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Safe Roads Alliance to Host the First Annual Global Road Safety Week Relay, Cambridge Mobile Telematics joins as exclusive Platinum Sponsor
Posted by Emily Stein · March 07, 2022 10:00 PM · 1 reaction
BOSTON, March 15th, 2022 – The Safe Roads Alliance today announced the first annual Global Road Safety Week Relay to raise awareness for traffic safety and encourage the public, businesses, advocates, state agencies, and survivors to join the movement for safer roads. The Relay starts May 15, 2022, and half of the proceeds from the event will help to fund more direct community outreach with programs like Kids Speaking Up for Road Safety. The other half of the proceeds will go towards the America Walks Community Change Grants Program, which any municipality in the Commonwealth can apply for. Cambridge Mobile Telematics, the global leader in mobile telematics and analytics and leading advocate for safer roads and drivers, is the exclusive Platinum Partner of the event. People interested in walking, running, cycling, or rolling in the relay can register here.
“Our goal with the Joining Forces for Safer Roads Relay is to increase traffic safety awareness and raise funds to deliver more traffic-calming measures at the local level,” said Emily Stein, President of Safe Roads Alliance. “We’re also excited to take the event global with our friends in the UK from the Andy Cox Challenge and Road Peace, who will be doing their own relay during Global Road Safety Week. We look forward to making this a fun and inclusive event.”
“Our mission at Cambridge Mobile Telematics is to make roads and drivers safer,” said Ryan McMahon, VP of Insurance and Government Affairs at Cambridge Mobile Telematics. “We’re thrilled to partner with Safe Roads Alliance to raise awareness for such a noble cause here in our home state of Massachusetts. We look forward to participating in the event and hope to see local leaders and citizens join the movement to save lives on the road.”
The event is also sponsored by Safety Insurance, The Office of Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr., and Travelers Marketing. We are very grateful to have such a strong team of sponsors who care deeply about road safety and injury prevention.
The cross-state challenge will start in Lenox, Massachusetts, on May 15, 2022, and end a week later in Boston. The 171-mile route will be divided into three-to-six-mile legs, where participants can walk, run, bike, or roll their leg of the challenge at their own pace. People can choose to participate in one or several of the 33 different legs of the relay. With the exception of the first and last leg, participants can complete their leg at any day or time during Global Road Safety Week. We have also highlighted nearly two dozen other routes across the state along bike paths and rail trails, which people can opt to do instead of a leg along the route. There is no limit to the number of participants per leg.There is no limit to the number of participants per leg.
The goal is to raise $500 for each leg of the relay. Beyond funding Safe Road Alliance’s Kids Speaking Up for Road Safety program, 50% of the proceeds will go towards the America Walks Community Change Grants Program. This program is open to any municipality in MA and focuses on micro-grants that fund traffic-calming measures. Examples include painting crosswalks, neighbor ways, tactical urbanism measures, speed bumps, and pedestrian crossing signs. Towns and cities can also put the money towards larger projects.
To participate in fundraising for the event, register here.
Media Contacts
Emily Stein: [email protected] (617) 500-3520
About Safe Roads Alliance
Safe Roads Alliance was formed in 2006 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through better driving. Safe Roads provides educational services to all drivers on different aspects of driving safety, including: Distracted Driving, issues confronting teen drivers, and sharing the road with vulnerable road users. To register for the Road Safety Relay, click here.
About CMT
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) is the world’s largest telematics service provider. Its mission is to make the world’s roads and drivers safer. The company’s AI-driven platform, DriveWell™, gathers sensor data from millions of IoT devices — including smartphones, proprietary Tags, connected vehicles, dashcams, and third-party devices — and fuses them with contextual data to create a unified view of vehicle and driver behavior. Companies from the personal and commercial auto insurance, automotive, rideshare, personal safety, wireless, auto retail, and financial services industries use insights from CMT’s platform to power their risk assessment, safety, claims, and driver improvement programs. Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with offices in Budapest, Chennai, Seattle, and Tokyo, CMT serves millions of people through 80 programs in 17 countries, including 21 of the top 25 US auto insurers.
