News

New data from the National Safety Council (NSC) found the U.S. traffic fatality rate jumped 23.5% in May, compared to the year prior, despite the number of vehicle miles driven in that month dropping 25.5%.

The virtual sessions will provide motor carriers, drivers, safety technology developers and users, safety advocacy groups and more — as well as members of the public – an opportunity to share their ideas on improving trucking safety.

While PM inspections and service help keep trucks in top operating condition, fleets shouldn't overlook the additional value of the data collected during those events to help make other decisions.

In the United States one child dies from heatstroke in a vehicle every 10 days, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Since 1998, there have been more than 850 pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths.

What first was imagined as a “Bicycle Beltway” has evolved into a transportation plan for walkers and bikers approved by D.C.-area leaders in order to create seamless paths for travel regionwide.

Uncertainty remains for the operational impact as 57.1% of respondents said it was unknown at this time if they would have additional reduction in workforce in the next six months.

Roanoke has launched a safety campaign called "Every Corner is a Crosswalk" to call attention to the duties of drivers and pedestrians to be more careful. The city hopes to reduce the number of crashes between vehicles and people walking.

Bicycles do not significantly reduce passenger car travel speeds on low speed, low volume urban roads without bicycle lanes.

Getting a driver’s license, one of the biggest teenage milestones, has been put on hold in recent months, with closures at the DMV and wait lists at driving schools.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on July 23 unveiled guidelines that technology innovators can follow to help them engage with the federal government as they develop new projects.

As we get older, we likely will notice physical changes that can make certain actions such as moving our foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal more challenging. Driver safety requires more than understanding road signs and traffic laws states.

Corporate fleet safety management practices like driver training, fatigue risk management, in-vehicle monitoring systems (IVMSs), and strong mobile phone policies can reduce the number and severity of motor vehicle crashes.

Safety advocates joined federal and state transportation agencies recently as the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a virtual safety summit with the first of three webinars to discuss ways to reduce pedestrian fatalities on the nation’s roadways.

Federal trucking regulators are seeking information on the safety operations of small commercial trucks and vans making deliveries for online retailers and grocery stores that seem to be increasing in number in recent months.

The study finds that widespread adoption of crash avoidance technologies available today and other existing safety systems could save upward of 16,800 to 20,500 lives annually, according to Consumer Reports.

In 2018, the most current year available, NHTSA data reveals pedestrians accounted for 17 percent of all road deaths, up from 12 percent in 2009, and reportedly reaching the highest number in thirty years.

Self-driving vehicles will need not only to obey traffic laws but also to adapt to road conditions and implement driving strategies that account for uncertainty about what other road users will do.

Despite the importance of a reliable transportation network, upkeep of critical infrastructure is being neglected across the country as roads, bridges, and railroads age.

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) continues to safely reopen customer service centers for specific services by appointment only. Another three locations will reopen on July 20.

Proper training and mentoring can help ensure younger truck drivers filling the void left by those retiring from the industry develop and maintain safe driving habits.

In a study in the July 2 edition of the Journal of Adolescent Medicine, researchers at Yale identified some of the factors contributing to delaying driving licensure, or DDL, and pointed to policy changes that could expand safety training regardless of age.

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare — inadvertently leaving an infant or toddler in a hot vehicle. Because there is so much going on in today’s world, especially in the midst of a pandemic, it can happen to anyone.

A growing number of vehicles in virtually all classes and price points either come standard with or are offering a sophisticated range of driver-assist features engineered to help motorists avoid getting into crashes.

The nation's truck drivers are among those who are risking their personal health and doing the hard work to keep products moving to stores, hospitals and elsewhere. And their effort is being recognized.

Operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a major safety issue, especially for commercial truckers. It is important for carriers to pinpoint the telltale signs of marijuana use and enforce anti-drug-use policies in the workplace.

Law enforcement will be paying closer attention to unsafe driving behaviors of both truck and car drivers July 12-18 as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week.

When enforcement begins in January, it’ll be a primary offense, meaning police can pull you over if they see you on your phone. The penalty is a $125 fine for the first offense and $250 for the second, or if you were caught in a construction zone.

Even though state police did its part to enhance its response times and traffic safety enforcement efforts, too many motorists still put their lives and others at risk during the holiday weekend by failing to drive smart, safe or sober.

Americans took 2.8 billion fewer total trips during the 4th of July week this year than they did in 2019. That overall drop is supported by similar declines in the number of trips per day throughout the week.

While many people associate risks on the road with the winter season, there is plenty of danger looming during the warmer months if drivers aren't careful.

A new law takes effect starting this week, which will make crossing the road easier and safer for pedestrians. On Wednesday, July 1, the new law requires drivers to stop and not just yield for pedestrians at crosswalks in all lanes.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), working with the Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), launched a statewide survey on Monday, June 29 to gauge the impact of coronavirus on commuters.

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced that they will implement a new method for passenger vehicle road skills testing while incorporating social distancing.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, heatstroke is one of the leading causes of vehicular not-in-traffic non-crash-related deaths for children under 14.

Senate Bill 437 (Protection of Bicyclists and Other Vulnerable Road Users) makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to operate a vehicle in a careless or distracted manner if serious bodily injury is caused to a vulnerable road user.

Establishing a true safety culture requires accountability, empowerment, and airtight communication — as well as a clear understanding of the common causes of roadside inspection violations.

As temperatures across the country continue to climb this summer and states begin to reopen, the National Safety Council is calling on Americans to educate themselves about the dangers of pediatric vehicular heatstroke and how to prevent it.

As traffic volumes begin rebounding as COVID-19 lockdown orders are relaxed, renewed emphasis is being placed on highway work zone safety especially as higher incidences of speeding recorded during the pandemic are abating only slowly.

Virginia State Police announced Thursday, July 2, that it will increase patrols from 12:01 a.m. Friday through midnight Sunday as part of Operation Crash Awareness Reduction Effort.

American Trucking Associations and ATA's Share the Road highway safety program offered safety tips to help holiday travelers take precautions when driving this Independence Day weekend.

Preliminary estimates based on April data from all 50 states indicate that for the second straight month, Americans did not reap any safety benefit from having less roadway traffic.

As the adoption of autonomous vehicles spreads, roads could be made even safer and more efficient with intelligent infrastructure and traffic management systems, such as smart traffic signals, and even robot traffic controllers.

According to Arrivalist’s Daily Travel Index, which uses GPS data to monitor road trips of 50 miles or more, car travel has increased each week since April. The Memorial Day weekend had the most dramatic uptick in 2020 road trips.

The state transportation board says that while fewer people have been on the roads due to coronavirus shutdowns, there’s a concerning uptick in the number of traffic deaths where victims are speeding and not wearing seat belts.

According to preliminary data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), from March 13-May 21, 2020, speed-related fatalities make up about 50% of the overall fatalities, which is greater than in the same time frame in 2019 (42%).

Truck drivers have been among the front-line responders to the pandemic, delivering medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and ensuring that store shelves across the country remained stocked with essential goods for consumers.

Previously, the DMV had allowed all driver’s licenses expiring on or before July 31 to be extended until August 31 at the latest, registrations expiring in June got 60 days, and those expiring in July got a 30-day extension.

The Virginia Department of Transportation studied the stretch of West Main Street between Hopeman Parkway and Old White Bridge Road. The area has seen hundreds of crashes over the years, some fatal.

This year, 46 million Americans say they plan to hit the open road in a recreational vehicle (RV), up from 25 million in 2019, as coronavirus lockdowns force travel lovers to look closer to home for their holiday getaway.

As a growing number of states emerge from COVID-19 isolation, the AAA Foundation’s Traffic Safety Culture Index serves as an important reminder that when drivers return to the road, they need to leave their bad habits behind.

With many opinion polls showing deep skepticism among Americans about self-driving cars, the effort aims to boost public awareness. NHTSA plans “online mapping tools” that will eventually show testing locations and activity data.

Crash data shows that for every mile driven, drivers between the ages of 16 and 17 are three times more likely to be involved in a deadly crash than adults are.

Known as the AV TEST initiative, a catchy acronym for Automated Vehicle Transparency and Engagement for Safe Testing, the public will be able to see the log online and also sign-up to be emailed whenever the latest info is posted.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is hoping for input on a planning study to consider potential safety and operational improvements along a five-mile section of Route 460.

Between 1998 and 2019, Maryland has had 14 pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths. Virginia has had 26 and D.C. has had one. Each of these deaths is heartbreaking news. However, one possibility for the lower number compared to past years is the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

From a distance, transportation researchers at Virginia Tech are finding creative ways to continue educating teenage drivers, as well as those with more experience, on safe driving behaviors.

To keep the roads safe National Highway Safety Transportation Administration (NHTSA) recommends that drivers and passengers avoid distractions, stay sober, always wear a seat belt and make sure that children are in the correct car seat or booster seat.

A yearlong study of where and why crashes are killing and injuring people on D.C.-area roads is over, and local leaders are reviewing ideas to help make roads safer.

As driving begins to return to normal levels across the country after months of lockdown, motorists may fall back into bad driving habits. Even though drivers know that their risky behavior is wrong, many do it anyway, particularly those involved in a recent crash.

The project costs $3.5 million and will remove portions of the outdated high-trafficked highway that present operational and safety challenges. The section is along Virginia Beach Boulevard between Clarence Street and Newtown Road.

New research by insurance comparison website The Zebra reveals that motorists continue to engage in distracted driving, which goes beyond smartphones. In addition to nearly two-thirds of those surveyed admitting using their phone while driving, motorists are finding more creative ways to engage in distracted driving.

Holding a device in itself while driving will not be a violation, but holding one while talking into it, using a touchscreen, pressing buttons, or using it in other ways will be a violation, according to the ordinance.

As the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) continues gradually reopening across Virginia, several more customer service centers, including in the Shenandoah Valley, will be opening back up next week.

IIHS research has shown that manufacturers will need to design self-driving vehicles specifically to prioritize safety over other rider preferences to eliminate the majority of today’s crashes.

With Summer coming around and temperatures rising its important to remember to not keep children or pets locked in hot vehicles. If you won't be able to bring pets or kids inside with you then they should be kept home, not left in a vehicle.

Blind spots can create particularly dangerous situations for drivers, including back up crashes due to the rear blind spot, and cyclist and pedestrian collisions due to nearside blind spots.

Determining the root cause of why a driver's eyes are off the road early can help mitigate crashes and improve safety. Even seemingly minor distractions can have a devastating impact on the safety of drivers and the motoring public.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has awarded a $4.5 million contract for a road project in Roanoke. The road improvements will take place on Route 419 and is intended to make a handful of changes to decrease congestion and to provide safer conditions for pedestrians and bikers.

A new article, published online by the Work Research Group at Vanderbilt, takes a hard look at transportation modes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic using mathematical analysis and basic laws of traffic to explore scenarios of increased car commuting. Through their work, the researchers predict a sweeping switch to single-occupancy vehicle commuting and resulting risk for extreme traffic in large metro areas.

Making stops along the way for gas, food, or bathroom breaks can put you and your traveling companions in close contact with other people and surfaces.

States are starting to open again after shelter-in-place orders to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and in response, government fleet managers are changing the way they do business. For some, that means more employees are back at work and for others, it’s the opposite.

During the peak of our stay-at-home order, data from the Virginia Department of Transportation shows an unprecedented drop in traffic volumes and crashes in Hampton Roads.

Statewide stay-at-home orders prompted by the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in various trends related to traffic volume and safety, according to transportation experts.

The National Transportation Safety Board is calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to adopt limo safety reforms in the wake of the Schoharie limo crash.

Reducing traffic deaths caused by driver error has been the main promise of self-driving car technology, a promise industry has used to justify billions of dollars of investment and the rush to get automated technologies on the road.

