Old 09-02-06, 08:11 AM
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HiYoSilver
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: SW. Sacramento Region, aka, down river
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Bikes: Giant OCR T, Trek SC

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Living longer thru cycling and road awareness - LONG

Since this is a longer thread, I'm using an outline format so you can either read it all or scan ahead to the areas of your interest.

Overview, this is a plan to ID the hazardous, dangerous and skilled drivers on the roads so it is easier for us all to ride on the roads without being killed or injured.

advocacy subforum tend to focus on safety of bikes vs motor vehicles and doesn't talk about safety when transporting bikes. The problem is bigger-- not just cyclists, only 784 deaths in 2005, but dismal traffic safety expectations and standards effect us all. Why not subforum?
1- need a more general reaction of common cyclists and not just those who are advocates while on cylcles but also when transporting bikes
2- need more feedback on value of ideas presented


Cycling has many benefits, else you wouldn't be here, right?
Also has risks-- as we share the road with normal traffic and mix of drivers.

Out of 100 drivers, about 2 drivers will kill or injure another person this year.

1/50 is really dangerous and just because this carnage and violence has continued for decades does not reduce the effect of allowing dangerous drivers on the roadways.

This problem has been ignored by
..old media: TV, newspapers, mags
..politicans
..cycling advocates

How severe is the problem?
Death & Injuries, traffic, last available year is 2004
yearly...........2,827,189
monthly...........235,599

How does this compare to politicalized deaths and injuries?

Deaths & Injuries in 10 years of Vietnam war: 200,713
Less than one month of sharing the roads with these dangerous drivers
Monthly death & injury rate occurance vs Vietnam: 141 x greater
daily traffic effect of these dangerous drivers: 2,945


Deaths & Injuries of US wars: revolution, 1812, mexican, civil war, spanish american, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf

2,222,298

Months of carnage and mayhem on roads to equal 42 years of wars----- just 9 1/2 months

What does NSTB want to do to fix this problem?
Of 8 major initiatives, only 2 are directed at drivers. And of those only subsets of drivers: young drivers and DUI


Still hanging in there? Now is where I need your input as to validity of observations and feedback.


Why is this deplorable situation allowed to exist?
--no victim advocate
--no pain points for bad drivers
--old media is looking for sound bites and not problem solving

Suggestions on possible methods to decrease our common exposure to road hazards
++ build awareness by mentioning the 2,945 daily deaths and injuries by sharing the road at any conversation opportunity
++ associate with similar minded political advocacy groups, whenever they develop
++ build bike forum rough consensus on what is needed to decrease common road hazards

Ideas on driving the problem home to cocooned drivers
Why have present system have failed for decades
..focus is only on vehicle and not on drivers
..insurance works to isolate bad drivers from pain
..there is no funding source available for better driver advocacy [ naturally, if drivers improve, then cyclists safety will improve even more ]

We need a federal mandate to have states develop laws to develop, nurture and assist active driver safety. As recent BMW ad correctly says, "the best accident, is the one avoided." It is estimated over 90% of accidents are caused by drivers and not the vehicle, roadways, etc.


STICKS
==========================================
General
. dollar amounts are indexed for inflation
. dollar amounts for those earning less than $50,000 are payable either in lump sum or $150/mo without interest
. signs are 2 feet wide and 18 inches high
. fault is excluded from consideration. Question is only did death or injury occur while driving. If so, then subject
to penalty. Even if DUI blows thru stop light and hurts/kills someone in your vehicle.
. no exceptions to penalty by any appeal to age or other subsets of current drivers


New Driver classes
- dangerous driver
- very dangerous driver
- hazardous driver
- very hazardous driver
- skilled driver
- very skilled driver

Accidents involving deaths -- dangerous and very dangerous driver classes
================================================================
1st occurance-- Create events for: funding, financial pain, social pain
.. driver/family/estate pays fine to gov to fund active driver safety education programs
.. Fine is the greater of 3,000 or 3% of last 1040 form
.. driver must attach hi visibility yellow background sign: "CAUTION - known dangerous driver" for 10 years
to left, right and rear of vehicle. Sign will include a 5" skull and crossbones icon.
.. driver must have operating slow flashing,revolving yellow caution light on the roof whenever vehicle is in motion [similar to blue unmarked police car roof light put on roof by driver]
.. state must add class "dangerous driver" to drivers license and add driver's name to national
dangerous driver database
.. maximum speed for driver is 5 mph less than posted speeds. [ revenue opportunity for local and state police]



2nd occurance-- increase events: funding, financial pain and social pain
..driver/family/estate pays fine to gov to fund federal active driver safety education programs
..Fine is the greater of 10,000 or 10% of last 1040 form
..Mandatory restriction of drivers license to only commutes to work/medical suppliers for 20 years
..driver must attach high visibility yellow and red background sign: "CAUTION - known very dangerous driver" for 20 years to left, right and rear of vehicle. Sign will include a 5" skull and crossbones icon.
.. driver may only drive in vehicles with roof bar and two operating yellow caution lights, including day light hours
.. state must add class "very dangerous driver" to drivers license and add driver's name to national
dangerous driver database
.. maximum speed for driver is 10 mph less than posted speeds. [ revenue opportunity for local and state police]


3rd occurance-- 3rd strike and you're out
..driver loses license permanently
..drivers biographical infomation and 1040 identity numbers listed in national: prohibited drivers database
..all states are required to clear new drivers in the national database


