car accident

Most Car Crashes are Preventable

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A lot of times it is hard to write posts for Fix The Toaster. Sometimes, a certain issue has been rattling around in my head and other times I will simply Google "car crash."

Sadly, not many articles about what we can do to lower the statistics pop up but rather more sad stories of people dying.

The headline of this story grabbed my attention. That is a story, if it remains the same, that really is a pure accident. An older man suffered from a health problem and veered into oncoming traffic. I understand accidents do happen.

This article is interesting as authorities explain why these fatal crashes were preventable.

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. -

Burrillville police said Friday that three crashes in two weeks on Route 102 – two of them fatal – were the result of drivers making bad decisions.

Locals say a particular stretch of Route 102 is notorious for accidents, but police said the road is not to blame for the recent tragedies.

"The cause of each accident is driver error. These accidents have been preventable, unfortunately," Col. Stephen Lynch said at a news conference.

 

The first crash, on July 5, killed 37-year-old Massiel Ortiz, of Providence, when she made an abrupt U-turn into oncoming traffic. Her two daughters were injured, along with the driver of an oncoming car and his son. Police said the illegal U-turn led to the tragedy.

 

Six days later, 19-year-old Shannon Heil, of Burrillville, was killed when she veered into the wrong lane and struck an oncoming minivan. Markell Torres, 19, of Easthampton, Mass., who was riding in the backseat without a seatbelt, was also killed.

 

"We believe that Shannon Heil was distracted, looking down at her cell phone between her legs, just seconds prior to the crash," Lynch said.

On Monday, 21-year-old Daniel Wilson struck two other cars near East Avenue, sending a woman to the hospital. Police said Wilson ran a red light.

 

Police said the three crashes are a good reminder that when you're driving, the best place for your phone is safely put away in the backseat so you won't be distracted while you're behind the wheel.

Burrillville police said they'll launch a social media campaign on Facebook aimed at safer driving. The state Department of Transportation will do a long-term study of Route 102, looking for ways to make the area safer.

"The important thing to remember is that we can't fix this problem through engineering alone. We are all challenged to give our full attention to the road," said the DOT's Robert Rocchio.

Starting immediately, drivers in Burrillville will see increased patrols with help from Rhode Island State Police. Officers will crack down on speeding and distracted driving, as well as look for drunken drivers.

Their goal is to make sure no more memorials line the roadway.

Some Car Crash Facts

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I just Googled "unusual car crash facts" and came across an article by InfoBarrel. Here are the facts with my *thoughts. 1. About 40% of crashes that are fatal involve alcohol. If the accident takes place between midnight and 3am the percentage increases to about 75%.

***having been a waitress I can unofficially confirm that most people on the roads in the evening have been drinking. I used to be amazed at the amount of drunk or highly buzzed people getting into their cars at the valet line as I walked back to my car after my shift. So, there's my research there. Oh and just living life, I think we might be able to concur on this fact. Although MADD has done an AMAZING job at helping lower the amount of drunk drivers!

2. On average 15 pedestrian school children are killed by school buses each year. These deaths tend to take place between 3pm and 4pm on weekdays.

**This is news to me.

3. Survey's suggest that male drivers cause twice as many accidents as female drivers.

**I can say that the couple of times I have felt very unsafe have been with young male drivers. Either trying to show off for me, this was a long time ago, or show off for the other males in the car. I believe this one. Which make me wonder, ladies does a speeder turn you on or a safe driver?

4. Different types of car accidents include head on collisions, rollovers, rear enders, suicides, side impacts and more. The most deadly of these accidents are the vehicle rollovers.

**My best friend in LA died in a rollover in 2008 here. Sucks all around.

5. People between the ages of 16-20 face a higher chance of being injured or killed in a car crash over any other age group.

**disheartening, teenagers are such a different mentality. I kind of understand this one.

6. Most car accidents actually occur within 5 kilometres from home. There is a common misconception that car accidents occur while travelling to a vacation destination, but this is not the case.

**Easy to forget this one.

7. Car accidents are the most common and most deadly source of personal injury in the world.

**Hellooooooo world. Let's change this.

8. Cars that are more prone to accidents are sports cars and hatchbacks. Although cars that have a bigger engine that have the greatest chance in being in a car accident.

**Wondering what the variable is, the sports car or the driver of a sports car? Why do cars with bigger engine have the greatest chance of getting into a car accident? That requires a google or my human google machine, my spouse. OK just googled it and Freakonomics answered that. Here is what they say:

Ever since the SUV craze began in the late 1980s, we’ve all known that heavier vehicles are safer for those driving them, but more dangerous for others on the road. Which is why we all started driving them.

