MDOT Has a Pothole Hotline!

It is said that only two things in life are certain- death and taxes. For those of us who live in  Michigan, the emergence of potholes in the Spring can be added to the list as well.  

The Michigan Department of Transportation has created a pothole hotline for state roadways. To report a pothole, you can call 888-296-4546 at any time of the day or night, seven days a week, or use the "Report Potholes" link. When you report a pothole, you will need to know the location, the county, the closest community and the cross street or interchange nearby.  

Potholes on non-state roads should be reported to local road commissions since MDOT does not have jurisdiction over roads that are not part of the state system.

For a handy pictorial showing the Birth of a Pothole, click here.

OPRAH WINFREY, HARPO STUDIOS ANNOUNCE NATIONAL “NO PHONE ZONE DAY” FRIDAY, APRIL 30

OPRAH WINFREY,  HARPO STUDIOS ANNOUNCE NATIONAL “NO PHONE ZONE DAY” FRIDAY, APRIL 30

--U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), FocusDriven, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and RADD, the Entertainment Industry’s Voice for Road Safety, join Winfrey for national day of awareness to end distracted driving--

CHICAGO—On Friday April 30, 2010, Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Studios are taking a stand against distracted driving, launching a new public service announcement campaign and joining forces with some of the country’s preeminent transportation safety organizations to declare Friday, April 30th the first national “No Phone Zone Day.” A large-scale effort to honor victims of distracted driving, “No Phone Zone Day” will also educate and activate Americans to end the deadly driving habits that kill nearly 6,000 Americans a year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The announcement was made today on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”


“A call or text isn’t worth taking a life,” said Winfrey. “We must not allow more mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers to die before we take action against distracted driving. Let’s put a stop to it now, by joining together on April 30 th for national ‘No Phone Zone Day’, and by making our cars a ‘No Phone Zone.’”


“I’ve made it my mission at the DOT to end distracted driving. We know that if we can get people to put away cell phones and other electronic devices when they are behind the wheel, we can save thousands of lives and prevent hundreds of thousands of injuries every year” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. “That’s why I’m proud to support and participate in Oprah’s 'No Phone Zone Day.'”


On Friday April 30th, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will present a special live episode devoted to ending distracted driving. In conjunction with the episode, Harpo Studios is mobilizing communities to take action at "No Phone Zone Day" viewing rallies to be held in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. “Oprah” show partner stations WSB-TV Channel 2 in Atlanta, WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston, WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit, KABC ABC7 in Los Angeles and WJLA ABC7 in Washington, D.C. will support the rallies in their respective markets. The planned rallies will bring together victims’ families, elected officials, advocacy organizations, parents, youth, and law enforcement to discuss best practices and steps to limit distracted driving in their own communities. In addition, a new "No Phone Zone" public service announcement campaign will be showcased on the April 30th “Oprah” show.


A working coalition of transportation safety organizations will come together as part of “No Phone Zone Day” activities and viewing rallies across the country, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and the Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), FocusDriven, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), RADD, the Entertainment Industry’s Voice for Road Safety, and more.

In addition, "No Phone Zone" corporate partners Sprint, General Motors/Chevrolet and Liberty Mutual will lend their support, both for national “No Phone Zone Day" and in the coming months to spread the "No Phone Zone" message.

As a national call to action, all viewers and town hall participants will be asked to take the "No Phone Zone" pledge. By pledging, drivers agree to make their car a "No Phone Zone" and refrain from using their phone while driving, eliminating distractions from incoming calls, texts or emails. More than 160,000 people to date have signed Oprah’s "No Phone Zone" pledge at Oprah.com. Many celebrities have already joined the cause, including Oscar® winners Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges and Mo’Nique, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, actress and icon Raquel Welch, Olympic superstar Shaun White, country music’s Lady Antebellum, entertainer and entrepreneur Tyler Perry, the cast of TV’s “Glee” and many more.

A 2008 NHTSA study indicated that at any given moment during the daylight hours, more than 800,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. According to a 2005 study for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers are four times less likely to get into accidents serious enough to cause injury when they turn off their cell phones while behind the wheel. For more information on “No Phone Zone Day,” and to take the No Phone Zone pledge, please visit www.oprah.com/nophonezone. For additional information on distracted driving, visit www.distraction.gov.

MADD Accepting Nominations for Prosecutor Life Saver Award

MADD Michigan is currently accepting nominations for the Prosecutor Life Saver Award(s).

The award is given to one or two prosecutors a year for their contributions to stop drunk driving and to support victims of this violent crime.

The Criteria for Awards is as follows:

• New or significant issue regarding impaired driving. This may involve a novel legal issue.

