Doak TC's Traffic Safety Summit Notes, Day 2

It's day 2 of the Michigan Traffic Safety Summit at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. There are approximately 400 traffic safety advocates here discussing state and national strategies aimed at reducing all traffic crashes, traffic crash injuries and traffic crash deaths. Here is a summary of my notes and observations from today.

- New Mexico was the first state to mandate vehicle interlocks for all individuals convicted of drunk driving. So, on the practical side, that means for your first conviction you will pay to have this device on your vehicle that you must blow in to each time you want to start the car. And, that'll be for one full year (1st conviction). In 2007, New Mexico's vehicle interlocks identified 63,000 incidences when an impaired driver was prohibited from starting their vehicle because they blew positive (a "dirty blow"). Since adoption of this policy, along with coordinated education, communication and enforcement, New Mexico has dropped out of the "top ten" states for drunk driving.

- Michigan saw a 17% reduction in motorcycle crashes in 2009. That's after a couple of years of increases.

- In June 2009 it became law in Michigan that all children under 4 must be in the back seat. The nursing mother exemption was also removed at this time.

- Although it is very hard to change human behaviors regarding traffic safety there have been successes nationally and in Michigan. Both seatbelts and drunk driving have seen major behavioral changes. These have only come with a combination of persuasion, coercion and changes to the driving environment. You'll find the NHTSA report on "Countermeasures that Work" at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/. Click on Traffic Safety.

- Do shock ads or demonstrations (such as the crash cars at school events) have a documented effect on behavioral change? Current research shows that these messages on their own have only a short term impact on behavior change.

- Research has shown only two effective methods for removing car/deer conflicts. 1, shoot the deer, and 2, put up 8 foot fences along the roadway. Research shows that it needs to be 8 feet and start right at the ground. Near Clare, though, the Michigan Department of Transportation has found that changing the seed mixture used to do plantings along the side of the road makes a big difference. Biologists told them that seeds they had been using were a highly desirable deer feed. They switched to seeds that the deer don't like.

- In the next few years every vehicle sold in Sweden will be required to have vehicle ignition interlocks.

- There are experiments with roadways that will change color at freezing temperatures so that drivers will have more information about conditions. Michigan had over 20,000 crashes in 2009 where "icy roads" was the documented condition at the time.

- Cable barriers in roadway medians are 95% effective at capturing and redirecting vehicles, preventing them from continuing in to the opposing lanes.

DoakTC's Traffic Safety Summit Notes, Day 1

It's Day One of the Michigan Traffic Safety Summit at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. Here is a brief summary of my notes and observations from the first sessions.

- Michigan traffic fatalities dropped 11% in 2009 going from 980 in 2008 to 871 (http://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,1607,7-123-1593_3504-234135--,00.html). The trend is great, unless, of course, you are in one the 871 families that lost a member to a traffic crash last year. The Summit is aimed at the goal of zero families impacted some day. Seems like an absurd goal, but a figure of 871 seemed almost as absurd not that long ago.

- Distracted driving is increasing its status as a traffic safety enemy. The fact that research is starting to provide real numbers is aiding this concern and the ability to take it more seriously. It's not just anecdotal anymore. Within the next 10 - 20 years we will look back on this current transitional era the same way that we look at the era when drinking and driving still had a socially accepted (or tolerated) status.

- Some major employers not only have their own policies prohibiting employee cell phone use in vehicles, but also will only do business with vendors/contractors that have similar workplace policies.

- There will be an increased danger to bike riders as more people text while driving. The texting driver tends to drift off of the road and not notice what is there. Current estimates put yearly texting at 135 billion.

- Current estimates are that texting contributes to 200,000 yearly crashes nationally, and that cell phone use in general contributes to 1.4 million.

- Teens have the highest risk of crashing while texting. This is a hard sell, though. My interviews with teen drivers during the past year have demonstrated an almost complete confidence in their ability to text and drive. In their opinions they are experts in texting, it comes completely natural to them and so it is not a distraction.

- Hands Free cell phone laws will most likely not reduce cell phone related crashes because of the cognitive distraction. These laws may even prove to be counter productive.

- Today's Traffic Safety web sites include:

http://www.distraction.gov/

http://www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov/

http://www.nsc.org/safety_road/Pages/safety_on_the_road.aspx

Who's Skidding Now? Weekly Safety Reminder #6

It's the Doak TC Weekly Safety Reminder (WSR) #6. Who's skidding now?

The snows and black ice of winter have pretty much left our local roadways. Yes, I'm sure we will be punished with a surprise blast or two, but for the most part we're done with icy roads for this season. So, why am I issuing a skid warning today? Well, that's because the icy covered roadways of winter have given way to the sand, dirt and gravel covered roadways of spring. That means a safety warning (reminder) for two different groups.

