Fifty-two percent of drivers said they feel less safe on the roads now than they did five years ago, according to the third-annual 2010 Traffic Safety Culture Index recently released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The leading reason cited by American drivers was distracted driving, with 88 percent of motorists rating drivers who text and email as a very serious threat to their safety.
It's illegal to text while driving in most U.S. states. Yet a new study by researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) finds no reductions in crashes after laws take effect that ban texting by all drivers, a press release states. In fact, such bans are associated with a slight increase in the frequency of insurance claims filed under collision coverage for damage to vehicles in crashes. This finding is based on comparisons of claims in four states before and after texting ban, compared with patterns of claims in nearby states.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently determined that the June 2009 fatal multivehicle collision involving a 2008 Volvo truck-tractor semitrailer and a traffic queue near Miami, Oklahoma, was caused by the truck driver's fatigue stemming from his acute sleep loss, circadian disruption associated with his shift work schedule, and mild sleep apnea, a press release states. The 76-year-old driver failed to react to slowing and stopped traffic ahead by applying brakes or performing any evasive maneuvers to avoid colliding with the traffic queue.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano has announced Cyber Storm III — a three-day long, DHS-sponsored exercise that brings together a diverse cross-section of the nation’s cyber incident responders to assess U.S. cyber response capabilities, according to a recent press release.
“Next month, OSHA will formally launch a new policy that increases our proposed penalties,” agency boss Dr. David Michaels told the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission Annual Judicial Conference in Charleston, SC this past Tuesday, September 14.
Speaking at the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission Annual Judicial Conference in Charleston, SC this past Tuesday, September 14, OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels explained the agency’s use of the General Duty Clause:
Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, told the Voluntary Protection Program Participants’ Association (VPPPA) meeting in Orlando, FL:
OSHA has announced that it has concluded a special evaluation of state-run occupational safety and health programs under its jurisdiction. Enhanced Federal Annual Monitoring and Evaluation reports provide detailed findings and recommendations on the operations of state-run OSHA programs in 25 states and territories. The enhanced review was initiated after a 2009 special OSHA report on Nevada’s program, prompted by numerous construction-related fatalities in Las Vegas, identified serious operational deficiencies in that state.
In a Federal Register notice, OSHA announced it is accepting comments on a proposed Baseline Safety and Health Practices Survey, which will be sent to 14,202 private sector establishments in nonagricultural industry, as a one-time survey. The goal of the survey is to help OSHA develop industry-specific, statistically accurate estimates of the safety and health practices currently used among establishments. The estimates will be used to support a rulemaking effort directed toward requiring injury and illness prevention programs.
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