secretary
TRANSCRIPT
Volume 9, No. 7 September 15, 2003
NHTSA NOW 14 NHTSA NOW
NHTSA Now is an official publication of theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administra-tion, Office of Communications and ConsumerInformation.
Kathryn Henry, Editor
Contributors: Laurie Flaherty, EMS; JimDowney, Region V; Catherine McCullough,R&D; Essie W agner , NTI-121; Darlene Curtin,NPO-502; Dee Williams, NPO-310; Luis DelRio, NPO-502; Tina Foley, NPO-501;Stephanie Hancock, Region III.
If you would like to submit articles or photo-graphs, please email them to [email protected]; or mail them to 400 7th Street, SW,Suite 5232, Washington, DC 20590.
Restraint use estimates are based on theNational Occupant Protection Use Survey(NOPUS), conducted annually by NHTSA.The previous survey in June 2002 foundnationwide belt use at 75 percent. Thescientific survey is based on observationsat 2,000 sites nationwide.
Additional key findings of the latestNOPUS survey include the following:
States with primary safety belt lawsaveraged 83 percent belt usage while stateswith secondary laws averaged 75 percent.Twenty states, the District of Columbia andPuerto Rico have primary belt laws.
Pickup truck occupants registered thelowest usage rate - 69 percent - amongpassenger vehicles.
Occupants of sport utility vehicles(SUVs) and vans registered the highest userate - 83 percent.
Usage is lowest in the Northeast (74percent) followed by the Midwest at 75percent. Belt use is highest in the West (84percent) and South (80 percent).
NHTSA has been gathering NOPUSstatistics on restraint use since 1994. Thelatest numbers were derived from a surveyconducted during a 20-day period in June2003.
The margin of error for the survey on thenational estimates of restraint use is plus
NHTSA 'sDerrick "T ony" LewisEntertains on the PlazaDuring the SummerConcert Series
Recently, three NHTSA employees received their certification as child passengersafety technicians - Darlene Curtin (NPO-502), Dee Williams (NPO-310), and Joy
Thompson (NVS-130). Each attended and fulfilled the 32 hour course requirementsdesigned to educate participants (according to bestpractice guidelines) on the: selection and securementof children in age appropriate child restraint systems(CRSs); installation of different modes of CRSs inmultiple types of motor vehicles; the ability to instructothers on the correct installation of CRSs in a motorvehicle; and the ability to instruct others on how toproperly restrain a child in an age appropriate childrestraint system which has been correctly installed in amotor vehicle.
At the completion of the course, Darlene, Dee and Joyhad to pass both written and performance evaluationsto receive certification. In addition, each had toparticipate in a child safety seat checkup event, whichwas held at Fitzgerald Automotive in Rockville,Maryland. There, they along with other certified child
passenger safety technicians, assisted parents, guardians and caretakers in inspectingand properly installing child safety seats in their respective motor vehicles.
ted to safety as its highest transportationpriority, and we will not be satisfied untileveryone buckles up for every trip."
NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeffrey Rungeaddressed the historic, high belt usagestatistics at the Governors HighwaySafety Association' s (GHSA) annualmeeting in New Orleans.
Both Secretary Mineta and AdministratorRunge credited the hard work of the statehighway safety offices, state and local lawenforcement agencies, advocacy groupsand public/private sector partners,including the Air Bag & Seat Belt SafetyCampaign for the increase in belt use.
The May enforcement mobilization was,for the first time, supplemented by analmost $25 million state and national mediacampaign. More than 12,000 law enforce-ment agencies in all 50 states, the Districtof Columbia and Puerto Rico conductedsafety belt checkpoints and other speciallaw enforcement activities as part of thecampaign.
"This was a prodigious nationwideeffort with broad support and enthusiasmfrom national, state and local governmentsand the private sector. The nation isindebted to all for their hard work," saidDr. Runge.
According to NHTSA estimates, theincrease in belt use this year will translateinto more than 1,000 lives saved each yearthe gains are sustained. In addition, thecosts to society are reduced by at least$3.2 billion.
August 25, 2003. U.S. TransportationSecretary Norman Y. Mineta todayannounced that safety belt use in theUnited States has reached 79 percent - thehighest level in the nation' s history .
Every region of thecountry registeredincreases in belt usesince 2002, according toa new NHTSA survey.The nationwide surveywas conducted after themassive "Click It orTicket" mobilization inMay, the largest-ever
nationwide law enforcement effort toincrease safety belt use.
