NHTSA Announces New Final Rule on Truck Stopping Distance

This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published their new Final Rule on air-braked truck stopping distance. The new rule was published in the 27 July Federal Register. (Download a pdf by clicking here).

The rule is a 38-page amendment to 49 CFR 571. Here are some of the highlights:

• Generally speaking, the stopping distance requirements are 30% more stringent in the new Final Rule than in the current version of 571.
• Truck tractors, when loaded to their Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR), must be able to stop in 250 feet from a speed of 60mph.
• Truck tractors, when loaded to their Lightly Loaded Vehicle Weight (LLVW), must be able to stop in 235 feet from a speed of 60mph.
• Three-axle trucks with a GVWR under 59,600 lbs will have to meet the standard by 01 August 2011.
• Two-axle trucks with a GVWR over 59,600 lbs will have to meet the standard by 01 August 2013.

These stopping distances work out to an acceleration rate of -15.456ft/s^2 to -16.422ft/s^2 (in other words, a drag factor between 0.48g and 0.51g). Although it's not uncommon for a well-maintained tractor trailer to achieve drag factors in this range today, increasing the minimum requirements will almost definitely encourage implementation of air disc brakes, like the system pictured above. Other solutions, including hybrid drum/disc systems, more aggressive brake pads, or larger brake drums may also be used.

NHTSA expects the new Final Rule to save 227 lives per year, as well as to prevent 300 serious injuries and over $169 million in property damage each year. If their estimates are even close to correct, the new Final Rule will be a great one.

The Life-Saving Potential of Technology

A few weeks ago, we were introduced to a new product that is getting some very well deserved media attention. The product is called Zoomsafer, and it's a mobile phone application that works to prevent (or at least discourage) texting and e-mailing while driving. The application installs on your mobile phone, where it detects motion. At this point, it automatically enables a message that will let your callers know that you are driving and temporarily prevents you from texting or e-mailing. The application can even update a user's Facebook and Twitter status.

Why is that important? Consider this: According to a 2006 study by NHTSA and Virgina Tech Transporation Institute: in 80% of crashes and in 65% of near crashes, the driver was distracted within three seconds of the incident. The leading cause of that distraction? Cell phones.

Links to that study and other NHTSA-funded research on driver distraction and fatigue are available here.

And if you're still not convinced that cell phone use (even hands-free) is dangerous, take a look at this article from the New York Times.

Given the size and scope of this problem, which certainly doesn't seem to have gotten better since 2006, Zoomsafer is very exciting piece of technology.

A product demo is available here, and you can see Zoomsafer's CEO Michael Riemer on Fox Business News here.

This is exciting stuff, and at MSC we're excitedly awaiting the release for Windows Mobile.

Law Enforcement and Occupational Safety

The July 2009 Research Bulletin, published by the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) has some disturbing and sad news. After reaching a 20-year low, line-of-duty deaths for police officers increased 20% for the first half of 2009. Between January 1 - June 30, 2009, 66 law enforcement officers were killed while serving the public.

The NLEOMF report highlights the fact that for the 12th year in a row, traffic crashes were the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths. So far this year, traffic crashes have claimed the lives of 35 officers, while shootings claimed the lives of 22 officers.

This 20% increase is striking, considering the fact that 43 of 50 states now have a "Slow Down, Move Over" law that applies to police, fire, and EMS vehicles. This American Automobile Association (AAA) chart shows which states have the law and what is required by it.

Clearly, there's a problem. As a former police officer, I can vouch for the long and very valuable hours of Officer Survival training. However, when traffic crashes kill 50% more officers than shootings, it seems that that the law enforcement training industry should address this seriously and scientifically.

ANY officer killed while serving the the public is a tragedy, regardless of whether the cause of death is a shootout or a vehicle crash. But until we stop writing off preventable traffic crashes as "accidents" and start viewing them as preventable mishaps (the way NASA does or the way the USAF does), we're unlikely to see much change.

Working WITH the Driver

We recently had the opportunity to see a really great application of Human Factors/Cognitive Science to traffic safety. The photo above shows a speed limit sign on a roadway around a shopping center in Fultondale, Alabama. Do you notice anything strange? Of course you do! That is precisely why this sign is so effective.

Humans are biased toward remembering distinct events--events that “stick out like a sore thumb.” This cognitive bias, called the Von Restorff Effect, often gets us in trouble because we remember unusual events so well that we overestimate their likelihood. An example of this is people worrying more about being struck by lightning than being injured in a car accident.