We show that, controlling for own-vehicle weight, being hit by a vehicle that is 1,000 pounds heavier results in a 47% increase in the baseline fatality probability. Estimation results further suggest that the fatality risk is even higher if the striking vehicle is a light truck (SUV, pickup truck, or minivan).

9. Each year, approximately 300,000 teens are injured in a car crash. In the United States alone 5,000 teens die each year. On average that equals to 14 teens a day.

**Very sad. Moms, we need to change this stat. Stat.

10. Your chances of getting into a car crash while talking on a cellphone increases by 400%.

**Get off your phone while driving. Get your friends of their phones. Get your mom off her phone and dad. Never, ever worth it.

Taking Action to Bring Attention to All These People Dying By Car Crashes

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OK. So, I don't have all the answers about what to do. I'm trying to bring about discussion and awareness to the fact over 1/2 million fellow Americans have died in car crashes since 9/11.

What color ribbon do I wear for that cause? Oh wait. Nothing. We are currently accepting this statistic as a given because our roadways have become a place of battle. Literally we are killing ourselves and each other.

I did indeed put pen to paper though and wrote a letter to a local paper.

Here is it.

Chances are maybe one person will begin to think differently about the importance of driving their 5,000 vehicle close to 40 next to my 26 pound toddler next time we pass on the street.

Certainly the man who tailed me down our loverly quiet street yesterday didn't read it or doesn't really give a....

Well anyways, it's a start.

I encourage you to write your local paper. I'd love to hear about it!! Let's get this movement going.

 

Conversing With People About Car Crashes

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More than 1,000 children and young adults are killed in car crashes. [youtube=http://youtu.be/3MKVtsLkGOc]

"She hit my daughter with her 5,000 pound SUV." That resonates.

Every day.

http://youtu.be/rr7TfwtO17I

Every single day.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/VAsBc6cswl8]

And yet we are accepting this as OK. Bring up the conversation with your family over Thanksgiving. I'm curious to hear what they'd say. Do they blame car crashes on luck, fate, other bad drivers? Ask them if they speed. Do they text and drive? Do they think everyone on the road is a jerk?

I actually like most people. I'd say I like 99.9% of people I meet.

For as many poor judgements I see taken on the road I remind myself I would probably enjoying talking to the person behind the wheel.

Let's start talking about this.

And make it so that 1,000 children and young adults are not dying every day in car crashes.

Modern Society Forgot About The Pedestrian

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I do a lot of walking. Mostly because I have 3 kids and by walking I can usually strap one down into a stroller and I can just zone out and walk. Having just left the narrow, windy Hollywood Hills I was used to beaten up sidewalks and a few yahoos cruising up the hills. It wasn't exactly family friendly.

Well now I live in a "family friendly" neighborhood. It does not have sidewalks. And it is not congested. The speed limit is 25. And most people do between 30 and 40.

It is beyond frustrating. I've talked to two women who have stopped walking their kids because they feel it is unsafe. And these are ballsy, cool women.

Our school has sent out a letter to us parents saying "we have a problem" that an area where parents are dropping off their kids is not safe.

People are speeding.

I sometimes walk thru town pushing my baby. I constantly feel as if I'm narrowly escaping being hit. Sometimes, I'll drive to The Rose Bowl and walk around there. Cars routinely fly by at 40.

I'm beginning to feel like we have lost the right, as human beings, to walk safely around. Now maybe it's because I live in LA and I'm paranoid ;)

But honestly, it feels as if our society has been built around cars and f$%^ you if you slow one down.

A great article by Alexander Friedman on LA.StreetsBlog.com addresses this. He says,

It’s time for City of L.A. to step-in, and to build the environment for people, not cars. It’s time to give our sidewalks the deserved width and aesthetics, implement decorative crosswalks, plant deciduous trees and creating buffer zones, build pedestrian plazas, and get rid of blight and concrete.

I’m an advocate for sustainable, family-friendly infrastructure, and decided to create renderings of improved sidewalks.

I like that he says, "pedestrians are treated like second-class citizens.."

I agree. Do you feel safe walking around your neighborhood?

I read recently, on Twitter, that there is a proposal in some European town to reduce the speed to 20 MPH. Traffic calming is a new phrase to me.

According to Wikipedia, In its early development in the UK in the 1930s, traffic calming was based on the idea of residential areas protected from through traffic.

I like that word protected.

We should protect ourselves from cars. We are fragile. Driving a car fast does not give you a big penis.

It does not make you a bad ass chick.

Being bad ass to me, is having the control to slow down and be courteous of life walking by.

My neighborhood is incredibly quiet, it should be filled with people walking around. But it is not due to people not feeling safe. That's a shame.

A friend of mine is a huge fan of walking, Alissa Walker is a well known blogger based out of LA who walks and takes public transportation. Her blog has a lot of insight into doing just that.

