October 2021

Summaries of timely road safety news, events, and alerts
Message from NETS' Executive Director, Susan Gillies


Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” James Cash Penney, American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the J. C. Penney stores in 1902
Dear Road Safety Colleagues,
 
It is with great pleasure that I am writing my first NETSWork article as the recently appointed Executive Director of NETS after serving as NETS Marketing and Operations Director for the past eight years. I am humbled to have been selected to follow in the footsteps of NETS outgoing Executive Director, Joe McKillips, who has provided his strong leadership and support over the last 5 years to get us where NETS is today. Through his guidance, we have implemented a wide range of transformative initiatives with the overall focus aimed at positioning NETS for continued growth. This includes streamlining back-office operations, continuing NETS/NHTSA project collaboration, and creating momentum for on-going expansion of NETS mission. During his time at NETS, Joe instituted a full re-structuring of the NETS membership model, directed the overhaul and enhancement of the NETS Strength IN Numbers® Benchmark process, and was the catalyst for expansion into international markets, spearheading two successful Latin America Regional Road Safety conferences and firmly establishing NETS as a leading resource in the global road safety space. Joe will be missed in this organization, but we wish him continued success on his next path in retirement!
 
In the same breath I would also like to welcome NETS newest team member, Ann Kidd, coming on board as NETS Operations Manager to fill the role I previously held. Ann has extensive experience in a variety of arenas giving her the skills to quickly get up to speed on NETS operations and administrative functions and will be an essential part of NETS initiatives and projects moving forward.
 
So, what’s next for NETS? As the quote above references, growth is not by chance. At NETS we will continue our mission of advancing road safety for all drivers, and to do that we need to continue to grow.
  • In September, we completed our 2nd Regional Road Safety Conference in Latin America, conducted virtually in three languages simultaneously. The conference provided the opportunity for attendees to address region-specific issues and hear from road safety experts on ways to address these issues. NETS plans to expand into other regions of the world through additional regional conferences in areas such as Europe or Asia.
  • Just last week we successfully held our Annual Strength IN Numbers® Fleet Safety Conference in a virtual environment for the second year in a row, having three days of valuable keynote presentations, NETS member presentations, and new this year a full Sponsor Day with NETS Sponsors providing updates on their products and services and ways they can help organizations improve their fleet safety programs. Next year we will look at a hybrid event to optimize participation through both in-person and virtual attendance, allowing better access for all to road safety case studies, new research, and emerging issues.
  • This week we hosted NETS annual sector meetings for the Agriculture, Insurance, Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV), and Utility groups to facilitate conversations regarding sector-specific issues providing guidance and solutions to the most pressing road safety challenges within these sectors. Recordings and presentations from most of these sessions will be available soon for all attendees and NETS members on our website. But these conversations don’t stop at the end of the meetings. NETS will continue to promote discussions all year long among these groups to provide on-going learning and networking opportunities.
  • Finally, in conjunction with the conference, we also launched our annual Benchmark report giving NETS members a comprehensive look into how their vehicle fleet compares with other NETS members in terms of crash, injury and fatality frequencies, taking into consideration road safety policies, driver training programs, crash review practices, the “greening” of fleets, and more. NETS will continue to grow the benchmark process to assess and analyze the latest fleet trends and issues, ensuring we are providing the most up-to date data and analysis for participants.
 
We could not have done this alone as growth is “the result of forces working together.” Our NETS Board of Directors, NETS Sponsors, NETS member companies, and NETS partner organizations all support our mission through benchmarking, implementation and sharing of road safety best practices, networking and learning opportunities, and leading and organizing the sector meetings.
 
We are looking to future growth in the areas of international expansion through:
  • Adding additional global organizations to NETS membership as well as hosting conferences in other regions such as Europe or Asia;
  • Continued focus on the HGV sector;
  • Further collaboration with NETS partner organizations;
  • Increased sector representation on NETS Board of Directors;
  • Adding additional road safety resources and guides for both NETS members and other road safety advocates; and,
  • The evaluation / implementation of a road safety recognition program.
 
