Hi,

It’s a simple message, but one that is too often ignored. Our society focuses a lot of attention on educating young people on the importance of not drinking and driving, but drivers of all ages are susceptible to doing it. Regardless of who you are; if you drink and drive you risk arrest, personal injury or even death, to yourself and others on the roadway.

There’s a compelling story behind every DUI/DWI-related casualty. Tasha Elliott was the principal of an elementary school. She and her husband loaded their two children into their vehicle after having too much to drink and died when they left the roadway and submerged in a pond.

As was mentioned in a previous blog post and follow-up comments by Kenneth Speegle, the Elliott crash killed a family of four. The possibility of dying probably never entered their minds that evening. As parents they wouldn’t intentionally harm their children. Yet, they’re statistics because they chose to drive after drinking.

As an educator with a life-long commitment to children Mrs. Elliott knew better than to drink and drive or to ride with an impaired driver. Nobody knows who was driving the family car, but both of the Elliott’s were exceeding the legal intoxication threshold. It proves the point that alcohol impairs judgment.

This is a teaching moment for all of us. This couple had a lapse in judgment that had horrifying consequences. It doesn’t mean they were evil people. But it drives home the importance of adhering to the wisdom of thinking ahead. The best time to decide not to drink and drive is before taking that first sip. If you haven’t worked out the details on how you’re going to get home, don’t drink at all.

The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has an alcohol awareness safety campaign. It’s message, “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving”, is accurate, compelling and all too real. There is a fine line between slightly impaired and too impaired to drive. As mere mortals we lack the judgment to know the difference.

Instead of taking chances, take a stand. “Use your head” and “Plan ahead” are more than phrases. They’re common-sense statements we should all adhere to before we put ourselves into the position of having to make this sort of life and death decision. The time to decide whether or not to drink and drive isn’t when it’s time to go home.

Every decision has consequences. Don’t let a single decision or lapse in judgment forever define who you are. Don’t climb behind the wheel after drinking. Don’t let anyone else drive after drinking. Don’t ride with someone who has been drinking. If you’re hosting a party or get-together, either confiscate the keys of your guests before they drink – and have designated drivers available – or don’t serve alcohol at all.

It’s not worth the risk. The price is simply too high.

Safe living,
Yovette Mumford

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Their minivan was discovered on a Sunday morning. A scant 12 hours before they were an active, vibrant family that loved life – and lived it to its fullest. Now they’re dead, the victims not of a drunk or drugged driver, but of a vehicle submersion accident.

Tasha Elliott, the principal of an elementary school, her husband, Kevin, along with their two children, 11 year-old Wyatt and 7 year-old Madison, didn’t die as a result of injuries sustained in a devastating high speed car crash, but because they couldn’t get out of their vehicle when it submerged in a pond.

In the U.S., we have just about every conceivable vehicle safety innovation at our disposal, from curtain side air bags to collision avoidance systems – and more. While these life-saving devices have added thousands of dollars to the price of a new vehicle, they have been credited with saving tens of thousands of lives. Unfortunately, one safety device that potentially could have saved the lives of the Elliott’s and the estimated 300 to 500 just like them who die every year in vehicle submersion accidents, isn’t required equipment on any vehicle. As a matter of fact, it’s not even available to the general public.

A number of years ago a company called Egression Technologies invented a simple, cost-effective device that could help people to escape from a submerged vehicle, when each passing second dramatically reduces one’s chance of survival. The device, called the Escape Tip, is a modified male end of a seatbelt, sometimes referred to as a latch plate, that can cause breakage of a vehicle’s side window glass every time it’s correctly used for that purpose. At this point, neither the auto industry nor government safety regulators seem interested in utilizing it – but they may not be aware of the magnitude of this problem. This tool isn’t rocket science. It’s a small tungsten carbide-tipped device that costs almost nothing to produce.