In the case of the 27mph speed limit sign, the designers employed the Von Restorff Effect to help us remember the speed limit! This is an excellent example of Human Factors being creatively applied to traffic safety.

Holiday Traffic Safety

With Independence Day around the corner, many of of us will either be driving or will have loved ones driving to visit us. The staff at MSC is looking forward to friends and family visiting Birmingham from Florida, Colorado, and Virginia. Meanwhile, we'll be traveling to assignments in Mississippi, Arkansas, and other parts of Alabama.

According to the Alabama State Troopers, 16 people lost their lives in traffic-related fatalities during the 78-hour Independence Day Weekend period last year. This year, the Alabama Troopers will conduct an aggressive enforcement campaign to try to curb those numbers. Read the article in the Montgomery Advertiser here.

Going hand-in-hand with enforcement is education. America's Road Team has several great recommendations for safe driving. These recommendations are worth keeping in mind year round:

• Plan your route
• Bring extra water
• Be aware of truck blind spots
• Slow down
• Use your cell phone after you are safely parked
• Don't cut off large trucks (or anyone else!)
• Wear your seat belt

The whole article is available here and is definitely worth reading before you take to the highway this 4th of July.

From all of us at MSC, have a safe and happy holiday, and remember to thank the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who continue to the keep the Greatest Nation "The Land of the Free."

Technology and Distracted Driving

June 28th is the last day of the National Safety Council's National Safety Month. Their 2009 campaign has addressed Teen Driving, Fall Protection, Overexertion, and Distracted Driving. Because of MSC's focus on highway traffic safety, I thought this final week of the campaign warranted an additional post.

Distraction is often defined as when a driver focuses his or her attention on something other than the driving task. When this happens, perceiving the nature of a potential roadway hazard and responding to it takes longer.

"New" technologies (cell phones, wireless e-mail, and so on) have received quite a bit of unfavorable attention as potential distractions. However, the real problem is that drivers misuse the technology: they send text messages while driving and have cell phone conversations that are intense enough to create a high mental workload. If we are honest, a) I think we all know better, but b) we all do it anyway, at least occasionally.

Since we can't put the technology-genie back in the bottle (and we wouldn't want to even if we could), and because we generally do a poor job of changing people's driving behaviors, this is an area where we will have to rely heavily on other technologies to assist educators and enforcers in keeping roadways safer.

One great example of engineering technology coming to the rescue is a new product called Zoomsafer. MSC doesn't have any interest in this company, we don't receive any kickback from them, and we haven't studied it ourselves (or seen other peer-reviewed studies of it). However, these folks definitely have the right idea: use technology to assist the user and make his or her experience better and safer.

Zoomsafer may or may not work--I've signed up to be a beta customer so I can find out for myself. And the product is still in its infancy (it's still signing on beta customers). But this is absolutely on the right track: making people's lives better and safer with technology, and then finding an effective way to bring that technology to market.

Distracted Driving: The Final Week of National Safety Month

The final week of National Safety Month focuses on Distracted Driving.

With the increasing number of available in-vehicle technologies, drivers and companies are facing many new challenges. Cell phones, in-vehicle e-mail, and in-cab messaging or routing systems can create large efficiency gains for companies. They can also help drivers stay in touch with friends, relatives, clients, and co-workers while away from home. But the price of these efficiency and quality-of-life improvements can be huge if the the technologies divert attention from the driving task.

As seen in the photo above, there can be plenty of potential hazards on the highway. Technology isn't going away, and it isn't going to become less commonly used; as drivers, managers, and trainers, we will have to find ways to integrate technologies into a safe driving experience. This will mean well thought out and properly enforced policies and driver training that specifically addresses the issue of in-vehicle technology.

Another critical aspect of safely integrating technology is research in the fields of engineering and human performance. Research in these fields is ongoing at many of the top universities in the US, UK, Australia, and throughout Europe.

The NSC offers four tips for mitigating driver distraction:

* If you need to use your cell phone while driving, pull over and put the car in Park.

* Hands-free mode does not make a cell phone safer.

* Avoid driving when fatigued.

* Crash rates for teenage drivers who transport teenage passengers increase with every additional passenger. Limit who rides with your teen!

The NSC sums it up like this: "When driving, keep you mind on the road and your hands on the wheel."