Traffic Safety

With the arrival of fall, motorists should be more aware of deer while traveling on Michigan roadways. October and November are two of the highest months for reported deer-vehicle crashes in Michigan, while the state has seen increases in these accidents during the past two years.

Michigan’s graduated driver licensing laws are among the best in the country, resulting in a dramatic decline in deaths and injuries since they were enacted in 1996. However, AAA believes that these laws can be further strengthened to help prevent even more deaths and injuries among teen drivers and their passengers.

Franklin High School (Livonia) senior Christopher Noffze and Cedarville High School (Cedarville) senior Karissa Schlosser both say that their AAA School Safety Patrol™ experience in elementary school served as an important introduction to the values of responsibility and leadership.

Fifty-six million children across the country begin heading back to school this month, and AAA is urging motorists to slow down and stay alert in neighborhoods and school zones with its 75th annual

campaign.

A first-ever analysis from AAA finds that crashes involving teen drivers ages 15 to 17 cost American society more than $34 billion annually in medical expenses, lost work, property damage, quality of life loss and other related costs in 2006.

Alex Super of St. Clair and Bob McClain of Ruby, seniors at St. Clair Tech Center, took first place in the Michigan state final of the 15th annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition, held today at the Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren.

For the past 15 years, AAA Michigan has been quietly donating funds for ‘Jaws of Life’ hydraulic lifesaving equipment to the communities that need it most. To date, 55 grants totaling $835,000 have been provided throughout Michigan.

A State Senate committee passed legislation today (October 17) that would enable motorcyclists to ride without their helmets on Michigan roads. In their latest bid to rid riders of their helmets, special interest groups in Lansing have proposed an ‘opt-out’ solution. For a $100 fee, motorcyclists can buy their way out of a helmet.

With the arrival of fall, motorists should be more aware of deer while traveling on Michigan roadways. October and November are two of the most dangerous months in Michigan for car-deer crashes.

An alarmingly high number of teen drivers are engaging in some very risky behavior while they are driving, including sending and reading text messages according to new research by AAA and Seventeen magazine.