In many American states and Canadian provinces it seems to be a growing trend that vehicles no longer need to have front licence plates, but from the perspective of serious crimes this is madness.
Why Allowing No Front Licence Plates is Madness
Tag: police
A Child’s Critical Injuries Through Not Wearing a Cycle Helmet
This is just one fine example of the countless excellent and usually unsung tasks done by on-duty and off-duty police officers, every single day of the year. It has been posted here with full permission from its author, Temporary Sergeant Karen Stanton, whose important goal is to highlight the crucial importance of cyclists wearing helmets. If you are not convinced, check out the image of the boy’s head scan, below.
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Speed… Is it Really a Major Safety Issue or Do the ‘Experts’ Exaggerate?
One of the most inflammatory and divisive topics in road or highway safety is that of speed in relation to safety.
The first question that has to be addressed is what exactly do we mean in this context by the word “speed”? It is very important not to fall into the trap of thinking it only relates to breaking the posted speed limits, even though that is still a serious issue (see below).
Continue reading “Speed… Is it Really a Major Safety Issue or Do the ‘Experts’ Exaggerate?”
Tennessee Talks About the Horrors of ‘The Knock at the Door’
We are posting this saddening topic here on the ADoNA website in the hope that it helps in the THSO’s aim of persuading people not to become the cause of a tragedy which requires this terrible outcome.
The Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) recently distributed a public service announcement called “The Knock at the Door,” to show what easily qualifies as the worst job in the world, namely the personal delivery by police and other law enforcement officers of fatality messages to unsuspecting loved ones. A very large proportion of such messages relate to road and highway crashes.
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Naïve or Inaccurate Claims about Highway Safety Improvements do More Harm than Good
Claims that this-or-that highway safety program or this-or-that new idea has had a profound effect on road deaths are commonly very misleading, and a new claim from Alabama undoubtedly comes into this category.
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Video of an Excellent “Flying Escort” by Dutch Police Motorcycle Officers
Apart from saving lives by means of enforcement and obliging many errant drivers to drive more safely, highly-trained police motorcycle officers often help save lives in other ways, too.
This team of three are from the Netherlands, and this spectacular video brought back good memories from my own years on this job, in Britain. It gives a very good insight into this relatively rare task of facilitating the fastest possible, safe conveyance of a critically ill or injured person to the most appropriate hospital.
Reports of Carbon Monoxide Leaking into Ford Explorers, a Vehicle Used by Many Police Departments
…More than 2,700 complaints have been filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding carbon monoxide leaking into Ford Explorers…
Among the complaints filed with [NHTSA], 41 injuries were caused by fumes, with three crashes taking place.
In a statement made Friday, Ford said that exhaust is entering the vehicles through holes in the underbody that were not properly sealed.
Read the important full article, from News 5 Cleveland
Arizona tells armed drivers how to avoid deadly confrontations in police stops
Following news, this week, that Michelin and the FIA have successfully created an agreement that, at long last, all state drivers’ manuals in the USA will soon carry identical and accurate advice about tire care, here is some dramatic news on a different safety topic, about the manual that is published for Arizona.
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The German Police Versus a Dangerous Driver in a Stolen Car, at High Speed on the Autobahn — USE YOUR MIRRORS
The police in Germany chase and catch a driver in a stolen Audi A5 on the Autobahn. He drove at over 240 km/h (150mph) but lost control, left the road then hurtled back on, hitting another vehicle in the process.
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The German courts sentenced him to 3 years and 9 months in prison.
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*****This type of event, even though rare, is just one excellent reason for repeatedly checking your mirrors every time you drive and on any type of road, to help you minimize risk from behind. Every 4-8 seconds is the usual guideline.*****
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USA: Police Chief Attacks Proposed Increase in Size of Big Rigs
Excerpt: [A chief of police in Wisconsin] has serious concerns with proposals in Congress that would allow heavier and longer rigs on highways because these proposals would dramatically increase the danger faced by everyday drivers.
The proposal calls for increasing trucks weights nationwide from 80,000 to 91,000 pounds, and another calls for increasing the length of double-trailer trucks by 10 feet, to 91 feet in length.
…Bigger trucks may mean increased profit margins for the handful of companies that would benefit, they also pose substantial safety risks to motorists…
Read the full opinion-piece from the Gazette Extra on this important topic.
ADoNA Comments
Already more than 4,000 people are killed each year in the USA in crashes involving large trucks. One factor in this bad scenario is the long hours that drivers are allowed to work, behind the wheel, each week — far more than in other countries that have much lower road-death rates than does America. Making trucks larger and therefor even harder to stop should be seen as an extra factor that is likely to increase the number of deaths even further.
Eddie Wren, CEO & Chief Instructor — Advanced Drivers of North America