August 2019 Summaries of timely road safety news, events, and alerts

Follow NETS on Twitter

Visit NETS Website

Message from NETS' Executive Director, Joe McKillips

As we approach the unofficial end to summer with the upcoming Labor Day Weekend, now is also a great time to reflect on the what I hope has been a safe and productive year so far for everyone with regards to your road safety programs.    Having spent a large portion of my career in the private sector addressing a myriad of unique and challenging road safety initiatives, I also carry many fond memories of the tremendous energy and networking opportunities brought forth when I attended the annual NETS Strength IN Numbers® Benchmark conference . The opportunity to personally network and interact with some of the industry’s most sought after experts and thought-leaders in the road safety arena, as well as many peers and like-minded road safety colleagues, continues to make the NETS conference a can’t miss event for anyone seeking to drive improvements in their organization’s road safety programs.  In response to the “multiple hats” many road safety professionals are carrying these days we have carefully planned our conference agenda to address a wide range of emerging road safety issues, technologies and regulations alike.  Opening remarks by the Honorable Bruce Landsberg, Vice Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), will set the tone for our conference as he outlines some of the most pressing road safety issues we are seeing on our roadways today, as well as tangible insights into how to solve these extreme challenges.  Keeping with the important focus of safe vehicle design and technology, conference proceedings will also see David Harkey, President of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), take the podium to share the very latest in automotive design and technology advancements which employers should be considering when building safety into their fleet selectors. A dedicated round table panel session from some of the world’s leading automotive OEMs (Toyota, Volvo and General Motors) will dive even deeper into the direction their respective organizations are taking to build safety into their vehicle designs.  For the first time ever at a NETS conference, the topic of wellness and the tremendous impact it plays in shaping an employer’s road safety programs will be presented by Sergio Rojas, Holistic Health Coach, Functional Movement Specialist and Certified Nutrition Specialist. And finally, Faye Caldwell, Attorney at Law, Caldwell Everson PLLC, will share important insights surrounding the impact of rapidly emerging cannabis legalization, including guidance on road safety policy development for employers. New this year will also be special breakout sessions for those employers who carry heavy good vehicles as part of their vehicle fleet. I encourage you to review the full agenda and additional presentation topics in what is shaping up to be one of our most complete and wide-ranging set of proceedings on record.  NETS Annual Conference Speakers and Full Agenda Whether you are a road safety professional, fleet management specialist, risk manager or occupational health and safety professional, this year’s conference is sure to have something for everyone.  Registration continues to build and I look forward to having you and/or fellow members of your road safety team join us in October! Thanks again to everyone for your time, energy and commitment to keeping our roads safe for everyone. Drive Safely!

NETS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Still Time to Register for NETS Annual Conference! Whether you are a full-time road safety professional, manage a fleet of vehicles, or serve in a support role with your organization's road safety program, the NETS 2019 Annual Conference is certain to have something for everyone!  Register Now Reserve a Hotel Room

NETS is proud to partner with the following PLATINUM Fleet Safety Sponsors:

www.edriving.com eDriving helps organizations to reduce collisions, injuries, license violations and Total Cost of Ownership through a patented driver risk management program. Mentor by eDriving’s comprehensive solution provides actionable behavioral insights to help organizations build a total view of driver risk within a company-wide crash-free culture® to ensure that all drivers return home safely to their loved ones at the end of each day. eDriving is the driver risk management partner of choice for many of the world’s largest organizations, supporting over 1,000,000 drivers in 96 countries. Over the past 23 years, eDriving’s research-validated programs have been recognized with 70+ client awards around the world.

https://www.trucesoftware.com/ At TRUCE™, we believe there’s a better way to leverage all a mobile device has to offer in the workplace, while still protecting what’s most important – your employees, your assets and your IP. TRUCE offers the first Contextual Mobile Device Management platform, providing flexible, contextual enforcement of your mobile device policy, allowing companies to temporarily suspend distracting mobile apps based on the work being performed, the work location or even the user or work group. Our patented technology operates on both iOS and Android platforms, supporting more than 100,000 subscribers and some of the largest brands worldwide. Established in 2009, TRUCE is headquartered in Lisle, IL with research and development in Baton Rouge, LA.

Learn More About All NETS Road Safety Sponsors

LATEST ROAD SAFETY NEWS

Gas Prices Down, More Drivers This Labor Day Weekend If you're heading out on an end-of-summer road trip this Labor Day, you might find yourself spending less on fuel and more on food and fun. That's thanks to what may be the lowest average nationwide gasoline rates for this holiday weekend in... Read more www.cnbc.com

Red Light Running Death Toll Hits 10 Year High The number of people killed by impatient and reckless drivers blowing through red lights has reached a 10-year high. More than two people -- drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists -- are killed every day on U.S. roads in red light running... Read more www.forbes.com

FMCSA's Long-Awaited Hours of Service Changes Are Here After months of delay, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has finally published their proposed changes to truck driver Hours of Service (HOS) Regulations. The Hours of Service Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) was... Read more cdllife.com

Minneapolis Bans New Drive-thrus New drive-thrus have been banned in the city of Minneapolis. The Minneapolis city council on Thursday passed an ordinance that no longer allows the building of drive-thrus for banks, restaurants and other businesses. Council president Lisa Bender ... Read more www.mprnews.org

America's Best Drivers Report Explore which cities are least likely to experience collisions. The Allstate America's Best Drivers Report® is our annual report that identifies which of the 200 largest U.S. cities have the safest drivers. In the Report's milestone 15th year,... Read more www.allstate.com

WORKPLACE/ HOME ROAD SAFETY

Speed Identified as the Best Predictor of Car Crashes Speeding is the riskiest kind of aggressive driving, according to a unique analysis of data from on-board devices in vehicles. Researchers at the University of Waterloo examined data from 28 million trips for possible links between four bad... Read more uwaterloo.ca

Fleet Drivers Should Be More Cautious as School Year Begins In 2017, 374 pedestrians and 110 bicyclists age 5-19 were killed in traffic accidents with overall bicycle fatalities peaking in August. Read more www.automotive-fleet.com

Benchmarking: Measuring Incident Rates While there are many things that can be measured and improved, one of the key metrics is Accident Frequency Rate or AFR. In the world of fleet safety and risk management we do try to steer away from the word ‘Accident’ – although commonly... Read more www.drivingforbetterbusines...