When a vehicle submerges, it begins taking on water within just a few seconds. The occupants don’t have time to think, plan exit strategies, or attempt to locate a device that could enable them to escape. While there are a number of products on the market (think LifeHammer and similar products) that can do the job, the Escape Tip is a better overall solution for a variety of reasons:
• It forces removal of the seatbelt
• It’s located near every window
• It simplifies the escape process
• It has a very low production cost
• It puts a means of escape into the hands of all vehicle occupants

The established protocol for escaping a submerged vehicle is POGO (Pop Open door Get Out). If the vehicle is rapidly taking on water, the doors may be impossible to open. At the same time, if a passenger manages to get the door open, the sudden rush of incoming water could doom all of the other occupants to a watery grave. This device – or one like it – would at least give all vehicle occupants an equal chance of escape. In addition, in order to get out of the vehicle, all occupants must remove their seat belts anyway. The simple act of removing the seatbelt would put a means of breaking the window into the hands of all occupants. To me, this makes good sense.

While no system is infallible, this is a common sense approach that government and the auto industry should consider. We rely upon our government to mandate safety rules when industry fails to act. All vehicles are now equipped with an inside trunk release in the event that someone is inadvertently locked in the trunk. It didn’t happen very often, but when it did it usually resulted in death.

While I’m angry that nothing has been done – at this point – to stem the tide of vehicle submersion deaths, I realize that anger without action is a futile waste of energy. To be fair to the auto industry, they have been innovative in many areas when it comes to our safety, many times even taking the initiative by developing lifesaving technologies.

Industry has tried to address this issue; now I’m calling on automobile manufacturers to step up to the plate and put some of the greatest engineering minds in the world to work in seeking a viable, cost-effective solution to this problem.

If someone can develop a solution that will solve this problem, I’m all for it. Does it have to specifically be the Escape Tip? Not necessarily. If someone else has a better idea that addresses all of the escape and safety concerns I’ve identified, I’m all for it. Until then, I think it’s the best game in town, but I’m open to any and all solutions.

It’s conceivable that the auto industry isn’t aware of the magnitude of this problem. If it’s not, we can all do our part by bringing it to their attention. A problem cannot be solved until it’s been identified. If we collectively begin lobbying for a commonsense device like this by calling, writing, or emailing all vehicle manufacturers, perhaps the automobile industry will answer the call by giving us what we want. Many times the laws of supply and demand alone are enough to solve problems.

Government legislation isn’t always the best, most expedient solution to a problem and the tragic drowning deaths of motorists should be no different. If, however, the auto industry fails to act, I think government has every right to respond legislatively. The wheels of government can turn very slowly – and sometimes with good reason. In this case, however, I think government should take an active role in addressing this very real problem.

Hearings to explore the best way of addressing this problem would be a good start. Moreover, I think legislation could ultimately be an excellent strategy to reverse this problem. Maybe the time has come for the Tasha Elliott Vehicle Escape Act. If this is what it takes to dramatically reduce the number of people who meet such a tragic end, I’m all for it. Regardless of the ultimate solution, I think special effort should be made to ensure that costs are kept to a minimum and that the technology be mandatory – and identical across all product lines – as in the case of the seatbelt. In addition, I think simplicity should be at the heart of any solution implemented.

The problem of vehicle submersion deaths may not seem like a problem worthy of government intervention, because only 300 to 500 people per year die in this fashion. However, when you break down the numbers, one person every 30 hours drowns inside a submerged motor vehicle. Since 1960, about 20,000 people have perished.

Would the implementation of a new federal regulation or Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard do much to save lives – and if so, how many would be saved? That’s unclear; what is clear, however, is that giving victims a simple tool with easy to remember instructions would be a dramatic improvement over the system currently in place. It would give victims like Tasha Elliott and her family a fighting chance.

She wasn’t just an anonymous face in a crowd of 20,000 drowning victims. She was also the beloved principal of an elementary school in west-central Illinois. Her death left a community stunned and hundreds of children confused about how a minor accident could forever, indelibly mar their earliest childhood memories.

Instead of collectively shrugging our shoulders, shaking our heads and doing nothing, we can all work together today to ensure that yesterday’s victims did not die in vain. There’s no better way I can think of that we can honor their memories than by preventing senseless tragedies like these from happening again tomorrow.

Be safe,
Kenneth Speegle

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Please click on ”Auto Safety: Preventing Submersion Deaths“ to read the new version of ”Government Inaction Puts Our Safety at Risk”.

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Hi,

Taking images to help us remember the most pleasant events is something each of us has done at one time or another. At an earlier time, people would sing about having photographs and memories of significant events in our lives. With the advent of the digital video camera, we now talk about images and memories.

