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National Roadway Safety Strategy Announced

By General Posts

Thursday afternoon, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced a new national road safety campaign. The plan, known as the “National Roadway Safety Strategy,” comes in response to increased year over year fatalities on our nation’s roadways. In 2020, an estimated 38,680 people died as a result of a motor vehicle crash. Of those, approximately 9% were motorcyclists’ fatalities.

What is most alarming about the increase in fatalities, is that the total number of miles traveled on our roads decreased during the pandemic. Americans traveled 13.2% less miles in 2020 than we did in 2019, but we saw a 7.2% increase in deaths.

The preliminary numbers for the first 6 months of 2021 are also troublesome. From January through the end of June 2021 an estimated 20,160 people died in crashes. That is the largest number of projected deaths in that time frame since 2006.

To combat this trend the plan outlines five key objectives:

  • Safer People: Encourage safe, responsible behavior by people who use our roads and create conditions that prioritize their ability to reach their destination unharmed.
  • Safer Roads: Design roadway environments to mitigate human mistakes and account for injury tolerances, to encourage safer behaviors, and to facilitate safe travel by the most users.
  • Safer Vehicles: Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that help to prevent crashes and minimize the impact of crashes on both occupants and non-occupants.
  • Safer Speeds: Promote safer speeds in all roadway environments through a combination of thoughtful, context-appropriate roadway design, targeted education, and outreach campaigns, and enforcement.
  • Post-Crash Care: Enhance the survivability of crashes through expedient access to emergency medical care, while creating a safe working environment for vital first responders and preventing secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices.

The recently passed infrastructure bill has components and funding to help achieve some of these goals. For example, $14 billion in new funding was specifically allocated for road safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also announced plans this week to increase the data it collects on crashes. The agency wants to boost the number of crashes investigated and add additional studies that examine crashes involving medium-duty trucks, pedestrians, and workers who are hit on the road.

We at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation are encouraged to see that the U.S. Department of Transportation is taking a complete view of traffic safety, incorporating multiple factors to make our roadways safer. We also remain committed to the theory of crash avoidance, as a crash that doesn’t happen is always safer than one that does.

To get more detail and read the 41 page report click here.

About Motorcycle Riders Foundation: The Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) provides leadership at the federal level for states’ motorcyclists’ rights organizations as well as motorcycle clubs and individual riders.
See website at: http://mrf.org/

Red Cross Philippines vows faster, more effective response with motorcycles

By General Posts

from https://mb.com.ph by Dhel Nazario

The Philippine Red Cross vowed on Saturday, Dec. 11, to provide a more effective humanitarian response now that it is more equipped after receiving motorcycles donated by Honda Philippines Inc.

PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sen. Richard Gordon gave this assurance to the public during the ceremonial distribution of Honda motorcycle units to local Red Cross chapters in North Luzon, Central Luzon, South Luzon, Bicol, Visayas, and Mindanao clusters.

Gordon expressed his gratitude to Honda Philippines Inc. President Susumu Mitsuishi for the carmaker’s turnover of 104 motorcycles, complete with insulated top box.

“These motorcycles will level-up the capacity of PRC’s fleet for responding to emergencies. The PRC is now more equipped to provide speedy and effective responses during disasters, public health crises, and other situations that require humanitarian aid,” Gordon said.

Gordon also thanked respected automotive industry parts supplier Eddie Jose as he assured the group of the PRC’s commitment to use the assets to protect the public’s well-being, health, and to save lives.

“Each PRC chapter will use these new motorcycles to ensure faster and easier access to blood, saliva RT-PCR testing, and soon, even first aid assistance. These motorcycles will enable PRC volunteers and staff to quickly reach areas that would be inaccessible to larger vehicles.” Gordon said.

He also reiterated that PRC personnel assigned to use the motorcycles will undergo a series of safety trainings that will enable them to properly handle and operate the units safely especially during high-stress, high-pressure situations.

“The humanitarian situations faced by PRC riders will range from the routine to the extreme. This makes it a priority for us to train volunteers and staff on the safe and proper handling of these vehicles especially during high-stress incidents. We are a staunch advocate of road safety and I want our volunteers and staff to achieve a high level of skill and safety in their use of these motorcycles,” he said.

The initial phase of the training is composed of three hours of classroom lectures and three hours of practical motorcycle handling. Further training will be given as needed to the PRC staff and volunteers.

NHTSA Report on Tesla Crashes

By General Posts

MRF Flash Alert – Tesla Crashes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wrote, in a document released Monday, that it has identified 11 crashes since 2018 in which a Tesla vehicle using the company’s driver assistance system, struck one or more vehicles involved in an emergency response situation. Four of those crashes occurred in 2021.

NHTSA now plans on studying the Advanced Driver Assistance System, otherwise known as “autopilot,” in the nearly 765,000 Tesla vehicles produced between 2014 and 2021.

For several years, the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), in cooperation with our state motorcyclist rights partners, have warned of the need for increased oversight of this new technology. Allowing vehicles to be deployed on our nation’s roadways, that cannot adequately detect and respond to all roadway users, is dangerous. Regulators and auto manufacturers should work together to ensure tragic crashes, like the ones found in this report, never happen again.

To read the brief report from NHTSA on the Tesla crashes click here.

About MRF: http://mrf.org