Thanksgiving is One Of the Deadliest Holidays

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Sorry, that is not a very uplifting title. But is is the truth and the truth seems to be ignored or accepted and that, to me, is ridiculous.

According to an article from Forbes:

In 2008, "502 people were killed on the road that day. On a typical day, 102 people die in traffic accidents. Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for AAA, says the combined factors of more than 50% more drivers on the road and higher-than-usual alcohol consumption contribute to its danger."

502 people died on Thanksgiving!!! In their cars.

That's nuts.

Yet, we don't talk about it. When I talk about it often I'm met with smirks. But when I keep talking people usually become somber and say, yeah, yeah, it is weird.

I hope you and your loved ones have a safe and nice holiday.

The facts are a lot of people will die in the next week in car accidents. But I guess that is currently the American way. My family will be on the roads as well. It is hard for me to put us in a car, zipping along, knowing the numbers in my head. On California freeways. But I don't want my fear to cripple me or my kids. So I will put my beloved treasures out there. And just hope. While of course, driving as safely as I can.

Ray LaHood Answers a Fix The Toaster Question

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USAA was taking questions for Ray LaHood so we asked one.

We asked, 

 @usaa #drvchg It seems the # of pple dying in car accidnts would prompt the label epidemic. Why aren't xtreme measures being taken?

Ray LaHood answered:

@FixTheToaster We asked @raylahood your ? & he answrd: "The key-begins w/ personal responsibility & good law enforcmnt."#FLDDS #drvchg

I'm not sure it totally answers my question but I do like the personal responsibility part.

 

Back Up Cameras Save Lives: Why The Delay Then?

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When I first started driving my Lexus about 5 years ago it came with a back up camera. At first I thought it felt very strange and unsafe to me. I didn't trust it. Image

Cut to today, driving my minivan (gag, I know but so much easier with 3 kids) it is a Toyota Sienna and it too has a back up camera. Now when I get into my husbands car, which does not have a back up camera, I feel like I am backing up blindly. Literally, I can not see and neither can you. People under a certain height have no chance of being seen. At a certain point you really are just backing up hoping a child is not walking behind you.

Fixt The Toaster contributor Scott Marshall has written more about the dangers of it here.

Did you know that there is a federal mandate that was supposed to go into effect for all new 2014 cars to all have back up cameras?

This has been delayed (shocker) over a the camera having a 1 second delay versus is a 3 second delay once the car is started up. The DOT has estimated the backup camera could prevent about 18,000 injuries and save 300 lives a year.

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This was all talked about 5 flipping years ago.

According to an article from USATODAY

The Feds reportedly have insisted on one second; automakers have argued for three seconds, because if the car has just been started, the more complex dash systems with navi, etc., take a moment to "boot up." But the feds say that leaves too much time for the car to move rearward before the image appears.

So 300 more people, normally elderly and kids likely died this year due to this delay. Here is the letter from the Secretary of Transportation Ray La Hood and another article on the delay.

What should we do to? I'm not sure, but here is a link to contact the DOT. Let's hope Ray La Hood get's this going in January. Come to think of it, this guy has a huge task on his hand. I mean, really he is the head of transportation. He's got one hell of a big crisis on his hands if you ask me.

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Discussing Car Accidents with Kids

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I speak openly to my 6 year old and 2 1/2 year old about the power that we humans yield when behind a steering wheel. I often will say, look there goes someone who thinks they are in a big hurry.

But really they are not, will say my 6 year old.

Yep. They'd feel terrible if they hit someone and hurt them, I say back.

I believe humans are, for the most part, good.

When I walk my child to school and people, often moms, barrel by us in their vehicles I joke with my oldest, another mom in a minivan driving too fast.

I am planting a seed, I guess. It is important to me, just as football is to some people. Or the Red Sox is to my husband.

Yesterday my 2 1/2 year old stared at a badly wrecked car. Can they fix it he asked?

No, I said.

Who crashed it, he asked.

I didn't have that answer of course. He stared at the crunched metal and I stared at the back of his sweet head, again struck by the thought of all of us just zooming along, some at 80 MPH, others distracted, others just angry, some trying the best they can on poorly designed roads.

My goal is not too scare them but to inform them of the tremendous responsibility that will be passed on to them one day.

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Our New Contributor: Shannon Noel Webb

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Fix The Toaster is very excited to now have LA based mom, Shannon Noel Webb, contributing to our site. Shannon is naturally funny but she's serious about the impact of car safety. Well the people behind the cars, the whole sha-bang. Here is her first post.

