Friday, June 29, 2007

Assignment 6/28

Part 7-

Freeze Frame- This clip showed different things that were going on all at once. This could show what is going on in the quick time of a crash.

Seatbelt Education-

Seatbelt Video-

Use my Seatbelt-



Part 8-


Legal Stop- If a solid or flashing red light, stop sign or word on ground saying "stop" then you need to make a full complete stop.


Safety Stop- Make a full complete stop when there is an unregulated intersection. This stop is not mandatory.


Staggered Stop- A stop that is about 15 feet from the intersection in order to let a larger vehicle, such as a tractor trailor truck, to make there turn in your lane.


Point of no Return- At a solid yellow light you decide if you have time to go or if you should make a complete stop.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Assignment 6/25

Part 2-
FCA's
1. Describe the point system in Vermont using the state statutes found this page
2. Use the spell check
3. Give your feeling about the law.

When found guilty of breaking a motor vehicle law points are put on your driving record. The points given to you depends on which law you break and to what degree you broke it. Example: Speeding can be from 2-8 points depending on how fast or slow you went. When you are given a total of 10 points you receive a letter telling you that your driving privileges are suspended. The number of points received within a 2 year period will determine how long they are suspended for. You can call a hearing to confirm if you met 10 points or not. Points are not given for parking or defective equipment violations.

I really like this law. It makes sure that the government is keeping track of your driving record and making sure that something will be done about it when your strikes are up. I'm also glad that a fine comes along with each law being broken. If there wasn't a fine then people wouldn't take it seriously because they don't have to pay anything,and they don't have to give anything to the government.

Part 3-
Teens driven to distraction -- and death

POSTED: 12:55 p.m. EST, February 1, 2007 By Chris LawrenceCNN
SAN CLEMENTE, California (CNN) -- The class president and the prom king were heading to the dance, packed into a car with four other kids. The 16-year-old driver was sober and wasn't speeding. But she got distracted.
And Donna Sabet lost her daughter, Gillian.
Jill, as she was known, and her boyfriend -- both passengers -- died when the car flipped over that March 2005 night on an Irvine, California road.
"Somebody asked for a pack of gum, and there was a pack of gum in the driver's seat pocket and she reached for it, and for an instant looked away from the road and lost control of the vehicle," Donna Sabet told CNN.
"I loved being her mom. From the moment she was born to the moment she left ... that night. I loved being her mom. And I miss her so much."
Every year, teenage drivers are involved in 6,000 to 8,000 car crashes -- four times the rate of older drivers.
A recent National Teen Driver Survey attempted to find out why. And to get more honest answers, researchers asked thousands of high school students what their friends do while driving.
The teens described a driving environment that would be challenging even to experienced drivers. And the results suggested that the kind of accident that killed Gillian Sabet and her boyfriend was no accident.
While some 90 percent of teen drivers say they don't drink and drive, nine out of 10 say they've seen passengers distracting the driver, or drivers using cell phones. More than a third say they don't wear seat belts consistently.
"Most kids think that they're invulnerable," said Ramon Hernandez, one of Jill's friends.
Actually, they're inexperienced -- and, according to Jill's brother, easily distracted.
"It could be music, it could be cell phones, it could be friends in the back even," said Jason Sabet.
So teenage drivers should pay closer attention. That's easy for adults to say. But when those young drivers are out on the road, what do they see? Men making calls. Women putting on makeup, getting ready for work. Everyone eating.
And when you're 16 and trying to stand up to your friends?
"You never want to be the uncool guy in the group," said another of Jill's friends, Andres Villalobos. "So you tell someone to buckle up and they're like, 'You're not my dad, don't tell me what to do.'"
That's why Jill's family and friends have started a Web site called Journey Safe, a program to encourage teenage drivers to buckle up and turn down the music and shut off their phones.
"I don't care if it's not cool," says Jason Sabet. "I want to keep people safe, and I want to stay alive."
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 7,500 teenage drivers were involved in fatal crashes in 2005. Speeding is more common than substance abuse. And about 70 percent see friends driving fatigued or in a highly emotional state.
The teen driving survey, sponsored by State Farm Insurance Co. and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, asked more than 5,600 high school students not about their own behavior but what they see in peers.
And two-thirds of the teens surveyed said that when it comes to driving, their parents' opinion still mattered.
"We need to go beyond the message of drinking and driving and also talk about the message of distractions," the studies chief investigator, Dr. Flaura Winston, told The Associated Press.
Researchers found that a single teenage passenger with a teen driver doubles the risk of a fatal crash, while the risk is five times higher when two or more teens ride along. Most states have laws restricting passengers when teens drive, but 15 states do not, AP reported.
"The environment for a teen driver is much more challenging and demanding than most of us adults thought," Laurette Stiles, vice president of strategic resources at State Farm, told AP.
"They're trying to manage all of that while trying to navigate the vehicle at the same time and they're pretty inexperienced at that."
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

They say the environment for teens is harder for them then adults but that environment can be a lot less pressure by the choices teens make. Teens should learn that driving is a privilege and that everyone's life on the road is at risk. The more distractions you have like cellphones, people, drugs and a lot more causes the risk to go up. Parents and teens should especially pay attention to prom night because that is another risk factor with all the new drivers on the road driving around the same time. I'm glad they are making this website for teens because it teaches them that since they are the driver they are the ones responsible, and if anything happens then they are at fault.

