Tag: deaths

Video: 130-car UK pileup injures hundreds, but no deaths

Filed under: Safety, Videos, UK

Emergency Services Attend Major Road Accident In Kent

A crash in the county of Kent in southeast England involving 130 vehicles on a bridge has injured 200 people, 27 of which required hospitalization. The incident, which occurred at 7:15 AM BST (2:15 AM on America’s east coast), was on a bridge on the A249, a road that connects two major motorways, the M2 and M20.

Poor visibility due to heavy fog is believed to be one of the primary causes of the pileup, with some witnesses reporting they could only see about 30 feet in front of them before the crash. There were reports from some drivers that the collisions went on for ten minutes, as other vehicles caught up to the scene of the accident and were unable to stop in time.

Chief Inspector Andy Reeves told the BBC, “It was…very hazardous. It was described to me as a very thick fog and it was certainly low visibility at the time.” Cars, vans, semis and even a loaded car carrier were involved in the wreck, which will likely keep the bridge closed for the remainder of the day. Scroll down for helicopter footage of the aftermath.

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130-car UK pileup injures hundreds, but no deaths originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Sep 2013 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: 130-car UK pileup injures hundreds, but no deaths

Filed under: Safety, Videos, UK

Emergency Services Attend Major Road Accident In Kent

A crash in the county of Kent in southeast England involving 130 vehicles on a bridge has injured 200 people, 27 of which required hospitalization. The incident, which occurred at 7:15 AM BST (2:15 AM on America’s east coast), was on a bridge on the A249, a road that connects two major motorways, the M2 and M20.

Poor visibility due to heavy fog is believed to be one of the primary causes of the pileup, with some witnesses reporting they could only see about 30 feet in front of them before the crash. There were reports from some drivers that the collisions went on for ten minutes, as other vehicles caught up to the scene of the accident and were unable to stop in time.

Chief Inspector Andy Reeves told the BBC, “It was…very hazardous. It was described to me as a very thick fog and it was certainly low visibility at the time.” Cars, vans, semis and even a loaded car carrier were involved in the wreck, which will likely keep the bridge closed for the remainder of the day. Scroll down for helicopter footage of the aftermath.

Continue reading 130-car UK pileup injures hundreds, but no deaths

130-car UK pileup injures hundreds, but no deaths originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Sep 2013 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MIT: vehicle emissions cause 53,000 extra deaths a year

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, MPG, USA

Winter Weather

53,000 early deaths are attributed to exhaust from cars and trucks, annually.

And now for some not-so-uplifting news for your Labor Day weekend, especially if it involves a long road trip. Emissions from electric-power generation, industrial operations, commercial and residential sources and transportation (road, marine and rail) sources cause about 200,000 premature deaths in the US each year, Green Car Congress says, citing a study from MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment. The key point for us in the automotive world: road transportation alone accounts for “53,000 early deaths per year attributed to exhaust from the tailpipes of cars and trucks.” EV advocates shouldn’t gloat too much, as early deaths from electricity generation came in at 52,000, mostly in the Midwest where coal is still the main source of juice. The data MIT used came from the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Emissions Inventory from 2005, the most recent available.

MIT somehow calculates that pollution-related deaths essentially occur about a decade before that person would’ve otherwise passed away. As far as geography is concerned, California alone accounts for about 21,000 of those 200,000 premature deaths, and fans of The Wire might be interested to know that Baltimore is the US city with the highest number of emissions-related deaths per capita. Amid all this negativity, there is some good news. Pollution-related deaths from rail operations were “relatively slight.” So we have that going for us.

MIT: vehicle emissions cause 53,000 extra deaths a year originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 31 Aug 2013 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New study says road deaths drop precipitously – but why?

Filed under: Etc., Safety

Toyota Rollover accident

Automotive fatalities continue to drop year-over-year, which is perhaps not surprising in and of itself. What is surprising, however, is a study that notes a massive falloff in the number of motoring deaths. According to The Wall Street Journal, the total number of road fatalities in 2009 was 33,963 compared to 43,510 in 2005 – a 22 percent decline. That is the steepest rate of decline since automobiles entered mass production in the beginning part of the 20th century. So what gives?

According to a new study by a pair of University of Michigan researchers, it’s certainly not the invasion of handheld technology, which the story says has created a rise in fatalities due to inattentive driving. Keeping our eyes on an incoming text message or email has resulted in a 42 percent rise in distracted-driving fatalities from 2005 to 2008. However, those accidents only account for a small portion of the total number of fatalities, and it’s likely that with increased awareness that more deaths are being classified in this way.

Safety technology continues to improve, and new technologies continue to filtering down into more affordable vehicles. Deaths from side-impact crashes have declined more quickly than the decline rate for overall deaths, meaning that more people are surviving these types of accidents.

Another, more interesting, statistic is the drop in fatal accidents during rush hour driving periods. Why has that number fallen in recent years compared to 2005? According to the WSJ’s theorizing, it’s the economy. More folks out of work means fewer people on the road during rush hour. You just might not notice it when you are stuck in traffic screaming at the car in front of you that just cut you off to make its exit.

Regardless of why overall traffic fatalities are down, it’s great to hear that this number is falling. However, as the economy picks back up, it’s expected that traffic fatalities will as well.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal | Image:Chip Somodevilla/Getty]

New study says road deaths drop precipitously – but why? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Traffic deaths in U.S. fall to 60-year low

Filed under: Government/Legal, Safety

LA traffic

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of fatalities on America’s highways is at its lowest level since 1950. The number of deaths in vehicle collisions last year fell by 9.2 percent compared to 2008. As of 2009, the fatality rate has dropped to 1.13 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. NHTSA says the decrease is largely thanks to increased seat belt use and effective campaigns against drunk driving.

Interestingly enough, The Detroit News is also reporting that nationally, the number of motorcycle fatalities decreased by 16 percent compared to 2009. That fall is the first such drop in over ten years, though no one is offering an explanation for those numbers.

Despite the relatively rosy outlook, NHTSA also says that we still have a long way to go. Last year, more than 30,000 people died and over 2.4 million people were injured in traffic collisions. Be careful out there, people.

[Sources: Automotive News, The Detroit News | Image: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty]

Traffic deaths in U.S. fall to 60-year low originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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