Assignment 6/25

Part 4

The three types of roadway signs are, regulatory, warning, and guide signs. Regulatory signs are generally white, with black or red lettering. However Stop and Yield signs are also regulatory signs, another type of regulatory sign is a speed limit sign. Warning signs are diamond shaped, yellow, and they have black lettering or symbols. Two examples of warning signs are, a “cross ahead” sign, and a “hill” sign. Guide signs don’t normally have a general color to them, they are also odd shaped. Two examples of guide signs are, and Interstate route marker, and a State route marker.

Part 2

The point system is set up to give you more points for the severity of the offense. Points are there to help police keep track of your offenses. When you go over your point limit you loose your license. This is good because it helps the police officers keep problems on the road under control. I like this system a lot, I just wish that they would allow more points to younger drivers.

Assignment 6/25

Type 1

Part 3
AAA Warns Congress On Distracted Driving
Editor's Note: The following was reprinted from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety's Web site, http://www.aaafts.org/
Testimony for Presentation at the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Hearing on Driver Distractions: Electronic Devices in the Automobile Wednesday, May 9, 2001 at 10 a.m. Jane C. Stutts, Ph.D.Manager, Epidemiological Studies University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research CenterChapel Hill, NC Driver inattention is a major contributor to highway crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that at least 25 percent of police-reported crashes involve some form of driver inattention. Driver distraction is one form of inattention, and is a factor in over half of these crashes. Distraction occurs when a driver is delayed in the recognition of information needed to safely accomplish the driving task, because something within or outside the vehicle draws his attention away from driving. The presence of a triggering event distinguishes a distracted driver from one who is simply inattentive or "lost in thought."
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety awarded a contract to the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center to conduct research on the role of driver distraction in traffic crashes. The goal of the project is to identify (using both crash and field data) the major sources of distraction to drivers and the relative importance of the distractions as potential causes of crashes. As a part of this project, we have recently completed a descriptive analysis of five years of Crashworthiness Data System (or CDS) data, made available to us by NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis.
The CDS is a national, annual probability sample of approximately 5,000 police-reported crashes involving at least one passenger vehicle that has been towed from the crash scene. Data are collected by trained professional crash investigation teams that visit the scene of the crash, examine the crash-involved vehicles, interview the crash victims and other witnesses, and review available medical records. Beginning in 1995, "Driver's Distraction/Inattention to Driving" was added to the CDS variable list. The variable includes codes for "attentive," "looked but did not see," and "sleepy or asleep," along with more than a dozen specific distractions (eating or drinking, other occupants in vehicle, moving object in vehicle, talking on cellular phone, etc.).
For the current analysis two variables were defined - one identifying the attention status of the driver (attentive, distracted, sleepy/asleep, or unknown), and the second the specific distracting event for those drivers identified as distracted. For the overall 1995-1999 CDS data, 48.6 percent of the drivers were identified as attentive at the time of their crash; 8.3 percent were identified as distracted, 5.4 percent as "looked but did not see," and 1.8 percent as sleepy or asleep. The remaining 35.9 percent were coded either as unknown or no driver present. This high percentage of drivers with unknown attention status dilutes the percentages in the other categories. Without the unknowns, the percentage of drivers identified as distracted increases to 12.9 percent. The percentage of actual crashes involving driver distraction would be still higher.
Type 1
The amount of distracted drivers is very high. In fact, looking but not seeing should be no excuse at all. That is why you should always double check everything that you do, because a mistake while driving could be deadly. Even though this research is old, it is good that it was done.

Jennessa Lever
6/21/07
Type 2s
Part 1
Woman Fights Off Carjacker
Man Arrested After Search By Air, Ground
POSTED: 6:17 pm EDT June 23, 2007
UPDATED: 1:17 pm EDT June 24, 2007
SAUGUS, Mass. -- A woman fought off an attempted carjacking by an armed man at a shopping plaza in Saugus Saturday afternoon, struggling with her attacker and screaming until bystanders scared him off.
The woman, who did not wish to be identified, told NewsCenter 5's Jim Morelli that the man stuck a gun inside her Honda Accord and put it to her face. "He kept saying get out of the car," she said.
The woman got out of the car, but then fought with her attacker, "I was pushing, screaming and yelling 'call 911'."
As other shoppers went to help, police said John L. Jumper, 47, walked calmly into the nearby woods.
"As far as we know, he did not know his victim," said State Police Lieutenant Eric Anderson.
The attempted carjacking took place about 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a Circuit City store near the Lynn Fells Parkway.
Dozens of state and local police officers searched with dogs and a helicopter.
Police said a tip led them to a nearby Saugus home, where Jumper was arrested.
The victim was unhurt. Jumper faces charges of attempted carjacking and assault and battery.