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Support Road Safety Legislation
Posted by Emily Stein · November 21, 2021 8:27 AM · 1 reaction
The Massachusetts legislation needs to hear from you!
Please write your elected officials a letter to support these 2 pieces of legislation which will keep all road users in MA safer.
SAMPLE LETTER
To:
Co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security: Senator Walter Timilty ([email protected]); Representative Carlos González ([email protected])
Chair/Vice chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation: Representative William Straus ([email protected]); Senator John Keenan ([email protected])
Recommended email subject: Please support traffic safety legislation this World Day of Remembrance
Sample script:
Dear Representatives Straus and González, Senators Keenan and Timilty, and members of the legislature:
I am writing to express support for two bills the MA Vision Zero Coalition is advocating for that would make our roads safer and prevent traffic deaths. Since 2015, there have been 910,149 crashes in Massachusetts—2,463 of which resulted in tragic fatalities, and 15,700 of which resulted in serious injuries. This is a public health crisis that requires urgent action from the legislature.
As we hold the memories of those lost to traffic violence in our hearts and minds around World Day of Remembrance, I am asking you to take action and advance bills that will measurably reduce traffic fatalities across Massachusetts.
The following two bills will save lives and reduce crashes while reducing opportunities for inequitable and dangerous interactions between people and police -- please pass them into law this session:
- “An Act to reduce traffic fatalities” (H.3549): an omnibus bill that would require additional mirrors, side guards, and backup cameras for certain trucks and other large vehicles; define vulnerable road users and set a safe passing distance at certain speeds; allow the default speed limit on state-owned roads to be lowered to 25 mph; and create a standardized crash report form for people walking and biking. Defining “vulnerable road users” is pertinent to the safety of all road users, including construction workers at job sites and tow truck drivers, in addition to those on foot and bike. This preferred House version of the bill includes important truck safety regulations. It also maintains the current law requiring a person biking to use either a rear red light or reflector, instead of adding a requirement to use both a rear red light and a rear reflector; minor bike violations like this one have been proven to lead to racial profiling and inequitable enforcement in other states.
- “An Act relative to automated enforcement” (H.2426, H.2541, S.1545): would allow municipalities to opt in to installing cameras that would issue tickets for speeding, failure to stop at a red light, failure to stop at a school bus stop arm, blocking the box, and parking or driving in a dedicated bus lane. Automated enforcement would be an important addition to municipalities’ toolkits to effectively manage speeding and reduce serious crashes, while removing direct policing and traffic stops from the equation.
I believe that both bills would create demonstrable increases in traffic safety by reducing speeding and creating safety improvements for vulnerable road users.
<Insert any personal story or reason for your support>
For too long, traffic deaths and severe injuries have been treated as inevitable. While often referred to as “accidents,” these tragedies are preventable if we take a proactive, preventative approach that prioritizes traffic safety and speed management as a public health issue. Please advance these bills in your respective committees and work in collaboration with your colleagues to pass these bills into law this session.
This year alone, more than 350 additional Massachusetts families have an empty seat at their table because their loved one was killed in a traffic crash. I implore you to use your legislative powers to save lives and eliminate tragic and preventable deaths on our roads.
Sincerely,
[full name
street address
city/town, state, zip
phone:
email: ]
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Learning to Drive is another Rite of Passage Teens had to delay
Posted by lewis howe · March 10, 2021 7:41 AM · 1 reaction
As I watch my neighbors decorate their cars and yards with tributes to their 2020 high school graduates, I pause to also think of the pandemic’s impact on this year’s sophomores and juniors—the 16 and 17 year olds who are learning to drive.
