Defensive Driving on the Net

By Don Rittner

Every Saturday at the Learning Factory in Albany we offer a 6-hour defensive driving course. Drivers who take the class get 10% off their insurance for three years in a row, and up to 4 points reduced on their driving record. Amazingly, only around 150,000 of the millions of licensed drivers in this state bother to take it?

Driving a car is one of the most liberating but dangerous experiences of your life. On one hand, owning a car gives you the freedom to be mobile. It's an extension of your living space on wheels. Yet, a car is also a dangerous instrument.

I use to live in Albany near an intersection that had accidents almost every week. One year they were so frequent, I took CPR and First Aid training because I was pulling so many people out of wrecked cars in front of the house.

You hear daily the horrific stories about people dying in traffic accidents in the newspaper or on the news. Most of these are avoidable.

Since many of you can't find the time to sit through the 6-hour refresher course, I'm going to show you where you can get tons of great safety tips and information on defensive driving from the Net.

You cannot get the insurance discount or the point reduction this way, but hopefully you will explore the following Web sites, brush up on your driving skills, and live a bit longer. After all, I need you to be around every week to read this column.

New York State Department of Motor Vehicles

There are many helpful tips and information on getting your license, and how to get driving, registration, and title records. A privacy section spells out who can see your driving record.

It links to the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee 'Traffic Safety Place.' There are sections from aggressive driving (lots of good info) to School Bus safety. Several search engines let you find information in a snap. Finally if you are interested in statistics you can find population, number of registrations and accidents/deaths by county up to 1997.

There is an excellent link to kids sites that deal with safety issues. Overall a nice job on providing driving information.

AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety

You can take quizzes on drowsy or aggressive driving, or how wise you are as a driver. There are many online reports to read covering aggressive driving to crashes with animals. The foundation's bi-monthly newsletter is there for reading, and you can listen to public service announcements if you have RealPlayer.

New York Speed Traps

You can look at speed traps two ways. One is that they provide revenue for local government, and sometimes are abused. The other is that they often reduce speeders and accidents. This site lists the speed traps in New York State, which are entered and reviewed by motorists, who probably became an unfortunate victim of one. Bottom line is don't speed and it won't matter where the traps are.

The Highway Safety DeskBook

This publication is for members of the police force but provides an excellent look into the issues confronting law enforcement personnel on various traffic safety issues.

An Investigation of the Safety Implications of Wireless Communications in Vehicles

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/research/wireless/

Have you had a close call from some jerk talking on their cell phone and heading right for you? Read this National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report on the subject.

Learn More

This site links several web sites relating to driving safety from 'Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety' to 'Everything You Wanted to Know About Teenage Driving But Were Afraid To Ask.' There is a section for parents about limits to set for their kids as well as a guide for teens on driving. A sample contract between parent and teen is also available.

A Handbook For Responsible Driving: For Parents and Teens

Written for Cobb County, Georgia teens and parents, this manual has lots of good info for both, including a good sample contract between parents and kids. Lots of statistics, checklists and local laws dealing with the issue that could be applied elsewhere.

FACTS ABOUT: Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Driving

This Canadian site has a good explanation of many of the effects of drugs and alcohol on drivers.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Look here if you're looking for info on recalls, crash tests, and just about any other statistic related to driving. There is information on air bags, an auto safety hotline, and an online calendar, which lists safety days, info on child passenger safety, press releases, RealVideo safety videos, and more.

You can even file a complaint (like the 95 Ford Windstar Head Gasket problem) which they will check out.

Their traffic safety digests and traffic techs which contain a great deal of information can be downloaded or read online at

National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB)

NTSB is an independent federal agency charged to investigate every civil aviation accident in the U.S as well as significant accidents in railroad, highway, and marine and pipeline accidents and issues safety recommendations.

You can obtain a list of major accident investigations related to traffic safety issues here and download them in Adobe Acrobat format. You cannot read them online yet.

United States Department of Transportation

There are links to Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (US Code and Code of Federal Regulations); motor vehicle safety problems and issues, including recalls, defect investigations, and consumer complaints. You can find information on injury prevention, including airbags, alcohol & drugs, child safety, pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, and buses. There is information on traffic safety facts and links to other federal agencies that have related information.

National Safety Council

They have just launched a new campaign to protect children with car restraints and you can get involved in the campaign here.

National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA)

NCSA is a branch of the National Safety Traffic Safety Administration, and this is where statistics are gathered and published. You can view and download the National Safety Facts, reports, research, fact sheets, fatality info and more.

Drink Wheel

Fill out a form online and it will instantly compute your estimated blood/breath alcohol concentration ("BAC"). Its primary purpose is to provide useful information about the responsible use of alcohol. This is for educational purposes only.

Facts & Stats by Dr. Driving

This site has one of the most extensive bibliographies for research on the behavior of driving and safety problems. There are 697 citations.

A great history of cars, a road rage survey, and timeline of interesting facts rounds out the site. For example, raising the minimum drinking age to 21 has been credited with saving 15,000 lives so far. Some States saw a decrease of up to 38% in young motorists' deaths.

National Commission Against Drunk Driving

There are several very good research reports on the issue of drunk driving.

Center for The Advanced Study of Public Safety and Injury Protection

This University at Albany site has numerous links to safety resources including an upcoming symposium on aggressive driving to be held in May.

Their electronic Highway Safety Library contains tons of research and information available for downloading or reading online.

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers)

Lots of advocacy on this site. These folks track legislation and have their own guide to Congress. They rate States and provide workshops. They even assist victims and their families.

Of course, there is one sure-fire way to get rid of drunk drivers in America. Implement the same system they have in Nicaragua. Drunk drivers are executed! Cuts down on repeat offenders.

©1999 Don Rittner