Here is a list of the things I did this morning while driving in my car to work.  I cannot even believe it.  After talking last night and being uber aware I was still doing these things!  Habits run deep.  I like Fix The Toaster.  It is time to break our habits.  Jesus - look at this list!  I'm embarrassed, horrified and feeling fucking luck all in one!  I'm a good driver, a good mom, more responsible and ocd than I like to admit, I know people who have lost loved ones in car accidents, I bit my own tongue off in a car accident when I was 16,  I have been in a car accident where the car was flipped and totaled, and yet I STILL did the following WHILE driving myself to work this morning:

  1. Read the liner notes on a 1987 Tom Waits cassette tape
  2. Cleaned my cell phone headphones with a blanket that I dug out from under the seat and then sprayed with hand sanitizer
  3. Loved on my dog who had found his way from the back of the mini van to the front seat
  4. Fixed my twisted seat belt that was stuck in the contraption that is meant to make it tight should I be distracted and wreck
  5. Searched for, found and turned on the seat warmer
  6. Dug through my work bag for my cell phone charger and then searched for the outlet in 5 different compartments
  7. Reached behind me to the back seat window and detached the built in sun shade so that my dog could stick his head out of the open window
  8. Typed a note into my iPhone calendar and then set the alarm to remind me of this note later
  9. Googled, on my iPhone, the address of my dog's groomer, google mapped it and then programmed it to guide me there from my current location
  10. Ate and apple
  11. Fought with the sports bottled top of my Sigg
  12. Changed the radio station at least 3 times
  13. Searched for and found the button on the radio that adjusts the bass.  Adjusted the bass.  Then the fade. Then the treble.
  14. De tangled my new, gorgeous and very long necklace from my seatbelt
  15. Dug through my wallet to find my hidden nail file/cleaner and then cleaned out my thumb nail
  16. Checked to make sure that neither of my kids was hiding in the back of the car. They were not.  THANK GOD!

My only excuse is that I am not used to driving my min-van to work so it was somewhat new for me.  This would never suffice if, God forbid, I had hurt someone this morning.  And my children would certainly not have accepted this excuse if I had hurt myself, their Mommy.

Malibu Mom

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A very funny comedic, Susanna Brisk, who lives in Malibu recently blogged about her un-funny car accident. 

Susanna is a mother to two and she is a very crass, funny mom, so to her hear her write very sincerely about the scare made me feel for her.

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Thanks for sharing Susanna! I too will try to focus more while driving like you say here:

So I am never, ever changing the station/calling on the phone/turning on iPod/putting on mascara/changing my underwear while driving again (what? Shit happens.) No more. I got a pretty cheap wake-up call considering… If you had seen the car you would be shocked that anyone had walked out of it almost without a scratch.

It’s incredible the lengths G-d will go to, to make me feel lucky to be alive.

Fix The Toaster

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****originally wrote this on August , 2010. Today I wore my dead friend's dress, all day, with the tags still attached.

This dress has hung in my closet for a little over two years.  Since the day I, being the first person to enter her apartment after she died, found the dress hanging in her closet.

I've always eyed it, tried it on and taken it off. It's a sexier little piece then I normally wear. She teased me that I needed to dress sexier, show off more skin. Today, I decided to wear it. The Old Navy tag that told me she paid $34 dollars for it hung in the back and I wore an open mens button down all day, unbottened over it to hide the tag.

$34.

She died when she was 33, two weeks before her 34th birthday which would have been on May 13th 2008.

In January of 2008 I began writing politicians and news people trying to sell them on the fact that I believe too many people were dying in car accidents. I always ended saying I was lucky not to know anyone who had died in an automobile accident. She used to get mad at me saying I invited trouble sometimes by talking or worrying about things.

She died at 6:18PM on May 1st, my husband's 40th birthday. I had put my son to bed at 6:00PM then thought of her and our last dinner out together in Silver Lake(where we would go to look at hot guys with long hair), she told me I should take time to do special things together with my husband.

I was angry at him and tired as we had both been vomiting all week with the stomach bug and he'd been miserable about turning 40 anyways. But I thought of what she said and I brought a cupcake up to him a little after 6PM.

From my window I can see the freeway she died on.

Every night I look out onto the 101 and wonder how could she possibly have gone fast enough to have hit the Jersey barrier, flipped and stopped facing traffic. The site they must have seen.

The windshield came out and went right into her forehead and the steering wheel impacted her chest. Hard.

So hard.

She was running late to a catering gig. She was beautiful. Sweet. The bravest, prettiest woman I've ever met. By far.

Every year around 40,000 people die in the USA alone in car accidents.

That's fucking stupid. If you want my opinion.

When she died the news headline said something like "Traffic snarled for miles due to traffic fatality." As if her death was nothing more then an annoyance to other commuters trying to get home that night.

If the toaster killed 40,000 people annually we would all step back, unplug it then say, "Let's Fix the Toaster."