Motor vehicle-related traffic fatalities were down 1.2% in 2019 despite a 0.9% rise in vehicle miles traveled, according to preliminary data released in May by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an average of almost 30 people a day die from drunk-driving crashes, equaling more than 10,000 deaths a year.

SADD and The National Road Safety Foundation, a non-profit group, are mounting a massive social media campaign to call attention to a host of safe driving issues from distracted and drowsy driving to impaired and aggressive driving.

Using remote driver training to reinforce the safety knowledge of drivers can go a long way in protecting carriers by making fleets safer, which also helps save money and keeps drivers on the road.

To make the busy thoroughfare safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, the city has lowered the speed limit on the stretch through the resort area.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is still seeking public comment on a plan that seeks to alleviate traffic congestion along the heavily traveled Route 460/College Avenue corridor in Bluefield, Va.

NHTSA has developed a new Safety Passenger Enhancement Plan with implications for the wider autonomous shuttle industry throughout North America.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will unveil a new ad campaign, reminding drivers to slow down and practice safer driving habits as coronavirus restrictions are lifted and they return to the road.

With more people than ever staying home to lessen the spread of COVID-19, their sedans, pickup trucks and SUVs are parked unattended on the streets, making them easy targets for opportunistic thieves.

Adolescents can be some of the scariest drivers on the road because inexperience behind the wheel and the urge to text during a drive make them dangerous to other drivers.

The crash data from the last decade are alarming, and with the combination of COVID-related factors at play this year, it’s essential for parents to talk with their teens now.

Traffic congestion is a serious problem in the United States, but a new analysis shows that interactive technology is helping in cities that use it.

The relative safety of American motor vehicle activity as a measure of fatalities per 100 million miles driven isn't quite its all-time best, but it's not far off. Driving is significantly safer than it was even 25 years ago.

It only takes a second, but it can have life-long repercussions. Texting and driving may seem innocent enough (and it's certainly tempting to do), but every year thousands of faultless drivers and passengers are killed due to the negligence of other drivers.

Despite less traffic on the roads due to the coronavirus pandemic, eight people died on state highways over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, and reckless driving citations and DUIs were only slightly down.

The new speed limits will drop from 25 mph to 20 mph, but only on certain streets. The reduced speeds are aimed at increasing pedestrian safety.

With road accidents claiming many lives every day, it has become essential for the transport industry and governments to invest their money towards safety.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued an alert to help protect people who use rideshare services from contracting COVID-19

The latest poll to affirm this deep distrust comes from Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE), a coalition of industry players and nonprofits aimed at improving the public’s understanding of autonomous vehicles.

There are going to be a million studies on the corona virus and its impacts in the years and decades to come, but we're already getting data about driving and public transit, and what it means going forward.

As the nation seeks to reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, National Transportation Safety Board officials are encouraging increased road safety to support the action.

One of the many critical components in your car are your brakes. Modern cars are equipped with disc brakes that help you stop while driving and is the first line of defense in the event of a mishap.

The higher fatality rates run counter to previous recessions, when the number of fatalities per miles driven fell, Kolosh said. "Something very different is happening in this current circumstance with this pandemic," he said.

As Americans plan for life after pandemic lockdowns, many want to avoid public transport and use a car instead, straining already underfunded transit systems and risking an increase in road congestion and pollution.

The Global Fleet Conference will be presented this year in various digital formats through the month of June 2020, and with topics tailored to meet today’s needs under the title “Preparing for the New Normal.”

The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically cut down on car traffic on many of D.C.'s streets. Council Members are hoping that it drives a more permanent shift.

Since 2018, the day has been set aside to recognize the importance of transportation relative to all Virginians. This year, VDOT announced the focus is on honoring the frontline transportation workers and the critical work they do.

Addressing anticipated $50 billion decrease in state transportation revenues due to COVID-19 seen as vital to funding needed repairs and modernization to improve rural conditions, support economic recovery and boost safety

More children ages 5-14 go to emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries than with any other sport; many are head injuries,” NHTSA states. “Like car crashes, bicycle crashes can happen at any time.

Faced with criticism for allowing teenagers to obtain driver’s licenses without taking a road test, Gov. Brian Kemp issued a new order Tuesday requiring the tests.

While most trucking industry events have either been rescheduled or cancelled, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s 2020 Operation Safe Driver Week will go on as scheduled, July 12-18.

While touchscreen infotainment systems have brought unprecedented levels of convenience to car owners, interacting with the digital displays is distracting drivers and could prove deadly due to slowed reaction times.

The defunct Washington Evening Star newspaper ran a series of punchy, illustrated columns called “Why Must They Die?” which brought the topic to the public and revealed assumptions behind traffic safety programs from that time.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the publication of its long-awaited final rule on changes to the hours of service (HOS) regulations.

Beginning this July, “Helen’s Law” will require private property owners to trim back or remove vegetation within five feet of the pavement if it blocks the view of drivers.

Efforts to emphasize seat belt use, the dangers of speeding, and greater motorcycle awareness are just some of the safety campaigns being initiated by state departments of transportation across the country.

During the annual meeting of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Committee on Safety May 11-13, members discussed a number of ways to ensure a tight focus on improving traffic safety despite uncertainties created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the fall election season.

Less traffic during COVID-19 may not mean fewer fatalities. You would expect crashes, injuries, and fatalities would be significantly less than pre-COVID-19 times; but, that is not necessarily the case.

Fleet video telematics provider Lytx shared new insights about changes in driving risk tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated guidelines to help control the spread of the virus.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that effective immediately it is making permanent a pilot program that will not count a crash in which a motor carrier was not at fault.

Stories of animals in car engines are nothing new, but with fewer people driving and NYT reporters apparently scanning Twitter for story ideas, it became obvious that there's been an increase in rodent in-vehicle habitation.

If we didn't remember (or appreciate enough) that the U.S. auto industry was the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II, what they're doing now brings that history sharply back into focus.

Fatalities in crashes involving at least one large truck are projected to have increased by 1% in 2019, while overall traffic fatalities are projected to see a decline.

Volvo Car AB is grappling with plant shutdowns and layoffs, but one thing it’s not doing amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is pumping the brakes on autonomous driving development

Whether you're driving alone late at night or picking the kids up from school, you've likely seen unsettling driving behavior that's made you wonder: "Am I sharing the road with a drunk driver?" Certain days are significantly more dangerous on the roads than the rest of the year.

The resident of Powell, Ohio, has been a safety advocate for Safe Delaware in Delaware County for the past nine years, her focus is on sober driving, seat belt awareness and distracted teen driving.

Global Youth Traffic Month every May brings the grim reminder that traffic crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for teens. Last year, nearly 2,500 young people in the U.S. died as a result of crashes

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that states can apply for funding to help drivers learn about and repair open safety recalls on their vehicles.

Motorcycle crashes involving another motor vehicle continue accounting for nearly half of all motorcyclist fatalities in the United States. Motorcyclists are inherently at more risk than motor vehicles.

While driving under the influence was once the major focus of safety on the road, distracted driving of all kinds has gained national attention in recent years. Texting and driving has proven to be the latest serious road hazard; it has cost a number of lives, and 42 states have developed laws and campaigns against it.

The year 2020 dawned with a severe hit by the ever-powerful tsunami of COVID-19. Now, no day goes by without a deluge of scary reports in daily newspapers, TV and radio describing in graphic details, the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) is collaborating with stakeholders in the manufacturing, infrastructure owner-operator, and public safety communities to study challenging, dynamic scenarios involving automated driving systems, such as encounters with public safety providers. The team will also address ways to facilitate communications between these systems and their supporting physical infrastructure.

In just a few weeks during the coronavirus pandemic, carsharing has pivoted to a new business model to serve essential workers in healthcare, food service, and deliveries who don’t have reliable wheels or want to avoid the health risk of public transportation.

As the daily coronavirus death toll slowly falls in Italy and cities in the country make plans for reopening, Milan is beginning to transform 22 miles of local streets, adding temporary bike lanes and wider sidewalks, and lowering the speed limit.

Deaths from traffic violence have declined sharply because of the COVID-19 shutdown — and a new study shows that states and their residents are seeing a financial benefit.

Automakers and technology companies are coming out with features aimed at reducing injuries and deaths related to distracted driving. Edmunds experts have selected five new car technologies designed to reduce distraction and help make you a safer driver.

Under a new executive order given by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, teenagers within the Peach State will no longer need to pass a formal driving test in order to secure a driver's license. Instead they'll just have to get the 'A-okay' from their parents.

Fleet managers are being warned of the increased likelihood of distracted driving when drivers get behind the wheel again when the coronavirus pandemic lockdown eases.

Cities around the world are seeing dwindling numbers of fossil-fuel powered cars on their streets, and many are planning to keep it that way after lockdowns ease.

Although the number of traffic accidents has dropped dramatically in the DC region during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people dying in crashes has not fallen nearly as much and police say the reason involves speed.

Virginia DMV Highway Safety Office Director John Saunders said as of April 24, crashes overall in Virginia had decreased nearly 80 percent since Gov. Northam’s stay-at-home order went into effect in March but the number of fatal and non-fatal speed-related crashes increased compared to 2019.

An IBM survey of 14,000 people has found that people plan to use personal transportation more, while using public transit and ride-sharing services less, in the post-pandemic environment.

According to new studies, statewide lockdowns may be helping lower the number of traffic fatalities. Many states, such as Illinois and Michigan, reported the number of fatal crashes dropped 57 percent and 67 percent respectively due to less traffic on the roads.

As Americans remain at home, many roads in cities, suburbs and rural areas are practically deserted. But the absence of traffic is a seductive draw for one type of driver: speeders.
“People are saying, ‘Wow, the roads are wide open. There’s no one here but me,’” said Pam Shadel Fischer, a senior director at the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices. “We’re seeing incredibly crazy, off-the-chart speed and aggressiveness.”

The best way to drive safely during the pandemic is not to drive at all. But if you have to travel, several experts offered tips on how to make sure you and your loved ones get there and back safely.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) this week is joining transportation leaders around the country in reminding drivers that safety must always be top of mind when traveling through work zones.

Autonomous vehicles can speed up economic growth by improving issues with house affordability and mobility. However, it will come at the cost of more congestion on the roadways.

A parent’s most important job is to keep their children safe. Imagine then, hearing your elementary school aged child say to you, “Mom/Dad, I don’t feel safe when you drive me and look at your phone.” For many parents that would be incredibly upsetting.

Movement data pointed to an increase in vehicle activity on Easter Sunday in several U.S. counties. This revelation comes as many states urge residents to avoid nonessential travel to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Netradyne released findings from a recent online survey of commercial drivers that indicates commercial drivers feel safe but acknowledge they could be safer, and that AI-powered driving technology can be both beneficial and concerning. Conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Netradyne, 350 commercial drivers over the age of 18 were questioned for the survey.

This resource page is dedicated to topics specific to the coronavirus and includes sections focuising on best practices, blogs, webinars, and all of the latest fleet news covering of the pandemic.

America's roads are a lot less congested, due to coronavirus shut downs that have kept millions of shoppers, commuters, and vacationers parked at their homes.

Each fleet has a DNA of sorts, which is comprised of the procedures and regulations that are codified in its corporate fleet policy. It is these policies that determine the type of fleet that is operated and its characteristics.

Even as populations are homebound and cities have been brought to something of a standstill around the globe, there are people and goods that need to move, and especially now they need to do so efficiently as well as safely.

From Los Angeles to New York, London and Berlin, coronavirus lockdowns have drained traffic from normally crowded roads. That has opened space for drivers who want to defy police warnings and automated traffic enforcement systems to go racing in the streets. In London and Los Angeles, police said they have clocked drivers zooming down streets at over 100 miles an hour(160 km/h).

Motorists on a typical weekday log roughly 200,000 trips on North Carolina’s Triangle Expressway in the Raleigh-Durham region, many of them commuters headed to the state’s Research Triangle Park. But on the first Monday in April, just 69,000 tolls were collected.