• Year long demonstration of "daily extraordinary work."

• High profile case or complicated issue. This criterion would demonstrate the prosecutor having gone "above and beyond" the normal bounds of duty.

• Impact on victim services. This criterion would demonstrate how the prosecutor directly provided services to a victim that demonstrates effort "above and beyond" the normal bounds of duty.

The Period of Adjudication for this award is : May 1, 2009 through April 30, 2010

The winner of the award will receive a plaque that will be presented at the prosecutor's Annual Conference in July. Winners will also receive one night's lodging at the conference

Access the nomination form and help to recognize a worthy prosecutor today!

For more information, please contact me at 906-225-7036, or Homer Smith, Executive Director for MADD Michigan at 517-487-6233.

MSP Iron River trooper honored for dedication to ensuring children ride safely in cars

Sgt. Christine Grabowski nominated Trooper Eric Farnsworth for the GTSAC award

LANSING – An 11-year veteran of the Michigan Department of State Police (MSP) was honored at the Governor’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commission (GTSAC) annual awards luncheon on Wednesday, March 31 at the Kellogg Conference Center in East Lansing for his efforts to ensure children ride safely in passenger vehicles.


Each year the commission honors organizations, programs and individuals for outstanding contributions to traffic safety. The awards luncheon is part of the 15th Annual Michigan Traffic Safety Summit. Seven traffic safety and three long-term awards are being presented.


In 2002, Trooper Eric Farnsworth started a car seat program at the MSP Iron River Post by obtaining donations from local businesses and community organizations to purchase car seats. He discovered that many of the seats he checked were purchased at yard sales or thrift shops, or were hand-me-downs. Further, most of the car seats were incorrectly installed and some were even on recall lists. Farnsworth soon began a campaign to promote proper car seat use to parents in the western Upper Peninsula.


Farnsworth annually installs 40 car seats at the Iron River Post and assists other technicians at numerous car seat clinics throughout the year. He also makes presentations at local schools about seat belts, car seats and booster seats and promotes car seat use at local events. His dedication to ensuring children ride in vehicles safely is well known and local law enforcement regularly direct families in need of car seats to contact Farnsworth.


In 2009, he installed a new seat for a 14-month-old girl who was involved in a serious head-on crash with her mother the following day. Deputies attributed her survival to the proper installation of her car seat.


The GTSAC was formed in 2002 to serve as the state’s forum for identifying key traffic safety challenges and developing and implementing plans to address those issues. The GTSAC is comprised of representatives from: Community Health, Education, State, State Police, Transportation, Office of Services to the Aging, Office of Highway Safety Planning and the Office of the Governor. There are also three representatives from local government appointed by the Governor.

MICHIGAN TRAFFIC DEATHS FALL TO 871 IN 2009

MICHIGAN TRAFFIC DEATHS FALL TO 871 IN 2009


Michigan’s traffic deaths reached a milestone of 871 in 2009, the lowest number the state has recorded since 1924 when there were 863 traffic fatalities. Today, there are nearly 10 times more vehicles on the road than in the 1920s. The 2009 fatality figure is down 11 percent from 2008 when 980 people died on Michigan roads.


Just a decade earlier in 1999, 1,386 people died on state roadways.


“Michigan is part of a national trend where states are seeing significant declines in traffic deaths,” said Office of Highway Safety Planning Director Michael L. Prince. “A variety of factors contributed to the decline, including fewer miles driven, the state’s high seat belt use, strict enforcement of traffic laws, roadway engineering improvements and vehicle safety features.”


Overall, the number of traffic crashes dropped 8 percent, fatal crashes fell 12 percent and injury crashes declined 6 percent.


Declines were noted in several areas, including alcohol and/or drug-involved fatalities. These dropped from 379 in 2008 to 351 in 2009. Specifically, alcohol-involved fatalities dropped 6 percent, from 317 in 2008 to 299 in 2009. Drug-involved fatalities fell 15 percent, from 140 in 2008 to 119 in 2009. (In some cases, both alcohol and drugs were involved.)


The crash data also shows:

-Motorcycle-involved fatalities fell from 127 in 2008 to 105 in 2009, a drop of 17 percent.

-Commercial motor vehicle-involved fatalities dropped 28 percent, from 106 in 2008 to 76 in 2009.


-The state recorded zero school bus-related traffic deaths in 2009, down from four in 2008. There has not been a child killed on a school bus in Michigan since 1989.


-Cell phone-involved crashes fell from 919 in 2008 to 866 in 2009. (Michigan cannot track crashes involving texting specifically.)


