Posts Tagged ‘Safe Driving’
States Crack Down on Aggressive Driving
Crack up may be more like it, according to Joe White of The Wall Street Journal.
The “Eyes on the Road” columnist looks askance at plans by several states to slap fines on a driving style he finds subjective.
http://tinyurl.com/29hu2y7
U.N. launches ban on texting and driving
“It’s one of the world’s most overlooked public safety crises,” writes Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and U.S. Ambassader to the United Nations Susan Rice in a piece that ran on AOL News today.
The two visited the United Nations today as U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon banned the body’s 40,000 members from texting while operating U.N. vehicles.
In their compelling article, Ambassador Rice and Secretary LaHood state:
“When a driver looks away from the road to send a text message, studies show that he is concentrating on something other than the road for 4.6 of every six seconds he types. At 55 miles per hour, that’s like driving the length of a football field wearing a blindfold. No wonder, then, that distracted drivers are more than four times more likely than attentive ones to run off the road or plow into another car.”
Read the whole piece here:
http://tinyurl.com/2ecvq4f
TEAM Georgia to launch Braves Season!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A winning Braves season takes a TEAM!
Braves Catcher David Ross becomes new spokesplayer for TEAM Georgia
Braves catcher David Ross has become the newest Atlanta Braves player to root for his home team: TEAM Georgia, a safe and sober driving coalition.
Ross will receive a pre-game honor May 20 for his spokesmanship of TEAM Georgia. Braves former second baseman, Kelly Johnson, served as the TEAM Georgia Spokesman in 2009.
As the Atlanta Braves kick off a fresh season, TEAM Georgia will roll out its Designated Driver Booth program, sponsored by the Anheuser-Busch/InBev Good Sport Program and Atlanta Beverage Company at Turner Field.
“Team Georgia makes sure we’re all playing by the rules and ‘catching’ a safe ride home,” Ross says.
TEAM Georgia, a coalition comprised of public and private citizens including law enforcement, corporate leaders and civic activists in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, helps save lives by encouraging patrons to designate a driver at Braves games.
The 2010 TEAM Georgia Atlanta Braves program officially launches May 20 with a pre-game presentation at Turner Field featuring TEAM Georgia officials and Ross. At that time, Atlanta Beverage Company will present a jumbo-sized replica of a $10,000 check to TEAM Georgia to support the program.
The success of the program, which operates at Philips Arena, Turner Field and the Georgia Dome, depends on the spirited work of TEAM volunteers, who greet patrons by urging them to designate a sober driver in their party. In return for their work at the beginning portion of the game, volunteers enjoy the opportunity to watch the remainder of the event free of charge.
“Keeping our roads safe takes a team effort, and we are able to achieve our goals through trusted partnerships with Aramark, Atlanta Beverage Company, Anheuser-Busch and Turner Field,” said Ron Fennel, chairman of TEAM Georgia.
Thanks to the partnerships with host venues, patrons enjoy the “TEAM Georgia” experience throughout the festivities: TEAM Georgia’s public service announcements are made during the game by home-team athletes on the scoreboard while participating on-site vendors reward a party’s Designated Driver with incentives and prizes.
Since the Designated Driver Booth began in 1992, volunteers have recorded the signatures of hundreds of thousands of people, who have agreed to serve their party as a Designated Driver, receiving information on impaired driving and Georgia’s DUI laws. The last several years have seen increasing pledges, with more than 7,000 recorded in 20007, more than 8,000 recorded in 2008, and more than 9,000 last year.
Join TEAM Georgia to promote responsible fun and help save lives! For more information, contact TEAM Georgia at 404-261-6053 or bonnie@teamgeorgia.net or visit www.teamgeorgia.net.
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Pulitzer Prize for “Driven to Distraction”
Among the three Pulitzers awarded to The New York Times this year, one went to Matt Richtel for his series on the dangers posed by cell phones used behind the wheel. “Driven to Distraction” provides detailed data on the risks, noting that drivers using phones quadruple their risk of causing a crash.
The other day, I realized that I rarely listen to the radio anymore in my car. Why? The cell phone. I hate to admit it, but I’m addicted to the crackberry, and it’s going to require some real discipline for us to stop multitasking while driving. The dangers are just too grave.
Kudos to Richtel and The Times and the Pulitzer Prizes for shining a spotlight on this public health epidemic.
For the complete story, visit this link:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/technology/series/driven_to_distraction/index.html#
Ga. Senate passes bill barring texting while driving
Yesterday, the Georgia Senate passed a bill banning texting while driving. The bill, which now moves to the House, would slap offenders with a $150 fine. Teen offenders would lose their license if caught breaking the law more than once. According to this AJC article by my former colleague, Ernie Suggs, family members and friends of Caleb Sorohan watched the bill’s passage at the Georgia General Assembly. Sorohan was a Morgan County high school student killed in a crash that happened while he was texting. Since then, the article states, more than 700 students at Sorohan’s school pledged not to text while driving.
http://tinyurl.com/yhgro7f