Almost 231,000 American bridges — more than a third of the nation's bridges — need repair or should be completely replaced, according to analysis of federal data by an infrastructure investment advocacy group.

As more states issue stay-at-home orders, businesses shutter and employees work remotely where possible during the coronavirus pandemic, data shows that the U.S. is seeing an unprecedented reduction in traffic levels.

“I’m 51 and healthy, but I don’t want to get on the subway,” said John Donohue, a Brooklyn-based artist who bought a bike two weeks ago. Donohue, who doesn’t own a car, says he’s not sure when he’ll be comfortable on mass transit again.

State departments of transportation across the country are grappling with a growing safety issue related to the start of National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) on April 20: more frequent incidences of speeding due to reduced traffic volumes resulting from COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

Something like 42,000 lives could be saved and 150,000 serious injuries prevented by 2030 if all new cars in G20 countries were required to have electronic stability control (ESC), an inexpensive crash avoidance technology, starting this year.

Traffic around the country has plummeted since governments began enacting stay-at-home ­orders amid the coronavirus outbreak, but data from vehicle navigation systems and other monitors shows many of us are still out of our homes and on the road.

As rush hours all but disappeared in major U.S. cities last month, travel speeds on major roadways rose dramatically during Friday evening and morning commutes, according to data from Inrix, a Kirkland, Wash.-based traffic analytics company.

The COVID-19 pandemic has totally disoriented how fleet professionals are managing their operations. Uncertainty about how long the coronavirus will last is making it difficult for fleets to know how to address their future, though there are practices that fleets can implement today that are aimed at helping them and their fleets move forward.

For the past decade, April has marked National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. This year, however, many organizations involved in spreading awareness are postponing their campaigns to a later date due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Uber and Lyft are a convenient way to get around town and get home after a night of bar-hopping, but crashes involving cars and pedestrians haven't decreased, a new study finds.

Upgrading the nation’s infrastructure is important to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, including assurance that rural areas receive equal treatment relative to metropolitan areas when funds are distributed.

As truckers help supply the nation with essential products during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Virginia DMV is planning to help support them by making most of Virginia's weigh stations rest areas for the time-being.

The COVID-19 virus has continued to spread, and fleet organizations nationwide are reacting. Here’s how a few public fleet organizations are handling the crisis.

Boston, Minneapolis, Oakland and other cities have temporarily banned through traffic on streets, giving pedestrians and cyclists extra elbow room during the coronavirus pandemic.

Being careful behind the wheel is always paramount, but during the current global public health crisis, road safety experts say it’s more essential than ever. Buckling-up, observing speed limits, putting down the cell phone and not driving while under the influence are among the behaviors that can help save the lives of drivers and their passengers and reduce the impact of Covid-19.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a simulation system to train driverless vehicles how to navigate a host of “worse-case scenarios” before cruising down real streets.

In-cab recording technology is often viewed negatively by drivers because they feel “Big Brother” is watching. What can fleet managers and/or owners do to change drivers’ perspectives and get them on board?

The US is counting on truck drivers to help ensure shelves remain stocked as Americans load up on things like toilet paper and canned goods amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A city’s walkability contributes to improved health outcomes for residents, lower crime rates and increased civic engagement. Governments can use data and artificial intelligence to improve their streets for pedestrians.

University of Minnesota researchers have developed an app to warn senior drivers when they are engaging in risky maneuvers and help them pay better attention while behind the wheel.

Distracted Driving Awareness Month, held each April, has been temporarily suspended due to the current coronavirus pandemic, the nonprofit advocacy group said. However, two new studies released in advance of the previously scheduled observance shed light on how states are regulating and enforcing distracted driving.

The Virginia Department of Transportation shared some transportation-related activity pages for kids to color while at home to help keep them engaged.

For the approximately 270 million Americans who are socially isolating because of the coronavirus pandemic, there is a silver lining to the reduced travel on the road: fewer car crashes.

NHTSA to study Automated Driving Systems (ADS) that lack the traditional manual controls necessary for human drivers, but that are otherwise traditional vehicles with typical seating configurations.

A landmark study analysing truck driver performance behind the wheel has provided a world-first window into fatigue and distraction among truck drivers.

Drive Safe Hampton Roads recently recognized 32 local high schools for their participation in the Get It Together Seat Belt Challenge.
Thanks to students’ efforts, seat belt use by teens increased nine points from the Challenge’s starting baseline percentage, making it 89 percent.

Hyundai Mobis said Sunday it has developed a radar-based rear occupant alert system and will introduce it in a number of global carmakers' new vehicles. The rear occupant alert system is aimed at reminding the driver to check the rear seats when exiting the vehicle.

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is wreaking horrifying havoc on every aspect of our interconnected world. Its impact has been particularly notable in the transportation sector.

Flashing LED lights embedded into pavements could improve the safety of pedestrians distracted by their phones, says Australia’s Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Around 120 stops a day, 120 to 140 miles a day and 500 to 700 miles a week.
That’s how far Ron Mackensen, a Port Huron UPS driver, travels for his job, and for 30 years he has driven crash free.

With the efficient movement of freight now a national priority during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has decided to postpone its annual International Roadcheck inspection blitz in 2020.

With the majority of Californians being urged to stay home as much as possible amid the coronavirus outbreak, life is changing rapidly across the state.
Many places are less crowded, including the notoriously clogged freeways. Traffic conditions are so light, in fact, speeding during rush hour is now possible.

To keep the nation’s transportation network functioning in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic, state departments of transportation across the country are engaging in broad array of operational efforts, from expanding overweight truck permits and keeping rest areas open to keeping infrastructure projects on track.

The coronavirus pandemic is leading to reduced highway traffic on American roadways in certain major metropolitan areas as many people begin to telecommute and avoid social interaction.
Congestion is easing in places like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco, according to traffic figures provided exclusively to USA TODAY by HERE Technologies, a location data and technology company with more than 9,000 employees.

Shortly after issuing a nationwide Hours of Service regulation waiver for truckers hauling Coronavirus relief supplies, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) took a moment to thank the men and women of the trucking industry for coming to the aid of a nation in crisis.

There are three components that make up fleet safety, which includes drivers, vehicles, and policy. The third component, fleet policy, should make some consideration to fleet safety.

Historic first step for the agency to remove unnecessary barriers to motor vehicles equipped with automated driving systems

There are three key elements to fleet safety: drivers, vehicles, and policy. Each brings different challenges for fleet managers, primarily in determining what actionable data is needed, where it is, how it can be captured, and what to do with it.

Some drivers are spending more hours on the road delivering emergency supplies because of lifted restrictions, however now, as more counties shut down dine in restaurants they have less places to rest and get food.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today issued an expanded national emergency declaration to provide hours-of-service regulatory relief to commercial vehicle drivers transporting emergency relief in response to the nationwide coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

While there are many offices that are closing down their physical locations and directing their employees to work remotely, there are still many fleet drivers that are out on the road.

Across the United States, the nation's 3.5 million professional truckers are working flat-out to keep stores and businesses stocked as consumers worry about riding out home quarantines prompted by the coronavirus outbreak and try to snap up enough toilet paper, rice, beans, tuna and other staples to get through this period of uncertainty.

As anyone who has ventured out on the highways in the last few days has noticed, the coronavirus pandemic has reduced traffic volumes.

So-called Level 2, or partially automated driving technology, such as Tesla's Autopilot and Cadillac's Super Cruise can control acceleration, braking and steering, among other tasks. But the systems available on vehicles today don't replace an attentive driver with eyes on the road.

No matter how technologically advanced a vehicle might be, fleet safety begins with the driver. Beginning with the hiring process and ongoing throughout a driver’s employment, fleet managers have been challenged not only to make certain drivers are safe, but to assess driver performance, and, ultimately, manage risk.

It appears lack of control remains an issue that keeps Americans wary when it comes to safety and self-driving cars. In fact, 72% said they would feel safer riding in a self-diving vehicle if they had the ability to take over control if something were to go awry.

Fatal car crashes in the U.S. spike by 6% during the workweek following the daylight saving time change, resulting in about 28 additional deaths every year, according to a study.

Susan Moses was biking home from getting a manicure when a Lyft driver slammed into her a few blocks from her Brooklyn apartment. She died in a hospital a week later.

Through the program, troopers use handheld scanners to scan driver’s licenses and vehicle registration forms instead of handwriting information. That means less time spent completing citations, warnings, and collision investigations.
Another perk is that the accuracy of the data improves.

With thousands of motorists passing through Central Garage, going to and from work every day, it is no surprise crashes occur. But, in the past five years, the number of crashes has dropped significantly. While there is no clear reason for the drop, there could be multiple contributing factors.

ile drivers are the final stop in managing risk, evolving vehicle technology has played a big role in risk management as well. The in-vehicle technology that we have now has come a long way, many vehicles now come with semi-autonomous functions as standard features, but it all began with seat belts.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has issued a set of research-based safety recommendations on the design of partially automated driving systems. The guidelines emphasize how to keep drivers focused on the road even as the vehicle does more of the work.

It's no secret that American roads are becoming increasingly dangerous. More so than ever before, it has become a treacherous, dangerous drive each time an American citizen heads onto the roads and freeways.

Fatigue behind the wheel can be deadly, and in response manufacturers are launching more and more wearable technologies to alert drowsy drivers, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Vision Zero is a program that aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries. It was first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, and in the past five years, at least 40 communities in the U.S. have joined the program, according to Leah Shahum, executive director of the Vision Zero Network.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal crash involving a pedestrian and two vehicles.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is planning a Safety Summit on March 19 for motor carriers, drivers, safety technology developers and users, federal and state partners, and safety advocate groups to share ideas on improving truck safety.

If you really want to make trucks safer, you need to have a better understanding of what happens to the truck when it is in an crash, according to Anna Wrige Berling, traffic and control product safety director, Volvo Trucks. “[Volvo’s] Crash Research Team (ART) provides knowledge from real life. Volvo’s safety requirements are based on what we have learned in the field,” she says.

The number-one cause of workplace death is car crashes, according to the National Safety Council. Driver inattention is a big factor leading to crashes, and a preventable one.

The time when teenagers get behind the wheel is perhaps the most harrowing of parenthood. My kids are still years away from this, but I’m already hoping self-driving cars will be ubiquitous by then. Until that happens, parents have another option: monitoring their teens’ road smarts—or lack thereof—through apps.

Marie Snodgrass is still getting used to seeing her oldest son behind a steering wheel after he recently started driver’s training. But her most nerve-racking experience as the parent of a teen came two years earlier — the first time her high schooler rode with another teen driver.

The thing about traffic is that while you're in it, it's an immediate annoyance. You have somewhere to be. You just want to get home after a long day at work. You have to pee really badly -- whatever. That immediacy makes it easy to lose track of just how much of an impact on you it actually has in the grand scheme of things.

As Virginia residents prepare to travel the state’s scenic highways following the winter months, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is offering two words of advice to help motorists avoid collisions and potentially fatal crashes with motorcyclists: Look twice.

As vehicle crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists continue to occur with alarming frequency, law enforcement agencies in the Richmond region and other partners are urging travelers to take simple precautions and to avoid distractions, such as mobile phones and headphones.

As manufacturers and technology developers introduce electric-powered trucks and continue to test automated driving systems, the Technology & Maintenance Council is taking steps to help fleets navigate the complexity of these emerging technologies.

When it comes to advanced driver assistance technology (ADAS) like automatic emergency braking or adaptive cruise control, there is both good news and bad news. The good news is nearly 30 percent of all roadway crashes might be eliminated if consumers widely adopted, and properly used, currently available ADAS features. Over 90% of new vehicles available today offer at least one ADAS system.

