All through our driving lives we have heard that speed kills but we all still speed — some drivers sometimes, others most of the time. We know that speeding is a persistent factor in nearly one-third of crash-related deaths, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. The group ...

Last week’s article presented 20 questions on vehicle and traffic law (VTL) and traffic safety. Hopefully you took the test and keep your answers. This article repeats the questions, gives the correct answers and the authority for the answers. See how you did. True or false 1. A driver ...

An annual winter feature of the weekly “Did You Know” articles is a 20-question quiz on vehicle and traffic law and traffic control devices. The first 10 questions are true/false and questions 11-20 are multiple choice. The answers will be found in next week’s article and will include ...

As drivers, we are aware that we should carry some essential items in our car at all times, more during winter driving. But, as our vehicles become more reliable, we don’t always do what we know we should. It isn’t much of a problem until we need it — then we pay the price for our ...

In a February 2015 bulletin by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the critical reasons for crashes investigated in the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey conducted from 2005 to 2007 was a real eye opener. The survey was aimed at collecting on-scene information ...

Last week’s article was about the increase in crashes in states that legalized recreational use of marijuana compared with similar states that didn’t. This article will take it a bit further and show that research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that some drivers ...

Legalizing marijuana for all uses is having a negative impact on the safety of U.S. roads according to new research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute. States exploring legalization should consider this effect on highway safety when deciding on ...

If you are a reader of these weekly articles on traffic safety you know I do a special article in December about how Santa has to have the right-of-way everywhere in order to complete his rounds. Santa must be aware of these articles involving him, as he recently contacted me and requested that ...

From the days when we were kids to today, we hear almost daily about driving slower, but we seldom do. We all have our reasons, most of which are our own fault for not getting started sooner, but nevertheless probably good reasons in our own mind. But, do we ever hear of good reasons for not ...

At the Nov. 28 County Traffic Safety Board meeting, it was brought to the Board’s attention that numerous residents or private snowplow operators in the act of plowing driveways are illegally plowing snow into streets and roads. Not only does this practice cause our state, county, town and ...

With newer vehicles there are many new safety features that are available such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert and blind spot monitoring. These all contribute toward preventing fender-benders and/or mitigate what might be ...

As winter driving has now arrived, are you prepared for the inevitable slippery roads? Do you know what the difference between winter snow tires, all-weather tires and all-season tires is? Are you aware of the differences in these tires? An interesting article from Consumer Reports helps ...

As a driver, don’t you wish you had the ability to communicate with other drivers? For instance, if someone is tailgating you, don’t you wish you had a variable message sign in your rear window that might say “Too close — back off!” But we don’t, and communication with other drivers ...

Alcohol is a factor in approximately one-third of vehicle crashes in the U.S. Although we have made great progress in the past few decades to reduce the instances of drinking and driving, it continues to be a major problem on our highways. I was made aware of a great resource on driving ...

We’ve heard a lot about autonomous vehicles, I’ve written several articles on this subject, and we already have features on our cars that automate some part of our driving, but we are still a long way from fully self-driving vehicles as the norm on our highways. But, we are progressing, and ...

In several past articles I have touted the safety features available on most new cars and how you should look into them when purchasing a new vehicle. However, a recent study by AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals that most drivers don’t understand the limitations of advanced safety ...

If you are a regular reader of these weekly articles on traffic safety and traffic law you know that many of the articles criticize drivers for failing to use their headlights during daytime driving in inclement weather. I have written in numerous articles over the years about how important it ...

If you are a regular reader of the “Police Beat” or “For the Record” or similar columns found in most newspapers, you will often find someone arrested for driving while intoxicated, or drug possession, or some other violation and, near the end of the write-up for the violation you find ...

If you are among the many residents in Franklin County with a rural mailbox along the side of the road, pay attention to the rest of this article, as fixing your box in the middle of the winter is not much fun. If a property owner places his or her mailbox in the highway right-of-way (ROW), ...

I came across an interesting article in the September issue of the AARP Bulletin written by Warren Clarke noting that older drivers are having fewer crashes, good information for our local drivers as we have a large percentage of drivers over 70 years old. The article claims that the number of ...