Call for Auto Emergency Braking on New Commercial Trucks Automatic emergency braking would be a standard feature on all new commercial motor vehicles, including large trucks, under legislation introduced in July by Reps. Jesús "Chuy" García (D-IL) and Hank Johnson (D-GA). Discussing the... Read more www.safetyandhealthmagazine...

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

IIHS Researchers Find Little Benefit from Knee Airbags Knee airbags are increasingly common in passenger vehicles, but new IIHS research shows they have a negligible effect on injury risk. August 7, 2019 Airbags are essential, lifesaving devices that have prevented tens of thousands of deaths. More... Read more www.iihs.org

Automated Vehicles Are Coming. Are We Ready? Autonomous vehicles, cars that drive themselves, are coming in the not-too-distant future -- but before that happens, there's plenty of work that still must be done to make them safe, experts say. Read more nj1015.com

Connected Cars Vulnerable to Mass Cyber Attacks The group and experts warn that 'a fleet-wide hack at rush hour could result in a 9/11 scale catastrophe.' Read more www.automotive-fleet.com

Many Americans Won't Ride in Autonomous Vehicles Some 44% of Americans said they would ride in a self-driving Uber vehicle today as compared with 35% who said they would never do so, according to a new survey from DriversEd.com. Read more www.automotive-fleet.com

Does More Ride-Hailing Mean More Traffic Deaths? Every convenience has its external costs, and economists love to count them. With ride-hailing, the positive benefits to users, and society at large, are several. On-demand services like Uber and Lyft provide transportation in neighborhoods... Read more www.citylab.com

High-Performance Electric Cars Have Higher Accident Rates Electric Cars AXA, a European insurance company, tellsits claims data suggests high-performance electric cars are involved in 40% more accidents than their conventional cousins. Read more cleantechnica.com

GOVERNMENT AND NON-PROFIT AGENCY NEWS

Top NHTSA Official Heidi King to Leave, Report Says The top official of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who has been key to President Donald Trump's effort to roll back Obama-era fuel economy rules for vehicles, is expected to leave her position, a person briefed... Read more www.autonews.com

Dodge Cars with Big Engines Top HLDI's List of Most Stolen The Dodge Charger HEMI and the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat are first on HLDI's list of vehicles most likely to be stolen. Nearly all models with the highest theft rates are cars with big engines, luxury vehicles or pickups. Read more www.iihs.org

Road to Zero Newsletter Get ready for Road to Zero Wednesdays, a new webinar series featuring the winners of our Safe System Innovation Grants! Starting Sept. 25, Road to Zero will produce a new webinar on the third Wednesday of each month featuring our... Read more www.nsc.org

INTERNATIONAL ROAD SAFETY

How a Small European Country Topped the U.S. in Road Safety The recent progress of Moldova in Eastern Europe in combating its high traffic death toll highlights the importance of safety for locals and tourists. Road collisions -- not terrorism, infectious disease, crime or plane crashes -- are the biggest ... Read more www.forbes.com

European Day Without A Road Death/ Project Edward: 26 Sept. The objective of the European Day Without A Road Death or Project EDWARD is that no one should die on the roads of Europe on Thursday 26 September. In the days leading up to Project EDWARD, we want all road users to think - even for just a few... Read more roadsafetydays.eu

Study Finds Nearly Half of Shared eScooters Ridden Illegally A QUT observational study of electric scooter riding in central Brisbane has found nearly half of shared e-scooters were being ridden illegally. The research has identified the need to ensure that helmets were available for shared e-scooter... Read more www.qut.edu.au

UPCOMING TRANSPORTATION SAFETY EVENTS AND CAMPAIGNS

2019 NSC Congress & Expo: San Diego, CA Sept. 7-13, 2019 The NSC Congress & Expo is the world's largest annual "must attend" event for safety, health and environmental professionals. For more than 100 years, professionals have turned to this safety conference for industry-leading technology, education... Read more congress.nsc.org

UK Road Safety Week 2019 UK Road Safety Week 2019 will take place between 18th -24th November and will encourage road users to 'step up' and play a part in the creation of a safe and healthy future. Road Safety Week seeks to raise public awareness of road safety issues,... Read more www.roadsafe.com

Child Passenger Safety Week Sept. 15-21, 2019 NHTSA has launched a new series of public service ads (PSAs) that urge parents and caregivers to protect their child's future at every stage of life, by making sure they secure them in the correct car seat for their age, height, and weight. Read more www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov

National Teen Driver Safety Week Oct. 20-26, 2019 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. Read more www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov

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.

Network of Employers for Traffic Safety 344 Maple Ave. West #357 Vienna, VA 22180 703-755-5350 www.trafficsafety.org nets@trafficsafety.org

© 2019 Network of Employers for Traffic Safety  NETS is registered by the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(C)3 non-profit organization