February 2020 Summaries of timely road safety news, events, and alerts

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Message from NETS' Executive Director, Joe McKillips

It’s that time of year again...time to mark your calendars for an event you won't want to miss! NETS Annual STRENGTH IN NUMBERS® Benchmark Conference  is scheduled to take place October 14-15, 2020 at the Westin International Hotel in Denver, Colorado. Building upon last year’s record-setting attendance, this year's event is sure to be another great opportunity to gain new ideas and best practices designed to help improve your road safety program, at the only conference focused exclusively on employer road safety . This year’s conference will give attendees access to leading NETS Road Safety Sponsors and technical experts enabling participants to walk away with the latest developments in road safety training, leadership engagement and cutting-edge automotive safety technology. Regardless of your program's level of maturity, the conference is certain to have something for everyone. Due to tremendous popularity during last year’s conference, returning again will be a dedicated Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) track addressing the unique and wide ranging challenges of operating a HGV fleet. Expanded networking opportunities with direct access and insight to the latest government road safety priorities will also be offered giving attendees insights on some of the most pressing road safety challenges facing industry today. Plans are also underway to secure a number of memorable KEYNOTE speakers as well as relatable presentations from fellow members and sponsors alike. If you are not already a NETS member and have responsibilities for a vehicle fleet, or are a government agency/non-profit organization, and wish to join NETS or attend the conference, please contact Susan Gillies at sgillies@trafficsafety.org for additional membership information.   Further information including hotel reservation details, early-bird registration and a preliminary conference agenda will be shared in the coming weeks. In the meantime, SAVE the DATE for this year’s event!  Thanks again for your continued efforts and commitment to road safety. Drive safely! 

NETS ANNOUNCEMENTS

NETS 2020 Strength IN Numbers® Conference Date and Location Announced! October 14 & 15, 2020 Westin Denver International Airport Denver, Colorado ***State of the art location and venue with convenient and seamless access to downtown Denver and surrounding area attractions*** Mark your calendar! Join your peers at the only conference focused  exclusively on employer road safety. NETS annual STRENGTH IN NUMBERS® Benchmark Conference convenes each year to bring together Global, Corporate, Government, and Non-profit employers. Conference participants include NETS member companies from diverse industries, representing a collective global fleet of more than half-a-million vehicles, ~80% passenger vehicles, that travel nearly 11 billion miles annually.  WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND? Share road safety case studies, new research, and emerging issues; Review NETS annual STRENGTH IN NUMBERS® Fleet Safety Benchmark Report; Gain exclusive access to industry-leading Road Safety Sponsors; and, Network with other conference participants which include NETS member companies from diverse industry sectors. WHO SHOULD ATTEND? FLEET SAFETY LEADERS RISK MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES FLEET PROCUREMENT PROFESSIONALS C-SUITE BUSINESS LEADERS & DECISION MAKERS GOVERNMENT AND STATE HIGHWAY SAFETY PERSONNEL ROAD SAFETY CONSULTANTS & ACADEMIA AND NON-PROFIT EXPERTS Additional details  coming soon  including early-bird conference registration and hotel reservation links.

NETS is proud to partner with the following PLATINUM Fleet Safety Sponsors:

www.edriving.com eDriving is the driver risk management partner of choice for many of the world’s largest organizations, supporting over 1,000,000 drivers in 96 countries. Over the past 23 years, eDriving’s research-validated programs have been recognized with 70+ client awards around the world.

https://trucesoftware.com Mobile device distractions put employees in danger and companies at risk. So why would anyone settle for safety measures that simply report what went wrong, or only work when people remember to turn them on? TRUCE Software automatically suspends distracting mobile apps and functions depending on what your employee is doing, where they are working or even the workgroup they are part of. You define the policy and TRUCE ensures compliance when and where it’s needed. Supporting more than 100,000 subscribers and some of the largest brands worldwide, our patented technology is making workplaces everywhere safer.

Learn about all of NETS Fleet Safety Sponsors

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

New Year, Safer Fleet - eDriving Originally published in Fleet Management Weekly 1/08/2020 What interests the boss, fascinates and engages the workers! By Ed Dubens, CEO/Founder of eDriving Happy, healthy and successful New Year best wishes to all FMW readers! I hope you have... Read more www.edriving.com

LATEST ROAD SAFETY NEWS

Plans to Halve Road Deaths by 2030 The European Investment Bank (EIB) has entered a partnership with the NGOs leading Road Assessment Programmes (RAP) in a bid to halve road deaths by 2030. The aim is to reduce the toll of deaths and injuries, much of it in developing nations. At... Read more www.worldhighways.com

WORKPLACE/ HOME ROAD SAFETY

Drivers Left Key Fobs in Their Cars: Auto Theft Increases Thieves stole more vehicles in 2017 than they had in any single year since 2009 - and the biggest reason might have nothing to do with criminals being cunning. A combination of new technology and careless drivers spells opportunity for many... Read more www.usatoday.com

Supporting Worker Sleep Is Good for Business A long-haul truck driver fell asleep during his shift in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 13. Heading north on Route 147, he drifted into the eastbound shoulder for almost 375 feet, struck the side of the road and flipped his rig. Thankfully, the... Read more www.fairfieldcitizenonline.com

Marijuana Legalization Linked to Increase in Fatal Crashes Washington State Initiative 502 (I-502), effective Dec. 6, 2012, legalized possession of small amounts of cannabis for recreational use by adults aged 21 years and older. It also included a prohibition against driving with 5 or more nanograms of... Read more aaafoundation.org

