Maryland ups punishments for drunk and drugged drivers

(Click on the image for Will Vitka's WTOP report)

• Starting Tuesday, drivers will face significantly tougher penalties and harsher jail time for killing someone while under the influence of drugs or alcohol in Maryland.
• The “Repeat Drunk Driving Offenders Act” (House Bill 707) that takes effect Oct. 1 increases the maximum jail time for those convicted of vehicular homicide while under the influence from three to five years. It also doubles prison time from five to 10 years for drivers with prior convictions.
• “The state of Maryland is throwing the book at drunk and impaired drivers who kill or maim others and the same is true for watercraft operators who kill or maim others,” AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs John Townsend said.
• Included in the law are heavier punishments for impaired drivers convicted of traveling with someone under 18 in the car: one year in jail for the first offense, two years for the second.

More People Die in Maryland Traffic Crashes Each Year than Died in the Two 737 Max Crashes

• 5-year Average Maryland Traffic Fatalities: 511/year
• Total 737 Max Fatalities: 346
• Much more attention was given to and action taken as a result of the plane crashes than taken as a result of yearly fatalities that are worse on Maryland roads. Why?

Deaths of Unrestrained Drivers And Passengers Soaring In Prince Georges County

From AAA: So far this year at least 10 persons, including five children, who were not buckled up at the time, were killed, and one other unbelted vehicle occupant suffered grievous life-threatening injuries, in a series of fatal single-vehicle crashes in Prince George’s County.

• Prince George’s County is a hotspot of fatal crashes claiming the lives and limbs of unrestrained drivers and unbuckled vehicle occupants.  “Between 2012 and 2015, an average of 15 unrestrained motorists were killed and 39 unbelted motorists were seriously injured in vehicle crashes in Prince George’s County annually,” according to the County Government. This year, the lack of seat belt use is a worrisome trend in the County. Equally troublesome, “more than three out of 4 people who are ejected during a fatal crash die from their injuries.”
• As a tragic case in point, a  least seven crash victims, five children and two young adults, were killed after they were ejected from the vehicles upon impact in separate incidents on county roads. They were reportedly unbelted at the time. In 2018, “105 people died in crashes on Maryland roadways while not wearing a seat belt,” according to the Maryland MVA. Approximately one-third (“32.5%) of unbelted crashes in Maryland” occurred in the Washington Metropolitan area. Always buckle up. Insist passengers are belted, too.

THE FINE: $83 (including court costs). Police can stop you for not wearing your seat belt. Each person who is not buckled up (driver and passenger) can receive a ticket for not wearing a seat belt.

If any passengers younger than 16 are not wearing a seat belt, the driver will receive an $83 ticket for each offense.

21K citations issues so far this year along deadly stretch of Indian Head Highway

(Click on the image for Dick Uliano's WTOP report)

• A combination of stepped-up police activity and speed cameras have produced nearly 21,000 violations issued to drivers so far in 2019, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 15, according to Prince George’s County Police Maj. Jeffrey Mitchell, commander of District VII-Fort Washington.
• “As far as the three cameras that we’ve located on 210, they’re in pretty decent locations … they’ve issued out a total of 3,034 violations, which is actually pretty good between the three cameras,” Mitchell said.
• The two southbound cameras were responsible for snaring most of the speeders, issuing 2,155 of the speeding violations.
• “We’ve had 66 fatalities since 2007,” said Rev. Robert Screen, an organizer of the 210 Traffic Safety Committee. “Speeding is primarily the No. 1 issue here, along with distracted driving and DUIs,” Screen said. 
• But it’s not just cameras slowing drivers down on the long, straight highway bisected by numerous cross streets. More drivers have been seeing the flashing blue lights of Prince George’s County police in their rearview mirrors since the start of the year.
• “On 210, we had 17,924 citations, so that’s out of a little over 8,000 traffic stops, 8,143,” said Mitchell, outlining the data from Jan. 1 to Sept. 15.

WJLA's video report is here.

Pedestrian Related Accidents & Safety Prevention Tips

(Click on the image for the short video clip)

MCPD Police give insight into pedestrian involved crashes throughout Montgomery County. Captain Thomas Didone says this is a vision zero community, meaning officials are working to get all fatal crashes down to zero.

If you see something, say something

(Click on the image for the Sep 2016 Washington Post article)

‘If you see something, say something” was born on Sept. 12, 2001.

The Sobering Reality of Hot Car Deaths

(Click on the image for the Consumer Reports article)

By far, the biggest factor is parents and caregivers who unknowingly leave a child behind in a car. Of the cases reported in 2018 and 2019, 44 (where circumstances are known) involve someone unknowingly leaving a child behind. The reasons for that include everything from a disrupted routine—a very common explanation—to family members thinking someone else had brought the baby inside at the end of a trip.
There are other findings from the data, as of Sept. 9:

• 69 of the victims were 2 years old or younger.
• The average age of the victims was 23 months old.
• The recorded high temperatures on the days when these events occurred ranged from 69 degrees to 108 degrees.
• They happened in 27 states, from as far south as Florida to as far north as Montana.
• Texas led all states with 10 deaths, followed by Florida with nine and South Carolina with eight.
• In 75 cases, it was a parent, grandparent, or another family member who was responsible for the incident; daycare workers were involved in three cases.

Read the article for Tips to Prevent Hot-Car Tragedies.

There is some good news!

(Click on the image for the ABC News report)

Maxwell and Finnegan are inseparable, Michael Cisneros, Maxwell's father, told ABC News. The boys, who are 2 years old, have only known each other for about a year.

How Europe’s Vision Zero Saves Lives

(Click on the image to see these principles in action)

From Peter G. Furth, Northeastern University, presentation at the 2019 Safe Systems Summit

His Whole World Changed Because of Distracted Driving

(Click on the image for Melissa Mollet's News4 report)

Get Prepared for the Next Emergency - Sep 19, Harmony Hall

Our Children at Risk from Irresponsible Drivers

(Click on the image for the NBC Nightly News report)

• Last year in Montgomery County, over 54,000 school bus safety citations were issued to drivers who failed to stop for school buses.
• This year, all Montgomery County School buses will be equipped with safety cameras that will capture the images of drivers who neglect to stop for school buses in the process of dropping off and picking up school children.  Negligent drivers will receive a civil citation with a fine starting at $250 with penalties going up to $500.
• More video from Montgomery county is here. Please be advised, some of these videos can be difficult to watch.  Parental advisement is recommended.