Spring is around the corner, and it won’t be long before it’s prom and graduation seasons for many high schoolers. Rites of passage for many, these are times for teens to celebrate, but can also be times of poor decision-making, especially when vehicles are involved. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 2,524 teen drivers and passengers were killed and 177,000 were injured in 2013. Twenty-seven percent of these fatalities occurred between April and June, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
“The statistics are staggering, especially when you consider that most of these accidents and fatalities are preventable,” said Randy Petro, Mercury Insurance’s chief claims officer. “We don’t want any families to suffer through the loss of a child, so Mercury is taking action with the launch of the ‘Mercury Insurance Drive Safe Challenge.’”
The Mercury Insurance Drive Safe Challenge kicked off with a free defensive driving program, which included hands-on driving skills training and classroom material. An interactive website provides teens with detailed instruction, as well as gives parents the tools to shape responsible driving behavior.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7772251-mercury-teen-drive-safe-challenge/
As part of their ongoing Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks. Texting and Driving Prevention campaign, the Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are partnering with YouTube creator and actress Meg DeAngelis to raise awareness of this dangerous behavior. The collaboration also coincides with the release of new television campaign public service advertisements (PSAs) and the launch of Project Yellow Light, a national video contest and scholarship program that aims to educate young drivers on and generate engagement around this issue.
Meg is joining the effort as part of the Ad Council’s Creators for Good program by distributing new exclusive video content to her almost four million subscribers on YouTube. The video amplifies the campaign message, showing drivers that no matter how “safely” they think they can drive while doing other things, distracted driving is always dangerous. Created as an advice video, Meg runs through “10 Everyday Things You’re Doing Wrong” - from putting in bobby pins to folding your clothes - and ends with a serious message to her fans about the dangers of texting and driving.
“Texting and driving is such a serious issue, so I'm really proud to be a voice of this important campaign,” said DeAngelis. “I want all of my viewers to stay safe, so I hope that together, we can spread the word on the dangers of distracted driving.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7682151-ad-council-project-yellow-light/
Union Pacific Railroad today launched a new social media campaign urging photographers and high school seniors to refrain from taking photographs on or near train tracks. Through startling videos, the campaign compares the dangers of snapping photos on the tracks to posing for senior pictures on a busy highway. Neither are safe locations. The campaign launched exclusively on social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7555651-union-pacific-photo-safety-campaign/
Adults have gotten the message that it’s safer for kids to ride in the back seat properly restrained, but when it comes to their own safety, there is a common misperception that buckling up is optional. Among adults who admit to not always using safety belts in the back seat, 4 out of 5 surveyed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety say short trips or traveling by taxi or ride-hailing service are times they don’t bother to use the belt.
The new survey reveals that many rear-seat passengers don’t think belts are necessary because they perceive the back seat to be safer than the front. This shows a clear misunderstanding about why belts are important, no matter where a person sits in a vehicle.
Before the majority of Americans got into the habit of buckling up, the back seat was the safest place to sit, and the center rear seat was the safest place of all in 1960-70s’ era vehicles. In recent decades, high levels of restraint use, the advent of belt pretensioners, load limiters and airbags, plus crashworthy vehicle designs have narrowed the safety advantages of riding in the rear seat for teens and adults.
Nearly five dozen 2019 models meet stricter criteria to qualify for a 2019 TOP SAFETY PICK+ or TOP SAFETY PICK award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The 30 first-tier “plus” award winners earn the highest rating for passenger-side protection in a small overlap front crash and have good-rated available headlights, while the 27 winners of the second-tier award qualify with an acceptable or higher rating in the newest IIHS crash test and the nighttime headlight evaluation.
All 57 vehicles in this elite group earn good ratings in the Institute’s five other crashworthiness evaluations and have an available automatic emergency braking system that rates advanced or superior for front crash prevention.
IIHS now requires a good rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test to earn a 2019 TOP SAFETY PICK+ versus an acceptable or good rating for the 2018 award. An acceptable or good rating in the passenger-side test is a new criterion to earn a 2019 TOP SAFETY PICK.
This marks the sixth time that IIHS has raised the bar to earn the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award since introducing it in the 2013 model year to recognize vehicles that offer a superior level of safety. The TOP SAFETY PICK accolade launched in the 2006 model year to help consumers identify vehicles with the highest ratings. Over the years, IIHS has added to and strengthened criteria for both awards to encourage manufacturers to speed up safety advances.
The period between Christmas and New Year’s typically has one of the highest rates of impaired driving fatalities, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In an effort to reduce drunk and buzzed driving related incidents during the holidays, NHTSA, the Ad Council and the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) launched their 12th annual “Project Roadblock: Local TV Puts the Brakes on Drunk Driving.”