Accidents involving injuries -- hazardous and very hazardous driver classifications
==================================================================
1st occurance
.. driver/family/estate pays fine to gov to fund active driver safety education programs
.. Fine is the greater of 1,500 or 1.5% of last 1040 form
.. driver must attach high visibility yellow background sign: "CAUTION - hazardous driver" for 10 years
to left, right and rear of vehicle. Sign will include a 8" crutch icon.
.. driver must have operating slow flashing,revolving yellow caution light on the roof whenever vehicle is in motion
[similar to blue unmarked police car roof light put on roof by driver]
.. state must add class "hazardous driver" to drivers license and add driver's name to national
hazardous driver database
.. maximum speed for driver is 5 mph less than posted speeds. [ revenue opportunity for local and state police]



2nd occurance of accident with injuries
.. family, estate pays fine to gov to fund active driver safety education programs
.. Fine is the greater of 5,000 or 5% of last 1040 form
.. Mandatory restriction of drivers license to only commutes to work/medical suppliers for 10 years .. driver must

attach high visibility yellow and red background sign: "CAUTION - very hazardous driver" for 10 years
to left, right and rear of vehicle. Sign will include a 8" crutch icon.
.. driver may only drive in vehicles with roof bar and two operating yellow caution lights, including day light hours
.. state must add class "very hazardous driver" to drivers license and add driver's name to national
very hazardous driver database
.. maximum speed for driver is 10 mph less than posted speeds. [ revenue opportunity for local and state police]

3rd occurance
..driver loses license permanently
..drivers biographical infomation and IRS ID information listed in national: prohibitted drivers database
..all states are required to clear new drivers in the national database


CARROTS
==========================================
General
no accidents involving death or injury in last 10 years
vehicle handling skills are granted only for tested vehicle
vehicle handling skills must be recertified every 5 years
"rewards" are both vanity label on drivers license and increase of allowable speed limits. This should not be a public safety risk because speed limits are usually set by
-- 70 percentile of traffic on road
-- with the assumption that driving is NOT job number 1 for the driver
-- with the assumption there is no driving skill training

Skilled Driver Award
================
Qualification
..passed saloom course by meeting average speed and not knocking over any cones
..be able to stop at 30 mph on dry payment without swerving and stopping within 10 feet of professional drivers
..be able to stop at 60 mph on dry payment without swerving and stopping within 10 feet of professional drivers
..be able to stop at 30 mph on wet payment without swerving and stopping within 10 feet of professional drivers
..be able to stop at 60 mph on wet payment without swerving and stopping within 10 feet of professional drivers
..be able to pass cyclist on common 2 lane road with 3 feet of clearance between any vehicle parts and cyclist
$20 qualification entry fee is forwarded to same national good driver advocacy group

Award carrot
..driver can post magnetic sign with high visiblity green background "Skilled Driver" on tested vehicle
..driver is immune from traffic tickets for speeding less than 5 mph over posted speed
.. state adds "skilled driver" to drivers license


Very Skilled Driver Award
==================
Qualification
.. successfully completed professional drivers course at least equal to the Bob Debount {spelling?} driving school
..be able to pass cyclist on common 2 lane road with 3 feet of clearance between any vehicle parts and cyclist
$40 qualification entry fee is forwarded to same national good driver advocacy group

Award carrot
..driver can post magnetic sign with high visiblity green background "Very Skilled Driver" on tested vehicle
..driver is immune from traffic tickets for speeding less than 10 mph over posted speed
.. state adds "very skilled driver" to drivers license



Impact of program on cyclists
1. now can manage traffic by exception, just look for the 2 to 3 % of vehicles with signs on them
2. green signs mean driver is not a risk
3. yellow signs mean watch very very carefully
4. yellow lights also mean watch carefully and provide cyclist awareness notification in reduced light


Ok, what do you think?

Is the lack of funding problem for increasing driver skill sets solved?
Currently, no funding.
At current rates 42,636 deaths [same as 2004] times $3,000 would generate $127,908,000.00
At current rates 2,788,000 injuries [same as 2004] tmes $1,500 would generate $4,182,000,000.00
Total ANNUAL funding: $4,182 million
Even if government wastes 1/2 of this, there is still $2,091 million a year available for advertisements and
driver skill improvement.

Is the pain for bad driving appropriate for income levels and severity of offense?
Is the dollar amount high enough to make an impact?
Is the monthly minimum payment without interest reasonable for lower income people?
Is the percentage of income high enough to make impact on those who earn over $100,000 a year?
Are the stigmas of 1. vehicle sign, 2. vehicle light, and 3. drivers license entry sufficient to get across
to those 2 percent of dangerous drivers that this behavior is no longer tolerated?



Is the reward for skilled driving something that would appeal to either you or someone you know?
Do you know anyone who would find the "skilled driver" or "very skilled driver" designation appealing?
Would these same people be able to handle increased speed limits in a responsible manner?
Is this enough of an award, or do we need to sweeten the pot more?




Do you have better suggestions?
I'm not saying these are perfect, but there has to be a better solution than killing and maining in 9 months more than have been killed and mained in 42 years of US warfare. In your discussion, please comment on something that solves the

1-funding for increasing public awareness,
2-pain points for those 2 out of 100 dangerous and hazardous drivers, and
3-offers rewards for skilled and very skilled drivers.


Something new is way way way better than current hazardous situation. Thank you for plowing thru this long thread. I look forward to reading your reaction.

sources
=======
Death and injury data for roads in USA
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd...4HTML/tbl2.htm
Current Most wanted federal improvements
http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/mostwanted/highwayissues.htm
Motor vehicle accident overview
http://en.iedia.org/wiki/Car_accident
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