American road traffic fatalities fall to record low since 1950s; Alarming Numbers of Road Traffic Deaths Around The World Remains A Concern

Posted by transportgooru on March 11, 2010 in Automotives, Education, Governance, Highways, Infrastructure, Law Enforcement/Legal, Motorcycles & Scooters, Opinion Columns, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Travel

Quoting the numbers from the NHTSA estimate for 2009 motor vehicle traffic fatalities, the Secretary of the US Department of Transportation, Ray LaHood says that he is extremely encouraged by the significant drop in fatalities but at the same time he still is disturbed by the fact that “we are still talking about nearly 34,000 preventable deaths a year. There are still too many people dying in traffic accidents every year. Just too many.”

Tags: 2009 Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities, Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, Road Safety, Road Traffic Fatalities, Sec. Ray LaHood, Traffic Accidents, UN Road Safety Collaboration, Vehicle Crashes

Chukudus – A no nonsense local transporter that changes lives of Congo’s poor

Posted by transportgooru on February 10, 2010 in Economy, Energy, Environment, Finance, Freight, Funny Stuff, Motorcycles & Scooters, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Travel

Necessity is the mother of all inventions. Many of the world’s top innovative tools and applications, right from electricity to our modern computers, were all bron out of our existential necessities. The following story by Stephanie McCrummen brings to you another such invention that is not the best form of transportation around, but in a country that is shattered by years of a civil war and grinding poverty, it is very effective in getting the job done – moving people and goods, while enabling income generation for some of the poorest people in this world.

Tags: Africa, Chukudus, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, Transporters

Electric Brammo Goes To Washington DC on $4; Wants to Shock Barack! Do you know anyone who “knows” Barack?

Posted by transportgooru on October 16, 2009 in Energy, Environment, Finance, Gizmos News (via Gizmodo), Governance, Hybrids, Motorcycles & Scooters, Research, Society/Social Issues

Earlier this week, Brammo’s director of product development Brian Wismann along with Dave Schiff of Crispin Porter Bugosky, began a ten-day journey meant to take them from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Washington, DC. The 520 mile trip, which is being chronicled on the site shockingbarack.com, is intended to raise awareness of the company’s new electric motorcycle, the Enertia, and electric vehicles in general.

Tags: Brammo Inertia, brammo Motorcycles, Electric Motorcycles, Electric vehicles, Fuel Efficient, Motorycles, Shockbarack, ShockingBarack

We are small, but we’re not bugs — Norwegian Motorcycle Union’s PSA is a shocker

Posted by transportgooru on September 27, 2009 in Automotives, Law Enforcement/Legal, Motorcycles & Scooters, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Travel

The Norwegian Motorcycle Union has made this hard-hitting PSA that aims to promote an awareness among car & truck drivers who often don’t look out for motorcyclists on the road. Starting from the fact that 8 out of 10 collisions are caused by drivers that never see the motorcycle. “Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures,” was a study conducted by the University of Southern California, with funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, researcher Harry Hurt investigated nearly every aspect of 900 motorcycle accidents in the Los Angeles area. Additionally, Hurt and his staff analyzed 3,600 motorcycle traffic accident reports in the same geographic area. Some of the study findings listed below, among a grand total of 53, are directly attributed to the negligence of motorists:

Tags: Dangers of Motorcycling, Motorcycle collisions, Motorcycle crashes with cars, Motorcycle Safety

If you thought $4/gallon was expensive, wait till you hear this! NPR’s Talk of the Nation brings you the visions of an energy starved world

Posted by transportgooru on September 17, 2009 in Automotives, Economy, Energy, Environment, Favorite Podcasts, Finance, Highways, Infrastructure, Motorcycles & Scooters, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Transit, Travel

Last year, gas prices soared over four dollars a gallon and Americans responded by driving a hundred billion fewer miles than the year before. Right now, at $2.50 a gallon or so, things seem back to normal. But writer Christopher Steiner argues that’s a delusion. He thinks we need to prepare for life at six, 10, even 20 dollars a gallon, prices which will change a lot more than our driving habits. They will transform what we eat, where we live, and how we view the world. And while there will be losers, he believes the airline industry will largely disappear, for example, for the most part, he asserts our lives will be better.

