Let the engine warm up. During cold, winter weather newer-model cars can easily be put in gear and driven as soon as they’re started, but that doesn’t necessarily mean skipping the warm-up entirely.
Pay attention to weather reports on the television or radio. Allow time in your schedule for bad weather and/or traffic delays. Visit Ohio Department of Transportation’s www.OhGo.com for current traffic information such as weather-related road conditions, road closures and traffic accidents.
Keep your windows clear of snow and ice. Remember to brush off the head, tail and brake lights, too.
If you turn on your windshield wipers, turn on your headlights. It’s Ohio law. Failing to do so is a secondary offense. Click here to read ORC 4513.03.
Keep your gas tank at least half full to prevent fuel line freeze-up. Fill your gas tank completely full before parking your car for lengthy periods.
Leave ample stopping time between you and the driver in front of you. Braking distance can be up to nine times greater on snowy, icy surfaces than on dry roads.
If your vehicle is equipped with an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), be sure to
STOMP firmly on the brake pedal
STAY on the brakes – do not pump the brakes
STEER where you want the vehicle to go
Gently pump Non-ABS brakes to stop the vehicle. Take any corrective action gradually. You will need to maintain full control of the vehicle. Refer to the vehicle operations manual for proper methods to correct skids.
During winter travel, it is best to supply those at your destination with the following information: Your cell phone number, departure time, travel route, and anticipated time of arrival.
Lock your vehicle, even in bad weather. To prevent door and trunk locks from freezing, lubricate the locks with a silicone spray or door-lock lubricant. If they’re already frozen, use a lock antifreeze product to thaw them. Do not pour hot water on the locks – they will refreeze.
Drive with extreme caution on bridges and overpasses during freezing temperatures. Because bridge temperatures can be 5-6 degrees colder than roadways, they can become slick and icy before roads
For more information from the Ohio Committee for Severe Weather Awareness on Winter Vehicle Safety Tips, click here.
OLDER DRIVERS
Being able to get around in our communities helps us remain independent and healthy. It helps us feel connected and give us opportunities to contribute to our neighbors and families in meaningful ways. Transportation access connects older adults to friends and family, health care, employment, volunteer opportunities, and other activities.
According to the Hedges Company, 84.9% of Americans age 70 to 84, and 60.1% of Americans age 85 and older, have a driver license. In a statewide needs assessment for the Summary Assessment of Older Ohioans, 84% of Ohioans age 65 and older say they drive when they need to go somewhere. The Insurance Information Institute says that, while there are more drivers than ever over the age of 70, these drivers are involved in fewer fatal crashes, due in part to better health and safer vehicles and roadways.
Tips for Safe Driving
The Ohio State Highway Patrol offers these recommendations for most older drivers:
Stay aware of changing physical and perceptual abilities and adjust driving habits.
Do not drive too slowly (this can be as unsafe as speeding).
Avoid busy roadways and rush hours whenever possible.
Ask the doctor or pharmacist if medicine you take could affect your driving.
Take a class in defensive driving, particularly one geared toward older drivers.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends:
Exercise regularly to increase strength and flexibility.
Have your vision checked at least once a year, and wear glasses or corrective lenses as prescribed.
Try to do most of your driving during daylight and in good weather.
Plan your route before you drive.
Find the safest routes to your destinations with well-lit streets, intersections with left turn arrows, and easy parking.
Leave plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front of you so that you can react if the other driver stops suddenly.
Avoid distractions while driving, including talking or texting on a cell phone, eating, or listening to a loud radio.
Alternatives to Driving
While many older adults are able to drive safely for most of their lives, some may experience factors that affect their ability to do so. The Summary Assessment of Older Ohioans, found that the majority of older Ohioans (65%) say they they are able to get where they want to go all of the time, and more than two out of five (41%) have a spouse, family member, friend or neighbor drive them. Individuals who do not have this type of support can look to their communities for transportation assistance.
Strategies that increase access to affordable, accessible, and reliable transportation are a key part of Ohio's Strategic Action Plan on Aging.
