The massive and wide-ranging federal highway bill enacted by President Obama last July came with a large number of amendments and special provisions relating to road safety across the country. In particular, Congress drafted many new provisions tasking the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to act within specified timeframes in matters relating to…
It has always been problematic for vehicle owners or would-be buyers in Ohio and nationally to know with absolute certainty whether a car or truck has ever been recalled for a dangerous condition. And just as importantly, consumers even having knowledge of a recall sometimes lack assurance that a vehicle has undergone the requisite…
A recent report from WKYC leads off with police officers patrolling Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood and randomly pulling over cars at an OVI (operating a vehicle impaired) checkpoint. That activity serves as the backdrop for a discussion of Ohio’s real and persistent problem with what are deemed “serial drunk drivers.” Those motorists, who are stopped…
They agree to disagree. That’s about all you can say about the respective viewpoints of most commercial truckers across the country, including in Ohio, and federal regulators concerning the two groups’ disparate opinions regarding newly instituted trucking rules. Those rules relate directly to safety, and their implementation this past Monday increases public safety by…
Maybe you’re one of those people who truly can walk, talk and chew gum at the same time. Even if that’s the case, though, health experts and researchers strongly advise that a cell phone not feature in that equation, and certainly not in any area where cars are whizzing by. A new study just…
Until last year, neighboring Michigan had a universal motorcycle helmet law. Then, caving in to various interests, legislators repealed that legislation of more than 40 years and replaced it with a requirement that only riders under 21 be required to wear a helmet. The result of that, notes the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI,…
The Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted by Congress in 1970. Its objective over the past 40-plus years has been to promote workplace safety in Ohio and all other states by providing for training, conducting inspections that identify safety hazards, recognizing both exemplary and safety-lagging enterprises, and enforcing standards though fines and an…
As was widely reported in news outlets in recent months, safety officials in every state, including Ohio, have been on the receiving end of a strong federal push to change their drunk driving laws. At the center of recommendations has been the stated need for uniformity across the country in adjusting the current DUI…
If you know you’re a good Ohio driver and that nothing quite disturbs you so much as seeing a vehicle rapidly pull up behind you and subsequently follow you so closely that it fully occupies your rear-view mirror, know that your fears about that driving behavior are well-grounded. In fact, states the Ohio State…
A number of voices within the commercial trucking industry enthusiastically endorse ever-larger rigs on the nation’s highways, saying that they would help to curb transportation costs and help operators’ bottom lines through the larger loads they would allow for. The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is not one of those voices. That trade…