Commercial truckers in South Carolina may be interested to know that Congressional Democrats have proposed bills intended to compel the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to continue its work on a rule regarding guidelines for screenings and treatments for obstructive sleep apnea. Democrats in both the House and Senate want trucking regulators to establish a rule that provides the exact criteria medical examiners should use to make apnea testing referrals for truck drivers.
NHTSA releases sobering traffic accident fataliies report
The number of people killed in traffic accidents across the country increased alarmingly for the second year in a row according to data contained in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report released on Oct. 6. Motor vehicle accidents in the United States resulted in more than 37,000 deaths in 2016, many of whom were South Carolina residents, and the rise in fatalities was especially pronounced among the nation's most vulnerable road users.
Distracting dashboards are unsafe
Drivers in South Carolina are often aware of the dangers of distracted driving. Typically, drivers associate driving distractions with using a cellphone, texting or even talking to a passenger. Unfortunately, it is easy to overlook some of the more pernicious distractions because they've actually been built into the car's dashboard.
Distracted driving in South Carolina
Accident data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveals that distracted driving accidents around the country claim thousands of lives and leave hundreds of thousands of road users injured every year. Road safety advocacy groups say that the situation has been getting progressively worse due to a near epidemic growth in the use of cellphones by drivers, and they point out that this kind of behavior is particularly dangerous as it causes distraction in three different ways.
The size and safety of a vehicle
People in South Carolina who are considering purchasing a new vehicle may want to factor in that its size will have a role in their safety during an accident. Generally, bigger vehicles, like trucks and SUVs, are able to endure accidents better than smaller cars.
