There has been an ongoing debate about whether red light cameras improve safety on the roads or are simply in place to bring money to municipalities.

A company who places red light cameras throughout the county, has just released footage on You Tube from crashes and near misses of cars going through intersections which have cameras.  Whether you agree with the use of these cameras or not–the footage is fascinating…and scary to watch.  See below and tell us what you think.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/nj_intersection_crashes_are_po.html

Summertime and the end-of-year holidays are when most Americans gather to enjoy their free time with friends and family. They are also some of the most deadly times on American roads due to impaired driving. That’s why during the summer and the end of the year, a nationwide campaign comprised of thousands of traffic safety partners, join together to protect citizens from this deadly crime.

Here in New Jersey, the Division of Highway Traffic Safety utilizes the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign to achieve its goal: prevention.

The Goal is Prevention

The key to deterring impaired driving is highly visible enforcement. The research is clear on the affect highly visible enforcement has on deterring impaired driving. Prevention and not arrest is the goal of the campaign. Drivers must perceive that the risk of being caught is too high before their behavior will change. Use the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over message to convince audiences that the chance of being caught is too high to risk. This message works and has influenced many citizens nationwide not to drink and drive.

I remember when I was a little kid in the back seat, watching my dad drive. He looked absolutely crazy as he whipped his head around and snapped it back in a fraction of a second. He’d throw his head back and forth three or four times in a row to merge onto a road, and looked like a pigeon doing it. Now I’m seeing how this technique may have served a purpose. Un-cool as it is, I’m going to have to try the pigeon method rather than the staring method next time, so I won’t have to slam on the brakes and feel that panic of almost hitting another car.

Apparently my driver’s education isn’t quite over. At 23 years old, I still have to go back and study how Old Dad taught me how to merge, parallel park, and drive on icy roads. Though I’ll never tell him this.

This is your opportunity to get involved in your school and community to make a difference.  We are seeking high school students throughout New Jersey to develop teen driving safety programs and compete against others schools for a grand prize…a driving simulator for your school.  Participating schools will each receive a $1,000 stipend to help implement the project and have the opportunity to win cool prizes…while maybe saving somebody’s life!

Application deadline is November 30th—don’t miss out!

> Check out the application at www.UGotBrains.com <

Last year, 19 high school competed against each other and developed amazing projects about driving issues that affect teens. Driving Simulators were awarded to two high schools-Holmdel High School (Monmouth County) and Lenape Regional High School District (Burlington County), but all schools walked away with prizes.

> Check out last year’s projects at www.UGotBrains.com <

Last week I witnessed the last hours of a boy, Mike, who was just 16 years old. He was killed on a dark, quiet road when the car he was in hit a tree. Mike was one of four people who were squeezed into the back seat, so he wasn’t belted in. It’s such an innocent decision; when you squeeze an extra friend in the back, you feel so tight and snug that it seems nothing could make you budge. (I’ve been that unbelted backseat person.) It happens all the time, but most of these stories don’t end in tragedy.

When the car crashed, Mike probably flew forward and hit the middle console, rupturing internal organs. I was one of the EMTs in the ambulance with him, along with another EMT, a paramedic, and Mike’s father. Mike’s confused cries for help will haunt me forever, and I can’t begin to imagine how they will affect his dad. With IV fluids, the hospital’s trauma team, and the sound of his dad’s voice, Mike clung on to life for hours. But in the end, it was another untimely death resulting from a car accident.

Although this isn’t a story about texting, it made me realize how fragile life is, and how quickly a car can take it away. A simple decision like squeezing six people into a car with five seatbelts, or texting “be there in 10,” can become the decision that ends my life or someone else’s. If Mike’s unfair death made me see anything, it’s that nobody should have to miss their 17th birthday. I hope this teen tragedy will help more people will think twice before making a bad decision behind the wheel.

> Article about the accident: www.safetysign.com

As parents and teenagers we often think that something like this will not happen to us or our friends, but this is yet another reminder that life can change in an instant. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death and disability for teens. Parents, learn tips to keep your teen safe at www.NJteenDriving.com. Teens-see what other kids have to say at www.UGotBrains.com.

More people traveling and more parties to attend means more risk for making unsafe decisions. Don’t let your teens become a statistic over the holiday!

In 2009, more than 3,000 youth died as a result of a motor vehicle crash and 350,000 were injured.
(Source: NHTSA)

Parents, what are your teens doing for the Fourth of July?
Be sure to:

• Educate your teens about the safety of using seat belts
• Re-enforce GDL Laws
• Monitor your teens behavior and ask questions
• Encourage your teens to have a voice when they feel they are in unsafe situations

Know the Graduated driver licesning laws (GDL’s):
Know the laws and reinforce them with your teens that following the laws could save their lives.

Seat belt facts:
Check out statistics and information.

Parent-teen Contracts:
Develop a positive relationship with your teen by talking about the drivnig rules and having them commit by signing a contract. The contracts will give you the opportunity set the standards and your teens will understand that driving is a privilege that should be earned.

Originally appeared on Under Your Influence.

Distracted Pedestrian PSA from Operation Lifesaver on Vimeo.

Operation Lifesaver’s :30 PSA showing the dangers to pedestrians of being distracted around tracks and trains.

Pedestrian commuters distracted by smart phone calls and text messages risk deadly encounters with transit buses, commuter and light rail trains, or street vehicles. Rail safety nonprofit Operation Lifesaver has new public service announcements to remind commuters to “Stay Focused! Stay Alive!”

If you’re a sophomore or older, it’s likely that you’ll have taken a Driver’s Ed class by now. Safe driving videos, guest speakers, booklets—they’re all supposed to help educate you on the dangers of reckless driving. But, how many of you have simply studied, taken the tests, passed, and then forgotten the majority of what you learned because so little of it was new?

We all know to wear our seatbelts, stick to the driving limit, etc… because adults have told us to do so time and time again. But what if it were your peers, your very friends, who reached out to you with these warnings?

If you’re on this site, it’s likely that you know about the recent U Got Brains Champion Schools competition. Attending the showcase that announced the winners, it was difficult not to realize that these students who carried out these projects have grown to truly believe in their messages.

A couple of the coolest parts:

• Short films! In one film, the local police helped out, getting surprisingly into pulling people over and chasing teenagers in cars with sirens. (All acting, no worries). In another film, stunning drama– like scenes utilized special effects, talented actors-to-be, and… coffins? (Apparently they had a coffin lying around, somehow) to present a scarily true message.
• Fairs and assemblies! Asking the help of the fire department, police department, local insurance companies, and more, one school set up a fair for the entire school to take a part in, while another school held an assembly with special guest speakers.
• T-shirts and wristbands! Walking around the showcase, you could have gathered several handfuls of wristbands, silicone rings, pins, stickers, keychains, and more. Handed out at different schools, they provided a way to ensure that the students remembered the lessons taught about safe driving—in a form they were guaranteed to take notice of. Who doesn’t like free stuff?

Amazing, isn’t it, what these teenagers came up with and carried out? And funnily enough, it’s a lot more convincing when your friend tells you that you’ll be shooting around the car with a force of 10,000 pounds if you get in a crash without your seatbelt on than if your teacher tells you that it’s against the law. So… if you care about yourself and your friends, try to help reach out to them yourselves, because you can actually help to save lives. As one school’s team said to their friends,

“I would never let a friend like you go.”

• Check out UGotBrains.com
• See the Award Winners