If you have lived in Arizona all your life you might be accustomed to high winds and fully understand just how much they can buffet your vehicle, even going as far as pushing your vehicle right off the road or tipping it. These high winds can also decrease visibility as they tend to kick-up a great deal of dust and dirt. This too makes driving dangerous as we all know how important it is to see where we are going when we get behind the wheel.

If you haven’t lived in Arizona, and haven’t experienced these winds yourself you might wonder what the big deal is. What difference could a little make to a big 3,000 pound vehicle? Plenty.

With a gust of wind blowing at 55 mph, and most cars going as fast or faster than this, the resulting force is strong enough to move your vehicle around like a toy. Ignoring these warnings could be detrimental to your health and your safe driving record.

A wind advisory form the National Weather Service said the state will be buffeted with high winds from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Gusts are expected to reach speeds of 55 mph.

The roads most likely to be affected are Interstates 10 and 40, especially in the northern and southern portions of Arizona.

Drivers experiencing high-wind conditions are asked to pull over if dust begins to blow. Those drivers should pull completely off the roadway and turn of their lights.

In Arizona municipal and state police are preparing for the increased traffic on state roads and highways by first warning drivers and their passengers to buckle up. Not just because it is the law (which it is in every state) but also because it is just plain safer for everyone involved.

Arizona is just one of the states participating in the national “Click It or Ticket” program. They will have increased patrols on all major roads and highways specifically watching for anyone not wearing a seat belt. And of course, they will be citing anyone they catch riding without a seat belt on.

So, if you are driving in Arizona this weekend, you don’t wear a seat belt and get a citation as a result, don’t say you weren’t warned.

As part of the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign, Arizona law enforcement agencies are ramping up traffic patrols to make sure you and your loved ones are wearing seatbelts every time you get in a car.

Between May 21st and June 3rd, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety will take a zero-tolerance approach at seatbelt enforcement.

“Even though Arizona is a secondary law state for seatbelt usage, law enforcement officers will be taking a zero tolerance approach on drivers who are in violation of state law,” said Alberto Gutier, Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

Gutier says the “Click It or Ticket” campaign will help prevent needless tragedies on Arizona’s streets and highways.

Statistics from James Madison University show 80% of all deaths to children in motor vehicle accidents could be prevented with proper seatbelt and safety restraint use. In a 2002 report from the Naval Safety Center, 60% of more than 32,500 passengers killed in traffic accidents were not wearing their seatbelts.

In Arizona as in other states, many of these family road trips turn deadly due to unavoidable (or sometimes avoidable) fatal traffic collisions. Having an idea of which roadways are more dangerous, or where most of these crashes can help you prepare for your road trip by helping you plan accordingly.

ABC15.com, a local Arizona news network has created an interactive map of all deadly traffic crashes in the state. Users can visit the site, select a roadway and see how many fatal collisions have occurred in that area. They choose a stretch of highway or even an individual intersection.

On person was killed in the crash and two others seriously injured.

Distracted driving, whether you are using your cell phone or just fiddling with your radio dials, is known to cause serious, often fatal, traffic crashes. Using your laptop while you are driving is no less dangerous.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, in 2011 more than 3,000 people killed as a result of distracted driving. This prompted the NTSB to suggest a nation wide ban on the use of all handheld devices would save lives. Some states have since issued their own handheld devices bans, others already had them.

But if a driver is committed to not paying attention, it seems unlikely that the threat a traffic citation is going to dissuade them.

James T. Yates, 29, died when a Kia Sedona minivan collided head-on with a Jeep driving the opposite direction, said Sgt. Trent Crump, spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department. Yates was a passenger in the minivan.

The driver of the minivan was seriously injured and was reported in critical condition, Crump said.

The driver of the Jeep, who was not wearing a seat belt, was also seriously injured, Crump said. The driver was expected to survive.

