Highway Deaths in Rural America: NMA E-Newsletter #714
The Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) released a study called America’s Rural Roads: Beautiful and Deadly earlier this month. Researchers found that between 2016 and 2020, 40 percent of US traffic deaths occurred on rural roads. A total of 85,002 people died in rural areas during the five-year study period—nearly half of all traffic deaths across the country. This […]
Community Speed Watch: Is it Snitching or Driver Education? NMA E-Newsletter #713
Green Bay, Wisconsin Police Department recently announced that it has partnered with the Green Bay Neighborhood Associations to start a ‘Community Speed Watch.’ The department hopes that the program will bring more awareness to speeding. Lt. Nate Allen added, “One of our number one complaints in the city of Green Bay is traffic and the way people […]
Motor City should be Renamed Speed Hump City
The city of Detroit recently identified more than 2,000 new speed hump locations. The plan is to install 3,000 of the traffic obstacles by the end of 2022. That is in addition to the 5,500 humps added throughout the city in 2021. When this street obstacle program started as part of Detroit’s Complete Streets program, the […]
Countering the Safe Streets/Vision Zero Mindset: NMA E-Newsletter #699
Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued its estimate of 2021 U.S. traffic fatalities. A Reuters headline blared, “U.S. traffic fatalities surge 10.5% in 2021 to highest count since 2005,” followed by the lede, “Traffic deaths surged after coronavirus lockdowns ended in 2020 as more drivers engaged in unsafe behavior like speeding and […]
Citywide Speed Limit Reductions: Creating Violators in the Name of Safety: NMA E-Newsletter #691
By John Carr, NMA Massachusetts Activist An email claimed that a speed limit reduction in Portland, Oregon “resulted in lower observed vehicle speeds and fewer vehicles traveling at higher speeds.” I was suspicious because it is well known that speed limits and speed limit signs do not have a strong effect on traffic speed. My […]
What’s Up with Philly?
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared as the cover story in the Winter 2022 Edition of the National Motorists Association’s quarterly magazine Driving Freedoms. If you would like to receive our magazine, please become a member of the NMA today! The City of Brotherly Love seems anything but when […]
Don’t Be a Road Rager or the Victim of One
Editor’s Note: This piece originally appeared as the cover story in the Fall 2021 Edition of the National Motorists Association’s quarterly magazine Driving Freedoms. If you would like to receive our magazine, please become a member of the NMA today! Driving is an act of responsibility and trust. On the road, we have faith that […]
Traffic Safety is the Responsibility of All – Not Just Motorists
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared in December 2021 as NMA E-Newsletter #674. Subscribe today if you would like to receive NMA’s one-topic E-Newsletter every Sunday! In October, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB122, a bill that would have enabled bicyclists to utilize the Idaho Stop (using stop signs as […]
Traffic Safety is the Responsibility of All – Not Just Motorists: NMA E-Newsletter #674
In October, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB122, a bill that would have enabled bicyclists to utilize the Idaho Stop (using stop signs as yield signs if no cars or pedestrians are present). Newsom cited safety as the primary reason for the veto: “While I share the author’s intent to increase bicyclist safety, I am […]
What is Driver Courtesy?
Welcome to Driver Courtesy Month! This blog is part two of our month-long series on Driver Courtesy. Check out Part 1 Here! Don’t forget to take the online quiz Are You a Courteous Driver? This week I will take a deep drive into Driver Courtesy. Hopefully you will know most of this but it’s always […]