By Rick Schmitt, FairWarning 
The results were tragic, but not surprising, last May when Suzanne Randa and her fiance, Thomas Donohoe, crashed while riding Donohoe’s Harley Davidson on Highway 79 near the Southern California city of Loma Linda.
Donohoe, who was wearing a helmet meeting federal safety standards, escaped injury and walked away from the accident. Randa, 49, who wore a so-called novelty helmet that was cheap and stylish but offered but no real protection, died at the scene after her headgear’s strap broke and her head slammed onto the pavement. (more…)
By Myron Levin, FairWarning 
A Swedish study has found that drivers take long gazes at electronic billboards, possibly raising the risk of highway crashes.
The new research has put the U.S. billboard industry into a defensive mode. In an effort to dismiss the findings, the industry’s top trade group quickly cited an unpublished U.S. government study to argue that the electronic displays pose no traffic safety hazard. (more…)
By Rick Schmitt, Fair Warning.org
Anti-helmet law demonstrators at a May 21 rally at the state capitol in Albany, N.Y. Photo: Skip Dickstein/Albany Times Union
WASHINGTON – In a highly touted safety achievement, deaths on the nation’s roads and highways have fallen sharply in recent years, to the lowest total in more than a half-century. But motorcyclists have missed out on that dramatic improvement, and the news for them has been increasingly grim.
So it might be no surprise that biker groups are upset with Washington. The twist is what they are asking lawmakers and regulators to do: Back away from promoting or enforcing requirements for safe helmets, the most effective way known to save bikers’ lives. (more…)
By Myron Levin FairWarning
A billboard in Sarasota Photo by Scenic America
Billboard companies are moving aggressively to plant digital signs along U.S. highways and city streets. But debate persists on whether the eye-grabbing displays, which typically change messages every six to eight seconds, pose a risk to traffic safety. (more…)