Police say that about 1:45 p.m., the driver of the minivan was driving north on Seventh Street near Northern Avenue and got distracted by trying to look up an address on a laptop computer, Crump said.

The minivan crossed over into oncoming traffic and struck the Jeep, Crump said. The airbags deployed for all three involved in the crash.

The reasons for the decline seem to have more to do with the economy than any particular focus on safe driving. This comes despite a series of calls to ban distracted driving nationwide and efforts ate increasing teenage driving awareness and safety.

The fact is, during a down economy and with gasoline prices rising, people are naturally driving less. The less they drive the fewer opportunities they have to be involved in a serious (or any kind) of vehicle crash. The fewer crashes, the fewer deaths. The math isn’t hard to calculate.

There is also something to be said for the increase safety of today’s vehicles and improvements being made to roads, intersections, bridges and highways which create a safer environment for drivers.

It is a little bit more difficult to understand why these three areas have outpaced the national average however. What forces are at work in these three states which have caused traffic fatalities to increase while nation wide traffic fatalities are down?

That is a question California traffic experts are trying to figure out:

Last year’s national decline in traffic fatalities — to 32,310 — came as motorists drove about 36 billion, or about 1.2%, fewer miles, perhaps because of high gas prices and a still-difficult economy that might have discouraged pleasure road trips.

The 2011 fatality rate is projected to decline to the lowest on record, to 1.09 fatalities for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Traffic deaths have fallen by about 26% since the 43,510 fatalities reported in 2005; highway fatalities peaked in 1972, at 54,589. In 1949, there were 30,246 fatalities, but the rate was 7.13 fatalities for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

Traffic safety experts attributed the decline to a number of factors — “probably people driving less, safer vehicles, safer roads and an improvement in the safety culture across the United States,’’ Jacob Nelson, director of traffic safety advocacy for the AAA national office, said in an interview.

Jonathan Adkins of the Governors Highway Safety Assn. cited increased seat belt use, safer cars, better roads and an improved emergency medical service response effort. “Also, the economy continues to keep traffic deaths lower than normal,” he added.

In Arizona, Buckeye Police Department has been working to do as much educating of drivers as they do citing them for traffic infractions, and as a result, fewer citations are needing to be handed out. This is good news for drivers and good news for the state as the incidence of traffic crashes seems to be declining.

There certainly is no substitute for an excellent defensive driving course, but when it comes to traffic laws, the police almost always know what they are talking about so it’s a good idea to listen to them. The Buckeye Traffic Unit has been tasked with spotting drivers who might be unaware of their poor driving skills and helping them understand both Arizona traffic law and what they might be able to do better behind the wheel.

This is a good idea for public safety and a good idea for drivers.

Officers Erick Halim and Larry Buchanan make up Buckeye’s traffic unit, which was created in September 2009 when the Police Department bought two motorcycles using grant money from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. A year later, they added an undercover Ford Mustang, which also was purchased with highway safety office grant money, to help catch aggressive drivers.

The number of traffic citations officers wrote spiked in fiscal 2010, the unit’s first year, with speeding tickets increasing from 1,351 in fiscal 2009 to 2,165. Criminal speeding — driving 20 mph over in a 45-mph zone — jumped from 9 to 27 in the same time. Similarly, citations for failing to stop at a stop sign increased from 350 to 506.

But the numbers have been on the decline since, with speeding citations dropping to 1,339 and 948 in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 (through March 31), respectively. Stop-sign violations fell to 403 and 295 in the same time period, while DUI arrests have dropped from 215 in fiscal 2010 to 87 in fiscal 2012.

Unfortunately, despite its stellar natural grandeur, Arizona does not embrace bicyclists the way some people would prefer. In fact, bike only lanes are few and far between and riders risk their lives as most roads do not even have a shoulder for them to ride on to avoid traffic.

The Arizona Transit Association is seeking public opinion on moves to increase the number of bike lanes and available riding areas for bicyclists around the state. This move is meant to support anyone seeking an alternative mode of transport other than an automobile.

