Articles Posted in Car Accidents

Driving at night is typically the least favorite time to drive for most people.  Reduced visibility and glare are just some of the dangers of driving at night that can cause accidents.  Better headlights that have a high safety rating, however, are much more likely to help reduce the risk of night time accidents. According to a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, headlight systems that have a good rating by the Institute can significantly help reduce the risk of accidents that occur in the night time.

In 2016, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety developed a safety rating system for headlights. Until then, there was no real way of measuring how headlights fared when compared with each other and when they were actually used in the real world. The federal standard for headlights was outdated, and under these standards, most headlights were more or less considered equal. However in 2016, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety established a headlight ratings program that measured headlight fitness as “good”, “acceptable”, “marginal” or “poor.”

Five years later, a new study finds that since the ratings went into effect, there has been a 19% reduction in the accident rate involving cars with headlights that have a “good” rating, compared to those that have a “poor” headlights rating. When headlights were rated “acceptable” or “marginal,” there was a 15% reduction in the number of accidents that involved these cars. Additionally the study also found that good headlights specifically helped reduce certain types of accidents. For instance, when headlights had a “good” rating there was a 29 percent drop in the number of accidents involving injuries to the driver.  These headlights also contributed to a 25% drop in the number of accidents involving pedestrians.

Novice or inexperienced drivers have some of the highest accident risks of all categories of motorists. Ford Motors and the Governors Highway Safety Association are teaming up to offer young drivers in Atlanta the opportunity to fine- tune their driving skills.

Ford Motor Company conducts the Ford Driving Skills for Life driving clinics across the country, and the company is bringing these programs to Atlanta soon. The clinic is focused on helping newly-licensed drivers improve their driving skills, so that they will be able to drive safely and responsibly

The clinics are designed to help young drivers who have just received their learner’s license learn skills that can significantly help reduce their risks of being involved in an accident. According to Ford, the program focuses on enhancing skills that are related to four critical areas that are responsible for causing a majority of all car accidents-speed management, space management, vehicle handling and hazard recognition.  Problems involving these four areas are responsible for approximately 60% of all car accidents that occur every year. Fine-tuning driving skills that focus on these areas can help novice drivers who do not have a lot of experience behind the wheel handle these challenges safely, understand how to stick to safe speeds, understand how to manage the space around their vehicles and recognize accident risks and manage these before it is too late.

Even with the passing of recent laws such as the Hands-free law banning cell phone use while driving, Georgia could still do more to help prevent car accidents and protect motorists and passengers when they are involved in crashes according to national road safety advocates.

Advocates for Auto and Highway Safety is an alliance of groups that are invested in traffic and highway safety, including enforcement representatives, media personnel, public health advocates and insurance companies, all united in a common mission to reduce the rates of accidents that injure and kill so many every year. The group releases an annual road map for individual states to use as a set of guidelines to reduce the risk of accidents and save more lives ever year. This year too, the coalition has released the 2021 roadmap for traffic safety, and the report has recommendations for Georgia to implement as well. The coalition is dedicated to the reduction of accident and injury risks, and the road map is drafted with a view to helping keep all users of our roads safer.

The roadmap for Georgia kicks off with a call to instate primary enforcement of rear seat belt laws in Georgia. Currently, primary enforcement only applies to front seat passengers. The road map also addresses the protection of child passengers in traffic accidents by calling for a law requiring all children below the age of two to be restrained in rear-facing car seats. Too often, children below this age are moved to forward-facing seats or booster seats at great risk to their safety.

The massive $1 trillion infrastructure bill that is set to pass has good news for American motorists and traffic safety advocates.  It contains language that could signify the administration’s intention to reduce the accident risks caused by impaired drivers.

Driver detection technologies that currently exist as part of driverless cars also help reduce the risks from drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs. In the quest for the fully automated vehicle, automakers have invested heavily in technology that can easily override a driver and prevent an accident. These systems could also be very useful if integrated in current automobiles, and the administration seems to focusing in this direction.

The provision would require the Department of Transportation to develop a technology standard within a period of three years. It would then give automakers a period of two years to develop and integrate these safety tech systems. The provision could require automakers to integrate technology in their automobiles that could detect if drivers have consumed alcohol. The system could prevent the driver from starting the car if the alcohol count is too high, or could place other restrictions on the motorist, thereby restricting his ability to drive and cause harm to himself and others. Another approach could be having technology like lane departure warning systems that could self correct if the car veers off its lane.  Eye tracking technology is also in various stages of development at some companies.  Volvo has also invested in drunk driving detection technology in the driverless vehicles that it is developing.

There may have been fewer cars on the road in 2020, but the number of accidents, most notably fatal ones, did not decrease as would have been expected.  In fact, nearly every traffic accident category showed an increase in fatalities in 2020, a disturbing trend that needs to be corrected through bold, appropriate action.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June released data on traffic accident deaths in 2020, divided by sub categories. The data was contained in a report tiled Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rate by sub categories, and clearly indicated that deaths rose in every traffic accident category from rollover crashes to weekend accidents, and beyond.

• Car accident deaths were up by 5 percent to 23,395