Status Report, Vol. 29: 1994

Volume 29, Number 13 • December 17, 1994

All the 16 year-olds didn't make it home

Too young, too soon: sixteen year-olds who never made it back home again

Facts behind faces: 16-year-olds' crashes differ from crashes involving older drivers

Graduating from bikes to cars means lots more responsibility; 16-year-old drivers need time to learn how to use motor vehicles responsibly, and graduated licensing can help them live long enough to learn

Night driving restrictions

Getting licensed here, elsewhere

Parents speak out: more than half say 'yes' to programs of graduated licensing; without state laws imposing

graduated licensing, parents restrict their own beginners

To the parents

Volume 29, Number 12 • October 29, 1994

81 percent safety belt use is the latest success reported in North Carolina

Belt use by region across the state

Survey compares characteristics of people who do and don't use belts

Violaton of DWI laws are next targets of North Carolina's multiyear highway safety initiative

Airbag cutoff switch proposed as temporary protection for infants

Rear underride deaths are underreported -- one more reason lor NHTSA to get on with new requirements

Out-of-service violators, their employers can be hit with bigger penalties

Volume 29, Number 11 • October 8, 1994

There's no such thing as the "safest" vehicle; cannot escape threat of harm in any vehicle

Volume 29, Number 10 • September 10, 1994

Travel speeds are up on rural interstate highways, new Institute surveys in three states indicate

Deaths on rural interstate highways are much higher than before speed limits were raised to 65 mph

Licensing policies affect when teenagers drive and their crash rates, Institute study of 2,000 teens shows

Five types of crashes account for 86 percent of motorcycle deaths, Institute study finds

New publications from the Institute and HLDI help car buyers shop with safety in mind

Volume 29, Number 9 • August 20, 1994

Trends in motor vehicle deaths since the 1970s are analyzed by vehicle type, age, and sex of drivers, alcohol involvement, and other factors

Labeling vehicles' rollover propensity shouldn't take the place of a federal rule to reduce rollovers in the first place, safety groups tell NHTSA

Vision waivers for commercial drivers aren't consistent with safety, federal court tells FHWA

Senate unsnags Martinez nomination for top NHTSA post

Volume 29, Number 8 • July 30, 1994

IVHS business booms with infusion of hundreds of millions of scarce federal dollars — but safety claims aren't backed by science

Flawed study of crashes in Germany underlies many IVHS safety claims; proponents misrepresent flndings of 1979 study to bolster claims that IVHS technologies can cut crashes

Spurious claims about safety benefits aren't the only problems with IVHS technologies; two added concerns dampen enthusiasm

Volume 29, Number 7 • June 25, 1994

Offset crash testing into a deformable barrier captures researchers' interest at international conference

Various kinds of offset tests are conducted and analyzed at the Institute's Vehicle Research Center

NCAP's future could include new tests and, the Institute tells NHTSA, should include a revised rating syslem

Motor vehicle injuries are the leading cause of on-the-job death

Volume 29, Number 6 • May 28, 1994

Proposed truck antilock role is supplemented to strengthen requirements and speed up compliance

Antilock rule for cars and other light vehicles shouldn't be a priority right now, Institute advises NHTSA

Add-on brake devices for cars don't live up to billing, research shows

Insurance theft results show claim frequencies down and payments up during last 15 years

Ricardo Martinez hits snag in confirmation for NHTSA post

Volume 29, Number 5 • May 7, 1994

Bumpers on three new models show improvement over competition but could perform better

Bumpers on 1981 Ford Escort still reign as best ever tested

Conspicuity rule for new truck trailers would be extended to all trailers under an FHWA proposal

Beer ads, especially those that air during TV sports, influence youth

North Carolina belt law is strengthened, and plans are set to expand enforcement and publicity

Volume 29, Number 4 • March 19, 1994

Graduated licensing could reduce teenage crash deaths, injuries

Spinal cord injuries occur from crashes more than from other causes

Urban versus rural comparisons show crashes are the main cause of higher unintentional death rates in rural areas

First with daytime running lights in the United States is General Motors

Radar detector use is banned in most countries but not in passenger cars across the United States

Advertisements for radar detectors give away purpose of devices, despite proponents' c1aims

Volume 29, Number 3 • February 19, 1994

International conference on alcohol-impaired driving focuses on reasons for worldwide decline in the problem

Drugs other than alcohol comprise a relatively small highway safety problem compared with alcohol

Drug recognition and evaluation program gets added federal funds despite its limited usefulness

Crash costs involve significant expenditures from public coffers

South Carolina erroneously credits advertisements for safety gains, Connecticut researcher finds

Insurance collision losses vary widely among 1991-93 cars, HLDI reports

Volume 29, Number 2 • January 29, 1994

Antilock brakes aren't reducing insurance claims for crash damage, despite impressive performance in tests

Facts about antilocks: what they can and cannot do to help drivers

Studies suggest driver behavior might be reducing antilock effectiveness

Data on double, triple tractor-trailer rigs are lacking, GAO says

Crash rates for single, double truck rigs compared on Indiana roads

Publication for fleet managers is new from the Institute

Correction to Vol. 28, No. 11

Volume 29, Number 1 • January 8, 1994

Low-speed crash test results show seven 1994 passenger vans with bumpers that allow way too much damage

Federal bumper standard for vans and cars should be uniform, eflective

Oldsmobile Silhouette's bumpers outperform bumpers on two other General Motors vans

Radar detecton are banned in commercial vehicles more than three years after action was urged

Ricardo Martinez will be nominated to head NHTSA, and Christopher Hart will fill the number two position