Security & Safety Briefs - Dec. 15 - Dec. 21
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The Latest Headlines:
- New Mexico Sets Speeding Crackdown
- Eaton Wins Collision-Warning Contract
- DOT: Seat-Belt Use Rises in Most States
- Maryland Plans Rail-Safety Overhaul
- Eaton Wins Collision-Warning Contract
New Mexico Sets Speeding Crackdown
Parts of Interstates 25 and 40 near Albuquerque, N.M., are being designated “safety corridors’’ — meaning hefty fines for anyone caught speeding along those stretches, the Associated Press reported.The designation allows increased law enforcement, and an increase in traffic violation fines, the state’s transportation department said. Speeding fines will double in the designated areas.
The designated safety corridor on I-25 runs about 24 miles from the center of Albuquerque south to Los Lunas. The I-40 corridor stretches from the eastern edge of the city past Sedillo Hill between Albuquerque and Moriarty. Transport Topics
Eaton Wins Collision-Warning Contract
Diversified manufacturer Eaton Corp. said it received a $6.7 million contract by the Department of Transportation as part of a $31.6 million program to develop technologies to help drivers avoid crashes.The four-year “integrated vehicle-based safety systems” test will bring together five automotive and commercial vehicle suppliers, including Eaton, to develop and test a new integrated crash warning system for passenger cars and commercial heavy-duty trucks.
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute is the primary contractor for the program, which will develop integrated advanced technologies that will warn drivers when they are about to leave the road, are in danger of colliding with another vehicle while attempting a lane change, or are at risk of colliding with the vehicle in front of them.
Eaton makes the Vorad collision-warning system. Transport Topics
DOT: Seat-Belt Use Rises in Most States
More Americans than ever are wearing their safety belts, with usage rates climbing in 34 states this year, the Department of Transportation said.Seat-belt use this year ranged from 60.8% in Mississippi to 95.3% in Hawaii. Others breaking the 90% belt-use barrier included Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Michigan, California and Maryland.
Mississippi registered the lowest safety-belt use in the nation followed by Massachusetts, Kentucky, Arkansas, South Dakota and Kansas, DOT said.
New Hampshire and Wyoming were the only states not to report statistically reliable estimates of belt use rate for 2005. Transport Topics
Maryland Plans Rail-Safety Overhaul
A study commissioned in Maryland after a 2001 tunnel fire has recommended an overhaul of Baltimore’s passenger and freight systems, saying it is the only way to fix a network vital to the country’s transportation grid, the Associated Press reported.he study was conducted by the Federal Railroad Administration at the request of Congress after a freight train partially derailed in Baltimore’s Howard Street Tunnel. It recommended several plans that would change the city’s transportation network with a series of new tunnels, many of them west of downtown.
Maryland Department of Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan called the study a good step, but said the report neglected to examine other alternatives, such as routing freight and passenger trains along Interstate 95.
The report reviewed land and underwater alternatives for freight service, opting for two “great circle” freight tunnels similar to the passenger tunnel, AP reported. Transport Topics
