Your Safety and The End of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S.
October, 2014
It is that time of year when days are shorter and visibility becomes more important for your safety. Sunday Nov. 2nd is the end of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S.
For pedestrians and cyclists it is a safe idea and good practice to wear light reflective materials. Years ago the Federal Highway Administration published a poster for the public with the statistic that 60% of pedestrian fatalities occur between the hours of 6:00pm and 6:00am. The “Be Safe, Be Bright” poster shows distances at which pedestrians can be seen wearing clothing of different colors – and retro reflective materials.
Check it out at https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/besafe.php
Car Color: Let There Be Light – White, and Safety
For years at NHTSA I tried to get a statistical analysis on the fatality risk of vehicles by color: White vs. other colors. There were always excuses why it should not be done. Only after I retired did I see some Researchers in Australia were independent enough to do such a study. They found White to be statistically about 10% safer. See it attached and at http://www.monash.edu.au/miri/research/reports/muarc263.pdf
The fact is this is one of the cheapest ways for a consumer to get a 10% increase in safety. I have often wondered why this has been kept from the public by NHTSA and others. The public should too.
Vehicle paint colors can be made iridescent too to be more visible at night. In fact, the 1973 airbag vehicles made for the government by GM were painted in iridescent green. Auto safety expert Byron Bloch sent me the following note and attached picture:
Note the NHTSA “Safer Car” picture. It shows how NHTSA painted over the original iridescent green GM paint. The public should wonder why NHTSA made the color and other changes to the original vehicle rather than preserving it as a historical example of safety vehicles from 40 years ago.
