Where Workers Present Video

www.michigan.gov



(To Print: use your browser's print function) Release Date: July 18, 2012

Last Update: July 18, 2012

Contact: Jeff Cranson, MDOT Director of Communications 517-335-3084

Agency: Transportation



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MDOT puts zero fatalities video on YouTube

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July 18, 2012 -- The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has posted a new video to its YouTube channel on www.youtube.com/michigandot. The three-minute video reinforces MDOT's goal of zero highway deaths by interviewing Michigan residents.



MDOT, and members of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), is focused on a "Toward Zero Deaths" highway safety strategy.



State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle, who serves as the 2012 AASHTO president, said that MDOT, along with other state departments of transportation, is using engineering, behavioral and enforcement initiatives to save lives by reducing highway fatalities.



"State DOTs are working aggressively to dramatically reduce the death toll on U.S. roads over the next two decades. While zero deaths might seem an impossible standard, it is our goal," Steudle said. "Even one death is too many."



More information about MDOT's highway traffic safety initiatives is available on the MDOT Web site at www.michigan.gov/highwaysafety.



Don't Barrel Through Work Zones! - Drive Smart to Stay Alive.



Copyright © 2012 State of Michigan





http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_11057-282654--,00.html

More than 8,000 Motorists Cited for Not Buckling Up; 157 Agencies Stepped Up Seat Belt Enforcement during Click It or Ticket Campaign

Contact: Lynn Sutfin, OHSP, (517) 241-1513


Agency: State Police



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More than 8,000 Motorists Cited for Not Buckling Up; 157 Agencies Stepped Up Seat Belt Enforcement during Click It or Ticket Campaign

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During a statewide effort to get motorists to buckle up, law enforcement agencies in 26 counties issued 8,050 seat belt and child seat violation tickets, nearly 1,000 fewer citations than during last year's enforcement effort.



Preliminary reports from police agencies indicate 14,761 vehicles were stopped during the May 21-June 3 Click It or Ticket campaign. The enforcement is part of a national effort to save lives and reduce injuries by increasing seat belt use.



Following the state's record-high rate of 97.9 percent in 2009, seat belt use has declined to 94.5 percent in 2011. Every 1 percent increase in belt use means 10 fewer traffic deaths and 130 fewer injuries. In 2011, nearly 200 people who died in Michigan traffic crashes were not buckled up.



"When properly used, seat belts can reduce the risk of being killed in a crash by almost 50 percent," said Office of Highway Safety Planning Director Michael L. Prince. "Efforts like Click It or Ticket are an opportunity to remind motorists about the importance of buckling up."



In addition to seat belt violations, 95 drunk drivers were arrested during the enforcement period and 53 drug arrests were made. More than 1,000 tickets were written for uninsured motorists and 535 for suspended licenses. In Detroit, a seat belt stop resulted in the arrest of a federal fugitive. While in Allegan County, a driver with unbelted young children in the car fled from police on foot and was arrested under the state's high blood alcohol content law.



Ten people died in traffic crashes over the Memorial Day holiday period. Of those, two were not wearing a seat belt, three were motorcyclists and two were riding off-road vehicles along the roadway. This is an increase from the 2011 Memorial Day holiday period when nine people were killed in traffic crashes.



Grant-funded counties participating in the Click It or Ticket campaign included: Allegan, Bay, Berrien, Calhoun, Chippewa, Delta, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Houghton, Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Livingston, Macomb, Marquette, Monroe, Muskegon, Oakland, Ottawa, Saginaw, St. Clair, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne and Wexford counties.



Officers will again take to the streets working stepped up drunk driving patrols July 1-8 and Aug. 16-Sept. 3, during the heavily traveled July Fourth and Labor Day holidays.