A former security officer in Chesterfield County who lost both of his legs in a distracted-driving crash nearly six years ago is making his way back into law enforcement.
Brad Hughes is now a proud deputy with the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system was one of the probable causes of a fatal 2018 crash into a concrete barrier. In addition, the safety board said the driver was playing a mobile game while using Autopilot before the crash, and investigators also determined he was overly confident in Autopilot’s capabilities.

Every company has a corporate culture and if you drill down the corporate strata, every department likewise has its own culture that embodies the management philosophy of the department manager. Fleet is no exception and the fleet manager plays an important role in determining fleet culture, which influences its policies, attitudes, and interactions with user groups, individual drivers, and management.

A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) predicts that 6,590 pedestrian fatalities occurred in 2019, the highest number in more than 30 years.

There are two statistics about London that suggest that the city is struggling with the modern world. The first is that every year 9,500 Londoners are killed by air pollution. The second is that traffic travelling through central London moves at an average of 7mph, slower than the late Victorians did in a horse and carriage.

Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler visited Fox 5 to raise awareness about teen driving safety.

Thanks to cooperation and hard work, both houses of the General Assembly have now given their approval to a commonsense and overdue measure to ban holding a cellphone while driving a motor vehicle in Virginia.

The afternoon light was fading, rush-hour drivers were honking, and the pedestrian signal indicated we had just 18 seconds to scramble across five lanes of traffic, but I just … could … not get my toddler’s stroller over the knee-high pile of grimy snow blocking the curb ramp.

Only six out of 156 2020 vehicle models that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has rated so far come equipped with good-rated headlights, indicating a continued need to push automakers to make headlight safety a priority.

Cars are one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions today. If more people use public transportation, these emissions will be reduced drastically. In a partnership with Dominion Energy, Fairfax County is slated to get the first electric, autonomous shuttle bus in Virginia.

Police are handing out seat belt covers that could put parents of some special needs children and young adults at ease. The covers help first responders at the scene of an emergency on the road identify if a person in the vehicle is on the autism spectrum.

Stateline found that more than 1,620 school children in 38 states have been placed in harm’s way since 2015 by school bus drivers arrested or cited for allegedly driving while impaired.

Many more vehicles are available with headlights that illuminate an acceptable distance ahead without blinding oncoming drivers in 2020 than in previous years. Yet base models with headlights that earn a good rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety remain rare.

Researchers analyzed motor vehicle accident statistics involving adolescents in Fairfax County, Virginia, for two school years before and after the implementation of later school start times. Results show that the crash rate in 16-to-18-year-old licensed drivers decreased significantly.

The private company that runs Virginia's Express Lanes has launched an app that allows for mobile payment of tolls.
Transurban says its new GoToll app is ideal for people who occasionally use Virginia's toll roads but don't have an E-Z Pass transponder installed in their car.

There are countless distractions on and off the road. Many drivers may not be aware of how dangerous each one can be. That’s why more and more companies are using dash cams to help capture, identify, and address distracted driving.

Over the years I’ve met many fleet professionals who are extremely knowledgeable about fleet safety. Yet, I’m always surprised how many don’t regard themselves to be involved in fleet risk management. Effective driver safety is fleet risk management. And, it’s time for them to be recognized as part of the same mission.

Researchers in Ruckersville, Virginia, a small, rural community north of Charlottesville, are putting pressure on automakers, leading them to improve the safety features that could save you and your family in a high-speed crash.

New research issued by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety on February 18 finds that older male adults who give up driving are facing “lower levels of social support” when it comes to advice, suggestions, and information regarding alternative transportation options.

An autonomous car in Arizona was involved in a fatal crash. Permits for pilot projects in the autonomous vehicle space have been revoked. Automaker executives are sharply revising their forecasts—extending the timeline—for autonomous cars to hit the retail market in significant numbers.

A new study claims the Commonwealth of Virginia has the rudest drivers in the country, stating the number of rude drivers in the state is 64 percent higher than the national average.

From public transport to cycling, sustainable transport is on course to overtake driving in the world’s biggest cities within a decade, according to a study released on Monday.

Transportation-related fatalities – which rose slightly to 2,080 from 2,077 in 2017 – accounted for 40% of all fatal work-related injuries.

“In 2020 and beyond, we anticipate fleet safety will remain top of mind for every transportation company and in turn, technology innovation to support these safety initiatives will be more important than ever,” said Eleanor Horowitz, safety product marketing manager of Samsara.

Researchers in Ruckersville -- a small, rural community in Green County, north of Charlottesville -- are putting pressure on automakers, leading them to improve the safety features that could save you and your family in a high-speed crash.

To earn the highest safety honors from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it's no longer good enough for vehicles to protect people inside the vehicle.
They must also protect people outside the vehicle.
For the first time, IIHS is requiring automakers to offer pedestrian-detecting automatic emergency braking systems to receive the group's 2020 Top Safety Pick+ or Top Safety Pick honors.

A Texas family has filed a lawsuit against Energy Transfer Partners, a company whose truck driver was allegedly watching a video on his phone when he hit and killed their son.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs and eight other national fire service organizations are urging drivers to exercise extra caution when approaching emergency vehicles and respect move over laws.

The Virginia General Assembly has the opportunity this session, after recent failed attempts, to reduce a leading cause of fatal unintentional injuries within motor vehicle crashes.

The day you thought would never arrive, has come. With wide eyes and a sweaty brow, you listen as your teen tells you how excited they are to get behind the wheel of the family car. (Gulp)

Police say the driver in the crash involving a Virginia State Trooper has been charged. On Sunday, Feb. 16, at 11:53 a.m. a Virginia State Police Trooper was on a traffic stop with a BMW Sedan, eastbound Route 3 at Dahlgren Road on the right-hand portion of the turn lane.

Road safety advocates are hopeful that 2020 will be the year Virginia requires drivers to put down their phones. For the past two years, despite bipartisan support from lawmakers and the governor, similar distracted driving measures came unraveled in the final days of the General Assembly’s session.

With Super Bowl Sunday in full swing, local government and law enforcement agencies are using social media to remind all football fans that any game plan involving drinking should also include a designated driver in the lineup.

A new survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) found nearly 40 percent of people are sleep-deprived the Monday after the Super Bowl.

We can all agree that walking behind someone who's buried in their phone is annoying.
Now scientists are suggesting it's dangerous, too.
Using your phone as you walk is more likely to cause an accident than taking a call or listening to music, researchers have warned, after analyzing the causes behind hundreds of pedestrian mishaps.

Most testing of autonomous vehicles until now has been in sunny, dry climates. That will have to change before the technology will be useful everywhere.

Motor vehicle fatalities in the U.S. dipped slightly from 40,231 in 2017 to 39,404 in 2018, representing a roughly 2% year-over-year decline, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fleet managers are placing a large amount of focus on several key technological mainstays within their operations. Some of the biggest of these key concepts include Big Data analytics, driver safety, and sustainability.

Distracted driving accounts for hazardous and even fatal accidents. These 25 states top the list as the most dangerous places in the United States for distracted driving.

When asked to make predictions about what we might see in terms of technology-enabled mobility in 2020, I realised that it would be challenging to describe just five trends given how much changed in this area in 2019 and what is likely to happen 2020. There are so many quick-moving parts in the passenger transportation environment that it is challenging to relegate my predictions to only five. So this year, I have expanded my predictions to seven.

Falling asleep at the wheel is a trucker’s worst nightmare. Fatigue comes with the job of driving an eighteen-wheeler, even with rules requiring rest stops and limiting driving hours. Now, new technologies are becoming available to alert drowsy drivers, sometimes even before they feel tired.

A new survey by TheZebra.com, an online insurance site, found that 28% of Americans don’t wear their seat belt while in the back seat of a ride-share vehicle. Comparatively, just 10% of Americans said they don’t wear their seat belt while in their own car.

Turning the clocks ahead one hour in the spring and losing an hour of sleep increases the risk of fatal car crashes, new research shows.

The motivation for this was two-pronged. The district wanted to make better use of its building during off-hours. And the school board wanted to find out how a mobile, digital 21st-century workflow could supplant an agrarian-based 19th-century school day.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says he wants a “strict” new ban on holding cellphones while driving, saying tough new laws are needed to cut down on fatal accidents. “Anytime people pick these up and it puts them at risk, it puts other people at risk,” Northam said.

Increasingly, drivers are posting on social media, scrolling through Spotify playlists, live streaming video, and binge-watching television shows. These activities put motorists, their passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists in real danger.

Although cycling deaths have increased, NYPD issued 34,593 moving violations summonses drivers of trucks and other large commercial vehicles, approximately 500 few tickets than cyclists, said NYPD Chief of Transportation William Morris during a Council hearing.

According to the latest AAMI Crash Index (produced annually), over a quarter of all road incidents in Australia occur in the afternoon, around school pick-up time. The new data is in line with recent research that found parents are some of the most dangerous drivers on Australian roads, with more than half admitting to speeding or driving distracted with their kids in the car.

On January 29, Hidalgo revealed that the space required to make Paris cyclist-friendly would mostly come at the expense of motoring. Under her plans Paris will remove 72% of its on-street car parking spaces.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons says about 1.7 million cases of Traumatic Brain Injury occur every year in the United States, and that “between 50-70 percent … are the result of a motor-vehicle crash.”

Richmond police said that Lawrence C. Smith, a 65-year-old from Chattanooga, Tenn., has been charged with felony hit-and-run, expired registration and failure to yield the right of way. Smith is accused of crashing his car into another vehicle on Jan. 17. in the 2300 block of Chamberlayne Avenue.

After failing in the past, some lawmakers and safety advocates are trying again to pass a law banning handheld cell phone use in Virginia.

It has been just more than 6 months since 14-year-old Georgetown Day student Kamal Nashid was hit by a car and killed while out for a run near his Bowie home.

Rees was randomly picked by the NFL and the coalition TEAM, which stands for Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management. They encourage responsible drinking and positive fan behavior at sporting events. Rees excels in both.

Parsons, 31, was involved in a car crash Jan. 15 and was initially reported to have suffered a concussion and whiplash. Per his attorney’s remarks Monday, his injuries include a traumatic brain injury, disc herniation and a torn labrum that could “potentially” end Parsons’ career.

Video from the Iowa State Patrol shows a very close call just east of the metro area in Atlantic, Iowa. A pickup truck slid off Interstate 80 right into a delivery truck that was stuck in the snow on the side of the road.

It’s been 20 years, and the famous “Whassup” Budweiser ad is getting a refresh. On Monday, Budweiser Canada unveiled its new Super Bowl LIV ad in partnership with Uber, exclusively airing in Canada.

A typical Ikea store comes with a sprawling parking lot—in Burbank, California, for example, the lot has room for 1,700 cars. But as the company works to shrink its carbon footprint, including the pollution from customers driving to suburban stores, it’s also rethinking parking. A new seven-store building that will house an Ikea store in central Vienna, now under construction, will have zero parking spaces.

The electric car industry is on the upswing. Led by Tesla, it continues to attract environmentally conscious drivers with battery-powered, high-performance vehicles. As the push to abandon gas continues, more traditional carmakers are hopping on the electric trend so they aren’t left behind in the years to come.

Court documents state the Audi was the subject of a previous reckless driving call in Bastrop County, after a driver told police the vehicle was in the median of 71 near SH 21 and rapidly cut him off after entering the lane. That call came in at 9:18 a.m. and by DPS estimates, Diaz would have needed to be traveling at least 100 to 120 MPH to cover that distance by the time the crash call came in at 9:36 a.m.

In addition to hit-and-run, Dale M. Benson, 31, of Amelia, was also charged with driving while revoked in relation to the crash.

The three-time NBA champ delighted a few dozen unsuspecting youngsters gathered at the Y, when he showed up to announce that he and ride-share company Lyft would be giving out free Citi Bike memberships to local youths in the spring... He also stressed the importance of building bike lanes to keep people safe while riding.