Part 4-
The three different types of road signs are regulatory, warning and guide. Two examples of a regulatory sign are stop and yield signs. Two examples of a warning sign are signal ahead and left curve signs. Two examples of guide signs are us route marker and county route marker signs. You can tell a regulatory sign by it's shape. Besides the shape of yield and stop signs, a regulatory sign is white, and a rectangle or square with red or black writing. Warning signs are yellow colored, diamond shaped with black symbols or words. Guide signs vary. Interstate rout signs are red, white and blue shields. Green sides provide information on destinations and mileage. Blue signs tell services. Brown signs tell you where recreation areas or cultural points are.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Assignment 6/21, Due 6/25

Part 1:
Hundreds Attend Crash Victim Wake; Driver Now Charged
POSTED: 4:56 pm EDT June 22, 2007

HAVERHILL, Mass. -- A woman who police said was behind the wheel of a car when it hit and killed a mother from Danville, N.H., has been charged in connection with the crash.
Marie Pigaga, 46, of Plaistow, N.H., was charged Friday with motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, speeding and lane violations.
Police said her car jumped a curb in Haverhill on Monday, careened into a car wash parking lot and struck Robin Young, 43, who was drying off her vehicle.Young died of her injuries later that day.
Hours after Pigaga's arrest on Friday, hundreds of Young's friends and loved ones lined up outside Stockbridge Funeral Home in Exeter to pay respects at her memorial.
A line dozens-deep stretched out the door of the funeral home and calling hours were extended by two hours to accommodate the crowd.
Young's family called the crash a tragedy, not only for them, but also for Pigaga.

This driver did two of the 11 top driving errors. She did not attend to her path of travel by making inappopriate lane changes. She was also speeding which could be considered as driving 5mph faster. Pigaga probably didn't use the IPDE process either. She should of identified that there was a curb, predict that she would go over the curb because she was speeding, decide to avoid the curb and slow her speeds and execute the right actions by slowing down.

Part 2:
Yaw- Balance is on side wheels.
Roll- Balance is on all wheels.
Pitch- Balance is on front wheels.

Part 3:
1) Your central vision is the cone shaped area that is up to 5 degrees of you vision. This is used to see things clearly while looking straight ahead at your target area in driving.

2) Your peripheral vision is the vision that is left and right of your central vision. This is used to see things on either side of your car that aren't in your blind spots.

3) Your fringe vision is vision that surrounds your central vision. Side fringe vision helps you monitor zone conditions. Upper fringe vision is for detecting what is going on behind by using your rear view mirrors. Lower fringe vision is to use reference points.

Part 4:
A target area is the part of the roadway to the left and right of your target as well as your target. A target path is the space that you drive in towards your target area. You use these to keep your head up and to look for conflicts with your path of travel.

Part 5:
A transition peg shows you where your vehicle while a turn is being made towards your target area. The center of the rearview mirror lined up with your target area is to make your right and left turns.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Assignment 6/19, Due 6/22

1)Driver Charged With Attempted Murder On Mass Pike
(WBZ) LUDLOW A driver has been charged with attempted murder after he crashed his car on the Massachusetts Turnpike Wednesday night.State police say 64-year-old Harold Palmer of Springfield got into an altercation with an unidentified woman in his car while he drove west on the Pike in Ludlow.Around 8:45 p.m. police say he intentionally crashed his 2000 BMW 323I into the woods, slamming into several trees. Both were wearing seat belts and neither was hurt.Palmer is scheduled to be arraigned in Palmer District Court Thursday.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. )

64 year old Harold Palmer was driving on the Massachusetts Turnpike Wednesday night. While driving he got into a fight with a woman. Around 8:45 p.m. he purposly crashed his car by slamming into trees in the woods. Palmer is now charged with attempted murder. I found it weird that this guy tried to kill the woman by driving into the tree. It's weird to me because wouldn't that make it a suicide attempt as well. By driving into trees he can't control himself staying alive and her dieing. It could of easily turned around and have him die while she survived.

2)
8- Brake Fade/Crash could occur from lack of brake performance/ Risk could be eliminated by not holding constant brake pressure.
17- Engine Stalls/ Crash could occur if the car stalls in the middle of the road and other drivers aren't aware of it./ Risk could be eliminated by maintaining engine and keeping gas in the car.
27- Blind Spots in Mirrors/ Crash could occur from not seeing vehicles in the blind spots/ Risk could be minimized by checking mirrors and looking over shoulder before merging.
67- Drinking Beer/ Crash could occur if there is to much alchohol in system and are unaware of what is happening/ Risk could be eliminated by drinking the appropriate amount of beer or drinking no beer.
72- Intoxicated/ Crash could occur because you are not aware of what is happening/ Risk could be eliminated by be responsible of what you put in your body and how much.
98- Lighting a Cigarette/ Crash could occur from having one or two hands off the wheel and not having full attention on the road/ Risk could be eliminated by lighting the cigarette when you're out of the car.
151- Crossroad Intersection/ Crash could occur by someone trying to pass you and hitting the train./ Risk could be eliminated by following all traffic signs.
189- Parked Truck/ Crash could occur by backing into the truck/ Risk could be eliminated by using your mirrors and looking over shoulder.
220- Jogger Running With Traffic/ Crash could occur by hitting the jogger or suddenly stopping for jogger/ Risk could be minimized by giving room for slowing down and stopping if necessary.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007