Camera - In-Car Camera - Road Safety Guard - Record Scenery while Traveling

When we go out for some skiing this winter, or just to take in the outdoors or explore the places we visit, you may want to have an in-car camera to shoot the scenery while you’re busy minding the wheel. Everything that’s out there on the road may be safely captured in real-time video with the in-car camera that you can install in minutes (without any special tools). All the images you want will be filed in a secure memory card that can store up to 2Gb of images (equivalent to about 5 hours of recording). A 1Gb memory card can hold 2.5 hours of recording time. You won’t have to worry about power, as it can use 12V DC, by plugging into your car cigarette lighter, or 3 size AAA batteries.

But it is not only scenery and majestic mountains that can be stored here. Winter is a very cruel season for driving, and the road conditions may be quite treacherous. It is good to have a record of driving conditions that you can provide to law enforcement authorities and insurance companies in the event that something untoward happens ─ accidents just come without notice. You can get very disoriented after an accident, and you don’t always remember things before a crash.

The in-car camera, in this case, becomes useful not only for recollection but also for protection. Not physical protection during a crash, but protection of the knowledge of the exact road conditions, the weather, and the traffic that prevailed at the time of a crash. It can also be protection of your financial health afterwards, since you can use the images taken by the in-car camera as evidence in case it’s needed.

The in-car camera can give you some peace of mind and a sense of security that everything on the road as you drive is properly recorded. At the very least, it ensures your nice memories are safe. And when it matters, it ensures you have a back-up to your memory. Life has no reset button, think safety.

Safe living,
Yovette Mumford

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Nation’s Bridges Face Increase Scrutiny In light of Wednesday’s I-35 Minneapolis bridge collapse, officials are scrambling to …Full article Can Technology Make Bridges Safer? The U.S. Department of Transportation had declared that “no imminent dangers were observed” on I-35 Bridge in Minneapolis. This was …Full article

Hi,

As the country reels from the horrific tragedy that befell in Minnesota this past week, the nation’s bridges must face increased scrutiny to prevent this from occurring again in the future. On Thursday of this week, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters signed off an advisory that was sent by the Federal Highway Administrating, requiring all state transportation departments, the responsible agency, to conduct thorough inspections of all steel-deck truss bridges. This is the specific type of bridge that collapsed in Minnesota this past Wednesday.

According to federal highway officials, in the United States, there are 756 such spans. Constructing steel-deck truss bridges was popular during the late 1800s and early 1900s. There allure was that there were no piers within their structure, just a single span. This allowed freedom for boats and barges, no obstructions, on the waterways below. Construction of these bridges began to fade in the 1940s as engineers became more aware that due to their lack of redundancy–backup structures–these bridges could collapse with the failure of one single component.

The Minnesota bridge that collapsed on Wednesday evening was among the last bridges to be built using this technique. It was built in 1967. Most of these bridges still existing are older than the one that befell in Minnesota. This is frightening.

With the steel-deck truss bridge technique abandoned in the 60’s, currently there remains five popular forms of bridge construction: suspension bridges, cantilever bridges, cable stayed bridges, beam bridges and arch bridges.

All bridges, irregardless of structural construction, are negatively affected with age.

The older the bridge, the more likely they are to have rust, flaking surfaces or erosion eating deeply into or under the main pieces of steel or concrete that hold them up. State transportation departments must immediately begin the inspection process using age of the structure as a critical factor in determining order of inspection.

The training our engineers are receiving must also be assessed. Ironically, only in the field of bridge engineering does the structural engineer design a complete unit of construction and hold a dominant position. All other structural engineers are actually a sub profession with interests and education in some other form of engineering, such as civil engineering.

Throughout America, we must face the reality of our aging infrastructures. Just this past July 18^th, in New York an underground steam pipe exploded in midtown

Manhattan, resulting in one death and numerous serious injuries. The vast majority of the Northeast side of the country was in a complete blackout for days last year, drawing our attention to the state of our national electrical grid. Hurricane Katrina alarmed the country of the status of our levees and dams. In 1993, cryptosporidium bacteria invaded

Milwaukee’s water supply, killing over 100 people and sickening the entire city.

We cannot have a “no-policy-without-a-catastrophe” attitude any longer. It is time our elected leaders and officials realized that aging infrastructure is no joke. There are lives at stake.

Since life has no reset button…tune into this blog and our website daily. Safe Living, Yovette Mumford

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