If you believe an older loved one or friend is not safe behind the wheel but continues to drive, it's important to speak up and offer your assistance. Learn how to have this crucial conversation.
ANNUAL I-8000 PROFICIENCY TEST
To: I-8000 Breath Alcohol Test Operators
From: Jeanna Walock, Program Administrator
Alcohol and Drug Testing Program
Date: November 15, 2021
RE Annual I-8000 Proficiency Test
There are currently over 1700 Ohio I-8000 operators who have not completed a successful proficiency or subject test in 2021. In order to maintain proficiency, each operator must successfully complete and upload a subject test (BrAC result reported) or proficiency test (Test, Test, 0.000 g/210 L) each calendar year. Operators who do not complete a proficiency before the end of 2021 will have their cards deactivated and must take a written renewal test and demonstrate proficiency with an ADT inspector before the cards will be reactivated.
Please go to the Breath Instrument Data Center on the Alcohol and Drug Testing page of the Ohio Department of Health website to check your current proficiency date. Search your name under the blue Operator tab and click on your name in the results. If your proficiency date is a 2020 date you must complete a proficiency or subject test in 2021. Refusals do not count towards proficiency. Tests with exceptions are not acceptable to document proficiency.
If you attempted an I-8000 proficiency earlier this year but your proficiency date has not been updated, please check your email. Mr. Thomas contacts operators by email to let them know if an I-8000 proficiency attempt was not successful and must be repeated. If you are not sure whether or not you completed a proficiency or subject test in 2021 please complete another one.
If you have questions, please contact the Alcohol and Drug Testing Program at BADT@odh.ohio.gov or (614) 644-4609.
DRUNK DRIVING | BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING
pre-Holiday Season
Nov. 30 - Dec. 14, 2021
The pre-holidays are known for being merry and bright, but they’re also known for being the deadliest season when it comes to buzzed driving. Every holiday season, lives are lost due to drunk drivers.
Click here to use these social norming marketing tools, which can be distributed to fit your local needs and objectives. These materials will partner your office with other State and local community safety organizations on this impaired-driving prevention initiative.
Drive High Get a DUI
2021 Holiday Season National Enforcement Mobilization / Dec 15, 2021 - Jan 1, 2022
Drug-impaired driving is a problem on America’s highways. Like drunk driving, drugged driving is impaired driving, which means it is dangerous and illegal in all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. Whether the drug is obtained legally or illegally, driving while impaired poses a threat to the driver, the vehicle passengers, and to other road users.
NHTSA wants to spread the word about drug-impaired driving and to remind all drivers: if you are impaired by drugs and thinking about driving, pass your keys on to a sober driver
Click here to view campaign materials for the 2021 Holiday Season National Mobilization.
NOTE: 2021 HOLIDAY SEASON CAMPAIGNS
In addition to the Drive High Get a DUI campaign during the Holiday Season period listed above, this period is also known for being the deadliest season when it comes to buzzed driving. Every holiday season, lives are lost due to drunk drivers.
Click here to use these social norming marketing tools, throughout the holiday season which can be distributed to fit your local needs and objectives. These materials will partner your office with other State and local community safety organizations on this impaired-driving prevention initiative.
IMPAIRMENT IN ANY FORM WHILE DRIVING CAN LEAD TO DEADLY CONSEQUENCES
Super Bowl LVI / Feb. 13, 2022 (Sunday)
Each year, the Super Bowl garners millions of viewers, with many taking the opportunity to cheer on their favored team with a night out or by attending a party. To help keep us all safe on the roads, NHTSA is teaming up with State and local highway traffic safety advocates and organizations to remind football enthusiasts that: Fans Don’t Let Fans Drive Drunk.
This year, the Big Game falls on February 13, 2022. If your night involves alcohol outside your home, plan for a sober ride home. If you’re hosting a party, take care of your guests. Keep reading for tips on how to stay safe on Super Bowl Sunday.
Click here to view campaign materials for Super Bowl LVI.