“Cars are deadly weapons — they can do real damage to real people,” Travis said. “I tell my rookies that if someone walks into the road shooting, would you arrest them? They say ‘yes.’ There’s no difference between that and getting behind the wheel (impaired).

Investigators say the man left the scene following the incident. His vehicle is described as a new model blueish-grey Chevrolet Equinox with Maryland tags with a roof rack.

Among the conditions set by the judge was for Davis to surrender his passport, wear a bracelet that will alert authorities to any alcohol use and to not leave the state.

Since Thanksgiving, there have been more than two dozen pedestrian fatalities in New York City, including two children, according to Transportation Alternatives.

Deputies say around midnight 21-year-old Kimberly Cook and her boyfriend, 29-year-old Anthony Blue left their 16-month old asleep in a running, unlocked car in the parking lot. When they came back out, the car and the baby inside were gone.

She suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash, and in a post on her Facebook page said she had her seat belt to thank for it not being worse. "Rolling my vehicle was more than terrifying, and it keeps replaying in my head over and over. Wear your seat belts," she wrote.

On Monday, a Henrico County Grand Jury formally indicted Taylor on one count of 2nd degree murder and felony eluding police. The charges come after a second suspect, Antoine Deangelo Thomas, 36, was ejected from the SUV following a nearly 20 mile chase that started in Chesterfield and ended in Henrico.

No matter the conditions, an ambulance crew will never turn down a call. Blizzard. Tornado. Flood. If the truck can’t get to a site, the crew will get out and hike.

Georgia Department of Transportation is willing to do anything to make sure you pay attention to the rules of the road. But making you laugh might be the smartest way. That's because the winners of a social media contest will see their urgent safety messages displayed across the digital interstate signs across Georgia.

Give a listen to this important interview with crash victim Brad Hughes, DRIVE SMART and Delegate Jeff Bourne. A bill currently before the General Assembly would make any hand-held cellphone use behind the wheel illegal.

For many neighborhoods, signal lights and stop signs are considered the tools of choice for controlling unruly traffic situations. If you force drivers to stop and look, the thinking goes, you’ll make the streets safer for everyone.

A driver of a Mitsubishi Lancer fled on foot after striking and killing a bicyclist on Route 7 near Winchester early Saturday morning, according to the Virginia State Police. Speed and alcohol are both being considered as factors in the fatal hit-and-run crash, the police said.

Muhammad R. Malik of Chantilly had been fighting for his life for the last two weeks after he, his wife and two grandchildren were hit from behind on John Mosby Highway (Route 50) and South Riding Road while waiting at a stoplight in their car.

According to law enforcement sources, first responders located a pedestrian safety flyer in one of Guillen's pockets. Those same sources indicated an officer had handed Guillen the flyer approximately 40 minutes before he was hit and killed.

Teenagers don’t need another lecture. Reams of research and all the driver’s education in the world wouldn’t necessarily convince them to check their tires. But they do respond when you speak and connect in their language around their biggest interests. The Michelin/Vans partnership would be the proxy for talking about the importance of tread, pressure and performance – not just for your ‘kicks’, but for your car tires, too.

A first-time mother and elementary school teacher from Laurel, Mississippi, lost her unborn baby when a serial drunk driver hit her car on Saturday about 15 minutes after she left her baby shower, her father, Maurice Pruitt Sr., told the Sun Herald.

Eight Americans are killed every day in a car crash involving a distracted driver, and more than 1,000 are injured daily in such accidents, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Six percent of drivers in fatal crashes were distracted at the time, the NHTSA says, yet most states are coming up short when it comes to cracking down a major cause of distracted driving.

Nationwide, more than 1,620 schoolchildren in 38 states have been placed in harm’s way since 2015 by bus drivers arrested or cited for allegedly driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs – a situation that despite its dangers goes largely untracked by government officials, a Stateline investigation found.

I knew something was amiss when I saw Tony, a sixth grader in my neighborhood, standing on the sidewalk one morning, flagging me down as I was riding my bike to work. He explained he started going to a new school across the County, H-B Woodlawn in Rosslyn, but today he overslept, missed his bus, and his cell phone was also malfunctioning, so he couldn’t reach his mom.

Before they’re even old enough to drive a car, a team of kids competing in FIRST LEGO League robotics are already thinking about ways to prevent distracted driving and the dangers that can come from using a smartphone behind the wheel.

Witnesses told police they saw an older man driving a gold Prius hit Hernandez with his car, then get out and say something to him, before driving ofF.

Crews finished paving the entire south island of the nearly $4 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel last month, a Transportation Department spokeswoman told The Virginian-Pilot, and in doing so did away with a large bird colony's nesting area while those birds were migrating south for the winter.

According to a press release from the Park Ridge Police Department, 74 tickets for seat belt violations were written between Dec. 16 and Jan. 2 during a “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement campaign in partnership with the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Car dooring or more commonly referred to as “dooring” happens when a car driver or passenger opens a vehicle’s door while failing to check for cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians, or other vehicles. These unfortunate incidents commonly happen in urban areas where vehicles are parked along the side of the road and may lead to serious injuries or even fatalities.

“The goal of public transit is to support mobility and independence for people. Danville Transit is like a balloon. Our service has to change with the trends going on around us. Diversification and flexibility are the backbone of a healthy transit system.”

During this time of the year, the Naval Safety Center (NAVSAFECEN) reminds travelers to practice deliberate consideration of safety in winter conditions and practice overall risk management when operating a motor vehicle.

Darkness and busy commercial corridors were the two common factors in the Williamsburg area’s 27 pedestrian-vehicle crashes in 2019.

A ban on holding your cellphone behind the wheel, changes in fines for reckless driving on the interstate, and changes to taxes and fees are among the transportation changes under consideration in Virginia’s General Assembly session that begins Wednesday.

While Americans may dream of a white Christmas, living with snow the rest of the season is driving a nightmare salt habit. Each year, Americans spread more than 48 billion pounds of salt on roadways to ward off the effects of winter weather. But it comes at a cost...

On the automotive side, AAA found that there are as many as 20 different names for a single advanced driver assistance system feature.

Some studies have shown that cannabis consumption can affect response times and motor performance; however, research remains limited and there isn't conclusive evidence of how cannabis affects people and how to classify impairment.

Imagine a city the size of Washington D.C. going an entire year without any pedestrians or cyclists being killed on its streets. That’s exactly what happened in Oslo, where officials reported this week that zero pedestrian or cyclist fatalities occurred on the city’s roads in 2019.

A Virginia man was charged early New Year’s Day after a crash just after midnight on Interstate 81 that resulted in a woman’s death, Berkeley County Sheriff Curtis Keller said.

The data shows there were 563 motor vehicle fatalities in 2018, of which 146 were due to driver inattention. Meanwhile, driving while intoxicated accounted for 143 car deaths and unsafe speed resulted in 53 deaths that same year. This is the eighth year in a row that distracted driving has been the leading cause of deadly crashes in New Jersey.

Brown`s body was found Friday morning about 50 feet from her Henrico County home, at the intersection of Bolling Street and Laburnum Avenue. Henrico Police said it appeared Brown was hit by a vehicle.

Virginia State Police are urging drivers to be distraction-free and alert after nine people were killed in just five days in crashes on Virginia roadways.

Following the trend in Tennessee, Virginia is looking to become the next state with a “hands-free” bill for drivers.

There are both monetary and personal costs associated with drinking and driving.

"The data shows we are still not doing enough to protect our workers. Workplace fatalities should never be considered a cost of doing business," according to a statement from the National Safety Council.

The National Safety Council provided its annual estimate, writing in a statement that 115 people will die in transportation accidents during Christmas travel and a possible 163 Americans over New Year's...The organization credited seat belts for the lower injury and fatality count, stating that estimates would be "significantly higher" were it not for the motor vehicle safety feature.

Allen & Allen is partnering with Lyft to offer safe rides for those who plan to celebrate the new year. For the eighth year the law firm is implementing their Sober Ride Home Program. On New Year’s Eve, Allen & Allen will cover up to a $50 fare on a ride home within 20 miles of Richmond.

A trooper attempted to stop a driver in a Chevrolet Silverado who was traveling erratically in the northbound lanes and on the shoulder in Hanover County around 2:45 a.m. Saturday.

A television news crew in Texas captured video of a tractor-trailer crash on a highway while at the scene of a pileup. KCBD was on U.S. 84 in Lubbock County when the tractor-trailer appears from the fog in the video.

Known as the Green Light Law, the measure makes New York one of 13 states to allow unauthorized immigrants to obtain a driver’s license... Supporters of the law said it will make the roads safer by requiring undocumented people to pass driving tests and get car insurance.

Alyssa Shepherd will also serve three years in home detention and three years probation. Her driver’s license was also suspended for 10 years. Shepherd was driving her pickup truck on the morning of Oct. 23, 2018, when she struck four children as they attempted to board their school bus on a rural road near Rochester, Indiana.

Turn signals are on every motor vehicle for just that purpose, to let the other drivers on the road with you that you are intending to turn your vehicle. It's a common courtesy that is appreciated by your fellow drivers.

A Minnesota woman is saying she's glad to be alive Wednesday. She was on her way back home to Red Wing, Minnesota, when ice flew off another vehicle and smashed her windshield. The woman is okay, but now she wants others to learn from her incident.

Drivers in California will now be able to see each would-be passenger’s destination upfront—before the ride is accepted. As a result, California cities could now have a new ride-hailing worry to add to their growing list: discrimination based on a rider’s destination.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation announced Monday that two new intercity bus routes will be launched in 2020 to serve those in Southside. The Piedmont Express, connecting Danville and Washington, D.C., and the Capital Connector, connecting Martinsville and Richmond, are expected to start in spring 2020.

An advert for the new car’s hands-free technology has been banned for encouraging unsafe driving. The advertising regulator condemned the ad as “irresponsible” and accused it of promoting features that could cause drivers to become distracted.

Drive long enough and you will both feel road rage or cause it. For some drivers (especially commuters), these feelings probably pop up daily, maybe even hourly.

The Missouri city is the first major one in the U.S. to offer no-cost public transportation. Will a boost in subsidized mobility pay off with economic benefits?

The study found that drivers can become too reliant and comfortable with the technology, leading them to multi-task and engage in distracted driving. Drivers that installed technological assistance systems in their cars were almost twice as likely to take their eyes off the road, according to a release from AAA.

“The vast, overwhelming majority of people who die on our streets are killed by drivers of cars,” noted Ross Catrow, executive director of RVA Rapid Transit, an advocacy group for regional public transportation. “And the further sad truth is that these deaths and serious injuries often go unnoticed, underreported, and, even worse, usually nothing is done to build better streets and make them safer for people,” Catrow wrote on Streets Cred, his website about urban issues affecting mid-sized American cities.

The lighting upgrade will reduce highway lights’ energy consumption by more than 50 percent and triple the expected lifetime from five years to 15 or more years.

"She stepped on the breaks really hard and a few kids went flying and hit their heads on the seats," Troy explained... when she missed a turn and sped onto the highway, Troy said he knew something wasn't right.

The ordinance will go into effect six months after passage to allow for an education period, ensuring drivers are aware of the change in traffic law. The language allows for exceptions for public safety personnel and drivers experiencing emergencies.

Toxicology reports provided by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator show that Harris had a blood-alcohol content of .28 at the time of the crash – more than three times the legal limit. An autopsy of the young teen who was killed showed she had no alcohol in her system.

Witnesses said the driver of the truck — who has been identified as Jaime E. Sabogal, of Yonkers — initially started to drive away as if he didn’t know what happened. People had to flag him down and stop him.

Although it is important to follow safe driving habits all year long, the holiday season often requires extra precautions in order to stay safe. Whether you are heading across town or across the state for your holiday travels, the following tips can help minimize your risks of being injured in a vehicle crash...

