Multitasking While Driving - And You Thought Texting Was Bad

A guy is spotted driving on the freeway while reading a paper book, using an e-reader, AND talking on the phone -- AT THE SAME TIME!!! i wouldn't be surprised if this guy is doing something with his feet

Car Accidents Statistics and Infographics

Car accidents are a serious, expensive business; this has been an issue throughout history, from the first automobile accident in France in 1771, through today. Learn about famous accidents throughout the history of automobiles, and which ones were the most lethal.

Click to Enlarge :O

Source:Car Accidents: The Ultimate Timeline

Dog-Safe Driving - Safety Belt For Your Pet

Don't ever think that only human need a safety belt in the moving car. Your pet should buckle up too. They could be hazardous for your driving or during a crash. How to buckle them up? Read this article. Really interesting. Compared to other countries, Malaysian still lack on this kind of awareness.

Touching dogs? For leisure - visit here: Melayukini

Sensible drivers buckle in themselves and their children before starting the motor. But what about their dog's safety? Many drivers simply command their pets to jump into the backseat, the pickup's cargo bed or even onto their laps. Lap dogs they should never be. In fact, dogs shouldn't be anywhere near our laps when we're driving, safety experts and pet advocates say. But many drivers ignore the safety risks and allow their dogs to roam freely in cars.

That can be a big mistake, says Dr. Kimberly May, a veterinarian since 1994 and the director of professional and public affairs at the American Veterinary Medical Association in Schaumburg, Illinois.

"Even a low-speed crash can cause injury to unrestrained dogs," she says. "There are all kinds of prominences inside a car, so depending on what structures they hit, dogs can suffer broken ribs, broken legs or eye injuries. They can hit the windshield or be thrown outside of the car.

"A dog riding on a driver's lap can interfere with driving, climbing down into the footwell, or otherwise distracting the driver," May says. "In a crash, the dog could be suffocated or crushed by a deployed airbag or thrown into the windshield."

Harness and Seatbelt Are Best
May says that the best restraint for dogs is a good harness and a seatbelt. A properly secured crate is a close second — but crates can have drawbacks, too.

"If the crate is too big for a dog, the dog can still be hurt slamming against the sides of the crate, even in a low-speed crash," she says. The best choice seems to be an individual restraint, such as a good-quality, properly fitted harness.

"Crates are all right," agrees Dr. Thomas Scherer, a Fountain Valley, California, veterinarian who has been in practice for 40 years. "But are you going to secure the crate well enough? With the forces that happen in car accidents, will the crate hold?"

A harness and seatbelt are a better solution, he says. "Do the same for dogs that you would do for people."

Dangerous for Drivers
Of course, injuries to dogs aren't the only reason to properly restrain four-legged automobile passengers. They can put humans at risk, too.

In an August 2010 survey by AAA and pet-travel products company Kurgo, nearly a third of 1,000 dog-owning drivers admitted they'd been distracted by their dogs and 21 percent allowed their dogs to sit in their lap. Five percent played with their pets as they drove. These and other behaviors can distract the driver and increase the risk of a crash. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that looking away from the road for only 2 seconds doubles crash risk.

The exact number of accidents caused every year by such dogs is unknown, but Paws to Click, which seeks to educate drivers about riding with unrestrained dogs, puts the number at about 30,000 accidents annually. There are very few laws against an animal riding in a driver's lap. Oregon is considering a ban. And in 2008, California legislators vetoed a ban against lap-riding pets.

The danger posed to humans by an unrestrained pet can be big even if the pet isn't. In a USA Today story about drivers distracted by unrestrained dogs, an AAA official said a 10-pound dog would strike at 50 times its weight in a crash at 50 mph. And that's not the only danger to humans, since an unrestrained pet can hamper a rescue, cause another accident or hurt rescue personnel.

Outside Dangers
And don't even think about letting dogs ride with their heads out the window, even if they're restrained. May says that if the restraint allows a dog to hang its head out the window, it's probably an indication that it would not sufficiently protect the dog from injury if a collision occurs.

Also, she says, "Dogs with their heads hanging out of the window are at risk of injury to their eyes, nose, ears, mouth and face from airborne debris."

As dangerous as riding unrestrained inside a vehicle can be for dogs, doing so in the bed of a pickup can be even worse because animals can jump or be thrown at high speed. An AVMA paper puts it this way: "Dogs transported in open truck beds are at risk of severe injury." They can suffer critical, multiple fractures and abrasions.

