A Moment in Automotive History

When did motor vehicle accidents and traffic safety become part of our culture? Who crashed the first car? Who became the first fatality? Who first thought of stop signs?

I don't think anyone can give a definitive answer to all these questions. The first recorded crash has been credited to Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot who drove his steam-powered "Fardier" against a wall in 1770. He survived the collision, but the crash put an end to his experiments with self propelled vehicles.

The earliest recorded motor vehicle fatality was Mary Ward who died on August 31, 1869 in Parsonstown, Ireland after being thrown from an experimental steam car built by her cousins.

Many of the earliest innovations in road safety are credited to a man who never drove a car himself, William Phelps Enos. He is sometimes known as the "father of traffic safety". Enos is credited with conceiving the stop sign, the traffic circle, and the one way street.

Another Way To Monitor Your Teen Driver

"Never mistake knowledge for wisdom" ~ Sandra Carey

Once your teen has that license it's important to keep tabs on her driving. I mentioned how one father remedied his children's poor driving behavior. James Winfield put his foot down, established rules and guidelines, and monitored his teens' driving both in person and with GPS. He got some good results.

I also noted that Drivecam looked like a good way to keep an eye on your new drivers , but at present that system is available only in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

But no fears - for those of us who live outside of those three states there is Tell-My-Mom.com. Here we have a program similar to the trucking industry's "How's My Driving" program.

Tell-My Mom.com was founded by Jay S. Van Zeeland an Emergency Medical Technician with a rescue service in Wisconsin. He had seen first hand many teen accidents and was looking for a way to help reduce these collisions. Studying the program for the trucking industry, he discovered that they had achieved over 20% reductions in accidents and ticketing. The trucking companies found that in most instances, drivers were making proactive changes in their driving, because they did not want to be called to the boss' office to justify their actions. Teens react in much the same fashion.

By placing the How's My Driving sticker on your car, other drivers now have an easy way to provide feedback about your teen's driving. When a report is received, you are contacted via mail or e-mail with information regarding your teen's driving behavior.

Now you can use the entire driving population as your eyes and ears. Check out Mr. Van Zeelands program. You just might save your child's life.

Stability Control Standard by 2012

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Announces A Substantial Life Saving Technology For All New Passenger Vehicles

In a move that could ultimately save up to 10,000 lives each year on U.S. roadways, the nation's top transportation official today announced plans to make new crash prevention technology standard equipment on every new passenger vehicle sold in America by 2012. U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters and National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Nicole R. Nason announced the final rule to require the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) on all new passenger vehicles during a tour with auto makers at the New York International Auto Show today.

ESC uses automatic computer controlled braking to keep drivers from losing control on slippery roads or in emergency maneuvers, in many cases preventing deadly rollovers from occurring.“This technology will save thousands of lives. Like airbags and seat belts, ten years down the road we will look back at the new ESC technology and wonder how we ever drove a car without it.”

Secretary Peters said.“ESC technology will put the brakes on crashes and help drivers keep control of their cars in critical situations,” Administer Nason said. “ESC works, it will save lives, and it can give American drivers and passengers the peace of mind that comes from knowing their vehicles have some of the most technologically advanced safety equipment available.” The final rule will require all manufacturers to begin equipping passenger vehicles with ESC starting with model year 2009, and to have the feature available as standard equipment on all new passenger vehicles by the 2012 model year (September 2011).

Hang in there drivers, only a few more years and Electronic Stability Controls will be standard on all new passenger vehicles. Until then we'll continue to rely on the older and increasingly obsolescent DARC system. DARC (Driver Awareness of Roadway Conditions) requires the driver to focus on driving the vehicle and actually scan ahead to identify curves and turns that might require a reduction of speed before entering those parts of the roadway. Once the driver identifies these requirements the DARC system prompts him to use his foot to brake and avoid skidding and turnovers.

Recently DARC has been rendered ineffective by increasing demands on its sensor and processing capabilities caused by the use of extra peripherals (such as telephones and PDA's) that slow it's processing and reaction time.

This problem can be fixed by activating the SAAD (Stay Alert and Drive) feature of the DARC. SAAD disconnects the peripherals and reboots the DARC on its original parameters.

Should the SAAD fail, a DrivRR (Driver Responsible for Results) patch can be downloaded to remedy this problem.