Photo Enforcement Helping Bring Red Light Runners to a Stop

Kelly Messerschmidt

Technical Communications Manager

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

Because police can’t be everywhere at once, red light cameras are being used more and more to enforce motorists’ coming to a stop at red lights. In fact, studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and others have found a 40-96% reduction in the number of people running red lights at intersections using this type of photo enforcement. Watch a YouTube video about red light cameras.

The IIHS reports that, in 2009, crashes caused by red light runners resulted in 676 deaths and an estimated 130,000 injuries. Obviously, enforcing drivers’ stopping at red lights has great ramifications for public safety.

You might be surprised at just how common red light runners are. In a AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety telephone survey conducted in 2010, one-third of the drivers reported having run a red light in the past 30 days—even though 93% of them said they thought doing so was unacceptable if stopping safely was an option. Other studies cited by the IIHS report that about three drivers per hour run red lights at intersections lacking the red light cameras. See how your state’s automatic enforcement laws measure up.

Contrary to what some think, red light cameras do not actually take a photo of every car driving through a particular intersection. Instead, the camera automatically photographs any car whose driver runs the red light. Red light cameras have been used for decades and have proven to be extremely accurate and reliable.

What constitutes one’s running a red light? It’s pretty simple. Running a red light is defined as the driver entering the intersection after the light has turned red. However, those who inadvertently find themselves in an intersection when the light changes to red are not considered red light runners. Who are the most likely to run a red light? An IIHS study conducted in 2009 found that red light runners were more likely to be younger (under 30), male, and have poor driving records with incidents of prior crashes, alcohol-related driving convictions, and speeding and other moving violations.

Read Q&As from IIHS about red light cameras.

SAE to Hold 2011 EDR Symposium, June 6-8

Kelly Messerschmidt

Technical Communications Manager

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) will hold an Event Data Recorder (EDR) Symposium at the Institute Conference Center, in Danville, Virginia, June 6-8, 2011.

MSC’s Bill Messerschmidt will be speaking at the EDR Symposium on analyzing driver behavior using HVEDR data, during the second Unique Applications session, on June 8^th. This year’s event marks the fourth EDR Symposium held since 1999.

The SAE 2011 EDR Symposium includes 38 speakers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden. These 38 speakers include university researchers, government researchers, trucking company executives and safety managers, industry engineers and executives, and consultants. Read about the speakers.

Technical sessions include Video Data Recorder applications, Standards Development, Passenger Car EDRs, International Activities, and Unique Applications.

You can learn more about the 2011 EDR Symposium at the SAE website. The links on the page include registration, travel, and exhibitor information, as well as speaker bios and descriptions of the technical sessions.

New Child Seat Study by the Pediatric Academic Societies

Kevin Jones

Technical Analyst

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

Results from new research by the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) highlights potential safety hazards when it comes to children staying properly restrained in child seats. The study was led by Lilia B. Reyes, MD, clinical fellow in the Department of Pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. PAS surveyed 378 parents with children ages six years and younger. Parents were asked when their children began to self-unbuckle themselves while in vehicle restraint systems.

The results from the study are as follows:

• 51% of the parents reported that their children unbuckled their child safety seats while in vehicles;
• 43% of the children that unbuckled themselves did so while the vehicles were in motion;
• 75% of the children unbuckling their child seats were three years of age or younger, with the youngest reported age being 12 months;
• More boys than girls unbuckled themselves (59% were boys; 42% were girls).

The study performed by PAS was a pilot study and does not address the issue of whether the child restraints were installed properly. Read more about the study, "Little fingers, big trouble," which was released on May 1, 2011.

Kevin Jones is a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician. He volunteers for Children's Hospital in Birmingham, where he installs child safety seats for the public. Email Kevin Jones.

Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, AL DPS Field-testing eWeight, Aiding Efficiency of Weight Crews

Kelly Messerschmidt
Technical Communications Manager

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

Placing limits on how heavy a load a trucker can legally carry is a frequently debated issue. Facing pressure to move larger loads, some trucking operations view fines for weight limit violations as part of the price of doing business, and they haul heavier loads than they are permitted to.

Illegal overloads create serious problems for truck stopping distances, overall highway safety and the integrity of road pavements, and they also maximize demands on truck weight enforcement units. Without enforcement, law-abiding trucking companies face a competitive disadvantage when they comply with the law and others don't.

According to the Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS), Motor Carrier Safety Unit weight crews in Tuscaloosa and Montgomery are currently field-testing eWeight, an electronic/paperless system for filing weight reports. EWeight will improve the efficiency of the DPS Motor Carrier Safety Unit by eliminating the many hours needed to manually input data from the 4000-6000 paper forms processed each month. In addition, the electronic system will help truckers by decreasing the amount of time spent at weigh stations and giving them more on-duty hours available to move freight.

EWeight automatically calculates axle weight, and the statistical information it generates will improve the efficiency of weight crews. The eWeight system follows other electronic systems such as eCite and eCrash, which were developed for the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC)’s Alabama Dashboards for Visualization, Analysis and Coordinated Enforcement (ADVANCE) program, by The University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety (CAPS). Learn more about ADVANCE. Read an article about the Alabama initiative in the May 5, 2011 edition of The Blue Light.

Following the 4/27/11 Tornado Outbreak... How You Can Help

Bill Messerschmidt

Manager

Messerschmidt Safety Consultants

The recent tornado outbreak spanning Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia was the deadliest outbreak in the United States since 1932. Considering the huge advances in communication and forecasting technology since the days of the Great Depression, the death toll is staggering.

The photo above was taken by Birmingham, AL resident Greg McNair of Aerial South just before the FAA declared a “no-fly zone” over most of Birmingham. View a larger image. The path of the tornado is clearly visible, from Concord, AL, in the bottom left, moving toward Downtown Birmingham in the top right.

People from far and near have been stepping up to help the victims of the tornado, as well as helping the families and communities located in and around its path. If you know of other organizations or charities collecting donations or other ways to help those in need, please leave the information as a comment to this post.

The needs are great. Here are some ways you can help.

Text REDCROSS to 909999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross, or visit the Red Cross online.

Text GIVE to 80888 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Teams, or visit The Salvation Army online.

Help Mission Birmingham: fill out Mission Birmingham's form online.

Give to Samaritan’s Purse.

Check out Toomers for Tuscaloosa on Facebook (even if you’re not an Auburn fan or alum). At the time of this posting, there are 73,682 people "liking" this page and helping out!