior.

 More information from this study, including a press release and fact sheet, can be found here.

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Skidding through the Learning Curve

Posted by Unknown in , , , , , , , on Wednesday, March 7, 2012


“Practice makes perfect,” right? Well when it comes to driving, it may not equal perfection, but it certainly helps. In fact, inexperience is one of the major reasons that teenagers have crash rates that are roughly four times higher than those of other drivers.

To address this, the AAA Foundation has been talking a lot lately about the importance of giving teens ample opportunity to practice their driving. The message has become even more urgent due to recent Foundation research that found that teens are not getting as much supervised driving practice with their parents as previously assumed, and that when they do practice, it tends to be along familiar routes on sunny days, rather than under the range of conditions motorists will face throughout their driving careers.

That teens need more – and more varied – driving practice is undeniable. I’d like to take this opportunity, however, to touch on a somewhat related issue that remains a bit more controversial. Across the country, interest is growing in so-called “supplementary” training programs for new drivers, which generally pick up where traditional, basic driver education courses leave off and teach more advanced skills like skid recovery, evasive maneuvering, and threshold braking. The hope, of course, is that students will learn skills that they can use to prevent crashes and escape emergencies.

The fear, however – suggested by the limited research conducted to date – is that such advanced training may breed overconfidence in inexperienced drivers that is not matched by their true skill level. There is also a concern that young drivers will apply the techniques they learn for thrills when driving, which would negate any gains in safety.

A study prepared for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – which the AAA Foundation summarized and analyzed in a report released this week – found that most providers of these supplementary training programs indicate that improving safety is among their chief objectives, and is one of the most common reasons that parents enroll their teens. As we highlighted in our report, however, more research into the impact that these programs have on teen driving is sorely needed before any claims about their safety implications can be substantiated.

In the meantime, there is much that parents and guardians can be doing to give their teens the kinds of opportunities to practice what we know are beneficial. For example, as one of our recent reports on teen crashes found, young drivers improve relatively quickly at making left turns, entering roadways, and yielding properly, among other things, but they need practice to do so. The more experience they can get with such techniques while supervised, the less they may have to learn when they’re driving on their own.

With traffic crashes still the leading killer of American teens, it’s vital that we all do our part to keep young drivers safe on the road. When we’re teaching our teens how to drive, let’s be sure to help them steer safely through the learning curve without over-correcting.

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Drinking and Driving: A Preventable Cause of Death

Posted by Unknown in , , , , on Tuesday, January 17, 2012


The Washington Post's Letter to the Editor on Monday featured findings from our 2011 Traffic Safety Culture Index relating to drinking and driving.  In that survey, we found that ‘Almost everyone said that drinking and driving was unacceptable, yet 14 percent said that within the year they had driven with an alcohol level probably near or above the legal limit’.

This means there are people out on our roads who find drinking and driving to be acceptable, and again shows the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ attitude that exists among drivers. With all the progress we have made in this country towards increasing awareness of the dangers of driving under the influence, it’s clear we have a long road ahead when it comes to changing people’s attitudes and behaviors.

It is my hope that every year we publish this index, we will see the percentage of people who put their lives and others at risk by drinking and driving decrease, and finally put a stop to this easily preventable cause of death on our roads.

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