The Driving Dynamics Safety Team

Speeding continues to be a serious problem. It is a contributing factor in approximately one third of all fatal collisions.

While speeding kills thousands on the highway, side roads have a fatality rate due to speeding that is almost three times that of interstates.

Why do people speed? It’s most often the result of inadequate time management. Drivers may feel the need to speed to compensate for having insufficient time to reach their destination. Many people assume that driving faster will get them to their destination much sooner. In fact, the time saved is minimal. On a 20-mile trip, driving 15 miles per hour over the speed limit will only save four minutes in travel time. However, speeding by 15 miles per hour introduces significant danger to everyone on the road—for a gain of fewer than five minutes. If those few minutes will make or break a schedule, the problem is likely in the planning process, not driving style.

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By Laura Jozwiak, Senior Vice President of Sales and Client Relations, Wheels, Inc.

The concept of connectivity has received a lot of buzz, and rightfully so. We are riding a wave of connectivity – vehicles, highways, the Internet of Things – and it is all powered by data. Analyzing data in new ways encourages advanced exploration, integration and education. It exposes powerful information that drives both our personal activities and business innovations.

Data is what powers SpaceX into space, tells us where we should go to dinner, summons the closest and best ride-sharing driver, and yes, delivers optimally run fleets. But is it all about the data? Of course not! It is foundational, but the real connections go beyond data.

Being an advocate for superior customer service, I would argue that it is the connections of people, along with the right data, that complete the value equation.

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LeasePlan just a major global marketing campaign, featuring Top Gear and The Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond, highlighting LeasePlan’s commitment to offering What’s next in mobility to its customers via an ‘Any car, Anytime, Anywhere’ service.

CEO Tex Gunning: “LeasePlan has been delivering cars-as-a-service for the past 50 years so we are exceptionally well-positioned to deliver ‘Any car, Anytime, Anywhere’. I’m therefore delighted to be launching with Richard Hammond our global What’s next campaign, which underlines our aspiration to provide the latest in mobility via a fully flexible ‘Any car, Anytime, Anywhere’ service.”

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WATCH the action film with Richard Hammond

Detroit Free Press

U.S. car buyers now have access to real-world fuel economy and emissions data on new vehicles, courtesy of a research group that helped reveal that Volkswagen was evading European emissions regulations in addition to cheating on U.S. tests.

Among the results, according to Nick Molden, founder and CEO of Emissions Analytics:

• Some brands — Ford, Fiat, Porsche and Mini — routinely score as much as 10% better in real-world driving than the window-sticker fuel-economy ratings generated in lab tests.

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Forbes

Folding my hands in my lap, I sat behind the wheel of Cadillac’s flagship CT6 sedan and merrily chatted with President Johan de Nysschen, who stretched out in the passenger seat, as the car steered itself down Interstate-10 for the six-hour drive from Phoenix to Los Angeles.

The CT6 was equipped with a $5,000 option that made the hands-free trip possible: Cadillac’s new Super Cruise driver assist system, the brand’s answer to the self-driving revolution.

Billed by Cadillac as the first true hands-free driving system for the highway, Super Cruise uses a system of cameras, radar, and sensors to steer itself on limited-access highways at speeds of up to 85 mph.

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The Car Connection

The United States Postal Service has a long and proud history of delivery people weathering the elements to make sure you get your mail — and occasionally, you neighbor’s bills and postcards, too.

The way they go about doing that will change dramatically in the coming years, as the USPS has formally declared its intention to assess how it can work self-driving vehicles into its operational strategy—and it’s even building a prototype along with the University of Michigan.

In a green paper published last week, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) laid out a preliminary list of five specific areas in which it’s considering implementing self-driving vehicles as the technology matures.

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Business Review USA

Alphabet’s Waymo, formerly known as Google’s self-driving car project, has teamed up with the National Safety Council and other renowned names in launching its “Let’s Talk Self Driving” campaign.

“There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to self-driving cars,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik.

“As with any new technology, there’s great enthusiasm and curiosity about self-driving cars — and there’s some confusion, too.”

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The New York Times

When the owner of an automated Tesla was killed in a crash last year, the carmaker’s founder, Elon Musk, urged journalists to peer into the future.

“If, in writing some article that’s negative, you effectively dissuade people from using an autonomous vehicle,” Mr. Musk said, “you’re killing people.”

Scary. But self-driving vehicle proponents like Mr. Musk envision a world where those cars would all but eliminate traffic accidents, unleash our productivity and allow the old and disabled to travel freely.

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By Mike Cieri

Even the best managers will make errors in judgment when managing a staff of people, each with unique personalities, capabilities and needs, and it’s likely that we can all reflect on where we might have handled something with more skill.

Want to brush up on or test your own management skills? Here’s a handy list of ten common mistakes that leaders make in the course of managing talent.

1. Not providing Feedback

Not letting people know how they are doing is like sending someone out on a hike without a compass and map. When you don’t provide feedback you are denying your associates the opportunity to improve.

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Liberty Mutual

A new study conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions), reveals that a third of all teens surveyed (33 percent) perceive it to be legal to drive under the influence of marijuana in states where it’s been legalized for recreational use.

Notably, 27 percent of parents surveyed believe it to be legal as well.

While the survey found that 93 percent of parents think driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous, only 76 percent feel that driving under the influence of marijuana is dangerous.

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