September 2018 Summaries of timely road safety news, events, and alerts

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Message from NETS' Executive Director, Joe McKillips

Road Safety Colleagues,     Less than two weeks separate us from our annual 2018 Strength IN Numbers® Benchmark Conference scheduled to take place in Frisco, TX October 10th and 11th . Final plans are falling nicely into place and I want to thank our many speakers and road safety sponsors for their tremendous pre-conference planning and preparation efforts!     I am excited to share our very latest conference program brochure which contains a full summary of conference proceedings along with speaker presentation summaries, bios and sponsor networking opportunities.  We also recently launched information to conference attendees and NETS members alike regarding NETS Sponsor companies' products and services encouraging everyone to engage with our Sponsor partners to the greatest extent possible.  Whether you are just embarking on a road safety program for your organization, or managing and sustaining a mature program, the annual NETS Conference is sure to have something for everyone. As I have said before, where else can you learn best practices and practical ideas you can immediately apply to improve your road safety program? Conference registration totals are on record pace so if you have not already done so, it is not too late to join us.  Register today!    Thanks to everyone for your commitment to road safety and look forward seeing you in Frisco. Safe Driving!

NETS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Still Time To Register for NETS Annual Conference! Join us October 10 & 11 in Frisco, Texas to share road safety case studies, new research and emerging issues with your employer road safety peers at the NETS 2018 Annual STRENGTH IN NUMBERS® Benchmark Conference. Read more trafficsafety.org Register Now Limited Hotel Rooms Remaining at the Omni Overflow Hotel Reservations at Homewood Suites

NETS is proud to partner with the following PLATINUM Fleet Safety Sponsor: www.edriving.com eDriving’s global FLEET division serves 1 million drivers, providing a complete continuum of award-winning risk management and training solutions with proven results and ROI. NETS Fleet Safety Sponsors

LATEST ROAD SAFETY NEWS

New Documentary Film Captures Distracted Drivers In Action A new one-hour documentary followed the lives of eight drivers over six months using in-car cameras and tracking technology to monitor their driving behavior and capture how often and why their attention was directed away from the task of driving. Read more www.forbes.com

IIHS: Lower Urban Speed Limits Mean Less Speeding At the annual Governors Highway Safety Association meeting Tuesday in Georgia, the IIHS released the results of a study showing Boston's recently lowered speed limits reduced the number of cars unsafely speeding. The insurance industry-funded... Read more kval.com

WORKPLACE/ HOME ROAD SAFETY

Mandating Hands-free Phone Use May Not Be Much Safer From the moment you pick up that call, whether it's work, wife, husband, kids or friends, your brain switches from the area where the complex motor skills deployed in driving a vehicle are processed, to another part of the brain which processes... Read more www.valleymorningstar.com

AAA Report: Ride-Hailing Twice the Cost of Car Ownership Ride-hailing services are a popular and convenient transportation option, but a new AAA analysis shows they are not a cost-effective replacement for vehicle ownership. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic... Read more newsroom.aaa.com

Crash Forms in AZ Ask About Driver's Marijuana Impairment Eight years after voters approved the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, authorities still have no idea how, or if, the law has affected road safety. That knowledge gap soon may be filled now that state authorities have added extra check boxes... Read more www.phoenixnewtimes.com

Many Drivers Need a lot of Convincing to Put Down the Phone Many drivers think texting and driving is only dangerous in certain circumstances, and most still need "a lot of convincing" to understand the risks, according to a recent study from Australia. Read more www.safetyandhealthmagazine...

NEW AAP Report: The Teen Driver For many teenagers, obtaining a driver's license is a rite of passage, conferring the ability to independently travel to school, work, or social events. However, immaturity, inexperience, and risky behavior put newly licensed teen drivers at... Read more pediatrics.aappublications.org

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Smart Key Systems Are Increasingly a Target for Car Theft In the early 2000s, the music industry attempted to combat illegal song downloads with an ad campaign that stressed that if you wouldn't download a car, you shouldn't download music for free. At the time, car theft by computer seemed ludicrous. Read more www.insidesources.com

Automated Vehicles May Encourage New Type Distracted Driving Few people pay close attention to the traffic situation unfolding around them when they're travelling as a passenger in a car, even if they're in the front seat. And that could make partially automated vehicles, which are operating on our roads... Read more theconversation.com

