The National Transportation Safety Board is offering a three-day course,titled "Transportation Disaster Response - A Course for Emergency Responders," at the NTSB Training Center in Ashburn, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.) on Nov. 17-19, 2009. The course is being facilitated with the full participation of the New Jersey State Police.
The president’s executive order, published in Tuesday's Federal Register, defines "texting" as "reading from or entering data into any handheld or other electronic device, including for the purpose of SMS texting, e-mailing, instant messaging, obtaining navigational information, or engaging in any other form of electronic data retrieval or electronic data communication."
The video from Smith System Driver Improvement Institute, Inc. is available until Oct. 31 for only $8 shipping and handling per video to organizations.
According to preliminary figures released by the National Transportation Safety Board, transportation fatalities in the United States decreased by almost 10 percent in 2008 from 2007.
Mark R. Rosekind, Ph.D., president and chief scientist of Alertness Solutions, has been nominated for a term lasting until Dec. 31, 2014.
Look at any company that operates a fleet of trucks and ask whether it pays attention to safety. Chances are good you'll find four basic elements in its program: equipment maintenance, hiring policies, training, and holding people accountable for accidents. But often missing is a fifth element that can make all the difference in accident rates: ensuring that drivers are motivated to operate safely.
President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday night telling federal employees not to text while operating a government vehicle or a private vehicle on government business and asking federal contractors to do likewise.
More than 10,000 personnel at McChord Air Force Base, near Tacoma, Wash., provide a fast, flexible, responsive airlift capability to DoD. Motor vehicle accidents are a special concern as the holiday season approaches.
The Globally Harmonized System was developed to provide a single, consistent system to classify chemicals, labels, and safety data sheets for workers, employers, and chemical users. Under GHS, labels would include signal words, hazard and precautionary statements, and pictograms such as the one shown, used for carcinogens, respiratory sensitizers, and germ cell mutagens.
According to EPA, one the company's drivers failed to provide immediate notification to authorities following a 920-pound release of anhydrous ammonia while making a delivery to a farm.
An advisory panel recommended FMCSA ensure new entrant carriers have their safety audits within a year on average, with "chameleon carriers" and others not in compliance found through roadside inspection data and other procedures.
The $25 records request using a searchable database will help law enforcement and others find the owners or lienholders of junkers left on their property.
GHSA, whose chairman is scheduled to speak at next week's DOT Summit, also seeks model policies for employers to use and an advertising campaign similar to the ones against drunken driving.
European authorities are already taking in-vehicle safety to a new level, with Sweden mandating alcolocks in 11,000 government vehicles by 2012. The new report discusses benefits of speed limiters, event data recorders, distance warning systems, and more.
Revised ahead of the DOT Distract Driving Summit later this month, the society's position statement notes distractions are not limited to electronic devices. The statement also discusses technological solutions.
Divers sought the Robert Wallace, a wooden bulk freight steamer that sank in 1902, for five years until they found it in 2006. The National Park Service is now considering its nomination for the register.
"We continue to see brakes as the most significant problem in the enforcement data, representing more than half of all out-of-service violations," said Stephen F. Campbell, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, which will wrap up Brake Safety Week tomorrow.
The DOT inspector general testified Sept. 10 that the department's leadership has directed PHMSA to implement an action plan, but oversight of permit holders' safety compliance remains an issue.
"Our Coast Guard crews face risks each and every time they respond to a call--including hoax calls and reports of abandoned or adrift vessels," said Cmdr. Phillip Thorne, chief of the response department at Sector Northern New England. "Not only do these cases put responsible mariners in danger, the time and resources expended are a needless waste of money."
According to CDC, the use of booster seats has been found to reduce the risk for injury by 59 percent in children aged 4-7 years old, compared with use of adult seat belts alone.