"W e should all be proud of the ef fortsthat went into this historic accomplish-ment," Secretary Mineta said. "But, makeno mistake about it, our work is not doneyet. The Bush administration is commit-
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Course Complete!
Checkpoint StrikeforceGets Top Billingin VirginiaLate August 2003. Police are promisingmore sobriety checkpoints across Virginiaand they're spending half a million dollarson ads to raise awareness about theproblem. Governor Mark Warner said,"This week, the weekend, and for thecoming weeks, if you drive drunk, we'regoing to find you, we're going to arrestyou, and we're going to get you off theroad".
At an afternoon news conference beforeLabor Day weekend, traditionally a deadlytime on highways, Warner also high-lighted police efforts to catch drunkendrivers in the ongoing CheckpointStrikeforce program. He promised that
there would be atleast one check-point every weekfrom now until theend of the year.Reminders of thedrunk-drivingcrackdown will be
"Never mistake knowledgefor wisdom.
One helps you make a living;the other helps you make a life."
-Sandra Carey
Secretary Minetacontinued from page 2
July 2003.Thursdays in thesummer monthsare known toemployees at theNassif buildingas a time to relaxin the courtyardwith lunch andgreat music. Ona recent summerThursday,NHTSA 's ownDerrick Lewis
filled the plaza with the jazz sounds fromhis saxophone.
Derrick has studied music since highschool and advanced his music educationat St. Augustine College in Raleigh, NorthCarolina, where he attended on a musicscholarship and played with a jazz band.After graduation, he returned to Washing-ton, D.C. to continue his music career atthe University of the District of Columbia.He has studied with Najee, GroverWashington, Jr., and is a member of theUnited States Coast Guard Cutters StageBand of Washington, D.C.
statewide, including a Spanish-languageversion.
One, with a "T wilight Zone" theme playingsoftly in the background, has a RodSerling sound-alike warning, "Y ourimagination races ahead-to-your arrest,court appearance, losing your license. Lifeas you know it is suddenly altered. Yournext stop: the checkpoint zone."
Another , a parody of MasterCard' s familiarspots, gets right to the bottom line: "Costof a good drunk-driving lawyer, $1,500.Loss of your driver's license? Priceless."
The ultimate message of the program is,"If you drink and drive in V ir ginia, you willlose."
Virginia Governor MarkWarner warns motoriststhat if they Drink &Drive. They Lose.
as close as the carradio. The statehas sent publicservice ads to 52radio stations
Darlene (left) and Dee (right)at Fitzgerald Automotive' s(Rockville, MD) July 10, 2003Child Safety Seat CheckupEvent.
Secretary Mineta Holds All HandsMeeting with NHTSA, FMCSA, andFHWAMed Students at NHTSAVirginia Transportation Safety BoardRecognizes the Crash InjuryResearch and Engineering Center inVirginia
Checkpoint Strikeforce Gets TopBilling in Virginia
Course Complete!NHTSA 's Derrick "T ony" Lewis Entertains on the Plaza
INSIDE.......
79%79%Safety Belt Use ReachesNational Record-Level
this was an all-hands meeting in themaritime tradition. Let me finish myremarks to you by changing that descrip-tion.
This is not an all-hands meeting, it is acall to general quarters.
"All hands - man your battle stations."
God bless each and every of you as webegin this fight in earnest. May Godcontinue to bless the United States ofAmerica. I know with your commitmentand your energy, you will not let thisgreat nation down.
ment - that our top priority for the next 18months is to use every tool available toreduce death and injury on our highways.
The Department of Transportation hasperformed magnificently in providing forthe security for Americans traveling. Wenow have to pivot and shift that energyand passion to providing for the safety ofthe traveling American.
The mission is very simple: Reduce deathand injury. The measure of success is justas simple: Increase the number of peopleusing safety belts and reduce the numberof impaired drivers.
If we do that, we win. If we fail - Ameri-cans will continue to die on our nation' sroads in unnecessary and preventablecrashes.
To accomplish our goal, we must chooseto end the acceptance of death on ourroads. More than 40,000 people last yeardied on our watch. Newcomers to thestatistic of this slaughter try and describeit in a way that startles the listener.