Project Roadblock was created in 2004 in support of NHTSA and the Ad Council’s Buzzed Driving Prevention public service advertising (PSA) campaign. To date, broadcast TV stations across the nation have donated more than $40 million in media to support this effort. The partnership aims to unite local television stations in creating a nationwide advertising roadblock by airing Project Roadblock PSAs (Public Service Announcements) between December 26 and December 31. Local broadcast stations voluntarily participate in the campaign by donating on-air, online and mobile time and space with a special push at 10 p.m. local time on New Year’s Eve. In addition, TV stations will be reaching out to their communities on social media to share social graphics and messaging to further reach audiences.
“Drunk driving remains a serious threat on our roads and claims more than 10,000 lives a year,” said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. ”Local broadcast television is an effective tool in reaching consumers, and we thank the TVB, all the stations, and the Ad Council for their ongoing support of drunk driving prevention, especially during the holiday season.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7701751-ad-council-nhtsa-buzzed-driving-psa/
Every 33 seconds a child under 13 is involved in a car crash in the United States, according to 2014 data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Safety seats, if used correctly, can dramatically reduce the risk of fatality or injury. But 59 percent of car seats are misused in a way that could reduce their effectiveness, and over one-third of children killed in car crashes were completely unrestrained at the time of the crash. Today, NHTSA and the Ad Council unveiled a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) to educate parents and caregivers about the importance of selecting the right seat for their child’s age and size, and to remind them that car seats, booster seats and seat belts offer the best protection for children in crashes and help save lives.
“Life can change in an instant. We want parents and caregivers to prepare for the unexpected, rather than face their worst nightmare,” said Dr. Mark Rosekind, NHTSA administrator. “Buckling up a child correctly and in the right seat is the best protection any parent can do to see their child walk away unharmed from a car crash.”
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7774451-ad-council-find-the-right-seat/
The Lincoln Continental, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Toyota Avalon come out at the top of a group of six large cars recently evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The three cars qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK+, the Institute’s highest award. The Tesla Model S, the Chevrolet Impala and the Ford Taurus fall short of any award because they each earn only an acceptable rating in the small overlap front test.
Vehicles qualify for either the TOP SAFETY PICK or TOP SAFETY PICK+ award if they have good ratings from IIHS in five crashworthiness tests — small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints — and an available front crash prevention system that earns a superior or advanced rating. To qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK+, a vehicle also must come with good or acceptable headlights
The ranks of top-rated booster seats continue to grow as manufacturers design models to earn high marks in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s annual booster seat evaluations, plus offer the style and convenience parents look for when it’s time to pick a safe seat for their booster-age children.
Among the 41 models new for 2014, there are 27 BEST BET seats — more than in any prior year — and three GOOD BETs. Eight boosters are in a category the Institute calls “Check Fit,” and there are three new models that the Institute doesn’t recommend using as boosters. Prices for BEST BET boosters start around $25 and go up to about $370, depending on features, and several models are LATCH compatible.
Lytx®, Inc., the global leader in video-based driver safety, unveiled today a giant leap forward in safe driving innovation with its Lytx ActiveVision℠ service available for select Lytx DriveCam™ clients immediately, and industry-wide in January 2016. The ActiveVision service will be publicly demonstrated this weekend at the 2015 American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition in Philadelphia.
The ActiveVision service is a revolutionary and comprehensive safety solution that helps detect and address, both in real time and over time, distracted and drowsy driving and following too close, all potentially dangerous and costly driving behaviors that often go undetected -- behaviors that contribute to 6,000 deaths, 500,000 injuries, and more than $175 billion in economic costs each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7277351-lytx-activevision-distracted-driving/
Today, the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), the not-for-profit trade association of America’s commercial broadcast television industry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Ad Council launched their 11th year of “Project Roadblock: Local TV Puts the Brakes on Drunk Driving.” Launched in December 2003, Project Roadblock is the local broadcast television industry’s extension of NHTSA and the Ad Council’s ‘Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving’ PSA campaign. Since then, the multi-media campaign has served as an opportunity for local television stations to combat drunk driving by donating on-air, online and mobile advertising time and space for the PSAs. To date, broadcast TV stations across the nation have donated more than $34 million in media to support this effort.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7391951-ad-council-tvb-nhtsa-partner-to-prevent-drunk-driving-fatalities-during-holidays/
Thirteen out of 16 new booster seats for 2017 earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's highest rating of BEST BET, bringing the total number of boosters on the market with that designation to 118.
The BEST BET rating means a booster provides good safety belt fit for typical 4 to 8 year-olds in almost any car, minivan or SUV. Boosters that are rated GOOD BETs provide acceptable belt fit in almost any vehicle, while those rated Check Fit could work for some children in some vehicles. Seats designated "Not Recommended" don’t provide good belt fit and should be avoided.
