I could not have generated the information, collected the photographs, or completed the project without the assistance and aid of others. I want to thank all of those who contributed to the successful completion of this book. My first debt is, of course, to my three amazing children who encouraged me to discover my writing purpose and pursue it with intense passion and perseverance. I am grateful that they understood the world must know this story. I am deeply grateful to my friend Mohsin Ali, former diplomatic editor for Reuters, who helped tremendously by serving as a guest lecturer to my college classes while I attended the many meetings. The hundreds of college students who participated in the research and surveys helped to get this book written. Unfortunately, some of these students perished in motor vehicle crashes. Many others were involved in crashes that caused them pain and injury. It was common to hear tragic stories on a daily basis. I constantly thank my college students and remind them that their involvement was important. What is written is never forgotten. I tell them that we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. Hopefully, in this second century of motor vehicle travel, these students can experience the freedom to travel safely. I received much support and advice, and sometimes the best advice came from the naysayers who told me I was wasting my time. Fortunately, I turned all their negatives into positives. Many individuals are mentioned within, but this book is solely my project and all of the opinions expressed here (except for the direct quotations) are my own. I do not speak or write for the automakers, government safety establishment, standards development organizations, or advocates—but I do include their own works in my book and also what others have commented about them. I do not bash any group for all are important and I am very careful to be factual. I express my grateful appreciation to those who gave permission to use news articles and extended quotations such as the National Academies of Sciences / Transportation Research Board (TRB), the New York Times, Automotive News and EE Times, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Robert Kern, my literary agent in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Cathy Faduska, my senior editor at IEEE Press / John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Kay Ethier of Bright Path Solutions, Durham, North Carolina, helped craft the initial structure of my manuscript and greatly improved the book. The entire point of an editor is to decide what is and what is not fit to print, and any book will have some selection criteria. Those criteria and the editor's judgment are its bias. The best that any author can do is make it as clear as possible why everything should be included so as to avoid "unbiased" reporting where no one can be portrayed as being wrong or opposing safety. No courage is required to publish a sanitized, non-critical version of events. To do otherwise requires a higher standard. Vehicle and highway safety cannot be accomplished through the efforts of one person, a group, or a government agency. It is a shared responsibility among people who travel, the companies that provide transport, and the agencies that regulate travel. But, one person can make a difference toward the goal of safe travel. Someday, when we are "actually all safer" while traveling in crash-proof vehicles on intelligent highways, I want to tell my children's children that I knew about this problem and did my best to erase it when I could. I will tell them in life we have two choices, try or do nothing. To me it was impossible to witness the terrible pain and suffering and not get involved. Road safety is no accident. Silence is the ultimate weapon of power in vehicle and highway safety. This book will break that silence. |
One of the great pleasures of finishing a book is that it gives the author the opportunity to thank those who helped make the project a product.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 8 - Turn Signals: February to March 2003
The global road trauma epidemic is real. Every day 3000 people die and 30,000 are seriously injured on the world's roads. In the blink of a turn signal motor vehicles crash. The emotional cost of a car crash is hard to measure. It varies from individual to individual, from victim to survivor. Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). People with this disorder can have a variety of symptoms, including psychological numbing of emotions, anxiety, poor concentration, and insomnia. Formal advisory bodies, such as the National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation Research Board (part of the United States National Academy of Sciences) were set up to provide independent advice and guidance. The combination of new, dedicated institutes on road safety and greater scientific research has in many cases produced major changes in thinking about traffic safety and its interventions. However, at the same time, there is often a real conflict between the aims of traffic safety lobbies and those of campaigners for increased mobility or for environmental concerns. In such cases, the lobby for mobility has frequently been the dominant one. In the long term, increases in mobility, without the corresponding necessary increases in safety levels, will have a negative effect on public health. - World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention, 2004. The NTSB is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in other modes of transportation - railroad, highway, marine and pipeline - and issuing safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. DOCKET # NHTSA-2OO2-13546-59 02/28/03 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)1
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