WRECK-LESS DRIVING

WRECK-LESS DRIVING

WRECK-LESS DRIVING©

For YOU

by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist


PROVEN INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN REMAIN A

WRECK-LESS DRIVER


A “MUST READ” SUPPLEMENT FOR ALL DRIVER EDUCATION CLASSES


HOW TO GET AN ADDITIONAL AUTO INSURANCE PREMIUM REDUCTION

QUICK READING - ENTERTAINING - FOR BUSY PERSONS
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Gunther Doerfert retired from Eastman Kodak Company after many years of “Road Warrior” experience as traveling salesman and as sales/product/market manager. He writes from personal exposure to excellent and to not so good driving habits of the general motoring population. Also, for 15 years he provided leadership and management for more than 3,000 Instructors and Coordinators in the AARP Driver Safety Program (formerly AARP 55 ALIVE) in 11 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands.

He is a volunteer in the American Red Cross Disaster Services. His current assignment is Liaison with local, state, and federal emergency officials at disaster sites in the United States. From this he gains experiences in driving under adverse conditions.

Also he is member of the board of directors of Kiwanis Towers, a rent subsidized housing facility. There he continues to interact with senior citizens and to learn of the driving problems of this age group.

He was born in Rochester, New York where he graduated from Edison Technical High School and attended The University of Rochester evening school. At Heidelberg College he earned a B.S. in Chemistry, Cum Laude. Mr. Doerfert studied also in the Graduate Chemistry Department at the University of Maryland and in the University of Rochester MBA program. He earned an LL.B. degree at LaSalle University.

Gunther Doerfert built his year-around home on the shore of a mountain lake in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains of Northeast Tennessee. There he enjoys the 4 mild seasons each year which allow him to be outdoors much of the time for boating, hiking, and gardening.

WRECK-LESS DRIVING © is the first volume of a planned series to be written and published over several years time. They are based on his weekly newspaper and Internet columns of the same name. His goal is to save lives and injury and property loss by helping automobile drivers of all ages to use common sense and respect for other motorists while enjoying the thrill of “being behind the wheel”.
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BELTS WIN, HELMETS LOSE

WRECK-LESS DRIVING
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

BELTS WIN, HELMETS LOSE
PANTHERSVILLE, GA.: Our reader zig@xyz.somewhere.biz reports some interesting newer traffic death/injury statistics which he gathered from various government and university sources. In brief, year 2003 saw improvement in the use of safety belts and decline in helmet use by cyclists. There were 1% fewer auto/truck/pedestrian losses and 12% more motorcycle related losses. More frightening, since 1997 motorcycle deaths increased by 73% due to more cycles on the roadways and fewer riders wearing protective helmets.

So the good news is that in 2003 only 1.48 persons died per 100 million miles traveled by all types of motorized vehicles! That is, if a decline to 42,643 killed and 2.9 million injured is good. That includes 3,662 motorcyclists and 4,789 pedestrians wasted. It appears we have our own home grown terrorism which we must defeat.

The data on safety belt usage is weak because there is no good way to gather it. It is estimated by counting vehicle passengers at certain locations in daylight hours and extrapolating for totals. But even so, an increase to 79% of occupants in 2003 from 72% in 2002 is encouraging.

An increasing worrisome fact is that the USA population of age 65+ drivers is about to expand greatly. Fatalities and injuries for older persons are higher than for younger ones. This is due to the decline in physical and mental agility as we age, making it more difficult to control vehicles. Also, older persons become more fragile and heal slower, if ever. This gets us back to our need for continued driver re-training, safer vehicles, safer roadways and adequate alternate transportation.

Speaking of safer roadways: an Associated Press release reports that 25% of highway deaths occur in the 8 southeastern states. And 64% of those are on rural roads. A university traffic expert concludes that the south has a greater density of such roads and that the climate is inductive to heavier vegetation, especially trees. The tone of the article is that the blame is with the trees and not with the fact that most of the crashes were in the dark on weekends by tired or drunk drivers who were males age 16 to 25.

So, the stated solution is to remove the trees and make expensive major modern improvements to the roads. Yes, of course this is needed but taxpayer money does not grow on trees. Can you offer another way to curb this mayhem in these “red” states?

Incidentally, live trees are very resilient and bounce back a double-whammy when hit. Metal utility poles bend and wooden ones snap over. If you have a choice hit the pole!
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