Electric Car Sales Set To Accelerate As Costs Fall Electric vehicles still make up a tiny percentage of total sales, but that is set to change over the next decade as the cost of batteries plummets and manufacturing scales up. Electric buses will lead the way as the total cost of ownership falls... Read more www.forbes.com

GOVERNMENT AND NON-PROFIT AGENCY NEWS

NIOSH Behind the Wheel at Work: Automated Vehicles It's already clear that the automated features on newer vehicles have led to reductions in crashes by anticipating errors that human drivers make and either warning the driver or actually taking control of the vehicle temporarily. A good example... Read more www.cdc.gov

Safety Report Highlights Motorcycle Crash Risks The National Transportation Safety Board issued Tuesday a safety report highlighting the need for better integration of motorcycles in crash warning and prevention systems and for more widespread availability of... Read more www.ntsb.gov

CDC: Motor Vehicle Safety Program at Work Build a motor vehicle safety program to keep workers safe on the road. Use these 4 steps: 1 As a company leader, commit to road safety. 2 Set clear expectations for drivers through written policies. 3 Select vehicles with high safety ratings... Read more www.cdc.gov

NTSB Issues Recommendations to Improve Pedestrian Safety The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal Highway Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are the recipients of 11 safety recommendations made by the National... Read more www.ntsb.gov

Darrin Grondel Elected GHSA Chair Dr. Darrin Grondel was elected as the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Chair in August 2018. He served as GHSA Secretary from August 2015-2018. Grondel was appointed Director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) by... Read more www.ghsa.org

INTERNATIONAL ROAD SAFETY

#SaferCarsForIndia Latest Global NCAP Results In the first set of #SaferCarsForIndia results for 2018, Global NCAP has released the result of the crash tests conducted on the recently launched . The Nexon, which is sold in its standard version with frontal double airbags, frontal double... Read more www.globalncap.org

Latin Global NCAP Latest Results The fifth round of results for the New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, , was released today with a poor result for the Hyundai Accent and an improvement for the Ford Ka's side impact protection. The , achieved zero... Read more www.globalncap.org

Volvo Calls for New Global Road Safety Standards Volvo Cars reviewed the main challenges around the introduction of autonomous technology calling for a new global road safety standard at the recent Global Road and Traffic Safety conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Read more tradearabia.com

Romania Had Highest Road Death Rate in the EU in 2017 Romania had the highest road fatality rate in the European Union in 2017, of 98 deaths per one million inhabitants, according to data from the European Commission. It was double the EU average of 49 deaths. Romania is followed closely by... Read more www.romania-insider.com

UPCOMING TRANSPORTATION SAFETY EVENTS AND CAMPAIGNS

National Teen Driver Safety Week October 21-27, 2018 This week and every week, parents should have conversations with their teens about the important rules they need to follow to stay safe behind the wheel of a passenger car, truck, or SUV. These rules address the greatest dangers for teen drivers: alcohol, inconsistent or no seat belt use, distracted and drowsy driving, speeding, and number of passengers. These resources are meant to provide parents, caregivers, teachers, and safety advocates with the tools to help teen drivers get a safe start on the road. go to:  Teen Driver Safety Week

Make It to the Table: Don't Drink & Drive This Thanksgiving The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and its partners will be running a blitz social media campaign, "Make It to the Table: Don't Drink and Drive this Thanksgiving Eve." On Nov. 22, the day before Thanksgiving, all of the agency's... Read more www.nhtsa.gov

If you Feel Different, You Drive Different Social Norming Campaign Drug-impaired driving is a problem on America’s highways. Like drunk driving, drugged driving is impaired driving - which means it is dangerous and illegal in all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. Whether the drug is legally prescribed or illegal, driving while drug-impaired poses a threat to the driver, vehicle passengers, and other road users. NHTSA wants to spread the word about drug-impaired driving and to remind all drivers: If you are impaired by drugs and thinking about driving, pass your keys on to a sober driver.  For more information, go to: If You Feel Different, You Drive Different

Do you have a particularly successful road safety example to share? NETS Members are encouraged to share best practices, ask questions or contribute their expertise to the NETS Road Safety Leaders Forum, an online discussion forum exclusively for NETS Members and Sponsors. Not yet a member? Check out the benefits at  www.trafficsafety.org/Membership .

Note from the editor: All links to stories have been tested and are active 24 hours prior to distribution; however, links may become inactive over time at the discretion of the publication source.

About NETSWork® NETSWork is published electronically each month by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, Susan Gillies, editor, and Joe McKillips, Executive Director.

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