They say , "It ' s like a 737 crashing everyday of the year ." Or , "It ' s a small Ameri-can town wiped out every year".
While both of these comparisons aretragically true, those of us who haveworked on this issue know there issomething more insidious about thisbattle.
It is the banality of these events thatworks to defeat our efforts. It is theeveryday, every minute crash that
happens so often, so steadily, that it is nolonger newsworthy except to the peoplewhose lives are devastated.
It is not the drama of a 737 plane crasheveryday. It is the crashing of a thousandcars a day .
Every day, across the nation, the alarmsounds in a thousand firehouses, a radiocall goes to a thousand police officers,and the doors to the emergency depart-ments and trauma centers swing openthousands of times.
And everyday, right this minute, thisafternoon, late tonight - a telephone willring, a doorbell will be rung, a policeofficer will show up at an office or at ahome to tell someone that the personthey kissed good-by that morning is notcoming home ever again.
My colleagues, providence has given usan opportunity to change that history. Ifwe do our jobs, fewer calls will be made.If we succeed, thousands will never knowthis pain and heartache. That' s the jobbefore us.
We do not fool ourselves into thinking we
NHTSA NOW 32 NHTSA NOW
July 16, 2003. Washington, DC.Text of message:
I want to thank everyone for taking timeout of your busy schedules to come heretoday .
This event has been called an "all hands"meeting. In the maritime tradition, when acommanding officer has something of theutmost importance to convey, he wouldcall all hands to muster and then addressthe ship' s crew.
That' s what I would like to do today - talkto you about something vitally important,and to make a request of each of you.
I look back at my two and a half yearsleading this Department, and I see howmuch we have accomplished - how hardwe have worked over this period of time.
Now, this is not the agenda we wrote forourselves. But it is the one that historyhas given to us. And now it is time toacknowledge that history is calling us toanother important task. It is no lessimportant than others that we've had, andthe stakes are no less significant.
It is the battle to stop the death and injuryon our roads and highways.
This is a battle for which many of youhave volunteered. It is one many of youhave been fighting. For many of you, it isthe calling that has brought you to thisDepartment - it is the passion that fuelsyour work here.
W ell, the rest of us are going to join youin that passion and that calling. This is anall-hands muster because I want everyoneto know in your agencies - in this Depart-
Secretary MinetaHolds All Hands
Meeting with NHTSA,FMCSA, and FHW A -Sets Agenda forNext 18 Months
can stop all crashes. We accept thereality of our world where vehicles willcrash into one another unintentionally,and people will be killed and people willbe injured.
But what we do not accept is that peoplecan drive without buckling up, or thatthey can drive impaired. And that issomething we intend to do somethingabout it.
We are going to work to pass laws thatrequire Americans to buckle up. We aregoing to work on methods and practicesthat lower the number of impaired drivers.Enforcement works, we'll support it. Weknow it does.
At the same time, we intend to educatedrivers to buckle up and to drive sober,and we intend to engineer and useinnovative new ways to reduce death andinjury on the road.
As someone who's been in public servicefor more than forty years, whether as amayor, or as a Member of Congress, or asa Cabinet Secretary, I have learned thatthe team you are working with has but abrief moment to create a legacy for thepublic we serve.
Colleagues, let us make this one of ourlegacies. Let our accomplishment be thatwe reduce the number of times thosefirefighters, those troopers, thoseparamedics, thosedoctors, andthosenurseshave tolook atanotherbrokenbody.
Most ofyouknow thatI havespent a fairamount of mytime in a hospital this past year. I haveseen the pain and the suffering of thoseunnecessary casualties of car crashes.
We can change that. I pledge my remain-ing time as your Secretary to helping youfight this fight.
I am asking for your commitment - apromise from you to spend your time, andyour ener gy , in this fight.
It will not be easy. We will not be givenevery tool there is for this fight - we maynot even be given the best tools. But thatshould not stop us - it cannot stop us -because too much is at stake.
I started out these remarks saying that
Secretary Mineta leads the charge in ratchetingup efforts to increase the number of peopleusing safety belts and reduce the number ofimpaired drivers. Seated at right is Chief ofStaff John Flaherty, seated at left are AnnetteSandberg, Administrator, FMCSA; Dr. JeffRunge, Administrator, NHTSA; Mary Peters,Administrator, FHWA.