Group 1 - Everyone not driving a motorcycle. The first warm(ish) days of non-winter are not just sprouting shoots above the septic tank. I'm sure you've seen the two-wheelers appearing on the roadways already. I'm one of them, too. So, please watch out for us. First, because we're hard to see at any time of year, and second, because we're making our turns through all of that leftover sand, dirt and gravel. That leads to wide and unsteady motorcycle turns at intersections (typically where lots of gravel collects during the winter) and the increased potential that the motorcycle you're approaching will skid out when you get closer to them.

Group 2 - Motorcycle operators. Yes, it's great to be on the road again and feeling the icy blasts of not quite spring breezes through your teeth. But, there are a couple of safety reminders to keep in mind. First, those ice breezes and the fact that we haven't been on the two-wheelers in a few months are affecting our concentration and reaction time a bit. Second, there is all of that darn dirt, sand and gravel waiting to surprise us. It's mostly at curves, but can appear at many spots, especially as homeowners start blowing it off their yards. Slow down, plan turns way in advance, plan to skip a turn if it looks dangerous and keep watch for the black ice of dirty spring roads.

Dangerous Human Photos #5

Today let's review two things: the protective power of signage, and the concept of big and small.

First, we'll evaluate the protective power of signage. Well, there isn't much. The protective power of signage is often overruled by the attractive power of what's convenient for me right now. As you can see in the photo, there are lovely signs from various eras saying something about a school being nearby and certain hours you shouldn't park, well, somewhere around there. So, these children huddled in the snow, hunched with backpacks, focused on their destination are protected by these highly protective devices. Well, that's probably true if none of these vehicles decides to move at all. Likely?

Second, when I'm in a kindergarten classroom I ask the kids what's the difference between you and me? Their answer is simple. They tell me we're small and you're big. Well, have another look at the photo. Those kids are indeed really small and will always lose to those really big vehicles no matter what the sign says. This photo was taken pretty early in the loading process, but moments later there will be several hundred more kids out there mixing with the really big vehicles and their hurried drivers.

Are you about to go pick up your kids from their elementary school? Be careful, please. Take your time, follow the posted directions, get out of the car and, if possible, wait until it is all clear to help these small packages be delivered safely.

Time for "That Talk" With The Kids. WSR #5

It's the Doak TC Weekly Safety Reminder (WSR) #5

It is indeed time for that springtime talk with your kids. The one that is so hard to have because, first of all, you know they don't believe you, and, second of all, you may not believe it yourself. Yes I'm talking about convincing your kids that they need to wear a helmet when they're biking, blading, scootering or doing myriad other fast and fun activities.

I know you already tried doing this with limited success at the beginning of the winter. You warned them about the high density normally found in trees and rocks. You also tried pointing to the Olympics saying "SEE, even the best boarders in the world wear a helmet." But, it didn't seem to make much of an impression.

First of all, like with wearing seatbelts and stopping at stop signs, if you don't wear a helmet when you're doing these things then your argument won't carry much (any) authority. Perhaps you need to convince yourself along with your kids. Try this simple exercise:

Take a bike helmet (you know you have one somewhere) or a plastic mixing bowl, go out to the driveway, hold the helmet at the same level as your kid's head, invert it and drop it on the pavement. Hear that sharp, quick smacking sound? Now, that's just at the level of your kid's head standing still. Try this again up a couple of feet higher where they would be on a bike. Try it at a slow walk. Then, for added fun, strap a melon into it and drop it. Then take the melon out and drop it from the same height. Yes, second grade boys just want to see the melon get squished, but I've seen the look on the faces of many people when I've done these demonstrations. Many people go silent.

Repeat this phase to yourself and then aloud to your kids- "our brains are really squishy and easy to injure, and once injured they stay injured for a very long time; perhaps forever." You see, when that mixing bowl that we call a skull hits something, that squishy brain smacks in to the inside of that bowl. The bowl may look OK from the outside, but that bruised brain may not be. That helmet that you dropped on the ground is meant to absorb the force of the blow instead of the skull.

OK, get your helmet, a melon and a kid and try that talk again. I think you'll do better this time.

Learning to Learn Instead of Learning to Teach

Pictured above you see a majority of Michigan's Child Passenger Safety (CPS) instructors at the completion of a two-day development conference in Southfield last week.

It takes 32 hours to bake a new nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (those people that do the child safety seat inspections), and then years of practice to get to some level of confidence. It takes certified and practiced instructors to run plan and lead those classes and then work to keep the Technicians re-certified every two years.

So, being a certified CPS instructor means that we have the answers and are really good at this stuff, right? Well, last week we found out that we (or at least I) were not as smart at this stuff as we thought. Our Michigan coordinator arranged for us to attend a development conference where we learned how much more we need to learn. How did this make me feel? It made me thrilled to plan and execute our next training classes.

Yes, we picked up a great deal of excellent technical information about crash dynamics, vehicle safety equipment and new child safety seat technology. But, perhaps more importantly, we spent an entire day talking about adult learning and how to be more effective instructors/mentors. We were learning how to learn.

