Safety

Ask the Best and Brightest: What If We Didn’t Have Federal Safety Standards?

By Robert Farago
October 27, 2009

Posted in Ask the Best and Brightest | Green | News Blog | Safety | 76 comments

Cell Phones And Cars: Stating the Obvious to the Oblivious”

By Jim Sutherland
October 2, 2009 Sometimes” obvious” is a vague concept for people and nowhere is that more obvious than behind the wheel of a car. The basic rules of engagement on the road are subject to interpretation by many drivers whose personal universe exists within a tight gravitational pull of their physical location.

Cell Phones And Cars: Stating the Obvious to the Oblivious” editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Safety | 62 comments

Editorial: Distracted Driving Ban Faces Distractions

By Edward Niedermeyer
October 1, 2009 For all of the uproar around distracted driving this week, nobody seems to know exactly what the problem is, let alone how to stop it. Everything from in-car makeup application to text messaging is being blamed for 6,000 deaths in 2008, some 15 percent of all road fatalities. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has heard [...]

Editorial: Distracted Driving Ban Faces Distractions editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Safety | 22 comments

The Dog Days of Summer

By Jerry Sutherland
August 23, 2009

Most dogs love to go for a ride. Perhaps it taps into their genetic hunting imperative. Maybe it's a pack thing. One thing's for sure: a dog would never question why it has to ride in the back of an open pickup truck. Nor, unfortunately, do hundreds of thousands of pickup-driving dog owners. The Utah Humane Society estimates 100,000 dogs die every year from jumping out of moving trucks. At least as many dogs are seriously injured. And the number of chronic ear and aggravated eye injuries is even greater. So stand back fellas: I'm going to pour some hate on owners who think man's best friend should ride in the back of the truck.

The Dog Days of Summer editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Safety | 56 comments

Editorial: Between the Lines: NHTSA Hung Out to Dry By NYT

By Robert Farago
July 21, 2009

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) woke up to a New York Times hatchet job. "In 2003, researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess the safety risk posed by cellphone use behind the wheel," the NYT begins, without specifying who, what, when, where or how. But we do get a general sort of why: "They sought the study based on evidence that such multitasking was a serious and growing threat on America’s roadways." And then, da da DA! "But such an ambitious study never happened. And the researchers’ agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, decided not to make public hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers — in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress." Dive! Dive! Dive!

Editorial: Between the Lines: NHTSA Hung Out to Dry By NYT editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Media | Safety | 78 comments

The Case for Power-to-Weight Graduated Driver’s Licenses

By Jerry Sutherland
July 9, 2009

On October 31 2006, Orange County teen Nikki Catsouras had an argument with her father. When Mr. Catsouras left for work, the his daughter "borrowed" his Porsche 911. Approaching a tollbooth, Catsouras rear-ended a Honda at 70 mph. The California Highway Patrol took photographs of the gruesome results. The photos hit the net and went viral. Catsouras sued the police for invasion of privacy. Lost in the shuffle: why was Miss Catsouras--a young, inexperienced driver--- legally entitled to drive the Porsche?

The Case for Power-to-Weight Graduated Driver’s Licenses editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Safety | 149 comments

Editorial: The Case Against GM

By Steve Jakubowski
June 21, 2009

As part of its "reinvention," GM wants to leave behind products liability claimants. "New GM" wants to jettison its legal responsibilities to "old" customers who were seriously injured by defective products---including customers who bought products from pre-bankruptcy General Motors who haven't yet been injured. In this there is precedence. As I discussed here on my Bankruptcy Litigation Blog, Chrysler stiffed products liability claimants when they restructured post C-11. Is this going to be a case of deja vu all over again? Not if I can help it.

Editorial: The Case Against GM editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Safety | 64 comments

Editorial: Unsafe at Any Speed?

By Robert Farago
May 25, 2009

I'll never forget my first ride in a BMW. I remember the excitement, anticipating a high speed run in an [echt] autobahn-tuned automobile. The driver never broke Nixon's double nickel. In fact, he stayed in the right lane for the entire trip. Flash forward to two hours ago, G-forcing through the S-curves into Providence. In the middle of the second bend, a Nissan GT-R zipped by my minivan like it was standing still. Hakuna matata. What a wonderful phrase. Hakuna matata. Ain't no passing craze. The GT-R driver was there. In the moment. In control. Safe?

Editorial: Unsafe at Any Speed? editorial continued »

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Editorials | Safety | 45 comments

Drive Fast — Responsibly

By William C Montgomery
May 25, 2009

If speed killed, we would all be dead. After all, we are rotating around earth’s axis at up to 1038 mph (1670 kmh) and Earth is zipping around the sun at a whopping 66,660 mph (107,279 kmh). Speed’s not a problem. The problem is when we collide with objects that are moving at speeds that are substantially different than our own. Jack Baruth would have us believe that if we follow the advice he imparts in his "Maximum Street Speed Explained" series, that we can safely navigate American highways and byways, day or night while traveling at two or three times faster than the prevailing traffic norm. Unfortunately, his advice ranges from the obvious to absurdly dangerous (if he’s trying to be ironic or funny, he has very poor timing).

Drive Fast — Responsibly editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Safety | 31 comments

Maximum Street Speed Explained, Part III

By Jack Baruth
May 22, 2009

It was just another day at the “Tail Of The Dragon” for the group of experienced sportbikers clustering around the Robbinsville, NC gas station. Fresh from multiple high-speed runs down the famed road, they were reliving their victories when a long-haired old man in some girly convertible asked them to “show him the fast way through.”

Maximum Street Speed Explained, Part III editorial continued »

Posted in Editorials | Features | Safety | 93 comments