In the meantime, let’s continue to work together on growing our road safety message. If you aren’t already a NETS member, consider joining NETS to take advantage of the many resources available such as NETS annual benchmark report; online members-only FORUM community; and members-only resources such as our Post-Incident Coaching toolkit. Together we can Advance Road Safety. Reduce Risk. And Save Lives.
 
Safe Driving everyone!
Susan Gillies
Executive Director, NETS
NETS ANNOUNCEMENTS
SUCCESSFUL CONFERENCE CONLCUDED!
NETS 2021
Strength IN Numbers Benchmark
Fleet Safety Conference
Conference recordings and presentations are available to view/download through the conference platform, Whova, for all attendees through the end of the year.
NETS Annual Benchmark Report Launched to NETS Members!
NETS annual benchmark report is now available to all NETS members and Sponsors. The report (Data Year 2020) as well as a full, academic report (Appendices 1 & 2 and Appendix 3 Program Survey Graphs) on the results of this year’s analytics are now available on NETS website.
 
The Benchmark report identifies best practices to help NETS members put in place a cost-effective, integrated, and comprehensive plan to improve their road safety performance.
 
The report brings together socially responsible companies willing to look at their own crash metrics, compare findings and share what they’ve learned. The NETS Benchmark program is for all types of companies and organizations—large or small, local or global, public or private.

Access the report or learn more about it here:
NETS SPONSORS
NETS is proud to partner with the following PLATINUM Fleet Safety Sponsors:

eDriving, a Solera company, helps organizations around the world to reduce incidents, collisions, injuries, license violations, carbon emissions, and total cost of fleet ownership through its patented digital driver risk management programs.

At its heart is the Mentor by eDrivingSM smartphone app that identifies risky driving behaviors for intervention and safe driving habits for recognition. In-app features include micro-training and coaching, gamification, collision reporting, vehicle inspections, and an individual FICO® Safe Driving Score validated to predict the likelihood of being involved in a collision. Mentor’s integrated automatic crash detection and Personal SOS features powered by Sfara and Bosch trigger a voice call and emergency support, as needed, from one of Bosch’s Global Call Centers supporting >50 countries. Through its five-stage, patented Crash-Free Culture® risk reduction methodology, eDriving helps organizations embrace safety and reduce risk for Sales, Service, Delivery and Warehouse drivers, all within a privacy-first, data-secure environment.
 
eDriving is the digital driver risk management partner of choice for many of the world’s largest organizations, supporting over 1.2 million drivers in 125 countries. Over the past 25 years, eDriving’s research-validated programs have been recognized with over 100 awards around the world.

Mobile device distractions put employees in danger and companies at risk. So why would anyone settle for safety measures that simply report what went wrong, or only work when people remember to turn them on? TRUCE Software automatically suspends distracting mobile apps and functions depending on what your employee is doing, where they are working or even the workgroup they are part of. You define the policy and TRUCE ensures compliance when and where it’s needed. Supporting more than 100,000 subscribers and some of the largest brands worldwide, our patented technology is making workplaces everywhere safer.
Learn about all of NETS Fleet Safety Sponsors
LATEST ROAD SAFETY NEWS
America's Top Ten Most Stolen Vehicles

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today released its annual Hot Wheels report identifying the top 10 most stolen vehicles in the United States in 2020.

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www.multivu.com
U.S. Traffic Deaths Soar 18.4% in First Half of Year

U.S. traffic deaths soared by 18.4% in the first six months of 2021 from the same period a year earlier, for the most deadly first half on American roads since 2006, the Transportation Department said on Thursday. Traffic deaths...

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www.autoblog.com
WORKPLACE / HOME ROAD SAFETY
AAA Cautions Drivers to Slow Down in Autumn When Deer Active

AAA Northeast has advised drivers to be on the lookout for deer in the fast-approaching fall and winter season. A Tuesday press release said that as daylight saving time comes to a close, drivers face an "increased risk of becoming drowsy behind...