We’ve got to make an investment in our city to make sure people can safely walk and bike our streets.You could put anything before me that deals with safer streets and I’ll vote for it. I hope that advocates of every age, color, and economic status will come out and fight for this Streets for All package,” said Jones in an interview.

Amenities abound around Midlothian, but many are accessible only by car

We may be entering the year 2020, as automakers talk about a future focused on autonomy and electrification, but in terms of the car technology we have in 2019, one is still missing: the headlights. But the IIHS wants to change that, and will try to do so by awarding its safety awards to quality headlights.

You drive differently for Sunday errands than when you're late to pick up the kids. Researchers are teaching robots how to grapple with that.

Police say 20-year-old Andrew Gurley, of Charles City, was driving a 2018 Western Star dump truck eastbound Route 60 with the bed of the truck raised. The truck proceeded in the right lane across the Chickahominy River Bridge overturning on the passenger side with the truck leaning over the jersey wall.

The “Steer Into The New Year-Buckle Up and Drive Safely” holiday campaign kicks off this week at schools across the Commonwealth with a goal to keep teen drivers and passengers safe during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

This is a decrease from the 12 traffic fatalities during the 2018 five‐day Thanksgiving statistical counting period and 14 traffic
fatalities during the same period in 2017.

Monday night, Richmond City Council could vote on an amendment that would crack down on distracted driving... The legislation would include an incredibly important distinction; drivers would not just be pulled over for holding a cellphone while driving, they would need to be driving poorly with a cellphone in their hand. That means swerving, running a stop sign, etc., all with a cellphone.

A five-to-10-year prison sentence is mandated in New Jersey for drivers who kill someone while using a phone, and it was just imposed on a driver who was texting.

A 57-year-old man is facing his 10th charge of distracted driving after being pulled over for driving with a cellphone to his ear Monday morning.

That’s more than double the number of scooters and e-bikes currently permitted in D.C., and in addition to the city’s large Capital Bikeshare program... DDOT is in the process of installing 100 off-sidewalk parking corrals for dockless scooters and bikes in all eight wards in D.C. to address sidewalk and neighborhood clutter complaints, and all operators have agreed to data collection to monitor compliance and plan for the future.

Hampton Road Connector Partners, the design-build consortium constructing the $3.9 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project as part of a public-private partnership with the Virginia DOT, is actively encouraging small, disadvantaged and minority businesses to participate. HRCP's goals for the project are 12% DBE (disadvantaged business enterprise) contractors and 20% SWaM (small, women-and minority-owned) contractors.

A bill proposed for the 2020 General Assembly session would require all people in a private car wear seat belts. Currently, Virginia law only requires front seat passengers to buckle up. HB16 is one of a number of road safety bills being brought back up by lawmakers in 2020. Another piece of legislation includes banning drivers from using cellphones behind the wheel. The first day of the 2020 General Assembly session in January 8.

The month of October, which kicked off fiscal year 2020, saw eight Marines die in off-duty accidents ― a massive spike compared to fiscal year 2019, which had a total of 27 Marine vehicle-related deaths in the entire year, according to safety center statistics.

The military said a gate runner in a car hit a base security vehicle at Gate 8 of Joint Expeditionary Base Fort Story. A sailor died as a result.

A California woman has been charged with DUI and involuntary manslaughter in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 64 in Henrico County on Wednesday that left one passenger dead and another passenger critically injured.

State police tell reporters that a man driving in the wrong direction on Interstate 495 early Thursday crashed into another car near Annandale, scattering the road with debris and causing three other cars to crash.

A Virginia community is trying to make its streets safer after a teenager was struck and killed in a hit-and-run last December.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed the long-awaited bill Monday that would make it illegal to hold a cellphone while driving in the Bay State. Lawmakers passed the bill in a 38-1 vote in the Senate and 153-1 vote in the House

An Orange County teen is being called a hero after he said he pushed his little brother out of the path of an oncoming vehicle while they were crossing the street.

Lawmakers in Elizabeth, N.J. voted on Tuesday to remove all of the Lime rentable scooters from city streets — rather than providing riders even a modicum of safety in the bike-lane-free burg — after a teenager was killed by a tow truck driver.

Have you ever heard of a diverging diamond interchange? Ready or not, one is about to debut in Northern Virginia. It’s part of a $195 million project aimed at reducing congestion in Stafford County’s Courthouse Road area. The interchange will open December 7 over Interstate 95 at Exit 140.

The City of Fredericksburg is launching a pedestrian safety campaign this week to ensure everyone has a safe and festive holiday week. Fredericksburg police officers will be downtown looking for drivers stopping at designated crosswalks and pedestrians crossing at intersections and randomly presenting them with a Downtown Gift card for following Virginia Law.

The experience of going at least 24 hours without sleep, otherwise known as total sleep deprivation, obviously does not make you feel good the next day. The physical and mental repercussions are notable.

Vehicles with multiple tickets for excessive speeding and red-light running could be impounded or booted under a new bill from At-large D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman.

Virginia had 601 distracted driving fatalities, which was 11.63% of total vehicle fatalities, over a 5-year span. That was the 8th-highest rate in the nation.

“The names of these features are all over the map, and many of them don’t accurately describe what the feature will do or what drivers should expect,” said Kelly Funkhouser, CR’s head of connected and automated vehicles. “There’s a different name on the website, in the owner’s manual, and then in the menu in the car.”

Rather than slap the cuffs on Uber’s robot car, investigators instead highlighted the many human errors that culminated in the death of 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. And they sounded a warning: it could happen again.

There were zero unhelmeted motorcyclist fatalities last year, one in 2017, four in 2016 and three in 2015.

“A helmet is the most important safety equipment a motorcyclist wears,” said DMV Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb, the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative. “Before you even think about getting on your bike, make sure you have on the proper gear, including an approved helmet.”

A grassroots movement is underway to make Richmond safer for pedestrians and people who bike around the city. Advocates say the number of crashes and fatalities continues to climb. That’s why they’re trying to get the attention of city leaders.

"Well, there aren't too many other places that you drive in our district where, you know, visibility can change in a matter of seconds, or as you're going up a steep grade, the temperature can drop," Slack said.

Those doing the research estimate the project pays for itself in five years because it’s only fencing, not building a crossing structure. Over the lifetime of the fencing, researches expect about $1 million in property damage savings.

From making you live longer to making cities more resilient: If you want a reason to make your city more walkable, it’s in here.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante plans to install pedestrian lights and countdown timers at every set of traffic lights in the city as part of a "paradigm change" that will put pedestrian safety ahead of traffic flow

Virginia State Police said heavy fog and icy road conditions are to blame for a crash between a charter bus and tractor-trailer that sent over a dozen people to area hospitals early Sunday morning.

Twenty-six new parking enforcement officers will comb the District’s bike lanes for illegally parked vehicles to ticket, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Tuesday. The officers, who work for the Department of Public Works, will begin immediately.

Instead, the IIHS suggests encouraging more automated enforcement, that is things like speed cameras, as well as automaker-installed technology like speed limit alerts and automatic slowing of the vehicle when speeding, in order to ensure compliance.

Specifically, if the city metered each of its 3 million free parking spots and collected an average of $6 per spot per day, it could replace the approximately $6.5 billion per year in revenue lost from ending all fare collection.

Two teens seriously injured after their grandmother's minivan was rammed from behind over the weekend said Wednesday that they hope their story gives drivers pause before they get behind the wheel after drinking... the Sunday night crash killed her boyfriend, 15-year-old Ethan Handly, and her grandmother, 65-year-old Marjory Wagner Regan.

New federal data reveal that, in 2018 alone, 803 unrestrained rear seat passengers age eight and up lost their lives; more than 400 of them may be alive today had they fastened their seat belts.

Commercial vehicle inspectors placed more than 4,600 trucks out of service for critical brake-related violations during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Brake Safety Week, which was held Sept. 15-21.

The rule was approved in March, was confirmed last week and will come into force in 2022. Even if we leave the European Union, the Government has agreed to mirror EU road safety rules after Brexit.

The not-for-profit cooperative’s Earn-a-Bike program has been repairing abandoned or unwanted bicycles for the most vulnerable members of society for 10 years.

When operating a motor vehicle, a few seconds of distraction can cost you — or someone else — everything.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday issued its analysis of why increasing numbers of bicyclists are dying on U.S. roads... The concrete recommendations in the report seem almost sure to get lost in a brouhaha over helmets.

"She said what happened was, the dog jumped into her lap, distracted her as she was trying to get him back into the seat, and she crossed the center line and hit that other vehicle," said Derrick Jackson, of the Sheriff's Office told MLive on Thursday.

Some students at the event already had their learner’s permits, but some didn’t, and they said learning by doing can help them when the time comes to take their driver’s tests. “They’re going to remember more than just sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher,” Magna Vista sophomore Jeffrey Medley said.

While most Virginians are enjoying the Fall weather, the Virginia Department of Transportation has been making plans for snow.

The advocacy group Bike Durham carried out a bit of guerrilla “tactical urbanism,” placing over 50 carved jack-o’-lanterns in the buffer zone of a painted bike lane on Broad Street, one of the city’s main north-south corridors. The action was a rebuke to city government for failing to install a protected bike lane when they resurfaced Broad street last summer, as detailed by Streetsblog.

Six months ago, George's Inc., which has a poultry plant in Harrisonburg, leased five vans for workers to form car pools... A George's staff survey led to the conversation about transportation, he said.

Joe Newman, Kitty Hancock, and Peter Sforza lead work in the Center for Geospatial Information Technology at Virginia Tech to analyze the locations of vehicle crashes throughout Virginia... This data isn’t just for Virginia Tech. It’s for all of Virginia, and it has a purpose — to make the state’s roadways safer.

Strava is a fitness app used by more than 47 million runners and bikers, who use to it to track their routes, mileage, or even commutes to work. What those runners and bikers may not realize is that by using the app, they’re arming city planners and researchers with the data they need to help cities improve the bike lanes and sidewalks they depend on for safety.

The fatalities add up to nearly 70,000 people killed on Texas roadways over the past 19 years. Every day in Texas nearly 10 people are killed in traffic crashes.

New research from the University of Virginia finds children who are raised in walkable cities are more likely to climb the economic ladder, earning more than their parents did at similar points in their lives.

E-cargo bikes offer clean, efficient option, though car-centric cities pose challenges.

Chesterfield County woman who fatally struck three people who were standing near a disabled car along Route 288 in Goochland County pleaded guilty to reckless driving on Tuesday and received a one-year jail sentence.... Authorities said Carr had been engaged in text conversations with three people as she was driving south on Route 288 within a 20-minute period leading up to the crash. She sent her final text, an emoji of a woman holding her palm against her face, either three seconds or four seconds before the collision.

The driver accused of killing seven United States Marines in a deadly crash was indicted on 23 charges Monday, including manslaughter and negligent homicide. 23-year-old Volodymyr Zhukovskyy now faces charges of seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide – DUI, seven counts of negligent homicide, one count of aggravated driving while intoxicated and one count of reckless conduct.

The bill establishes four new offenses, including the class A misdemeanor “death by vehicle” and the class B misdemeanor “serious physical injury by vehicle.” Under the proposal, drivers could be charged with those crimes if they fail to exercise due care or commit a traffic infraction — including speeding or using a cell phone — and another person is killed or injured as a result, according to the DA’s office.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated the pedestrian crash prevention systems of 16 midsize cars in the lead-up to Halloween, a holiday that consistently ranks among the deadliest days for pedestrians in the United States.

Nothing is forever, not even highways... By late October, as foliage thins and shadows stretch across the wayside, the faint outlines of abandoned roads and bridges lost to time and overgrowth reappear. These dilapidated D.C.-area roadways have withstood decades of harsh weather, graffiti and neglect.

Every year, over 30,000 people are killed in road crashes in the United States. Use this map to see the highway with highest rates of fatal crashes in your state and explore each highway in more detail in the interactive grid.