Several states bar dogs from being transported in the bed of a pickup unsafely or inhumanely, and still others, including Connecticut, New Hampshire and Oregon, require that dogs carried in pickup beds be restrained.

Heat Risks
Riding unrestrained isn't the only danger to pets in cars, however. Being left unattended in vehicles also can be harmful and even deadly, especially when the weather turns warm.

"Heat prostration can be a lot more serious than it looks because some things don't happen right away," says Scherer, the California vet. "It takes maybe three or four days for organ-function problems to become an issue. But there are things that happen right away that are really bad (such as) seizures and serious central nervous system problems."

Owners should never leave pets in a car unattended, even on a temperate day, May says. "People don't realize that on a 70-degree day, the temperature inside the car could reach 110 degrees or higher. On a 60-degree day, it could get up to 100 or higher. Unless you're taking your pet to the vet or traveling with your pet, just leave him at home.

"I'd love to put people in fur coats and leave them in that car for just five minutes," she says. "My bet is they will feel very uncomfortable, very fast. They won't be able to take it, so why do they think their pet can?"

Normal rectal temperature for a dog is 100-102 degrees, Scherer says. "If a dog's temperature rises to 104 degrees, that's significant." He adds that a temperature of 105 or higher would be very bad for a dog. The problems also depend on the kind of dog you have, he says. Dogs that are short-nosed, old, heavy or have heart problems will have more trouble than other dogs.

Scherer says that a pet's temperature is the best gauge as to whether to take action, such as giving a dog a cold-water bath and ushing a fan to cool it. "However, if there's a serious problem, some issues won't be evident right away," he says. "Even if your dog appears normal, you can't always say that it's OK. So when in doubt, call your vet. There is no negative to doing too much."

To determine if your dog is in heat distress, you can look for heavy panting, he says. If the dog is ill enough, he might sweat through the pads of his paws. Disorientation is another symptom.

"But temperature of the dog is key," he says. "The higher it gets, the more you worry." To be safe, he says, "Just don't leave your dog in the car." For both heat illness and the dangers of unrestrained riding, it boils down to common sense, May says. People love their pets, and so it's a matter of reminding them that their actions can put them in jeopardy.

She says: "Is taking them on a short errand worth risking their life?"

Source: Edmunds

Research MoU between MIROS and RIOH

The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and the Research Institute of Highway (RIOH) China today signed an agreement to collaborate on research, and to pursue other advancements in road safety.

Prof Dr Ahmad Farhan and Prof Zhou Wei during the MoU.

A Momenrandum of Understanding (MoU) was today signed between MIROS Director-General Professor Dr Ahmad Farhan and RIOH President Professor Dr Zhou Wei at a simple ceremony in MIROS.

With the agreement in place, MIROS and RIOH will jointly-undertake various research and innovation activities in pursuit of advancements in road safety. This is in line with reducing the number of fatalities, casualties and road accidents in Malaysia.

"The focus of this collaboration will be to identify and put forward recommendations and findings with the aim of introducing intervention programs that will have the greatest impact on saving lives", said Professor Dr. Ahmad Farhan. "While many initiatives are already undertaken by the Government under the integrated Safe System Approach, road safety is a concern that constantly evolves and therefore requires ongoing measures, new strategies and policies to be put in place and implemented to achieve the desired outcomes".

The backbenchers after the event.

Under the MoU, MIROS and RIOH will mutually exchange personnel to participate in selected projects and also perform joint supervisions of postgraduate research candidates.

Pay As You Speed

European roads are taking more than 40.000 lives every year and one of the main causes of the most of traffic accidents is illegal speeding. The research project "Pay As You Speed" from Aalborg University tries to give a solution to this problem by using unique technology to record and penalize every speeding case via GPS. Very nice!

Pay As You Speed from Steffen K on Vimeo.

Creative Driver Yet Very Funny

These are a great compilation of things you could do to your car if any of your car components' become malfunction. Creative yet funny. Anyway, it is strictly not recommended due to safety issue."when you gamble with safety, you bet your life". So please don't copy this action. Only for humor. Enjoy!

Source: Gelaksantai

Evil Eyes of AES - Life or Money?

I found this interesting article about some debate on Automated Enforcement System (AES) which soon will be used in Malaysia. Overseas, the AES is also known as "evil eyes" (I agree!). The system will catch you speeding and send you a ticket. Not many people like it (including me) but anyhow they manage to avoid getting its "wrath". Consequently, people tends to be kind of "chicken" to go beyond the speed limit on the road..which is a good news. Hopefully by this change of attitude, less accident will occur and the number of death on the road will reduce significantly. Hmmmm..

