NHTSA Estimates Traffic Fatalities Remain High Despite Slight Decline
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its early estimates of roadway deaths for the first half of 2022. Data analysis indicates an approximate 0.5% uptick in fatalities over the same period last year.
This same analysis also envisions a decline in traffic accident deaths from April to June 2022, making it the first quarterly downturn in this category since quarter three of 2020, ending a seven-quarter streak of increasing fatalities.
"Traffic deaths appear to be declining for the first time since 2020, but they are still at high levels that call for urgent and sustained action. These deaths are preventable, not inevitable, and we should act accordingly," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
"Safety is our guiding mission at the Department of Transportation, and we will redouble our efforts to reduce the tragic number of deaths on our nation’s roads."
Dangers of Drowsy Driving Often Go Ignored
Bankrate's Elizabeth Revelli wrote a very insightful article on the dangers of drowsy driving.
Often taking a back seat to more topical issues, driving while sleepy can result in many of the same tragedies as drunk driving.
According to the article, Most drivers understand the dangers of drinking and driving and texting and driving, but many people underestimate the dangers of drowsy driving.
Each year, drowsy driving accounts for about 100,000 crashes, 71,000 injuries and 1,550 fatalities, according to the National Safety Council (NSC).
In addition, a study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drowsiness was a contributing factor in up to 9.5 percent of all crashes and 10.8 percent of crashes that included airbag deployment, injury or significant property damage.
Merchants Fleet’s Diana Holland Receives Women in Supply Chain Award
Merchants Fleet announces that Diana Holland, VP of Strategic Pursuits has been selected as a recipient of the 2022 Women in Supply Chain award by Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
This award honors female supply chain leaders and executives whose accomplishments, mentorship and examples set a foundation for women in all levels of a company’s supply chain network.
This year’s list of Women in Supply Chain award winners includes individuals from software and service providers, consultancies and academia, trucking and transportation firms, professional development agencies, sourcing, and procurement divisions, and more.
Ford Pro Launches All-New Fleet Management Suite
Ford Pro™ today announces a suite of fleet management solutions designed to help make mountains of paperwork and endless spreadsheets a thing of the past for small business owners moving into a digital age.
The affordable, always-on flagship software program – available on a subscription basis for as low as $5 per month per vehicle – gives office admins, business owners and fleet managers a new tool to combat drawers and file folders brimming with paperwork that tracks important metrics on every vehicle in their fleets.
Built on software from provider Fleetio, the cloud-based, easy-to-manage system fully digitizes cost-related data and puts total cost of ownership at their fingertips.
“Small and medium businesses told us they need a suite of tools ranging from driver and vehicle tracking to title and registration to vehicle health and maintenance monitoring but simplified – all on one platform, so that’s why we developed Ford Pro fleet management solutions,” said Dave Prusinski, Ford Pro global chief revenue officer.
“Total cost of ownership is the most crucial piece of fleet-related data to business owners, and Ford Pro has invested significantly to scale software products typically reserved for large fleets, making them accessible to small and medium-sized businesses, completely flexible for their needs and budgets.”
NYPD Shifting to Hybrid SUVs, Electric Vehicles as Traditional Fleet is Gradually Retired
New all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E Sport Crossover Utility Vehicles are among the vehicles expected to take the places of the four-door “police interceptor” sedans New Yorkers have seen on city roads for decades.
The department isn’t ready for an all-electric fleet just yet — so it’s stocking up on hybrid Ford Explorer SUVs, said Robert Martinez, deputy commissioner of the NYPD’s support services bureau.
The SUVs have a number of advantages over the older sedans, including higher seats that give officers a better view when they respond to emergency calls