-The number of car-deer crashes remained fairly steady, up 1 percent from 2008. There were 61,486 deer-involved crashes in 2009.


-Pedestrian fatalities increased 10 percent, up from 114 in 2008 to 125 in 2009.


NOTE: Additional 2009 crash information will be posted to michigantrafficcrashfacts.org in the coming months. Check frequently for updates.

MDOT Open House Planned in Menominee

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), city of Menominee, and contractors will present schedules and detour routes for the upcoming reconstruction project on US-41 in Menominee. An open house will be held on April 1, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. (CDT) at the  Menominee High School Auditorium, 1800 18th Ave. in Menominee, MI.


MDOT will be reconstructing US-41 from 20th Avenue to 38th Avenue in Menominee this construction season, widening the highway to accommodate a center left-turn lane. The city will be replacing underground utilities as part of the project. Construction this year is scheduled to begin in April and continue through December. Construction will resume in 2011, continuing the project north through 48th Avenue.

MDOT's Road Weather Information System

MDOT's Road Weather Information System

Just what are those funny looking towers alongside state highways in the U.P? They're part of the Michigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) new Road Weather Information System, or RWIS.


Using federal grant funding, MDOT began installing a new system to monitor atmospheric and road surface conditions in an effort to better manage winter maintenance activities and to provide more travel information to motorists. The concept isn't new (several other Midwestern states have similar systems), but it's new to Michigan.


The system is made up of a network of Environmental Sensor Stations, or ESSs. These stations (the towers you're seeing) combine several types of sensors to measure air and road surface temperatures, barometric pressure, wind, salt concentrations on the road surface, frost depth and dewpoint, as well as cameras to verify conditions at the site. Using the data collected from the 14 existing stations, MDOT and the contract county road commissions providing maintenance services can better predict when ice will begin to form on the roadway or bridge deck, or see when snow is blowing and drifting across the road.


MDOT is working to provide motorists with an online view of the ESS cameras, which they could use to help make travel plans or decide when not to venture out. For now, the ESS data from Michigan and other states can be viewed at www.clarus-system.com.


For more information on the RWIS, contact Dawn Gustafson, MDOT Superior Region traffic and safety engineer, at 906-786-1800 or by e-mail at gustafsond@michigan.gov

Embrace Life

Sussex Safer Roads (click on words to link to site) has come up with an amazing new PSA about safety belts. It's a beautiful clip. Check it out for yourself! 

Distracted Driving: How Does It Impact You?

Earlier this week, Oprah Winfrey tackled the problem of distracted driving on her television show. If you were at work and missed the broadcast, please take a few moments not only to view part of the show, but to visit her website Americas New Deadly Obsession where a plethora of information has been posted about texting and talking on cell phones while driving.

What Is Distracted Driving?

According to the DOT there are three main types of distraction:
 
Visual — taking your eyes off the road
Manual — taking your hands of the wheel
Cognitive — taking your mind off what you’re doing

Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing.

Click here  to see an interesting video about why your brain can't multitask that way you'd like and here to see why Oprah's campaign might be one of the best ways to get this important message out.

In the new few posts, we'll be talking more about distracted driving.

Have thoughts or suggestions about this topic? Post them in the Comments section.

Child Passenger Safety Law Enforcement Course Announced

Child Passenger Safety Law Enforcement Awareness

Pilot Course

Gaylord, Michigan

The Marquette County Health Department in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Office of Highway Safety Planning is pleased to offer a special pilot class for Michigan law enforcement officers.


Class Details: Child Passenger Safety Law Enforcement Awareness Pilot Course
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Time: 12:00 - 4:00 pm
Place: Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) North Region Office, 1088 M-32, Gaylord, MI 49735
Cost: FREE


Please note that lunch will not be provided for this class. Participants should plan accordingly.

It is important to realize that children are passengers in motor vehicles every day. Many of these children are improperly restrained. Law enforcement personnel can help save the lives of these children in several ways:

1) By issuing citations or written warnings;
2) By providing CPS education and
3) By providing families with CPS resources.

Upon completion of this 4-hour training course, attendees will have a basic awareness of child passenger safety (CPS) and an understanding of their role in CPS. We expect attendees will have be better prepared to answer CPS questions and be able to identify basic car seat misuse. This course is not intended to make students “experts” or certified CPS technicians.

If your application is accepted, you will receive more detailed class information.

This pilot course is being held in Gaylord to facilitate enrollment by both Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula law enforcement officers. Enrollment is limited to 25 people. Please obtain an application by contacting:


Diane Curry, Upper Peninsula CPS Coordinator
Email: dcurry@mqtcty.org
Fax: 906-475-9312