Maybe you've seen them in the vicinity of traffic signals. Those insidious cameras that stand ready to catch your transgressions on film, unbeknownst to you until that fateful day you receive a citation in the mail, accompanied by a photo of you blatantly disregarding the law as you cruise through a red light.

Red light cameras are meant to act as a much needed deterrent from running red lights. Motorists are more likely to be injured in crashes involving red light running than in other types of crashes. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in 2007, almost 900 were killed and nearly 153,000 were injured in crashes that involved red light running. About half of the deaths are pedestrians and occupants in other vehicles who are hit by the red light runners. The IIHS has reported huge decreases in red light running in several cities in which the cameras were used.

As a result, traffic cameras are becoming increasingly common at America's intersections. As of April 2009, 25 states and the District of Columbia have installed them. The cameras are designed to snap photos of vehicles that enter an intersection after the light has turned red. Trained law enforcement officers review the photos before issuing tickets to make sure that a traffic violation did indeed occur. The idea is to catch motorists who intentionally run red lights, not people who get stuck in traffic and are caught in the intersection when the light changes, or people who cross the line while the light is still yellow. In states like New York, where the citation is treated like a parking ticket, the car's registered owner is automatically fined. In California the citation is considered a moving violation, which means you could get a point on your license and your insurance bill could rise for up to three years.

Some red light cameras photograph only a vehicle's rear license plate, while others record the driver's face as well as the front plate. In some states, the driver can dispute the citation if someone else was driving the car at the time of the infraction, in which case the photo itself comes in as handy evidence. The "How Stuff Works" Web site offers an excellent explanation of the technical details of red light cameras.

Drivers often ask about the constitutionality of the cameras — aren't they violating our privacy by taking our picture without our knowledge? Not technically. Driving is a regulated activity on public roads. By obtaining a license, drivers agree to abide by the law, which contains nothing to prevent local governments from observing and documenting violators. However, each locality must authorize the use of red light cameras and allow citations to be sent by mail.

What has created more controversy is the cost of implementing these cameras and the revenue they generate for their city. The approximate cost of a red light camera with installation and sensors is $100,000. For that reason, they have begun appearing primarily in wealthier cities. The cost for a ticket issued for running one of these camera-equipped lights can be as much as $370. If you are photographed running a red light, it is not impossible to argue your way out of it, but many people aren't aware of the ways to fight it. There are books and web sites that can show you how to beat these tickets. But overall, plenty of motorists feel these cameras aren't being installed to protect the public so much as to generate millions of dollars for the city.

Here's an example of why people have this negative perception of the cameras. According to an article appearing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the city of Lilburn, GA issued about 1,500 citations in January 2008. The citations dropped by 80 percent to around 300 in January 2009, after a new Georgia law mandated a longer yellow light duration. The extra second on the yellow light may have reduced the problem of red light running for the driver, but it almost worked too well for the city. Red light cameras were no longer issuing enough citations to keep them "profitable" and as a result, Lilburn and four other cities in the same county suspended their red light programs.

There are also circumstances in which a traffic camera will generate a ticket for an infraction that a police officer might let slide or not see at all. For example, if traffic comes to a stop while a driver is still in the intersection, the gridlock prevents him from moving and the light will turn red. This might not be cause for a ticket if an officer saw it happen, because the driver wasn't trying to run the red light. A camera, on the other hand, has no reasoning ability. There have also been numerous cases of cameras issuing citations for a red light violation that happened within a fraction of a second. This can be infuriating if you're the one paying $370.

In response to this controversy, states are enacting statutes such as California's Red Light Reform Bill, which became a law in 2004. This law prohibits vendors of red light cameras from being paid based on the number of citations issued. But grandfather clauses, legal loopholes and other problems with this law, work against consumers' interests as well. (See highwayrobbery.net for more.)

Finally, even the safety aspect of red light cameras has come into question. In San Diego, camera vendor Lockheed Martin IMS, placed some of the cameras too close to the intersection and reduced the yellow light time. Red light cameras have also been known to cause some rear-end collisions, as drivers may slam on their brakes well short of the intersection when they notice a camera.

Consumers are also fighting back by using reflective coating sprays on their license plates. While it doesn't prevent a police officer from reading the plate, reflective coatings foil both radar guns and red light cameras. Whether this technique is legal or not depends on your state's laws.

