Distraction.gov unveiled

The Official US Government Website for Distracted Driving, Distraction.gov.

At the U.S. Department of Transportation, we heard America’s call to end the dangerous practice of distracted driving on our nation’s roadways. Distracted driving is a serious, life-threatening practice and we will not rest until we stop it.

We are leading the effort but you are the key to preventing distracted driving. The message is simple – Put it down!

Emphasis mine.

Oprah's show on MLK's Birthday was entitled This Show Could Save Your Life: America's New Deadly Obsession. Video available at her site.

More Stats & Facts from Distraction.gov:

Research on distracted driving reveals some surprising facts:

* Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)
* Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. (Source: Carnegie Mellon)
* 80 percent of all crashes and 65 percent of near crashes involve some type of distraction. (Source: Virginia Tech 100-car study for NHTSA)
* Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver, and more than half a million were injured. (NHTSA)
* The worst offenders are the youngest and least-experienced drivers: men and women under 20 years of age. (NHTSA)
* Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

Learn to ride safer - Refine & Refresh Your Cycling Skills clinic

Thanks to Bruce for sharing this opportunity!

Refine & Refresh Your Cycling Skills Clinic

Facebook Group started to take down hate group that's against cyclists

There's a Facebook Group with over 34,000 members rallying against a hate group in Facebook that is against cyclists. Sharing is always better than hating.

Thanks to James for the tip on the group.

What would you give up for safer roads

Get inspired. Listen to the 30 minute program.

Road rage incident that could be the tipping point for action

From NPR.org's story about the ER Doctor who was convicted of using his car as a weapon against two cyclists.

The impact severed Peterson's nose and separated Stoehr's shoulder. Christopher Thomas Thompson, the driver of the car and a former emergency room doctor, was arrested and put on trial. The jury found him guilty of six felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon: his car. Thompson now faces 10 years in prison.

Follow NPR's series On The Road to Safety.

How a city became bike friendly

"In 2008 Boulder devoted 46% of its transportation budget to Bikes, Transit + Pedestrians.

Flood mitigation money helped turn drainages into a Bicycling Network."

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

Hat tip to Virginia Bicycling Federation.

Cell phone tools can block use while vehicle is moving

Including controls for texting and calling, from NYTimes.com:
[free subscription required to read entire article]

A number of fledgling companies like ZoomSafer, Aegis Mobility and obdEdge employ systems that place restrictions on phones based on the phone’s GPS signal, data from the car itself or from nearby cellphone towers. Any incoming calls are then routed to voice mail or a message explaining that the phone’s owner is driving. Exceptions can be made for certain numbers.

Passengers in cars can override such systems, but in many cases doing so automatically sends an e-mail message to the account administrator — say, a parent or employer — alerting them that the cellphone is in use.

Links to companies mentioned in article:

ZoomSafer.com
Aegis Mobility
obdEdge at CellControl.com

Cycling accident while riding east bound on Shore Drive

Last week there was another serious cycling accident.

What can be shared now, a car cut off a cyclist with a "right hook". Cyclist has suffered a Class 3 Concussion, several broken ribs and an eye injury. He was also hospitalized for a period of time.

He uses his bike to commute and was hit west of Independence Blvd.

Pedestrian Mr. Arnold Lee Jones died from his injuries

He was hit attempting to cross Shore Drive. Tragic. That was the 5th death in the Croakers - Don Julios - Salty Dog block since 1996.

From Pilotonline.com.

In depth vid about texting while driving

If you have new drivers in the house, or you've texted while driving even only once, maybe you've known you've spent too much time looking at your cell phone - please, save a life, watch this video.

Watch it at VBF.org.
Watch it at KCET.org.