Tags: $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better, Chris Steiner, Gasoline, Gasoline prices, Impact of Rising Gas Prices on America, Inflation, NPR's Talk of the Nation

Global Status Report on Road Safety – World Health Organization’s Report Explores Status of Road Safety in 178 Countries

Posted by transportgooru on June 23, 2009 in Automotives, Governance, Highways, Infrastructure, Law Enforcement/Legal, Motorcycles & Scooters, Pedestrian & Bicycles, Public Policy, Research, Society/Social Issues, Travel

Approximately 1.3 million people die each year on the world’s roads, and between 20 and 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries. In most regions of the world this epidemic of road traffic injuries is still increasing. In the past five years most countries have endorsed the recommendations of the World report on road traffic injury prevention which give guidance on how countries can implement a comprehensive approach to improving road safety and reducing the death toll on their roads. To date, however, there has been no global assessment of road safety that indicates the extent to which this approach is being implemented. This Global status report on road safety is the first broad assessment of the status of road safety in 178 countries, using data drawn from a standardized survey conducted in 2008. The results show that road traffic injuries remain an important public health problem, particularly for low-income and middle-income countries. Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists make up almost half of those killed on the roads, highlighting the need for these road users to be given more attention in road safety programmes. The results suggest that in many countries road safety laws need to be made more comprehensive while enforcement should be strengthened. The Global status report on road safety results clearly show that significantly more action is needed to make the world’s roads safer.

Tags: Bicyclists, Fatalities, Global Status Report on Road Safety, Pedestrians, Road Traffic Accidents in Developing Countries, Traffic Accidents, Traffic Safety Report, Vulnerable Road Users, WHO, WHO traffic safety report, World Health Organization

Bureau of Transportation Statistics Releases Report on Motorcycle Trends in the United States.

Posted by transportgooru on June 19, 2009 in Governance, Motorcycles & Scooters, Public Policy, Society/Social Issues

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration today released “Motorcycle Trends in the United States”, a special report on the current and emerging trends involving street-legal motorcycles. During the last decade there has been a significant increase in the number of motorcycle sales and registrations in the United States. At the same time there has been a shift in the demographics of motorcycle users and increased focus on motorcycle safety issues. This report focuses on the current and emerging trends of vehicles, vehicle registrations, owner demographics, training and safetyinvolving street-legal (on-road and dual-purpose) motorcycles.

Cash-For-Clunkers Update: Consumer Reports Guide For Buyers & Motorcycles to be added to the legislation

Posted by transportgooru on June 16, 2009 in Automotives, Economy, Energy, Finance, Governance, Motorcycles & Scooters, Public Policy, Society/Social Issues

With Congress on the verge of passing some kind of ‘cash-for-clunkers’ legislation, it’s time to take a look at what cars are worth trading in for the scrappage credit and what models would be better to sell by other means. To help the average Joe Sixpack on the street, Consumer Reports has compiled a list that outlines the Make, model EPA combined mpg rating, etc. The used cars listed are the newest vehicles likely to be available for less than $3,500, the minimum voucher value. For this to be worthwhile to the consumer, the vehicle’s trade-in value would need to be less than the voucher. Older versions of these vehicles are likely to be worth less, making the vouchers even more appealing. Many of the models have mechanical twins sold by another brand that may qualify, but we have not listed them here. The CR staff has examined the prices and concluded that pre-1993-94 Cadillac DeVilles, Eldorados and Sevilles are all solid candidates. In a related news, US Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA) has introduced legislation into the Senate that would add motorcycles to the controversial Cash for Clunkers program that was recently passed by both the US House and Senate, though with significantly reduced funding of $1 billion. If passed, the new amended bill would offer a $2,500 rebate for the purchase of a new motorcycle when an older trade-in is scrapped.

Suzuki gets ready to deliver its hydrogen fuel cell motorcycle

Posted by transportgooru on May 24, 2009 in Energy, Environment, Hybrids, Motorcycles & Scooters, Research

It’s been a little while since we last heard from Suzuki regarding its planned hydrogen fuel cell motorcycle, Crosscage, but apparently the Japanese company has been hard at work getting the machine ready for production. According to Ivar Kvadsheim over at MC24.no, teams from both Suzuki and Intelligent Energy were present at the EVS24 event in Stavanger, Norway, with their fuel cell-powered machines.

Tags: Alternative Energy, AutoBlogGreen, CrossCage, Emissions, Hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, HyNor, Intelligent Energy, Motorcycles, Norway, Pollution, Suzuki, Suzuki Motorcycles