Last week the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced that it will resume taking appointments for Learner’s Permit exams to take place online. This traditional rite of passage has been delayed for thousands of teens, just as their older siblings had to adjust to a senior year without spring sports, school dances and graduation ceremonies.
For those parents who want to help their teens to learn safe driving habits, Safe Roads Alliance reminds you that The Parent's Supervised Driving Program is readily available here and on our website. This guide is designed for parents of teen drivers, as research has shown us that the more parents are involved with their teen's driving, the less likely it will be for their teen to be involved in a crash. Now that it’s again safe to go outside, have your teenager sign up to take their permit exam online, and study the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles Drivers Manual. Here are all the facts you'll need in order to apply for your permit. Lastly, check out our free app, RoadReady, which helps you easily log the hours spent with your teen behind the wheel.
The rituals that come with watching our kids mature have been altered in this unusual year, but teaching teens to drive safely remains a practice that will endure.
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Even During a Pandemic, Speed Still Kills
Posted by lewis howe · March 02, 2021 10:00 AM · 1 reaction
One unexpected and alarming consequence of the Coronavirus pandemic came to light earlier this week.
The state Department of Transportation announced on May 4 that the rate of fatalities on roads across the commonwealth doubled in April, even as traffic dropped by 50 percent on major highways.
Last month, 28 people died in vehicle crashes — a grim statistic when compared to April 2019, when 27 people died under typical traffic conditions, state data shows.
Last month’s deaths included 18 drivers, four passengers, two motorcyclists, three pedestrians, and one bicyclist.
Experts believe that this spike in roadway deaths stems from a variety of factors. The first may seem counterintuitive, but the lack of traffic on our state’s usually clogged highways has led motorists to operate more recklessly than normal. The tendency to speed up 93 or down the Mass Pike because you’re not stuck in traffic has led to a tremendous uptick in crashes.
In addition, people who have been “stuck at home” for nearly two months will tend to use driving as a release once they get out of the house and on to the open road. Most of us are trying to comply with the Governor’s orders to stay home and to avoid unnecessary trips. But human nature being what it is, the automobile, long a symbol of American independence and freedom, becomes our means of rebellion.
Add to this the perception that police officers are reluctant to engage in routine traffic stops for fear of contracting the virus, and we are left with unchecked bad behavior--speeding and distracted driving, according to the MassDOT report--that results in needless loss of life on our roadways.
Safe Roads Alliance wants to remind everyone, one more time, that a pandemic is not an excuse to break the law, and endanger others on our roads. Less traffic has led to some dangerous habits, and we all need to relax, slow down, and stay off our phones while driving.
These days, our first responders have their hands full as frontline workers combating the pandemic. Please don’t stress the system by making an unsafe decision while behind the wheel.
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Traffic is back. Make sure to avoid distractions behind the wheel
Posted by lewis howe · February 25, 2021 2:43 PM · 1 reaction
Massachusetts is slowly and cautiously emerging from the pandemic-induced lockdown of our economy. And that is something to celebrate.
But, as Adam Vaccaro wrote in the Boston Globe on June 14, “as the economy recovers, that same old problem is resurfacing — Boston traffic.”
During the past two weeks, area motorists have discovered we once again have company on the roads. The Southeast Expressway is seeing renewed rush hour backups, and Friday afternoon Cape traffic has returned. While the clogged roads are far less jammed than during pre-COVID times, drivers need to up their game and stay focused in order to avoid crashes.
This means stepping away from the bad habits that crept in during the lockdown: speeding, weaving between lanes, and using the phone while behind the wheel.
Now is a great time to remind the public that Massachusetts now has a law that prohibits anyone operating a vehicle from talking on the phone unless they are using hands-free technology. This law took effect in February, just before the pandemic drove most of us from our cars for several months.
With traffic returning to our roads, it is vital that we keep ourselves and our loved ones safe by adhering to the hands-free law. There are fines and penalties being enforced for violations, but the best reason for not driving while distracted is that it will save lives. Please be safe out there.