The Automobile Club recommends that cities installing red light cameras (or any photo traffic enforcement) abide by the following guidelines:

• Use the cameras to increase effectiveness of on-site police officers, not to replace them.
• Ensure that cameras are reliable and accurate.
• Install cameras only at high-risk locations to improve safety, not generate revenue.
• Focus the technology on preventing the crime, not punishing it. Motorists should receive adequate notice that the red light cameras will be installed.
• Time the signal intervals fairly, according to accepted engineering and safety principles.

Despite the ongoing controversy, there is still widespread public support for traffic cameras. No one wants to get caught running a red light, but it is a dangerous traffic violation. Red light cameras may be a little Big-Brotherish, but when used properly, can be a deterrent from potentially fatal driving behavior.

Source: Edmunds

Honda Spare Parts Warehouse now in Shah Alam

Thanks to Honda for its initiative on building a warehouse for its original spare parts nearer to the people. Hopefully, people can get cheaper original spare parts from Honda with this new Honda plan. Consequently will ensure the safety of Honda customers on the road. Or else, this is just a news. Full stop.

Honda Malaysia today held a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site of its new RM50 million warehouse, which is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2012. Sitting on 12.4 acres of land in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, this 28,000 sq ft warehouse will be built over three phases and will store parts for after-sales.

“The Malaysian market has been very supportive of Honda and the opening of this new warehouse is in line with the continuous growth of the market in Malaysia. In the last three years, our sales volume has grown by approximately 12,000 units with a 1.4% increase in market share. Opening a new warehouse at a strategic location is a natural course of action as we constantly seek for ways to reduce cost and increase efficiency,” said Honda Malaysia MD and CEO Yoichiro Ueno.

Ueno added that the location was selected as it met the key criteria of a maximum of 30 minutes distance by truck to all major highways in Klang Valley. With this, Honda Malaysia will be able to shorten the delivery process of spare parts to its dealers. Over 60% of deliveries are to the Klang Valley area.

The warehouse is designed to maximise natural light and keep electricity costs to a minimum. Besides this, a Jack Roof will also be integrated into the design to help release hot air and improve ventilation.

Source: Paultan

Nigeria is Now Launcing its Decade of Action for Road Safety

I think the meeting of United Nation on Decade of Action on Road Safety was held about a year or two ago, if I'm not mistaken. The meeting took place at Moscow, Russia. Malaysia has reacted on it since then, try its best to reduce the death and casualties on the road. But now, Nigeria just respond to it? Better late than never.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo will tomorrow launch the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety in Nigeria in Abuja.

In a statement in Abuja, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said this was “part of efforts to effectively align with the United Nations’ goal to stabilise and then reduce the forecast level of road traffic fatalities across the globe through increased investment, participation, consciousness and promotion of road safety activities at national, regional and global level”.

The statement noted that the “decade of action on road safety was triggered off by the World Health Organisation (WHO) report, which estimates that out of over 1.3 million annual deaths and 50 million injured persons across the globe, over 80 per cent of this figure occurs in the developing countries with Africa having the highest fatality rate”.

It added: “Furthermore, this report predicts that the tide of death by road traffic crashes would overtake malaria and tuberculosis between 2015-2020 with a 60% increase thus the need for urgent and decisive steps to combat this imminent challenge.

“Specifically, the tone for the decade of action was set in November, 2009 at the first global Ministerial conference in Moscow, Russia with the theme “ Time for Action”. The conference sought the need for new commitments on road safety within global circle with special attention on low and middle income nations including Nigeria by building capacities in the field of road safety and providing financial and technical support from international donor agencies and financial institutions through appropriate legislations, policies and infrastructure to ensure safer road use and reduction of traffic fatalities within the region.

“The formal launch by the Vice President which is slated for 11 May, 2011 at the THIS DAY DOME in Abuja will be preceded with a joint press briefing by the Federal Ministry of Health and Federal Road Safety Corps, a road show/motorized rally, choral and drama presentation by school children and youth and performance by select Nollywood actors/actresses who are celebrity special marshal members to further attract increased public consciousness on road safety.

“In Nigeria the FRSC activated its plans for the Decade of Action through the hosting of a stakeholders forum on the 19th April 2010, bringing together all stakeholders, Civil Society, NGOs, Private Sector, Media and the Academia to look at the challenges facing road safety in Nigeria and draw a plan of action which will lead the Country on the ten year journey which should end with the actualisation of the UN mandate of 50% reduction of fatalities through RTCs.”

Source: The Nation