Thursday, October23, 2014
HOT TOPICS:
- North Carolina Attorney General calls for cameras on all school buses
- Moped scooter riders in Indiana face tighter rules
- National Transportation Safety Board urges hands-free phone ban for commercial truck drivers
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North Carolina Attorney General calls for cameras on all school buses
WNCN
AG Cooper calls for cameras on all NC school buses
Posted: Oct 20, 2014 2:09 PM EDT
Updated: Oct 21, 2014 12:12 PM EDT
by WNCN Staff
RALEIGH, N.C. - Attorney General Roy Cooper is calling on North Carolina to put cameras in all school buses that would photograph the license plates of any drivers who pass stopped school buses.
"Careless drivers are putting students' safety at risk when they fail to stop for school buses," Cooper said in a statement. "Adding cameras and issuing automatic citations will help stop law breakers who put students' lives and safety at risk, and it can also pay for itself."
Cooper said that because fines collected from civil penalties go to North Carolina schools, the cameras could pay for themselves.
One of the co-chairs of the state's Child Fatality Task Force, Dr. Peter Morris, said the task force has looked at the matter in the 2010-2011 year but that adding cameras to all school buses can be expensive. He said the task force endorsed a pilot program but a bill to establish the program, called "Phoebe's Law," did not make it through the General Assembly in 2011.
Morris said the matter was not initially scheduled to be discussed at the task force's next meeting Dec. 15 but he expects that it will be now that Cooper has raised the issue.
Morris also said he believes having cameras on buses could be an effective deterrent, even if the cameras are only on some buses and not all.
WNCN has been investigating the problem, with at least 13 students being killed by cars passing stopped school buses since 1999. Also this year, a boy in Wendell was killed while waiting at his school bus, and two children in Wilson County were hit at their school bus.
Surveys have indicated thousands of North Carolinians drive past stopped school buses each day and bus drivers have told WNCN they see the problem regularly.
In a letter sent last week, the Attorney General asked a special task force established to promote children's safety to examine the technology and recommend the best way to implement it on North Carolina school buses.
"I believe that if the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force examines this technology and hears from stakeholders on how it's working in other states you will conclude we should enact a law fully deploying this technology across North Carolina," Cooper wrote in the letter.
The task force is a legislative study commission which makes recommendations to the General Assembly and the governor.
"Parents count on school buses to get their kids to school and home again safely," Cooper said. "We need to look at adding this technology to make school bus rides safer for children."
In 2011, Virginia passed a law allowing municipalities to put cameras on school buses to catch drivers who pass stop arms. Falls Church, Va., eventually became the first community to do it.
How much Cooper's proposal would cost is uncertain because the program he is proposing is different from a pilot program that is already in place on about 400 school buses in the state.
With more than 13,000 public school buses on the road, the total could add up quickly.
Raleigh mom Lauren Cotter, who has a 4-year-old daughter headed to kindergarten next year, said the cameras would be worth the cost.
"I do think it's worth it," Cotter said. "I think everyone should know to stop for a school bus and people that don't, it blows my mind that they're not aware of how it could endanger children and I think catching them is essential."
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Moped scooter riders in Indiana face tighter rules
Indianapolis Star
Moped scooter riders in Indiana face tighter rules
John Tuohy, 5:37 p.m. EDT October 22, 2014
The free ride will soon be over for low-speed scooters in Indiana.
Drivers of moped scooters with engines of 50 cubic centimeters or less will need to buy license plates and take a street sign test at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles beginning next year.
They also will be required to carry a state of Indiana identification card, but can still drive without a license or insurance, unlike owners of more-powerful scooters or motorcycles.
The BMV held a news conference Tuesday to announce the changes to give riders time to prepare.
Police and lawmakers said the new law will make the roads safer because scooter owners who are in accidents will be traceable and held to account.
The scooters are growing in popularity, especially with people who have had their licenses revoked or suspended, such as repeat traffic offenders and drunk drivers.
The bill was authored by state Rep. David Wolkins, R-Warsaw, who has said it provides both accountability for the moped drivers and gives those with suspended licenses a way to get to work. The law was passed earlier this year and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2015.