It is also a sign that those who drive in Arizona should be aware that they are sharing the road with bicyclists who might not have wiggle room when they are passed by cars.

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Program was initiated in 2003. The number of cyclists using roads, especially in Southern Arizona has grown considerably since that time. The economic downturn has affected road quality (just take highway 83 south to Parker Canyon Lake to see it in action), as well as road upkeep. Updating the plan is vitally important for everyone using Arizona’s highways.

In a state where cars are king, and downtowns lose out to urban sprawl and buses are seen as smog spewing monsters instead of the beneficial people movers that they are, the voice of Arizona’s pedestrians and cyclists needs to carry some weight. The only way that this can be accomplished is through effort. Drivers of cars need no voice in Phoenix, they already have it. So, if you care about riding or walking in this state, you have to balance out all the cars who have already had their say.

The added roadways will improve traffic flow and help reduce commuting times by allowing room for more vehicles.

Local residents have been complaining for years about the long delays and the heavy traffic on Loop 303. This has led the ADOT to focus expansion efforts on the roadway which will (they hope) alleviate the traffic problems.

Increased roadway congestion is not just a problem when you are trying to get some place, it is also a leading cause of aggressive driving and leads to more collisions. Heavily congested roads also means that cars spend more time idling in traffic. This increases the amount of greenhouse gases they can release into the atmosphere and cuts down on their fuel efficiency.

By expanding one roadway Arizona Department of Transportation can help increase fuel economy, cut down on the number of traffic accidents and make it easier for some Arizonans to get back and forth to school, work or wherever they are going.

Details about the new Loop 303 projects from ADOT:

• Loop 303 between Thomas and Camelback roads
$31.5 million contract awarded to Ames Construction, Inc.
Length of Freeway Segment: 2 miles
Construction Start: June 2012
Scheduled Completion: Summer 2014

• Loop 303 between Glendale and Peoria avenues
$65.1 million contract awarded to Pulice Construction, Inc.
Length of Freeway Segment: 3 miles
Project includes construction of Northern Parkway interchange and a one-mile section of Northern Parkway between Loop 303 and Sarival Avenue.
Construction Start: June 2012
Scheduled Completion: Fall 2014

Now, members of the ‘Not One More Cyclist Foundation’ are pushing legislators to pass distracted driving laws and get drivers to focus on being more careful behind the wheel. The group points to a number of recent car vs bicyclist accidents as yet more reminders that when drivers fail to pay attention, people get hurt.

A distracted driving law in Arizona would not only protect bicyclists, it would also protect drivers by forcing them to focus on paying attention behind the wheel, instead of texting or talking on a cell phone.

In 2008, Sterling Baer and Dara Schulenberg founded the Not One More Cyclist Foundation, which works to educate the public on cyclist safety, pushes for legislation and helps families of injured cyclists hit on Arizona roads. According to the most recent state data available, 19 bicyclists were killed on Arizona roads in 2010.

Organizers tried to draw the attention of Arizona legislators to pass a bill to protect “vulnerable users” on the road, such as bicyclists and people in wheelchairs — basically, anyone who can encounter a motor vehicle.

“If we institute a distracted-driver law, there will be more awareness in the mind of people driving behind the wheel,” Baer said.

Arizona has some of the toughest laws against driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The first arrest will result in jail time for every offender. That’s one DUI, one stint in the local jail. Not a pretty picture and certainly not the way anyone would want to spend their Cinco de Mayo holiday.

Just one DUI arrest in Arizona is a criminal offense punishable by up to six months in the county jail and up to a $2,500 fine plus an 84 percent surcharge. That’s a lot of dough just so you can have a few hours of fun with your friends.

Despite the odds being against them some folks in Arizona cannot resist drinking too much and then getting behind the wheel of their car or truck. Last 500 people in Arizona were arrested for drunk driving during Cinco de Mayo festivities. That number is in addition to the including 167 extreme DUI arrest that they made.