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origin.turnto10.com
New-Vehicle Prices Top $45,000 for First Time

New-vehicle prices hit another all-time high in September 2021, marking the sixth straight record-setting month and surpassing $45,000 for the first time, according to a new report from Kelley Blue Book. At $45,031, the average transaction price...

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www.coxautoinc.com
Top 5 Reasons to Revisit Your Car Allowance in 2022

As the fourth quarter begins, we near the fourth year in which employees who receive a car allowance cannot write off mileage on their tax returns. This reality combined with rising gas prices, pandemic challenges, and state labor codes means...

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www.mburse.com
FMCSA Gives 60 Days to Downgrade License for Drug Violations

State driver's licensing agencies will have 60 days to initiate mandatory downgrades of commercial driver's licenses and commercial learner's permits once notified that a commercial motor vehicle operator has failed a drug or alcohol ...

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www.safetyandhealthmagazine...
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Rained Out: Vehicle Safety Systems Struggle to "See" in Rain

New research from AAA finds that moderate to heavy rain affects a vehicle safety system's ability to "see", which may result in performance issues. During closed course testing, AAA simulated rainfall and found that test vehicles equipped with...

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newsroom.aaa.com
ABB Launches the World's Fastest Electric Car Charger

Can deliver 100km of range in less than three minutes. Only charger designed explicitly to charge up to four vehicles at once Ideal for refueling stations, urban charging stations, retail parking and fleet applications ABB is today launching an...

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new.abb.com
Pull the Plug: How Wireless Charging Makes Autonomy Reality

Wireless charging for electric and autonomous vehicles -whether owned by a consumer or managed by a fleet company-is not only inevitable but the technology is available now. Self-driving electric cars for consumers or fleet operators offer a...

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www.ept.ca
GOVERNMENT AND NON-PROFIT
AGENCY NEWS
Speeding Top Violation During Operation Safe Driver Week

Law enforcement officials issued more than 27,000 citations and warnings to drivers during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's annual Operation Safe Driver Week.

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www.safetyandhealthmagazine...
Model Year 2022 Vehicles for 5-Star Safety Ratings Tests

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced its list of model year 2022 vehicles that will be tested for the agency's 5-Star Safety Ratings program. These vehicles represent approximately 86% of the new vehicle fleet, helping...

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www.nhtsa.gov
INTERNATIONAL ROAD SAFETY
WHO Launches Decade of Action for Road Safety

WHO is kicking off the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 with the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. WHO and the UN regional commissions, in cooperation with other...

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www.who.int
Most Dangerous Countries To Drive In

The world's worst countries to drive in have been ranked and mapped by the World Health Organisation. We take a look at the complete results. The latest report from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that road traffic deaths continue to...

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www.atlasandboots.com
Zero Stars for Suzuki Baleno and Just One Star for Yaris

The New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin NCAP, releases its latest results today, with very disappointing zero star performance for the Suzuki Baleno and one star for the Toyota Yaris. Latin NCAP calls for...

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www.globalncap.org
Tata Punch Achieves 5 Star Rating for Adult Protection

The Tata Punch has achieved a five star rating for adult occupant protection and four stars for child occupant protection in Global NCAP's latest #SaferCarsForIndia crash tests. The Tata Punch was tested in the most basic safety specification,...

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www.globalncap.org
UPCOMING TRANSPORTATION SAFETY EVENTS
AND CAMPAIGNS
Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving: Halloween Campaign

This Halloween, let's make happy memories, not tragic nightmares. The only thing scarier than zombies and witches loose on the streets is an impaired driver. This year, NHTSA is teaming up with local officials to help...

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www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov
Thanksgiving Weekend Road Safety Campaigns

Thanksgiving weekend, millions will hit our nation's roads, eager to spend time with family and friends. It's one of the busiest travel times of the year, and unfortunately more people on the roadways means the potential for more vehicle...

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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 https://trafficsafety.org/membership-info/.
Note from the editor:
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