Michael Tockey, owner of Speed City Cycle in Indianapolis, calls them “liquor cycles.”
“We have people who aren’t allowed to drive a car but are out there driving these cheap, unregistered bikes without insurance and without licenses,” said Tockey, who sells about 100 of the slower-speed scooters a year and would support a tougher law requiring licensing. “I call them disposable bikes because the drivers get in accidents, leave the bikes and walk away from them,” he said.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Chris Bailey said police can ticket low-speed scooter drivers just like any other motorists.
“We can give them tickets for speeding, unsafe lane usage and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated,” Bailey said.
But he could not immediately provide numbers on how many scooters were in accidents.
State Rep. Milo Smith, R-Columbus, had introduced bills in the past that would have required moped drivers to get motor vehicle licenses, but those efforts failed. He was a co-sponsor of Wolkins’ compromise bill.
“I noticed there were a lot more people driving them on the road and they tended to drive carelessly, weaving in and out of traffic or even riding on sidewalks,” Smith said. “Law enforcement told me of a rise in accidents.”
He said about three-quarters of the states don’t require licensing but most require registration of the vehicles.
The moped scooters can look like more powerful scooters, which require a license to drive, and can be confusing to police trying to determine whether the driver should be licensed.
The new license plates will be colored differently from other scooters’ license plates and will cost $26.35 a year. The ID card costs $11.50.
BMV spokesman Josh Gillespie said the registration of the slow-speed scooters also will help locate stolen scooters and scooters used in crimes.
The slower-speed scooters cost $500 and aren’t built to go faster than 35 mph but can be modified to go as fast as 60 mph, Tockey said.
The most-popular scooters, like the Vespa, come with engines in the 250cc to 300cc range and can go about 80 mph. Some with engines as large as 700cc can reach speeds of 120 mph.
The new law also will raise the allowed speed on the road for the slower scooters from 30 mph to 35 mph and will prohibit the carrying of passengers.
Because those scooters aren’t currently registered, it is unknown how many are in use in Indiana.
“Now, at least, we’ll know the number we are dealing with,” Smith said, once the new law takes effect.
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National Transportation Safety Board urges hands-free phone ban for commercial truck drivers
Go By Truck News
NTSB Urges Hands-Free Phone Ban
By Go By Truck News+ Updated: October 23, 2014
The National Transportation Safety Board is urging a ban on hands-free phones for commercial truck drivers. The board made the recommendation, as well as several others, in its official report on a 2013 collision involving a semi truck and a freight train.
In its review of the accident, NTSB found that the truck driver failed to stop at the railroad crossing too look for oncoming trains. The driver reported that he was in the practice of listening for the train’s horn as he approached in the crossing, but on the day of the crash, he did not hear anything, partly due to the distraction of an incoming call on his hands-free device.
“Current laws may mislead people to believe that hands-free is as safe as not using a phone at all,” says Christopher Hart, acting chairman of NTSB. “Our investigations have found over and over that distraction in any form can be dangerous behind the wheel.”
In light of the findings, NTSB wants the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to ban hands-free phones in addition to its current ban on hand-held phones.
The board also recommended that the FMCSA increase new-entrant screening and improve its communication with medical examiners.
Although it was a new entrant, the company involved in the crash had a history of noncompliance with safety regulations. NTSB believes that the FMCSA should have gone farther in its review and auditing of the company after its admission as a carrier.
“We continue to be concerned with FMCSA’s new-entrant program,” says Hart. “Problem operators keep falling through the cracks.”
NTSB also found that the driver in the accident had a current diagnosis of severe sleep apnea. He was not being treated, and his alertness may have been compromised by fatigue. While the driver did not report his condition on his medical exam forms, his physician apparently was aware of it and certified him anyway.
Finally, NTSB called for better oversight of private rail crossings.
“Efforts to improve safety at private grade crossings have been inadequate,” says Hart. “We need states, railroads and land-owners to address problems before serious collisions occur.”