Hundreds of people turned out to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) third annual “Incident Management Open House” in Fairfax on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, despite the threat of rain. The event is popular with families, who bring their children along to see a variety of vehicles and machinery operated by police and firefighters as well as public safety and incident response crews.

Last November saw the highest number of pedestrians hit in the D.C. area (292) out of any other month, per data shared by MWCOG. In Arlington, the month with the highest number of pedestrian collisions (15) was October. As part of the Street Smart program, area police departments are planning to step up ticketing drivers who fail to stop for people in crosswalks, among other citations aimed at protecting pedestrians and cyclists.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the S.C. Department of Transportation on Tuesday spoke favorably of state legislation that would make it illegal for drivers to hold a phone, call, text or watch a video, among other things. If enacted, the South Carolina Hands-Free Act, Senate Bill 723, would help save lives and reduce injuries, NTSB safety advocate Stephanie Shaw and SCDOT Secretary Christie Hall testified Tuesday.

Some neighbors in Southwest Columbus are using their front yards to create a one-of-a-kind Halloween display. The message of the display is about the dangers of distracted driving. "We already have them coming out for candy, so why not send them a message?" said Natasha Ford-Marshall, who set up the display.

The sentencing hearing came a day after Toney pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide and heard emotional testimony from the relatives of those killed and from some of the injured. New Orleans news organizations at Tuesday's sentencing hearing reported that Toney apologized, but a prosecutor questioned his sincerity.

In 2011, Crystal Conover’s son was hit by a car on while trick-or-treating down a dark road in Uintah, Utah. “I created the ‘Help Jayden light the way’ motto and started passing out glowsticks,” Conover said. “That’s when it hit us — let’s make a negative into a positive.”

When the clocks fall back this weekend, it will get darker earlier, and drivers and pedestrians are urged to use extra caution. The Virginia Governor's Executive Leadership Team on Highway Safety says the time change often results in an increase in the number of pedestrians who are hit by vehicles.

U.S. traffic deaths fell 2.4% in 2018 to 36,560 although the number of pedestrians killed rose to its highest level in nearly three decades, the U.S. auto safety agency said Tuesday.

Three 16-year-old boys died following a car crash Saturday night in the Tabb area of York County, according to Virginia State Police. All three were students at Tabb High School, a York County School Division spokeswoman said Sunday.

We wanted honest answers straight from the source, so we surveyed dozens of teens about their strengths and weaknesses on the road, what makes them anxious behind the wheel, and what parents could do to help make them better drivers. Here is what we found.

The video shows Damico crossing through two lanes of stopped traffic when suddenly in the bus-only lane she is stuck by the Pulse and knocked off her feet. Damico says she never saw it coming until it was too late.

In June of this year, the county said crashes between vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists have been increasing and previously had launched an awareness campaign called “Watch Your Step” to promote safer streets and tips for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

The owner of the stretch limousine that crashed and killed 20 in Schoharie last year failed to maintain the vehicle over the years, leading to the "catastrophic brake failure" that caused the deadly wreck, according to a report by a state-hired expert.

When do you call 911? How do you pay a parking ticket? Rochester's New Americans Academy aims to teach the basics.

Circuit Judge Christopher Sabella on Tuesday sentenced Perera, 31, to 50 years in state prison for driving drunk and causing a crash on the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway that killed Luiz and Rita Felipak of Tampa and their 8-year-old daughter, Giorgia.

Rats have mastered the art of driving a tiny car, suggesting that their brains are more flexible than we thought. The finding could be used to understand how learning new skills relieves stress and how neurological and psychiatric conditions affect mental capabilities.

Christiansburg is not the first place where Wing has run a trial run. Wing has conducted trial runs in Australia and Finland. Now, Wing regularly delivers and continues to expand in these countries. Residents of Christiansburg can look to these overseas cities as a layout of what their drone future might look like for them.

The tire manufacturer is giving away $100,000 toward college tuition in its "Penny for a Free Ride" contest. One lucky young driver will win for inspecting their tires -- either gauging tire pressure or performing the "penny tread test" to check tread depth.

Car crashes are the number one cause of teen deaths in our country.
The next National Teen Driver Safety Week takes place October 20 through the 26.

A woman sustained life-threatening injuries following a crash in Chesapeake that involved two vehicles and a VDOT worker, who was struck by his own vehicle after it was pushed into him.

The trooper was inside his vehicle, positioned on the right shoulder with emergency lights activated, to fill out paperwork when a 2009 Cadillac ran off the roadway and struck the trooper’s vehicle and the Land Rover.

Two drivers were charged with following too close. The third driver suffered non life-threatening injuries, police said.

Low visibility creates hazardous driving conditions for morning commuters. If possible, avoid driving until conditions improve. If you have to hit the road this morning, here are some tips for dealing with the fog.

Tom Udall, a Democrat from Utah, and Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, say they plan to introduce bipartisan legislation that would mandate every new car sold to feature technology that keeps drunks from even starting a car.

A Virginia Commonwealth University freshman continues to recover after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver near campus on Friday. Richmond Police responded to a hit-and-run in the alleyway behind 7-Eleven between Cary and South Pine Streets just after 11 p.m. Friday.

Ever think to yourself, “My city has the worst drivers in the world”? Richmond and Virginia Beach rank high for the worst drivers in the country.

Halderman said her design, titled “Instalife,” was emotional for her to create. “I have a personal connection to teen driving, because I lost three of my friends in a car crash … in sophomore year.”

The four-month electric scooter pilot in Chicago, both celebrated and reviled by residents, comes to an end Tuesday. As of last week, people had taken 772,450 rides on electric scooters, according to the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. That’s about 7,000 trips a day.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney wants to impose new city laws to curb trafficking of stolen guns and distracted driving, he said Wednesday.

A road known for having some of the worst traffic in Northern Virginia could soon see some relief. It’s because of what’s called an intelligent transportation system — that’s now on its way to Route 50 in Loudoun County.

“It was totally preventable,” the judge told Allebaugh before pronouncing the sentence. “Driving a 26,000-pound missile down the road while texting is hard for this court to contemplate.”

What would it take for you to stop driving distracted? A slap on the wrist, a police fine, a firm telling off by a friend or family member? Alarmingly, for many Canadian drivers, the answer is none of the above.

Commercial drivers of light- to heavy-duty vehicles are involved in just 3% of severe crashes, even though 83% of American drivers say they are safer behind the wheel, according to new data from Verizon Connect.

I am a pediatric trauma surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital. Too often, I have taken care of children who are injured by distracted drivers and witnessed the effect it can have on their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

More than 80 local police agencies, as well as the Virginia State Police, will be on heightened alert over the upcoming Columbus Day weekend when, due to the closure of many schools and businesses on Monday, families tend to travel. Law enforcement agencies in neighboring states are increasing patrols as well.

A 32-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a GRTC Pulse bus Tuesday evening on Broad Street.

The five-week challenge, “Save Your Tailgate, Buckle Up & Slow Down” will encourage youths and teens to develop a lifelong buckle up habit by reminding them that seat belts are critical safety equipment for every driver and passenger. The campaign emphasizes seat belts are designed to protect and save lives in the same way football helmets protect football players.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), investigates accidents and issues recommendations, which, if acted upon, save lives, prevent injuries, and preserve property. Lowering the threshold for drunk driving from .08% blood alcohol content (BAC) to .05% would accomplish all of these things. It is estimated that lowering the BAC in every state to .05% could potentially save up to 1,790 lives a year.

Among all the obstacles facing self driving cars—from inclement weather to shaky public acceptance—there’s another few of us anticipated: Bugs.

A new overseas study from Volvo has shown that parents believe today's roads are more dangerous for families. More than six in ten parents say it is harder to keep children safe while driving than it was two years ago, while more than nine in 10 believe too many people drive recklessly and endanger families on the road.

This morning and afternoon, West Palm Beach police Officer Mark Hatfield drove through the city looking for violators. "The city right now is in a warning period for it. Beginning January 1, we'll start actively fining for people who are texting and driving."

A bicyclist is hospitalized with critical injuries after a hit-and-run car accident earlier this week. Tuesday night, police say a car drove into the bike lane on North 4th Street and Oakland, hitting the cyclist.

Hanover firefighter Lt. Brad Clark is among the 92 firefighters being honored at the 38th National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend in Maryland. The 38th annual event by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation brings family members together to honor their loved ones who died in the line of duty.

A new study by AAA has found flaws in automatic emergency braking systems that are supposed to detect pedestrians. Automatic detection systems are increasingly common in new vehicles sold in the United States.

While studies have shown the importance of active safety technology in avoiding and reducing the number of crashes, drivers need to understand the systems and accept them in order to see those benefits. The study also found that drivers were more appreciative of the technology if it made smooth and gradual transitions automatically.

3,166. That’s how many Americans died due to distracted driving in 2017. 3,166 families were left without a father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister. 3,166 people that would still be with us today if drivers were more focused on the road than their cellphone, food, radio or other distractions.

State police say the crash happened Saturday, September 29 just before 6 p.m. near mile marker 58. Troopers say this was a result of distracted driving.

The pain is still fresh for Christina Dempsey, six years after her sister and niece were killed in a crash caused by a distracted driver. "I just want to look at somebody and say, what if this was your child," Dempsey told the audience. "What if this was your sister?"

The holiday season is coming at us fast, which means it’s time to make plans to celebrate the special time with family and friends. If your plans include a long road trip, consider these tips before you pull out of the driveway. It will make your journey safer for everyone and make sure everything is merry and bright.

Fleet LatAm Conference 2019 has kicked off in Mexico City, the first event in Latin America specifically focused on bringing together Fleet & Mobility leaders with an international scope.

As the Board of Supervisors was approving the school bus cameras at last week’s meeting, Chris Yakabouski noted his interest in red-light cameras and suggested the county look into them. The cameras are aimed at decreasing red-light running, something traffic officials and safety advocates consider a serious problem.

"It's not just the drivers who are at risk, distracted driving has deadly impacts on passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users", says Robyn Robertson, President and Chief Executive Officer of TIRF.

A recent Penn study has linked teenage driving accidents to the rate of brain development in adolescents. The results suggest that teenagers with slower working memory growth are more likely to be involved in accidents.

A 72-year-old Harrisonburg man is seriously injured after a hit-and-run crash occurred in Rockingham County at 2:23 p.m. on Sept. 16, 2019. The police described the driver as a white female with blonde hair wearing a dark shirt and leopard print skirt. She may have been driving a red Nissan Sentra, which should now have front-end passenger side damage, according to the release.

D.C.’s only streetcar line runs 2.4 miles along H Street and Benning Road NE, and city officials say they want to extend the line eastward.

Florida is the deadliest state in the U.S. when it comes to intersection fatalities, according to a new report based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Safety is one of those things we all talk about, and I don’t think there is a fleet out there that wants to operate in an unsafe manner. However, in order for a fleet to be as safe as possible, they must have a safety culture that starts at the very top of the organization and is embraced by all employees at every level.

“Every driver needs to take responsibility for their own actions,” said DMV Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb, the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative. “Whether you’re driving yourself or your friends, make sure everyone is always wearing a seat belt, and make sure you never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There are other people on the roads who want to get where they are going safely. Don’t let impairment cause you to be a risk to yourself and others. Before you drive to or from the races, ask yourself, Who’s Your Driver? And the answer is: a safe and buckled one.”

The Pittsburgh Left might be not in the rulebooks, but you better program any self-driving cars driving in the Pennsylvania city with that intel, because it's going to happen.

The law states that no one can operate a vehicle "while using, manipulating, talking into or otherwise interacting with a hand-held electronic device or mobile telephone." Fines begin at $50.

Safety has always been a top concern for car shoppers. Recently, it has become a source of frustration. Nearly a quarter of car shoppers who bought or leased a model year 2019 vehicle found the technology to be annoying or bothersome, according to a J.D. Power study of more than 20,000 consumers within the first 90 days of ownership.