To counter this effect, every law enforcement agency in the state will be on high alert this May 5, watching carefully for impaired drivers, setting up DUI checkpoints and generally being cognizant that at least of the few of the drivers on the road with them will be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When it comes to fighting drunk driving, the odds are clearly in the favor of the police. Plus, as an added bonus, if you drive sober you greatly increase your chances of getting home alive.

This Cinco de Mayo, have fun, but drive safe. You’ll not only save some money you might just save a life.

All of this may change, however, following an Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee vote of 8-4 Tuesday to redefine the boundaries of every intersection, essentially expanding them. Arizona HB 2557 also redefines it in the state’s traffic code. If the bill passes a full vote it would require all red light camera pavement sensors be moved farthing away from the what is now the center of the intersection.

As approved, HB 2557 says the intersection starts at any painted “stop’ line or at the first crosswalk line a vehicle would encounter going into an intersection, whichever comes first.”

Effectively, it would mean drivers will be less likely to trigger the camera if they were trying to beat the light change.

This good news for drivers who like to press their luck at intersections where the light is in the process of changing, but bad news for cities like Phoenix which have reported their red light cameras have resulted in fewer injuries and deaths related to crashes at intersections. Senate Majority Leader Andy Biggs said it didn’t matter what results had been for the city of Phoenix, he was only concerned with testimony from traffic safety experts, none of whom have commented one way or the other.

Arizona Sen. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, authored HB 2557, and has been a vocal opponent of photo enforcement of traffic violations for years. He said if passed the new law would bring Arizona in line with 38 states which also use red light cameras.

Every friend I had was counting the days until they could apply for their learner’s permit, take the driving exam and hit the open road on their own. But as times change so do the ways we live in them. This might account for the sudden surge not in new drivers, but in the number of teenagers who choose not get a driver’s license at all.

That’s right, a new study released by the Arizona Public Interest Research Group the average number of miles driven by people younger than 35 fell by almost 25 percent. Data kept by the Arizona Department of Transportation shows that since 2008, while the population of teenagers grew, the number with driver’s licenses actually got smaller.

Most of these young people are choosing to walk or ride their bikes, well into their college years. Where light rail and public transportation is available they are using that. In essence, they are eschewing getting a driver’s license because they don’t want the added expense of owning a car; facing high fuel prices at the pumps and the high costs of maintaining their automobiles.

If this trend continues into adulthood for these teens the incidence of highway congestion and vehicle crashes will naturally decline, but also, the U.S. auto industry could be facing a major problem.

The ADOT does not maintain the Internet Super Highway, but it does monitor what transpires online and how it might impact Arizona. Their most recent warning is aimed at anyone who might want to make of the Arizona Department of Transportation web site. The Arizona Motor Vehicle Division is the only web site which can officially authorize motor vehicle services such as registration renewals, specialty license plates or a duplicate driver’s license. In fact, although some bogus web sites offer to help drivers renew their driver’s license or get a driver’s license, all of that work must be done in-person at an authorized Arizona Motor Vehicle Division office or authorized third-party site.

These ADOT warnings came about last week when it was discovered that some fake web sites had started collecting people’s driver license information, credit card information and other payments in order to complete an assortment of registration functions. Drivers who unwittingly supplied their personal information or paid for these services received nothing in return and left themselves open to further cyber attack and personal identity theft.

If you have need of driver’s license or vehicle registration services from the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division, be certain you are visiting the correct web site, or, do your business with them in person. Using the Internet is a great way to save some time, especially if you work during the same times that the local offices are open, but you need to take precautions. If you are unsure which site is the right it only takes a minute to call the local office and confirm you are at the right site before committing any of your personal information.