Copyright © 2012 State of Michigan


http://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,4643,7-123--280916--,00.html

Distracted-driving crashes, Day 2: From the police files

Published: Friday, February 03, 2012, 11:13 AM     Updated: Friday, February 03, 2012, 2:25 PM

By John Barnes | jbarnes1@mlive.com
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Courtesy photoOn Feb. 1, 2008, a cellphone-distracted driver veered across three lanes of I-96 in Grand Rapids, hitting this disabled car that had pulled off the highway. The car's driver was knocked through the air.

The following examples of crashes involving cellphones and other forms of distracted driving are from police reports filed with the Michigan State Police.

AUG. 30, 2010; 11:52 A.M.
Where: Jenny Street, Bangor Township, Bay County
What happened: A 24-year-old Freeland woman is driving west on Jenny, a one-way street near Columbian Road. She is talking on her cellphone when she attempts a left turn from the middle lane of the three-lane road. Her Dodge Intrepid strikes the Pontiac Montana to her left. The Pontiac then crashes into the Sunrise Family Credit Union sign. The Pontiac driver, a 41-year-old Saginaw woman  suffers minor injuries.

AUG. 17, 2010; 9:40 P.M.
Where: South Main Street, Plainwell
What happened: An 18-year-old is texting while driving his Chevrolet Lumina when it crashes into a parked Jeep. The Jeep is pushed 30 feet into a telephone pole, and sustains significant damage. The teen is cited for texting while driving.

AUG. 12, 2010; 9:56 A.M.
Where: I-696; Warren
What happened: A 2010 Toyota driven by a 35-year-old Grosse Pointe Woods man drifts from its lane and strikes the center median, causing the air bag to deploy. The driver tells police he was distracted by his cellphone and coffee. The man is taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

JULY 28, 2010; 12:26 A.M.
Where: Wealthy Street SW, Grand Rapids
What happened: Witnesses say a 19-year-old is on her cellphone when she crashes her Honda Accord into the back of a stopped Pontiac Vibe on Wealthy near U.S. 131. The impact pushes the Vibe into a Chevrolet Impala, which strikes a GMC pickup’s trailer. No one is hurt.

JULY 17, 2010; 5:11 P.M.
Where: Elizabeth Lake Road, Oakland County's Waterford Township
What happened: A 31-year-old driver is rounding a curve when she loses control and her 1997 Buick hits a Chevron sign before striking a mailbox and a tree, then continues across a driveway and hits a cement pole and a fire hydrant. The car comes to rest on its roof. Police report both a cellphone and alcohol are involved in the crash. She is taken to the hospital and arrested for drunken driving.

JUNE 30, 2010; 3:31 P.M.
Where: South Washington Avenue, Holland
What happened: Two northbound vehicles are stopped for traffic near West 34th Street. A trailing car crashes into the back of one car and pushes it into the other. The 21-year-old at-fault driver “stated her cellphone rang and she was distracted looking for it and was unable to stop in time,” reports show.

RELATED LINKS:
• Overview of MLive's findings
• Is Michigan's text messaging ban too narrow?
• Family scarred by crash
• Woman crippled by texting teen
• The entire 'Distracted Driving' series
-- Return tomorrow for more examples from the police files.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/distracted_driving_from_the_po_1.html

First of five traffic safety stories on MLive.com

Today is the launch of the first of the traffic safety stories that will run for five days on MLive.com and its affiliated sites, and for four days in all seven Michigan newspapers' print publications beginning Sunday.

Here's a link announcing the effort:
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/distracted_drivers_taking_a_to.html

Distracted drivers: Taking their toll on the roads (Coming Thursday)

Published: Wednesday, February 01, 2012, 7:00 AM     Updated: Wednesday, February 01, 2012, 10:55 AM

By John Barnes | jbarnes1@mlive.com
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File photoCellphone use by drivers is involved in 800 to 1,000 crashes each year in Michigan.

In counties all across the state, distracted drivers are taking a toll as they text, talk and read messages on their cellphones.

Most times the damage is measured in dollars, from dinged bumpers to crumpled fenders. Sometimes the cost is much higher, in pain and suffering, and worse.
Just one day ago, a state trooper was jailed for six months in the death of a 16-year-old in Ionia County. The off-duty trooper reached for a dropped cellphone. He did not see the teen pushing a disabled moped.