Renowned experts from around the world will converge in Roanoke next week to discuss solutions to the issue of distracted driving. The 7th Annual Distracted Driving Summit is being held on September 25-26 at the Hotel Roanoke. The event, organized by DRIVE SMART Virginia, is an opportunity to focus on saving lives by eliminating distracted driving.

It probably fell from the back of a truck instead of the sky, but wherever it came from, the picnic table-sized boulder spelled trouble early Friday for one motorist traveling along Hull Street Road in western Chesterfield County.

Prosecutors say they're making an example of this teen driver for a reason. "Because of this message, the next 17 or 18-year-old that gets out there and sees that stop sign. Maybe he thinks twice. Maybe does stop," said Sean Teare with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

After posting to social media several times during her drive, Kylie Rae Harris, a 30-year-old rising Texas country singer, caused the three-car crash that killed a 16-year-old girl in northern New Mexico this week. "At this time I will say with most certainty that Miss Cruz was an innocent victim of this senseless crash caused by Ms. Harris," Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said. Harris was convicted in 2017 of DWI and cited for speeding in 2014.

... Even minor fender benders can have a significant impact on children, particularly those who are unrestrained. In a push to increase car seat and seat belt use, and in recognition of Child Passenger Safety Week, Safe Kids Worldwide urges parents and caregivers to model safe driving habits, including buckling up – every person, every ride, every time.

Late yesterday afternoon, along a mostly empty Canadian highway, the laws of physics grew bored and decided to have some fun with an errant box truck. The 24-year-old driver of the truck appears to have gotten momentarily distracted, which caused him to drive off the road, into a culvert, and then, somehow, instead of ending up with the truck rolled in the grass, he ended up with his truck improbably wrecked into the roof of a house alongside the road.

Each year, the AASHTO Committee on Transportation Communications known as TransComm, hands out awards to state DOTs for outstanding communication, advertising and marketing campaigns and tactics. One of the 2019 honorees, a public service announcement produced by the Virginia Department of Transportation, used humor to capture drivers’ attention and raise awareness for an annual challenge.

The potential consequences of drunk and distracted driving were on full display during a training exercise at Virginia Tech Monday. The Virginia Tech Rescue Squad partnered with the Blacksburg Fire Department and the Carilion LifeGuard Med-Evac helicopter for the learning experience. It’s a scene first responders say they see far too often. “This isn’t just hypothetical this does happen,” VT Rescue Squad Chief Jake Martin said.

How many times have you seen a car ad that shows — nay, glorifies — dangerous driving? Someone revving down a tiny road along a jagged cliff? Or speeding through a city — pedestrians, cars, other impediments somehow miraculously absent? These ads are ubiquitous in America. But many other countries, including European nations, Canada, Singapore and Australia, ban them to protect public safety.

When thinking about road trips, you might envision college kids heading on adventures, but older adults take road trips, too, according to a recent survey by Cigna. Travel is a top priority for 37 percent of older adult respondents in the survey.

For seven days next July, before Japan kicks off the Summer Olympics, Tokyo will let dozens of driverless vehicles roam freely around the competition venues in the city’s waterfront area to promote the nascent technology. As many as 100 self-driving cars will ferry up to 7,000 passengers in the week starting July 6, said Seigo Kuzumaki, director for the Japanese government’s autonomous-vehicle program.

Though she’s only a few weeks on the job, North Courthouse Road Library branch manager Dana Bomba can attest to the success of the new Community Connectivity trail that was completed at the end of August. “We’ve seen several moms with strollers and young kids on bikes” use the trail, says Bomba. “Everyone seems excited about it. One of our staff members walked it the other day and said that the width of the trail was really nice, [and] with it being paved, it’s handicapped accessible.”... For those who live in the neighborhoods behind the library, it means they don’t have to traverse Courthouse or Reams roads – which don’t have sidewalks – or tromp through the forest to check out books.

New rules brought in by the European Parliament would make it compulsory for the system to be introduced into newer models across Europe from May 2022, while all other motors from May 2024.

Robyn Hightman found a life on bikes. In an instant it was gone. Over the past decade in New York City, more than 160,000 people have been struck by motorists. More than 1,600 have been killed. In 2019 alone, drivers have caused a staggering 20 cyclist fatalities in the city. Often missing from the uproar over these and other senseless deaths across the country are the nuanced legacies of those whose lives are cut short. Who were they? What did their lives mean? What potential has been snatched away? This story―a chronicle of the life and death of Robyn Hightman―reflects how much can be lost and the devastating impact on those left behind.

“Speed and alcohol were common factors in many of the holiday fatal crashes, which pushed us over 500 traffic deaths for the year so far. At what point have Virginians had enough of men, women, teens and children dying on our highways? All we ask is for Virginians to make responsible driving practices and habits an every-day priority. Please make that commitment today, so we can save more lives than lose them in these final months of 2019.”

With children headed back to school soon, drivers have been warned to watch out for students getting off school buses. One safety expert told 8News Monday that drivers need to be even more alert now.

Major automakers said on Wednesday they have agreed to equip nearly all U.S. vehicles with systems to remind motorists of passengers in the back seat, by model year 2025, in an effort to avoid deaths of young children left behind in hot cars.

Of the 67,072 inspections conducted during the three-day inspection event June 4-6, the 12,019 trucks removed from roadways for violations represents a 17.9% overall vehicle out-of-service rate.

The busiest time for Deer-Vehicle-Collisions is right around the corner: fall, which is rutting (mating) season for deer. Bridget Donaldson, a scientist with the Virginia Transportation Research Council—that’s VDOT’s research arm—has spent almost four years tracking deer activity and collisions along a stretch of I-64 west of Charlottesville. Of all the DVCs recorded during her study period, more than half occurred during October and November. During the rut, says Knox, “Their activity goes up dramatically, and that means they’re crossing roads.”

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Brake Safety Week is scheduled for Sept. 15-22 with a focus on brake hoses and tubing, and if the results of June’s 72-hour International Roadcheck inspection blitz are any indicator, trouble lies ahead for many operators.

The public art project is part of Vision Zero, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s initiative to eliminate traffic deaths on Los Angeles streets by 2025. The program, which began in Sweden in the 1990s, teaches that every traffic death is preventable through better education, enforcement, behavior or street design.

Safety isn't necessarily a common core value within companies, but with a little expectation management and communication, it could be.

Starship plans to deploy 25–50 robots at each campus over the next 24 months, which means there could be upwards of 5,000 robots puttering around these schools by 2021.

In 2017, the latest figures available, 939 people were killed by vehicles blowing through red lights, according to a AAA study of government crash data. It's the highest death toll since 2008 and 28% higher than in 2012. AAA says two people are killed every day in the U.S. by drivers who don't stop for the signals.

“Crashes involving DUI are entirely preventable,” said PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards. “We are asking motorists to keep themselves, their passengers and other motorists safe by designating a sober driver and not driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”

The traffic stop is called 'Border to Border' and is part of Checkpoint Strikeforce, a statewide initiative that focuses on traffic safety.

Approximately 398 people could lose their lives and another 45,300 could suffer serious injuries on the nation’s roadways over the Labor Day holiday weekend, according to National Safety Council estimates. The lower than usual fatality estimate reflects an overall national trend that shows roadway fatalities are down 3% through the first six months of 2019 compared with the same time frame in 2018.

“Just as our physical infrastructure systems are aging and in need of attention, so too are the workers who design, construct, operate, and oversee these systems,” noted Joseph Kane, Senior Research Associate and Associate Fellow of the group’s metropolitan policy program.

The app, called incenTrip, uses real-time data to plot quick routes, and uses artificial intelligence to customize those routes for an individual over time. Regional officials said they’re hopeful the app’s built-in reward system will encourage more commuters to help reduce traffic and carbon emissions by ditching their cars.

This cute cargo e-bike is the latest experiment from delivery companies to utilize the air, the sidewalk, and the bike lane—anything but the street itself—to get packages to you faster.

U.S. safety regulators did not start using “female” crash test dummies until 2011. It’s just one example of many that the world we live in is designed by men — for men... There are so many examples of how gender bias plays out in transportation and city building, so we’ve compiled a handy list

In 2017, Boston Public Schools announced a competition - the BPS Transportation Challenge - to find smart ways to improve school bus operations and bring down their $120 million annual cost.

Say you spot a truck blocking a bike lane in San Francisco’s Mission District. Using a new app called Safe Lanes, you can snap a picture of the offending vehicle’s license plate, and beam it up to a constantly refreshing, GPS-coded map.

Tuesday, first responders gathered at Tuck’s Collision in Pulaski to keep on top of training for rescuing people trapped in their cars after a crash... Across the parking lot, Virginia State Police were taking people through a distracted driving simulation to warn them of the risks that can pop up out of nowhere on the road.

During a six-month period from August 2018 to March 2019, 12 children were killed and another 47 were injured while getting on and off school buses nationwide. Bus stop-arms were extended at the time, which means that in Virginia and the 49 other states, drivers were required to come to a full stop.

Police have been ticketing motorists for driving in highway construction zones while holding a phone, an act that’s now against the law in Virginia.

In June 2019, the Roanoke City School Board passed a resolution and Roanoke City Council adopted an ordinance to decrease the speed limit from 25 MPH to 15 MPH in most neighborhood school zones in the City. The new speed limit will be in effect during arrival and dismissal of school. Roanoke Police will increase its enforcement of the new speed limit. Please reduce your speed and watch for children when passing through school zones.

More than 25 million students ride the bus to school each day, but since most are without seat belts, how safe is your child’s ride?

Texting while driving is one of the most dangerous and prominent distractions in a commercial or grey fleet vehicle. According to the National Safety Council, using a cellphone while driving leads to 1.6 million car accidents per year.

Expansion of GRTC routes in Henrico largely viewed a success after first year.

Located in the city of Utrecht near Central Station, the 24/7 ride-in facility now features enough storage for a casual 12,500 bikes, including regular commuter bikes, cargo bikes, electric bikes, and even tandems (yes, some people use 'em).

Virginia is only one of four states that still install metal reflectors. Each one weighs five and a half pounds and is designed to help drivers stay in their lanes during severe weather.

U.S. researchers have estimated that SUVs are 2-3 times more likely to kill pedestrians when they strike them than sedans (cars). The effect is worse for children.

Drivers with passengers were almost 60 per cent more likely to have a crash resulting in serious injury compared to when driving alone…

There’s every reason to think that I’d be safe from serious injury in a car. But I almost blew all of that by driving drowsy.

Roughly 25 million children nationwide begin and end their day on a school bus, according to the National Safety Council. In Southwest Virginia, thousands of students equates to hundreds of buses. Washington County has a total of 135 buses, for example.

The researchers found that when participants were asked to track stimuli with unpredictable onset, direction, speed and starting location, human eye movements were dramatically impaired.

For now, the District Department of Transportation is focused on luring two other modes to city streets this year: electric tricycles — trikes — and e-cargo bikes, which could facilitate the delivery of food or packages.

My neighbors are kind and generous people, however, and it didn’t take much convincing for them to see their cars as a resource that could be extended beyond their own benefit.

Before WPWC members gave him a name, Steve was simply known as a rubber tire crane. He came to the Manassas area to lift 10 concrete beams for the new Bull Run Drive Bridge over Interstate 66. Follow Steve on twitter @i66Crane

Not many adults concern themselves with learning to be a better driver. After all, most parents have been driving for years, and “practice makes perfect,” right?

Walsh Construction is seeing enhanced safety and clearer communication by blocking mobile device distractions for 1,000+ workers, and counting.

Surveillance video showed the baby's mother, 39-year-old Holli Platt, going into Target with three of her kids at 4:08 p.m. -- 18 minutes before the baby was rescued, officials said.