via @UrbanData on Twitter

The following tweet will take you to the source article.

The @drshow replaying interiew w/ @mrichtel promoting ad that includes this bogus claim see: https://t.co/HpQtKsAJJM pic.twitter.com/g50evc2opY

— Philip N. Cohen (@familyunequal) December 26, 2014

Image via: familyineqaulity.wordpress.com

.@familyunequal @drshow @mrichtel Driving, speeding, and urban sprawl are the major predictors of traffic deaths pic.twitter.com/LvXQ8JCSsc

— urbandata (@urbandata) December 26, 2014

As alcohol-related accidents tend to increase in the summer months, I’d like to remind you (& all Americans) that buzzed driving can put a stop to summer fun. Here are some surprising facts:

• Nearly twice as many people are killed in auto accidents during the summer months than the rest of the year combined.
• 1 drunken-driving fatality occurred every 51 minutes in 2012
• 35% of all drivers in nighttime fatal crashes who were alcohol-impaired
• 24% of males drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2012 had a Blood Alcohol Content of .08 or higher
• A DUI can cost drivers up to $10,000 — that’s more than three months worth of income for the average working American

But before you down that extra beer and get behind the steering wheel in your vehicle, you might want to take a look at this infograph (via Ad Council):

Image courtesy: via Ad Council

As part of an ongoing “Buzzed Driving” public service campaign, the Ad Council has also partnered with I Heart Radio on a new website with more statistics and resources to help talk to students, kids and friends about safe driving in the summer: iheartradio.com/summerdriving. Help us spread the word and save a few lives.  Stay Safe!

via WSB-TV

A sleeping driver was caught on camera slumped over asleep in his pickup truck causing a traffic jam on a busy Atlanta highway when he suddenly woke up, then crashed his truck into several vehicles before fleeing the scene. Yeah.. And it was all caught on camera by a local reporter. Click here to read more.

Here is AP report on the incident:

And here is the video from WSB-TV which shows a bit more of this bizarre mayhem..

In a country with nearly 300 million vehicles and an equal number (or more?) of mobile devices distracted is fast becoming a big issue.  this infographic by IFA Auto Insurance, designed to raise public awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, shows you how the extent of the problem, the consequences, etc.  Worth sharing with your peers.

Image Courtesy: IFA Auto Insurance via Business2Community.com

Source: business2community 

Distracted Driving PSA for “cagers” via Reddit

via Reddit

You thought texting while driving was bad? How about running a suite of machines like an office while on the move?  Here is one such case where it blows everything we preach about driver distraction.  Police stopped this above Ford Modeo in Saarland, Germany, for speeding and when they peeped in this is what they saw in the passenger seat – a laptop with docking station, a router and wi-fi antenna tied to a cellular data stick, a printer and a power inverter to keep it all humming.  For what it is worth, the German police  did not issue any citations for the Mondeo driver for any violations . Maybe because he had  his cellphone mounted to the windshield for hands-free use.  yes. That’s right.  He  at least had the sense to leave his cellphone mounted on the dashboard.  (via Motoramic – Yahoo! Autos)

Related articles

• German police stop man with mobile office in car
• Driver running mobile office while behind the wheel
• Forget texting while driving, German police nab man with entire mobile office in car
• German police stop man with mobile office in car
• German police stop man with mobile office in car

(via Mashable)

This awesome infograph below from Mashable.com illustrates the dangers associated with the texting while driving .. To think about nearly ~1.3 million crashes that happened in 2011 had a cellphone involved makes me shudder..

Related articles

• Texting and Driving: A Crash Course [INFOGRAPHIC](mashable.com)

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• Texting and driving test throws teens into a tizzy(intomobile.com)

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• How Driving And Texting Can Cost You Your Life [Infographic](thetechnologycafe.com)

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Via Reddit

I cannot imagine a US citizen/resident uttering these words to a cop in uniform on his/her beat: “…why are you not wearing a seat belt? remove the mobile phone, you are on duty & in the official car, stop breaking the rules…” That’s exactly what is being told to a couple of cops in Russia and they comply, POLITELY!

(Source: via Reddit)

Interesting to know how Chilliwack, Canada enforces its no-cell-phone-use-behind the wheels law.  True story! Redditor mlane201 shared this picture and reading through the comments he shared, I came to know how it is done – Constable Martell will be on the watch holding this sign by a roadside, looking for drivers using their cellphones while operating the vehicle.  Once Constable Martell spots an offender, he will radio in his colleagues who are sitting a little father up the road and they will comfortably pull over the offending driver and issue the tickets. Pretty nifty strategy there, right?

Image Courtesy: Imgur.com via Reddit

The USDOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently published these two documents (Dec 2011) and I thought some of you might find it useful.

NHTSA – National Dist. Driving Telephone Survey – Tt407

NHTSA – Driver Electronic Device Use in 2010 – 811517