There's no question that millennials have emerged as the scapegoat of choice in the popular press or, at the very least, been portrayed as a generation capable of demonstrating extreme levels of self-interest. While these sorts of characterizations are, of course, overly broad and largely inaccurate, a recently released study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggests that there might be one area in which millennials are perhaps deserving of some level of societal scorn: vehicle safety. What exactly did this study find? A survey of 2,511 motorists between the ages of 19 to 24 conducted back in late August through early September determined that 88 percent engaged in some level of risky conduct behind the wheel. Breaking the numbers down, it found the following: 59.3 percent of millennial drivers confessed to sending a text or typing an email while driving at twice the speed of surrounding traffic. Roughly 50 percent…

It is not easy to think about unpleasant eventualities like car accidents, but it is a necessity if you want to be well-prepared and capable of handling the situation when it does occur. That means having a plan of action in place so that you do not need to make decisions at the moment when you are dealing with the stress of an accident. This makes it easier to navigate if you are injured or in shock, and it ensures all your bases are covered. The first step to having a good accident plan is knowing what you need to do to be safe after an accident. When the car comes to rest The first steps you need to take emphasize the importance of making sure you inventory injuries and/or damage to the vehicle. That begins with yourself. Follow these steps after the car has stopped moving and before you try to…

For the last 14 years, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a coalition dedicated to making America's roads and highways safer, has released a highly influential annual report card examining the progress made by the 50 states in passing basic traffic safety measures. Indeed, this year's report was perhaps more anticipated than normal given the dramatic increase in motor vehicle fatalities over the last two years, with statistics showing that traffic deaths increased by 7.2 percent in 2015 over 2014, and 8 percent from the first nine months of 2016 over the first nine months of 2015. As far as the structure of the report, it essentially awards the states one of three ratings -- green (best), yellow (intermediate), and red (worst) -- based on how many of the 15 so-called "optimal laws" that Advocates believes are essential to preventing serious and fatal accidents have been passed. Some of these…

While it may seem hard to believe, it's now been nearly 25 years since the 50 states first began passing laws calling for mandatory ignition interlocks, the breathalyzer-like devices that prevent a vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected in the driver's breath. Given this rather substantial passage of time, the question naturally arises as to just how effective these mandatory ignition interlocks have proven in preventing fatal drunk driving accidents on U.S. roads and highways. As it turns out, there was no real answer to this question until just last month. Indeed, a first-of-its-kind study published in the January edition of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine by experts from Johns Hopkins Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research has shed some much-needed light on this topic. After examining trends in fatal car accidents involving alcohol from 1982 to 2013, and accounting for certain developments in traffic safety laws, the…