LAW ENFORCEMENT WELLNESS
The Office of Law Enforcement Recruitment would like to invite you to a session that aims to provide insights on the importance of law enforcement wellness and how to mitigate life’s stressors on and off duty. During this webinar, we will discuss realistic, yet unorthodox, approaches to combat the effects of chronic stress and trauma on the mind and body. These tactics can also be utilized to improve focus, mental clarity, and emotional regulation. By improving the wellness of law enforcement, not only do we enhance the service provided and the quality of life for officers; the efforts transcend into the community to elevate healing on a broader scale.
Presenter Amanda Dozanti is currently a Law Enforcement Wellness Specialist with the Hope Meadows Foundation.
Description: Prosecutors have very high ethical standards to uphold throughout the course of any case, but they become particularly important when advocating a DUI case because these are the most common cases a prosecuting attorney will take to trial. This session will discuss in detail how to ethically advocate a DUI case throughout all stages of trial, including: voir dire, opening, direct, cross and closing. At the conclusion of this session, a prosecutor will have a more thorough understanding of the most common ethical challenges during trial and how to avoid mistrial issues.
Title: “SFST Performance & Impairment in the Drug DUI Case" (Ohio Bar Approval for1.5-hr CLE General Credit)
A common defense argument in Drug DUI cases is that the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests are inadmissible and irrelevant as they were only designed for Alcohol DUI cases. This argument holds little weight and prosecutors are most certainly able to discuss impairment in Drug DUI cases using the SFSTs. But how can something designed for alcohol impairment be applied to cases involving drugs of abuse as the defense argues? This course will look to the science and what the science tells us to explain how the SFSTs can in fact be used to show and explain impairment in Drug DUI cases. Such information will provide valuable background to both prosecutors and law enforcement as they prosecute Drug DUI cases and evaluate the facts and circumstances of such cases.
Title: DUI Refusal Case Law (Ohio Bar Approval for 2.0-hr CLE General Credit)
Description: DUI Cases often involve uncooperative suspects that will refuse to participate in the SFSTs, refuse to provide a chemical sample or both. Such Refusals present unique challenges for both prosecutors and law enforcement and the successful investigation and prosecution of Refusal cases requires knowledge of specific case law. This session will provide an in-depth discussion of the case law surrounding DUI cases involving Refusals so that law enforcement and prosecutors will have the knowledge required to properly handle such cases. Topics covered will include an extensive discussion of the case law surrounding SFST Refusal, Chemical Test Refusal and the "Double Refusal" as well as issues involving Miranda & Refusal and the "Confusion Doctrine."
Title: Working Professionally with DUI Victims & Survivors (Ohio Bar Approval for1.5-hr CLE General Credit)
Description: This course will be an overview how to best work with DUI Victims & Survivors, providing a basic understanding of how trauma affects victims of DUI related offenses, and based upon that, how to work with drunk and drugged driving victims and survivors with both professionalism and compassion. It will allow for prosecutors and law enforcement to hear from a victim of a DUI who lost loved ones and had to deal not just with her loss but with issues related to the court system. She will be able to explain all of her interactions – both good and bad – with prosecutors, defense attorneys and the court system. She will explain how some in the court system treated her professionally, and others didn’t. She will emphasize what one needs to make sure to do in order to act with compassion and professionalism when dealing with victims and how more professional treatment at some stages of the process could have made it much less difficult to deal with. Finally, members of MADD Florida will discuss the MADD Florida Victim Services Program and provide prosecutors and law enforcement with resources – such as victim advocate contacts – which will be able to assist them to handle DUI victims more professionally.
Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) provides officers with general knowledge related to drug impaired driving and to promote the use of Drug Recognition Experts (DRE). Law enforcement officers will learn to observe, identify and articulate the signs of impairment related to drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both, in order to reduce the number of impaired driving crashes.
The ARIDE program stresses the importance of the signs and symptoms of the seven drug categories. Officers attending this course will receive an update/refresher of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFSTs) and must successfully pass an SFST proficiency evaluation. This training also promotes interaction with representatives from the state's prosecution community who are encouraged to attend. The instructors for this course are all Ohio DRE certified instructors.
