Tom Griffiths, Founder, Aquatic Safety Research Group, and consultant with DJS Associates, Inc., will present “A New Era in Pool Safety Signage” at the 2011 National Drowning Prevention Symposium, Antlers Hilton, Colorado Springs, CO. The presentation shares a new pool safety signage system developed by Clarion Safety Systems that uses symbols, color, language and repetition to effectively communicate the four most important pool safety messages.

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Keyless ignition systems are an increasingly popular automotive feature. First seen on high end luxury vehicles, these systems are now appearing as optional, and in some cases standard, equipment on many mid-level vehicles, as well. Despite the keyless moniker, engine start up still requires the operator to bring the portable portion of the security system - typically a key fob - to the vehicle to allow the engine to start. Once started, however, the key fob does not typically need to remain with the vehicle for continued engine operation. As the following article indicates, this could prove dangerous. To discuss in more detail, contact R. Scott King, BSME at  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Tom J. Griffiths, ED.D. ::::

When accidents occur at swimming pools, water parks and beaches, there are usually two vital areas of omission from which lawsuits are born: 

1. The failure to supervise, and/or
2. The failure to warn. 

The first time Larry Morris spotted the white, blue and orange triangles that seemed to rise up from Blue Grass Road in his Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood, he was unsure just what they were.

“It kind of surprised me,” said Mr. Morris, a retired machine shop welder, “but I slowed down when I went over it, and everyone behind me did too.”

That is exactly what the City of Philadelphia and federal safety officials hope they will do.

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Officials in West Vancouver, Canada, apparently aren't satisfied with the driver-slowing properties of traditional speed bumps. On Tuesday, the town unveiled a new way to persuade motorists to ease off the gas pedal in the vicinity of the École Pauline Johnson Elementary School: a 2-D image of a child playing, creating the illusion that the approaching driver will soon blast into a child.

According to Discover magazine, the pavement painting appears to rise up as the driver gets closer to it, reaching full 3-D realism at around 100 feet: "Its designers created the image to give drivers who travel at the street's recommended 18 miles per hour (30 km per hour) enough time to stop before hitting Pavement Patty -- acknowledging the spectacle before they continue to safely roll over her."

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U.S. Department of Transportation Teams with ESPN and State Farm® To Go ‘On the Road’ to Wipe Out Distracted Driving;
Participation in two-week pro football training camp bus tour to raise ‘Put it Down’ awareness :::: 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced today that it has joined forces with State Farm and ESPN’s “On the Road to Camp”—a cross-country bus tour that will take ESPN’s senior analyst Chris Mortensen and Insider Adam Schefter to all 32 pro football training camps in 19 days.  The tour, which runs from July 29 to August 16, aims to generate awareness of the real and increasingly serious dangers caused by distracted driving.

On separate buses, carrying the “Stop Distracted Driving” message, Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter will cross the nation visiting all 32 team training camps. Together, they will log more than 15,000 combined miles before they meet in New Orleans on August 16.

“Distracted driving is an extremely dangerous and life threatening practice. We are excited to go On the Road with ESPN and State Farm to share the message that all of us need to stop distracted driving. By reminding all drivers to simply put it down, we can help put an end to the dangers of distracted driving and keep our roads safe,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

David Shepardson / The Detroit News ::::

Traverse City -- The Michigan Department of Transportation will unveil "smart traffic signals" on a five-mile stretch of Telegraph Road this fall -- a move to smooth traffic flow along the busy Oakland County thoroughfare.

The signals, stretching from Nine Mile to 14 Mile roads, will alert drivers of next-generation vehicles about coming red lights and tell them to slow down or speed up to avoid stopping, said Kirk Steudle, director of MDOT.

"In this case, the traffic signal sends out a beacon that says, 'I'm green and I'm going to be green for 20 seconds,' " Steudle said. "The car might say on the dashboard, 'if you go 44 or 42 miles an hour, you will make all the lights.' "

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100802/AUTO01/8020417/#ixzz0vZmv2TSS

The New York Times (7/14, B1, Bunkley) reports on the front page of its Business Day section, "Toyota said Wednesday that its investigation of about 2,000 vehicles reported to experience sudden acceleration found evidence that sticking accelerator pedals and interference by floor mats...did indeed cause some of the incidents." But a company spokesman noted that "none of the vehicles with a sticking pedal was involved in a crash, and he did not know how many of those identified as having problematic floor mats had crashed." According to the Times, "It is the first time since the recalls that Toyota has acknowledged that its internal review, which is continuing, found sudden-acceleration complaints to be valid."