You see, a CPS Technician doesn't install child safety seats and so the instructors are not out to just bake fresh batches child seat installers. A CPS Technician educates caregivers so that they can take responsibility for safely transporting their children. Since four children 0 - 4 are killed in motor vehicle crashes each day, and 529 injured, this is a pretty significant service. Instructors need to motivate new instructors.

So, have a look at the picture and see a group of Michigan citizens that have child passenger safety education as a passion and are now a little more informed about how to share that passion and technical knowledge.

A 40% Higher Chance of Injury? It's A Simple Choice for Parents. WSR #4

It's the Doak TC Weekly Safety Reminder (WSR) #4

If I told you that any kids in your household under 15 were 40% more likely to be injured if they left the house through the front door, what would you do? If the answer was as simple as having them leave through the back or garage door would you do it? I'll bet you would. It'd be a pretty simple way of protecting them from harm.

But, what if your kid under 15, or under 10, or under 5 said that they just liked going out the front door better so that's what they're going to do? Now what would you do? I'll bet you'd treat it the same as many other issues you perceive to be dangerous- you'd tell them that they're going out the back door because it is much safer and you're the parent.

Now, grandma comes over to stay with the kids and says "I want my grandkids to be happy and so I'm going to let them go out the front door." Now what will you do as the parent? Yea I know, that's harder, but you'd probably try to convince the caregiver that the rules in your house are that all kids exit from the back door because the front door is much more dangerous.

Now, what if I told you that the fact is that the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) reports that kids under 15 are 40% more likely to be injured in the front seat of cars. Well, I'll bet many of you would say "that's different." I know that because CHOP also tells us that 43% of children under 13 were reported to be front seat riders in one of their studies.

This is a really simple way to protect your kids and grandkids. They are enduring no hardship by riding in the back, now are they? By law in Michigan, everyone under 4 has to be in the back seat anyway. And, as you can see by best practice, kids up in to their teen years are much safer riding in the back seat. They're 40% more likely to be injured in the front seat.

Kids Say the Darndest Things About Driving, part 1

Yes, it is a lovely photo of my colleague, Cheryl (also a job seeker with me), on a frightening simulated drive with a new driver last spring.

In the past couple of years I've spent quite a few pleasant hours in Michigan high schools discussing distracted driving. What I've been trying to do is twofold. First, I want to try to convince the youngest of drivers that, while driving, things just don't happen fast in a crash, but are happening fast all the time. This means that time spent on all of their typical distractions is time lost for reacting to the physical world. Second I've been trying to learn what they think about distractions and their driving environment. I has helped me alter my messages.

So that I can evaluate my interactions with these kids I ask the instructor to wait two weeks and then ask the kids to individually write down two things that they learned from me. It's been pretty instructive. What follows here are these notes from one of the schools that I visited. Each sentence is a single student response and you're going to be reading their #1 responses. I'll post the #2 responses in a few days. I've included them just as I received them- spelling errors and all.

What was one thing that you learned from Mr. Doelker's discussion?

That the average time it takes to look down at the radio or mess with your ipod takes about three seconds, and that if your going 20mph you go 30 ft every second. That every 3 seconds you could travel a really far distance and its just 20 miles an hour. How fast a car moves in such a short time. How far your car moves when your going 30 mph in one second. I learned that in one second at 20 miles an hour a car travels around 30 feet and that means if u look down at your cell phone for one second you could get in a wreck. Driving can be very dangerous. Try reach the radio or something in the passenger seat, answer the cellphone, smoke during the ride can be one of reasons for so many car accidents. I learned that if you look down for one second while traveling 20 mph you go 30 feet and that means if you could look down for one second and before you know it you would already be in an accident. I learned that driving is not that dangerous and most of the time the person is just going too fast for their comfort or are distracted by sum sort like cell phone, reading etc. In just 3 seconds my car goes 30 feet. Stay focused on the road no matter what, no cell phones and only use the radio when you know you’re not putting yourself or others in any sort of danger. Stay focused on the road no matter what, no cells phones and only use the radio when you know your not putting yourself or others at risk. An accident can occur from looking away from the road for even a second. I learned how dangerous distracted driving is and how quickly you can get in a crash if you aren’t paying attention. I learned that 25 miles an hour is close to 40 feet per second. Driving is a serious thing not a play thing. Driving isn’t as bad as everyone makes it sound. When traveling a speed of 30 miles per hour, you will travel between 35-40 feet per three seconds. Talking on a phone and driving is as bad as drinking and driving. The use of cell phones while driving is one of the leading causes of crashes among teens. That many things can happen in 3 seconds while driving, even at comparatively “slow” speeds of 30 mph. There is no safe time to talk on the phone, or do anything else while driving. Talking on the phone and driving is as bad as drinking and driving. Most crashes happen on a straight away. Driving is a serious thing not a play thing. I learned how dangerous distracted driving is and how quickly you can get in a crash if you aren’t paying attention.