Courtesy photoFind out what a 17-year-old driver's last words were, as she talked to a friend on her cellphone before this crash.

Beginning Thursday, the new MLive Media Group will begin a five-day series of stories examining a problem one federal safety official says is becoming the nation's "new DUI. It's becoming epidemic."

Using information from the Michigan State Police Traffic Crash Reporting Section, reporters analyzed a decade's worth of accident data ranging from distracted driving in general to those involving cellphones specifically.

They also reviewed hundreds of police crash reports, to identify and interview those who know firsthand the lasting impact such crashes can have.

The effort involved reporters from MLive news operations in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Flint, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Muskegon, Jackson, Saginaw and Bay City.

In coming days see where the crashes are happening, find out who are the worst offenders, and learn what's being done about the problem.

In the process -- through their words, photos and multimedia -- meet some who lived, and some who died, in crashes experts say could be avoided.

Email statewide projects coordinator John Barnes at jbarnes1@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JB_Barnes.

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/distracted_drivers_taking_a_to.html

States, Counties, and Cities has Partnered with R.O.A.R.R. during Road Rage Awareness Week - July 10-16, 2011-

Road Rage affects everyone! Every year for the past 6 years R.O.A.R.R. has advocated against Road Rage behavior. During the second week of July, this year it is July 10-16, 2011, there has been a Road Rage Awareness Week Campaign which gives that extra "PUSH" to raise awareness of Road Rage and educate on the causes, effects and the prevention of Road Rage.

R.O.A.R.R. has partners with the State of Michigan, Montana, Iowa, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Alabama; Counties and cities throughout Michigan are also on board in encouraging all residents of their state to promote the prevention of a dysfunctional act and to be considerate of other drivers.


R.O.A.R.R. is encouraging all states, counties and cities to proclaim "Road Rage Awareness Week - July 10-16, 2011".

Whereas, A study by the AAA Foundation indicates that an average of at l,500 men, women, and children are injured or killed each year in the United States from the violent acts of road rage; and,

Whereas, The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration defines Road Rage as an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapons by the operator or passenger(s) of another motor vehicle, or an assault precipitated by an incident that occurred on a roadway; and,

Whereas, Reaching Out Against Road Rage, Inc. (R.O.A.R.R., Inc.) is committed to the task of stopping the killing, physical injuries, and mental anguish by partnering with States and their communities to reprogram the destructive attitudes and behaviors that cause Road Rage;

Now, Therefore, be it Resolved, That I, ________________, (governor,mayor, commission), do hereby proclaim the week of July 10-16, 2011, Road Rage Awareness Week. We will make efforts to assist in saving lives from the senseless acts of Road Rage and the behaviors that can lead to Road Rage.
or

10 Useful Tips to prevent Road Rage

1. Don't retaliate. Never take the other driver personally, he/she is only reacting on a road rage instinct.

2. Don't make eye contact with an angry driver.

3. Before you react to anything that is done to you please ask yourself, "Is getting back at this person worth my life?"

4. Be polite and courteous, even when others are not.

5. Always ask yourself: "Could the other driver have possibly made a mistake?"

6. If you are harassed by another driver and being followed, do not go home. Go to the nearest police department.

7. Slow down and relax!

8. Never underestimate other drivers' capacity for mayhem.

9. Reduce your driving stress by allowing enough time to get where you are going. Know the roads that are under construction and listen to weather reports that may cause traffic delays. Practice patience and keep your cool.

10. Remember that you cannot control the drivers around you, but you can control the way they affect your well-being. Be calm and drive safely.

Avoid Aggressive Driving behavior

1. Plan ahead and allow enough time for delays.

2. Give driving your full attention.

3. Don’t take your frustration out on other drivers.

4. Driving is not a contest. It is not about winning.

5. Realize that you cannot control the drivers around you... you can control only the way you react to them.