ON THE WEB

WRECK-LESS DRIVING©
by Gunther Doerfert, Auto Safety Columnist

ON THE WEB
GNEGY CHURCH, MD: A frequent correspondent, SueAnn M., has requested a listing of web (www.) sites where she might read much more information about automobile safety. Here are the ones with which I am most familiar:
www.stopredlightrunning.com the national campaign to stop red light running
www.crashtest.com tells about crash-test results and risk data from insurance companies on used and new vehicles.
www.aaafts.org is the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. It discusses teen driving, aggressiveness, crash avoidance, pedestrian safety, and more.
www.aarp.org message boards have a number of pages with useful information about travel, auto safety, and much more.
www.nhtsa.dot.gov is your taxes at work. It is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration site and is loaded with authoritative data.
www.hwysafety.org is a site for The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a non-profit research group owned by a number of insurance companies.
www.countonshell.com offers free pamphlets: ROAD TRIP SURVIVAL GUIDE
www.aarp.org/drive for more about the AARP DRIVER SAFETY PROGRAM.
http://wrecklessdrive.blogspot.com more columns like this one.
If you need to look further than this your internet service provider has access to many search engines which will find more than you want to know. Also try these search engines google.com or dogpile.com or http://search.yahoo.com
GHD208 all rights reserved

RUNNING RED LIGHTS

RUNNING RED LIGHTS
MENOMINEE, NE: Rudolph H., age 17, asks what age group of drivers is most notorious for running red traffic control lights. I suspect he knows already that the least offenders are age 56 and up. About 35% of them admit to doing it. And no surprise, the youngest drivers ,age 18 to 25, have 75% saying they have done or still do it. But in the brain mature 26 to 35 age group only 2% fewer (73%) own up to their scofflaw tactics. While it is no excuse for their recklessness it is likely that the younger, more agile drivers are safer in their law breaking than are the oldest ones.

I wonder how many of that oldest group go through the red light because they do not see it in time? Or go through it knowingly because they believe there is no opposing traffic when in truth their reaction time has slowed so much that they simply do not see the hazards? Or are driving too fast for their ability to react and stop in front of the red light? I do not mean to pin this label on all older drivers of a certain age. There are excellent drivers at all ages and some very poor ones at all ages. We do know though that as we age our hearing, seeing, mobility, and reaction time slowly become less acute. Thus it is their responsibility to the safety of others on the roadways to drive within their ability to be safe.

Safe driving classroom refresher courses designed by traffic experts especially for over age 50 drivers are available in every state. In 36 states and the District of Columbia the legislators are convinced that these classes save lives and property damage. They have passed laws requiring an additional insurance premium reduction for those older drivers who complete such a course. Such courses are available also on the Internet.
GHD207all rights reserved