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Inexpensive Crash Avoidance Technology Could Save Lives Something like 42,000 lives could be saved and 150,000 serious injuries prevented by 2030 if all new cars in G20 countries were required to have electronic stability control (ESC), an inexpensive crash avoidance technology, starting this year. Read more www.forbes.com

Key Volkswagen Exec: Full Self-Driving Cars May Never Happen After years of sunny optimism and big promises, automakers are beginning to realize just how difficult it is to make a market-ready, full self-driving car. The CEO of Volkswagen's autonomous driving division recently admitted that Level 5... Read more www.thedrive.com

Connected Technology Will Benefit Companies and Consumers How is the global mobile connected economy changing the face of fleet management, mobility and society in general? Who better to ask than Michael Burdiek, CEO of CalAmp, the California-based pioneer in telematics and provider of SaaS-based IoT... Read more www.globalfleet.com

GOVERNMENT AND NON-PROFIT AGENCY NEWS

Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: Highest in 30 Years GHSA's annual spotlight report, "Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2019 Preliminary Data," offers a first look at state and national trends in 2019 pedestrian deaths. The report projects 6,590 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roads in 2019,... Read more www.ghsa.org

Motor Vehicle Deaths: Estimated to Have Dropped 2% in 2019 The first National Safety Council (NSC) estimate of total motor-vehicle deaths in 2019 was 38,800, down 2% from the final 2018 total of 39,404. The figure for 2019 was down 4% from the final 2017 total of 40,231. The estimated annual population... Read more injuryfacts.nsc.org

2020 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws Traffic fatalities are on the rise and state legislatures are missing in action. Last year, the fewest number of states passed critical highway safety laws since Advocates' first Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws was published in 2004. It's... Read more saferoads.org

INTERNATIONAL ROAD SAFETY PARTNER NEWS

Global Fleet Champions Awards: Accepting Applications The Global Fleet Champions Awards celebrate best practice in fleets working towards safe and healthy mobility anywhere in the world. This includes in low- and middle-income nations where occupational road risk management is evolving slowly, and... Read more globalfleetchampions.org

The Day Our World Crumbled: The Human Impact of Inaction This report, which is based on a survey of 5,606 people from 132 countries, focuses on the devastating impact that road crashes have on the lives... Read more roadsafetyngos.org

NGOs Say Enough is Enough: Time for Governments to Act Tomorrow, government Ministers from around the world will gather in Stockholm to seek consensus for an ambitious global target to reduce... Read more www.roadsafetyngos.org

INTERNATIONAL ROAD SAFETY

NETS had the opportunity to participate in the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm, Sweden 19-20 February 2020 where the Stockholm Declaration was presented by the Swedish Minister for Infrastructure, Mr. Tomas Eneroth, as the outcome document of the Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. "Now is the time to turn ideas, experiences and shared knowledge and successes into action. A strong political commitment is required at all levels, together with regional and national strategies and road safety action plans. Together we can achieve global goals by 2030." https://www.roadsafetysweden.com/about-the-conference/stockholm-declaration/

Coronavirus - an Extra Challenge for Global Fleet Managers For all the panic it causes, the coronavirus will (probably) not cause the end of civilisation. But it does illuminate the weaknesses inherent in our global, interdependent economic system. As such, it's one more item on the worry list of Global... Read more www.globalfleet.com

Global Ministers Call for 20 mph Speed Limits in Urban Areas Councils and governments across the world should introduce 20 mph speed limits in urban areas, a group of global ministers has said. The Third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, attended by UK roads minister Baroness Vere and hosted by ... Read more uk.motor1.com

Global NCAP Crash Test: Vehicle Safety in Africa In the first test of its kind, Global NCAP has crashed one of the best-selling pick up model in Africa, the 2019 Nissan NP300 Hardbody, into a second-hand Nissan Navara NP300 manufactured in Europe in 2015. The unique car to car crash test... Read more www.globalncap.org

European Safety Council Calls for SUVs To Be BANNED ETSC wants 'urgent action' to cut deaths of pedestrians and cyclists in EU cities It said authorities should ban SUVs which cause more harm due to their size Euro NCAP and Thatcham Research slammed claims SUVs are more dangerous SUVs found to... Read more www.thisismoney.co.uk

Report Highlights Key Principles for Improving Road Safety On the second UNESCO International Day of Education, a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Knowledge... Read more etsc.eu

UPCOMING TRANSPORTATION SAFETY EVENTS AND CAMPAIGNS

Vehicle Safety Recalls Week: March 2-6, 2020 NHTSA manages vehicle safety recalls, sets vehicle safety standards, and requires automakers to recall vehicles that have safety defects or do not meet those standards.If your car has a recall, get it... Read more www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov

Saint Patrick's Day: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving If you're heading out to a St. Patrick's Day celebration, make sure you have more than just the luck o' the Irish on your side. These celebrations are one of the biggest drinking nights of the year, ... Read more www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov

Do you have a particularly successful road safety example to share? NETS Members are encouraged to share best practices, ask questions or contribute their expertise to the NETS Road Safety Leaders Forum, an online discussion forum exclusively for NETS Members and Sponsors. Not yet a member? Check out the benefits at  www.trafficsafety.org/Membership .

Note from the editor: All links to stories have been tested and are active 24 hours prior to distribution; however, links may become inactive over time at the discretion of the publication source.

About NETSWork® NETSWork is published electronically each month by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, Susan Gillies, editor, and Joe McKillips, Executive Director.

Network of Employers for Traffic Safety 344 Maple Ave. West #357 Vienna, VA 22180 703-755-5350 www.trafficsafety.org nets@trafficsafety.org

© 2019 Network of Employers for Traffic Safety  NETS is registered by the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(C)3 non-profit organization