This is not the first time an effort to ban texting and driving in Arizona has failed to make it through the legislature. In fact, lawmakers have tried several times in the past few years to get bills written which would convince the detractors who feel the issue is not worth a statewide ban to vote in favor of it.

This time supporters of the bill felt emboldened by a National Transportation Safety Board report and recommendation this past December which presented evidence they said showed distracted driving was the leading cause of vehicle crashes in the United States. The NTSB called for all states to enact bans on texting and driving, and even a compete on the use of handheld devices by anyone operating a vehicle.

Although a total statewide ban on texting and driving failed, there is measure getting some positive attention. The Senate has approved a bill which would effectively ban anyone with a learner’s driving permit, or anyone who has had their driving license for six months or less from using any handheld device for any reason while driving.

Arizona remains one of just 15 states which have so far resisted efforts to enact statewide texting and driving bans. Despite mounting evidence showing that distracted driving, often caused by the use of handheld and even hands-free devices, is now responsible for more vehicles crashes than drugs or alcohol, some lawmakers feel these decisions are best left to municipalities rather than state legislators. As an example, Texas lawmakers have avoided a statewide ban, but cities such as Dallas and Houston have some of the strictest rules against handheld devices in the nation.

For now, Arizona state lawmakers will rely on some limitations for inexperienced drivers, defensive drivers and local municipalities to police the number of distracted drivers and hope for the best.

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Graduated licensing programs are becoming more and more common as states look for ways to address the number of vehicle accidents caused by teen drivers. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, vehicle crashes are the number cause of death for teenagers in the United States.

Arizona addresses this problem by requiring teens to get parental permission before even making application for a learner’s permit, then requiring a slow and steady course of instruction until they turn 18. They have strict limitations imposed on their ability to drive with a learner’s permit and these limitations are gradually lifted as they get older and more qualified.

When it comes to defensive driving, Arizona wants to make certain all fully licensed drivers are well qualified before they get behind the wheel.

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation the stipulations for first time teen drivers are as follows:

1. Drivers must be a minimum of 15 1/2 years old before they qualify for a graduated vehicle operators permit.

2. Once they have held the learner’s permit for six months they qualify for a graduated driver license, and successfully completed a driver’s education course. There are more with stipulations including:

*Teen cannot drive between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. unless,
*A parent or legal guardian who has a valid driver license is sitting in the front passenger seat, -or-
*The teen is driving to or from a sanctioned school sponsored activity, sanctioned religious activity, place of employment or family emergency.
*Teen can not drive a motor vehicle containing more than one passenger under the age of 18 on a public highway unless,
*The passengers are the teen driver’s siblings, -or- the teen driver is accompanied by a parent or legal guardian with a valid driver license and occupies the front passenger seat.

Image: imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This week the Arizona Senate Committee on Public Safety and Human Services voted unanimously to make it illegal for motorists less than 18 years of age to text or use a cellphone while driving. The full ban will last for the first six months after they receive their learner’s permit.

This is Arizona’s latest attempt to limit the use of handheld devices by drivers. Two past efforts failed miserably due to lack of public support. This is despite a report by the National Transportation Safety Board which identified the use of handheld devices as the number one cause of crashes across the United States. The NTSB also called for every state to impose an outright ban on the use of such devices by all drivers, a measure which has had only a smattering of support in states such as Indiana, Texas and Arizona.

The fact is, the average teenager in the U.S. sends more than 5,000 texts every month. If the teen has a driver’s license you can bet your bottom dollar that at least a portion of those texts are sent from behind the wheel.

There is little argument to the belief that distracted driving is the single most likely cause of traffic fatalities. In fact, statistics show that distracted driving is more dangerous and more likely to cause a fatal crash than even drunk driving. Despite these facts, many states are still debating whether or not to impose a handheld devices ban on drivers due to the incovenience it might impose on those who have a long commute and need to do some work via phone while they drive.

There is little to be said in defensive of anyone who feels texting and driving is a necessity, however. It simply makes no sense at all.