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NHTSA Asks Automakers To Reduce Driver Distractions

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked automakers to minimize the distractions presented to drivers by in-car technology. While not disputing the benefits of curbing distracted driving and the car accidents caused by inattentive drivers, car makers are reluctant to eliminate the features that can set their vehicles apart from competitors. If a driver can use his or her cell phone to call, text, email, instant message, track GPS, and surf the web, why should the car makers be...

IDOT Plans Study For Wrong Way Driving Accidents

With four wrong-way driving accidents in the Chicago-area in the last few weeks, safety advocates are looking into potential causes. The Illinois Department of Transportation is planning a study involving wrong-way driving car accidents. The National Transportation Safety Board is planning a separate study into a problem they say occurs, "fairly frequently." Both groups hope to find ways to reduce or eliminate the problem of wrong-way driving. Last Monday, a man turned his car around on Interstate 80, apparently asking...

STUDY: Texting & Driving Increasing With Adults

A survey conducted by AT&T shows that more adults are texting behind the wheel than teens. The phone carrier conducted a survey of 1,011 adult drivers in conjunction with a PSA campaign encouraging drivers to stop texting while on the road. USA Today reports that AT&T officials were surprised that more adults texted than teens. About two-thirds of the adults surveyed also said that they were not texting and driving three years ago. "It was sobering to realize that texting...

86 YO Man Injured in Metra Train Vs Car Collision

One person was hurt after a Metra train hit a car in Midlothian. Witnesses to the accident report that the car went through railroad track gates on Crawford Avenue and then either stopped or slowed on the train tracks. WLS Radio reports that there was a lone occupant in the car, an 86-year-old man who was taken to South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest. Authorities have cited the man for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and for...

16 YO Dies In Antioch Auto Accident

Weather is suspected as a contributing factor in a fatal north suburban car accident that happened last night. Authorities say that a 16-year-old boy lost control of his car in Antioch around 7 p.m. The boy's car slammed into a tree on the 27000 block of Wilmot Road. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the force of the crash uprooted the tree and that it partially landed on the car. The 16-year-old driver and his 17-year-old female passenger were both pronounced...

25 Year Prison Sentence Given To Teen Driver

A Chicago teen will spend the next 25 years in prison after causing the wrongful death of a police dispatcher during a drunk joyriding session. The 18-year-old teen pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for his drunk driving car accident last year which killed the 42-year-old police dispatcher. Authorities say that the teen left a party around 6 a.m. on July 10, 2011, highly intoxicated and high on various drugs. The teen saw a driver leave his car on West North...

Inconclusive Results From Distracted Driving Research

Springfield, Evanston and Chicago are among the Illinois cities that have, or are considering legislation restricting the use of cell phones while driving. While cities and states look to reduce car and truck accidents through such measures, the research done on cell phones and distracted driving is far from clear. Should new laws ban the use of hand held cell phones? Should it ban all cell phone use, including through hands-free devices? Are experienced drivers able to use cell phones...

Chicago Home Depot Store Fined For Electrical Hazards

In our last post we discussed fines proposed by federal regulators against a suburban Chicago electronic recycling facility that exposed its workers to dangerous level of lead in their workplace. Carol Stream's COM2 Computers and Technologies LLC was not the only Chicago-area employer to fail a federal workplace safety inspection recently. Inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration also found serious safety violations at a Chicago Home Depot store. Federal inspectors say that they found...

Ford Driving Skills For Life Driving Skills

There is no substitute for experience. Teens have long been associated with high-risk driving and frequent car accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lists car accidents as the number one cause of death among people between the ages of 15 and 20. 16-year-old drivers suffer an accident rate roughly 10 times that of older drivers. Across the nation, lawmakers have sought ways to reduce the distressing accident figures suffered by teens. Graduated licensing programs and increased skills training are...