Points:
1) You should hold your keys between your pointer and middle fingers so that you have a better hold on your keys while you are walking to your car.
2) You should also lock your doors as soon as you get into your car.
3) Also, as an added rule, maybe you should wait to open your windows until you get the chance to start moving, even if the heat is unbearable.
4) These are all ways to prevent car jackings.


Part 2

Yaw: To swerve on the road.
Roll: How a car moves on wheels.
Pitch: To lurch forward while driving.



Part 3

The three parts of your vision are fringe, central, and peripheral. Central Vision is used to focus on things that are going on. Fringe vision is used to detect changes that might have happened since you focused on things, fringe vision is also used to help you see things without moving your head, such as your rear view mirror. Peripheral vision is like an extension of your fringe vision it helps you see things that may be to the side of you without losing focus on something in front of you.

Part 4

The target area is the environment that the target is located in. A target is the object in the center of the intended path of travel. The target path is the roadway from the spot you are leading up to where the target area/target is. To use these while driving you would pick a target and focus on the target area until you get into the area so that you can focus on the target. These help you to travel on a straighter path.

Part 5

A transition peg shows the placement of the vehicle in relation to the target area while a turn is being made. It gives you a visual of when you should change your direction of steering, acceleration, or braking action to help keep your car in balance. The transition peg for making a right turn is the rearview mirror. The transition peg for making left turns is the driver’s side corner post. When these are aligned with the target then you have completed your turn and should straighten out your steering wheel.

Assignment 6/19, Due 6/22

Jennessa Lever

Type 1

Assignment: Your first assignment for the next class will be to use the news feeds in this blog and find an article that pertains to traffic safety and post it to your blog and write a short reaction summary to the article.

Traffic Safety Officials Want To Improve Child Seats

Variety, Installation Methods Confusing

POSTED: 10:25 am EST February 9, 2007

UPDATED: 11:15 am EST February 9, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Federal highway safety officials have met with automakers, car seat manufacturers and safety experts to discuss ways of improving child safety seats.

Participants in the meeting said the variety of car seats and installation methods has led to confusion. And safety advocates worry that too few parents know how to properly install seats or understand the safety benefits.

The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Nicole Nason, said the government will pursue an education campaign this year to improve the public's understanding of car seats, upgrade its consumer ratings system for the seats and issue new rules to improve the system.

"Properly installing a car seat should not be a daunting process for parents," Nason said. "Our children are precious and parents and caregivers must have the information they need to properly install their car seats."

In December, Nason called for the summit after a new survey conducted by NHTSA found that many parents were unaware of either the existence or the importance of a new system of anchors built into newer vehicles, and specifically designed to hold and anchor car seats.

The summit will focus on how to increase the correct use of these so-called Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) systems, which come standard in vehicles made after 2002.

Nason said one of the key goals of the meeting is to make sure parents and caregivers have clear guidance on proper car seat and LATCH use, whether from the car seat manufacturer, vehicle owner’s manual or the retailer. In addition, the NHTSA is looking into ways to improve its ease-of-use ratings, as well as mandatory child seat safety performance, she said.

"We want to make children as safe as possible, give the best information and make the technology available to protect children in vehicles," Nason said.

The meeting came less than a month after Consumer Reports retracted a report on infant car seats. Government officials said crash tests on the seats were conducted at drastically higher speeds than the magazine had asserted.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Reaction: I think that this summit is a great idea. Teaching Parents how to use their child’s car seat properly is good because it will help them to protect their children if they do get into a collision. Clearing up the confusion of how to set up the different types of seats so they are secured properly is also a good thing to help parents to understand.

Second Assignment: Post these 9 risks and describe your thoughts on whether a crash could occur while driving with these 9 risks. Could any of these risks been eliminated or minimized to avoid a collision?

Risks:

13) Broken Steering System

29) No Air Bag

58) Worn Steering System

78) Thinking about things at Home

99) Listening to Radio

137) Improper Passing

163) Narrow Bridge

210) Vehicle in left-rear blind spot

222) Skateboarder falls on side of road

Of Course a collision could occur with these 9 items, a collision could occur with any one of them, having 9 just gives you more of a chance of getting into a collision. If the Skateboarder on the side of the road was not there then, if I was driving, I would not have to attempt to stop, or swerve, which would make my risk of collision a lot lower.

Summer Drivers Ed 2007

First Post