In an expansive area like the Denver metro, getting around town after a license suspension or revocation involves significant challenges. Whether you have a lost driver's license or not, you still need to get to work or school. And public transport often only takes you so far.

Wanting to drive despite a license suspension is understandable. It's important to know, however, that some Colorado law enforcement agencies are beginning to use a new tool to check license plates for driver's license suspensions.

In Longmont, the police are using an automated scanner to read license plates and report the results with a robotic voice. The machine does not only scan for license plates associated with suspended drivers' licenses. It also looks for plates associates with stolen cars and registered sex offenders.

The technology allows the patrol car to read cars' plates and automatically match them against a large database of Colorado crime information. It works both for oncoming cars and for cars parked either perpendicularly or horizontally.

In the first six months of the plate-reading program, the police have already checked more than one million plates.

Source: "Longmont police give high marks to automated license plate reader ," Times Call, 2-4-12

On November 30, Anne Ferro, the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, testified before Congress. She addressed the issue of the coming change in the rule that limits the number of hours truckers are allowed to drive in given segments of time.

This rule is known as the Hours of Service rule. It is an important rule because of the role it plays in preventing accidents caused by truck driver fatigue.

There are several aspects to the rule change, which FMCSA plans to finalize soon. One of the most significant changes calls for reducing the number of driving hours permitted in one day from 11 to 10.

In other words, the government can't force truckers to rest. But it puts in place rules designed to give them a chance to do so.

Some people in the truck industry argue that the only change needed is to allow drivers to stop and rest without having that rest period count toward the limit of 14 hours of on-duty time in a day. But such a laissez faire approach would not really enable drivers to get the consistent rest they need in order to drive safety.

In short, there is good reason behind the new rule.

Source: "CRASH says New Safety Data Validates Need for New HOS Rule," Truckinginfo, 12-5-11

To prevent more of these crashes, safety inspections of trucking companies and drivers have to become more effective.

That is why Colorado officials are finally cracking down on commercial trucks that fail inspections. The goal is to improve safety on the road and prevent Colorado truck accidents.

One common violation is lack of a valid Colorado driver's license. Other violations include such things as carrying unsecured equipment in the trailer or failing to properly attach the trailer to the tractor. Inspectors also often find problems with oil leaks and brakes that are out of adjustment. Even brakes that are supposedly self-adjusting can get out of adjustment - turning a truck into a danger on the road.

The Colorado State Patrol, the state revenue department, and local police departments collaborate to conduct compliance checks on trucks. Statewide, the patrol sets up over 150 check points every year for commercial vehicles.

When an inspection identifies a problem, authorities typically order that it be fixed. But what if it isn't fixed? Under the law, trucking companies or drivers can also be fined, ordered to appear in court, or even have their trucks taken away.

Source: "Crackdown on heavy trucks: Police trying to keep roads safe," 9News.com, 10-6-11

Encouraging kids to bike or walk to school is good for several reasons.
For one thing, it helps to foster healthy exercise habits among schoolchildren. By minimizing the use of fossil fuels, it is also good for the environment.

For biking or walking to school to become a more widely adopted practice, however, it has to become safer. Many schools - especially those in the suburbs - are difficult to reach for many students. They are located on streets whose speed limits are too high and where cars go faster than they should.

The result of poor transit planning and driver negligence is far too many bicycle accidents and pedestrian accidents. This is the case in Denver and its suburbs, across Colorado, and all over the country. It's a national disgrace that it's so dangerous to kids to simply get to school.

Safety for students who are walking or biking has to be carefully planned out, however, with accident prevention as a priority. Transit routes should be created in which walkways are separate from vehicles. Law enforcement agencies should be involved, so that speed limits and other traffic laws are carefully enforced in school zones and surrounding neighborhoods.

Source: http://www.walktoschool.org/

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is working on regulations to limit the use of smartphone applications available inside cars.

It's true that 34 states have some form of ban on texting while driving. But having a ban on the books is one thing; enforcing it is another.

That is why it's important to get a handle on which, and how many, factory-installed technological features will be available inside new vehicles.

For example, isn't it asking for trouble to have a built-in display screen in which drivers can engage in live chat about a sports contest?

The problems such devices poses could only get worse, as a generation that grew up on text messaging starts buying their own cars.

In other words, NHTSA is trying to be more proactive about safe ways to respond to the ongoing technological revolution. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is also committed to putting stronger regulations in place to guide the use of technology in motor vehicles.

Putting limits on the use of built-in technology in vehicles is an idea whose time has finally come.

Source: "High-tech features can tempt drivers to take eyes off road," Chicago Tribune, 8-27-11

Even in nonfatal accidents, these injuries tend to be very serious, simply because of the size differential between tractor trailers and passenger cars.

That's why the legislation pending in Congress on truck safety is so important. The proposals include:

• Required use of electronic onboard recorder to replace written logs

• Mandatory "speed limiter" devices to keep trucker speed to 65 mph

• Enhanced authority for federal regulators to revoke carrier registration after sanctions for safety violations

Use of the onboard recorder would provide more transparency about the number of hours that truckers actually drive. In the past, it has been all-too tempting for truckers to alter written logbooks to cover up hours of service violations.

The only real difference between the proposal in Congress and the emerging NHTSA rule concerns how far back a retrofit requirement should extend. The proposal in Congress calls for retrofit of trucks back to 1990. The American Trucking Association has asked that it go back only to 1992.

The main thing is that there is much that can be done to improve truck safety. Driving in Colorado and elsewhere in the U.S. would be safer if common sense tools like electronic onboard recorders and speed limiters became the norm.

Source: "Senate Highway Reauthorization Draft Addresses Truck Safety Issues," Truckinginfo, 8-19-11

Or consider this startling statistic: Over the course of a lifetime, one in every three people will be involved in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident.

Every time we go out on the road, we're rolling the dice.

Of course, in a civilized society, law enforcement is supposed to be there to protect us. And indeed, drunk driving is a criminal offense.

One step that law enforcement agencies can take is DUI checkpoints. That is what police did over the weekend in Lakewood. The location for the checkpoint was on West Alameda Avenue near South Easton Street, a place where a number of drunk driving arrests have taken place in the past. There have also been several serious drunk driving accidents in or near this location.

It's good that law enforcement is making this effort. It is downright daunting to consider, however, just how often most drunk drivers go out and drive drunk before they are caught. According to a research study cited by MADD, someone being arrested for drunk driving has, on average, already driven drunk 87 times before that first arrest.

Have you been injured in an alcohol-related auto crash, or has someone in your family has been killed in one? If so, contact an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss your legal options for pursuing compensation.

Source: "Police prepare a weekend DUI checkpoint in Lakewood," Denver Post, 8-5-11

One problem, however, has been the lack of an accurate federal database tracking fatal bus crashes. It's more difficult to keep the political pressure on for safety reforms when legislators don't have a clear picture of the scope of the problem.

In October 2003, for example, a fatigued motor coach driver swerved off the interstate in Louisiana and crashed, killing eight people. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated and identified problems that went far beyond the fatigued driver.

It is no secret what those problems are. They include lack of proper federal oversight of carriers who commit safety violations, as well as problems with the design of the buses themselves.

The death toll caused by these regulatory and design problems needs to be better understood. Many fatal crashes involving multiple deaths do not show up in federal databases. That was the case, for instance, with the 2003 crash in Louisiana.

Failing to maintain proper records has kept public officials and the public from recognizing the full scope of the bus safety problem. That needs to change.

Source: "Federal bus fatality count 'just doesn't add up'," USA Today, 6-29-2011