Virginia Transportation Safety Board Recognizes TheCrash Injury Research and Engineering Network(CIREN) Center at Inova Fairfax Hospital
The Honda Inova Fairfax CIREN Centerhas received a Certification of
Recognition by the Virginia Transporta-tion Safety Board for their continuedcommitment and dedication to transporta-tion safety in the Commonwealth ofVirginia. This commitment has beengreatly enhanced by their involvement inCIREN.
CIREN is a collaborative ongoing researcheffort at 10 level one trauma centersstrategically located across the UnitedStates. Seven of these centers are fundedby NHTSA and three are privately funded.
According to Dr . Samir M. Fakhry , "theCIREN Center at Inova Fairfax is a uniquecollaboration of many disciplines strivingto save lives on the roadways of theCommonwealth of Virginia. The informa-tion gleaned from motor vehicle crashesinvestigated by CIREN is utilized toeducate and train medical professionals,law enforcement, first responders,automobile engineers, and newly licenseddrivers in an attempt to reduce injuryseverity and crash outcomes. Althoughprogress continues apace, much remainsto be done in enhancing the safety of ourroads and vehicles. Our CIREN centerhas provided us with exceptional opportu-nities to pursue state of the art researchinto highway and vehicle safety and to dothis in our own "backyard". In manyways it has placed our collaborators andus in a position to learn more about thisimportant field, share the availableinformation generated nationally andlocally with our partners and our commu-nity and be active participants in generat-ing new knowledge about motor vehicle
crashes and occupant injuries. Althoughmost of us do not think much of gettinginto our car and driving to work or to ourhome, this seemingly innocuous act canlead to what is the number one killer ofpeople up to the age of 45 years: motorvehicle crashes. There has never been atime when our obligation to providingsafer vehicles and roadways has beengreater. It is well established that injuryprevention is by far the best way toensure the safety of our communities.CIREN is a very important addition to ourarmamentarium and the research generatedby the network will surely enhance injuryprevention throughout our state andnation."
Located in Falls Church, Virginia atthe Inova Fairfax Hospital, the Inova
Regional Trauma Center (IRTC) is thebusiest trauma center in the Common-wealth of Virginia and the only Level ITrauma Center in Northern Virginia. In2002 the Trauma Center treated more than2,700 severely injured patients with twothirds of patients injured in motor vehiclecrashes. The IRTC is committed todecreasing trauma-related death anddisability through education, outreach,prevention, and research to improve thequality of life for everyone in the commu-nity. Seventy-three percent of the patientstreated at the IRTC are from FairfaxCounty, which is a relatively affluentcommunity with a high percentage of newvehicles in use at any one time. Thisprovides for a higher probability ofencountering new vehicle safety technol-ogy and makes the region an ideallocation for vehicle safety research suchas CIREN.
By Catherine McCullough, Research and Development
Will Minnesota’simpaired drivers enjoybeing tested in therevamped BATMobile?Or will they find it asobering artisticexperience?Stay tuned! SameMinnesota time, sameMinnesota roads.
Holy Facelift!
Med Students atNHTSA
Through a program with the AmericanMedical Association and Cornell Univer-sity, NHTSA has two medical studentsworking with us in a summer internshipprogram. The goal of this program is tobroaden the professional perspectives offuture physicians and expose them to theapplied science of injury control. Thisyear we are fortunate to have two medicalstudents with us.
Alyssa Hackett - Alyssa is a first yearmedical student at Ohio S tate University . She is developing a Resource Book for theImpaired Driving Division that focuses inBlood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)testing, as it relates to people broughtto emergency departments or traumacenters after alcohol-related crashes. Sheis also writing an article for the Annals ofEmergency Medicine.
Ted Schuman - Ted is a first year medicalstudent at Cornell University . He isworking with the Crash Injury Research &Engineering Network (CIREN) program,and is developing a handbook for theCIREN centers that will enhance theirmethods for standardized recording ofmedical information into the CIRENdatabase.
Alyssa and Ted can be found in 5119Q. Ifyou have any questions about the summerinternship program for medical students,please contact Laurie Flaherty at 366-2705.
or minus 1.2 percentage points. The newlyreleased NHTSA survey results can befound on the agency' s website at: <http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/Rpts/2003/SafetyBelt2003.pdf>.
Safety Belt Use
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"Our top priority for thenext 18 months is to useevery tool available to
reduce death and injury onour highways."
- Secretary Mineta