Prerequisite: Law enforcement officers must have had training in SFST (previously ADAP). This course is funded through an OTSO/NHTSA grant and is free for sworn Ohio law enforcement officers and prosecutors only. Tuition for out-of-state officers is $250.
To view the upcoming classes and to register, click here.
Drug Recognition Expert Program
The Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Program is a traffic safety program that focuses on the detection, apprehension and adjudication of drug-impaired drivers.
A DRE is a law enforcement officer highly trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than or in addition to alcohol.
For more information, upcoming training dates and how to apply for this free training, please view the DRE Application, School Information and upcoming classes by clicking here.
Message from NETS' Executive Director, Susan Gillies
Holidays are traditionally a time of travel for families across the United States. Many choose car travel, which has the highest fatality rate of any major form of transportation based on fatalities per passenger mile. Holidays are also often cause for celebrations involving alcohol consumption, a major contributing factor to motor-vehicle crashes.
I have a 17-year-old who is a new and inexperienced driver. For Thanksgiving, we drove five hours to see family and he managed the majority of the driving. It's the longest he's driven at one time, and is also the most highway driving he's done.
Initially as we started out, I was vigilant in watching the road with him, checking his speed, looking for trucks or other vehicles before he changed lanes, helping him make decisions. But as time went on, I became more comfortable with his driving ability. I picked up my phone and ordered Christmas presents; I checked out the latest on social media; I chatted with my other child in the backseat.
As the miles stretched on, I thought about what happens when we let our guard down while driving. When we take our eyes off the road for just a second or let our mind wander from the task at hand, that's when the other car pulls in front of us, or the deer darts out from a field, or our eyes begin to close as we get fatigued watching mile after mile of road pass by.
The same is true for fleet safety programs ꟷ if employees aren't reminded about safe driving, or if the focus shifts to other priorities, or if drivers get too comfortable in their driving role ꟷ this is when the worst can happen.
During the holiday season when there is generally an increase in road fatalities, it is more important than ever to not let our guard down and get back to the basics by reminding drivers of driving fundamentals:
Plan the route ahead of time to avoid the need for speeding;
Always wear a seat belt, even for short trips;
Take breaks and get a good night's rest to reduce fatigue;
Eliminate distractions by turning off cell phones and not eating while driving;
Don't drive while impaired ꟷ designate a sober driver or plan another way home;
Ensure vehicle maintenance is up to date to prevent break-downs or even crashes while driving.
To view the complete message from Susan along with the NETSWORK Newsletter and campaign information, click here.
The largest gathering of highway safety professionals in the United States
Last year, an estimated 36,096 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. Lifesavers is recognized as the premiere conference to learn about the latest highway safety research, best practices, and cutting-edge initiatives; and to explore innovative technology and strategies used to combat risky driving behaviors and save lives. The Lifesavers Conference is also historically the world’s largest gathering of leaders and advocates in traffic safety. Now in its 40th year, the Lifesavers Conference will take place March 13-15, 2022 in Chicago, IL.
The 2022 Lifesavers Conference will provide a national platform with 70 workshops in nine tracks, plenary sessions, peer exchange discussion groups, and an extensive exhibit hall. The Lifesavers Conference program is designed to engage federal, state and local government; law enforcement; public health; injury prevention; advocacy and non-profit organization professional in an exchange of ideas, strategies, and programs to reduce preventable injuries and deaths.
Don’t miss your opportunity to participate in the latest and greatest networking opportunity in traffic safety, highlighting research to practice efforts across the country!
Visit the 2022 LifeSavers Conference website by clicking here.
REMEMBER the OTSO offers materials for numerous traffic safety campaigns, including impaired driving, restraint usage, distracted driving, speeding and motorcycles. Utilizing the numerous materials found here can make an impact that will reach beyond your community. By raising public awareness YOU can help save lives. The order form can be found by clicking here.
