A study was released this week about the frequency of drugged driving in the journal Public Health Reports.

In a nutshell -- driving under the influence of multiple drugs is on the rise,  driving under the influence of prescription drugs is on the rise, and the average age of drivers who are operating vehicles under the influence of three or more drugs is climbing along with the tide of aging Baby Boomer drivers.

The research found some startling increases and trends:

--They compared rates for drivers  testing positive for drugs after being involved in fatal crashes between 1993 and 2010. They found that the number of those who had three or more drugs in their body increased from 11.5 percent to 21.5 percent during that period.

--Drugged drivers involved in fatal crashes in the United States are more likely to test positive for prescription drugs, marijuana and multiple drugs than they were 20 years ago, a new study finds. These drivers are also now more likely to be older than 50, according to the researchers.

"While we've seen a decrease over the years in motor vehicle fatalities involving people under the influence, the nature of those crashes is changing," Wilson said.   "These trends are likely to continue into the future given the aging U.S. population, an increasing reliance on prescription medications by medical providers, and increasing initiatives to legalize marijuana" he noted. "However, it is unclear whether current state policies are completely up to the challenge of addressing the growing issue of drugged driving."

Thanks to the National Institutes of Health coverage of the study -- see their review of the study HERE

Based on these findings and based on the evidence we see every day of the increasing frequency of pedal error crashes and crashes resulting from other driver error, we have to agree -- drugged drivers (on legal prescription medicines, marijuana, alcohol, illegal or un-prescribed medications and sometimes all of the above) are a huge risk to Americans where we live, work, play, and shop.

Dunkin Donuts, you have been on notice for a long time that your store designs and lack of safety barriers put your customers at risk and put employees working inside at risk.  Hundreds of accidents over the years, dozens of injuries documented, tragic fatalities, and still no action.  And now, another preventable accident, another preventable injury, and another failure to take basic safety precaution to prevent a simple vehicle incursion incident from becoming a vehicle-into-building accident.  This latest example occurred in West Bridgewater,
Massachusetts this weekend, when a Toyota jumped a curb and struck a man entering the store.

See the great coverage from Maria Papadopoulos at the West Bridgewater Enterprise HERE.  Scott Eisen gets photo credit for the photo, which in addition to showing how the car jumped the curb and how the pedestrian entering the glass door was completely unprotected, also clearly proves once again that wheel stops do not stop anything.  Dunkin Donuts, stop wasting money on ineffective concrete trip hazards and invest just a little more in an actual steel bollard that meets ASTM specifications!

The Storefront Safety Council has assembled data on more that 7,500 crashes to date and with every month we learn more about the causes of vehicle-into-building accidents and how frequently certain type of businesses are struck.  Month after month, coffee stores and restaurants are among the most often struck -- and month after month, Dunkin Donuts appears on the list, all too often involving injuries to patrons and employees.  For a link to 2012 statistics, click HERE

Dunkin Donuts, you know how often your stores and those of your franchisees are struck.  You cannot pretend that these crashes are rare and unusual.  You are on notice that this situation is a persistent unsafe and hazardous condition and you have chosen to not correct this condition.  Greater liability awards in cases just like this one in West Bridgewater will be the result.  Underwriters and insurance carriers, now you are on notice that higher judgements will result because of the failure on the part of Dunkin Donuts to spend (or specify for franchisees) just a few thousand dollars per store in needed safety equipment.  And plaintiff attorneys, you are also on notice -- plenty of admissible evidence exists that should be included in personal injury claims against Dunkin Donuts.

What a nightmare. 

More than a year has passed since an impaired motorist slammed into this beautiful building on South Park Place in Newark Ohio.  Tenant businesses have been forced to close or move out, the owner has faced a battle with his insurance company, and because the driver was uninsured, even more time and expense has increased the burden on the building owner.

This is a nightmare that everyone can learn from.  Thanks to the great coverage by Hannah Sparling of the Newark Advocate, we have a great many details to pass along to you.

"It’s been more than a year since a vehicle smashed into the building at 39 S. Park Place, but soon, the space will be ready to lease again.Workers are painting, replacing windows and the front door, fixing walls, and redoing trim. Then, hopefully in a week or two, the building can go back on the market, owner Gary McAnally said..."

"The building is believed to be the oldest on the south side of the Courthouse Square. It’s been vacant since April 2013, when a driver with a suspended license and no insurance drove the wrong way around the Square and smashed into the building, knocking out a support column.  Police said the driver was cited for suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated..."

"“Even though I had building insurance, the driver had no insurance. ... It just takes a while,” (the owner) said."
See full article HERE

Lost income from rent.  Hassles with the city building approval process.  Out of pocket expenses.  Businesses hurt and moved away.....what is the recovery period after a vehicle-into-building crash like this?  In this case, 15 months before things are (mostly) back to normal.  No physical injuries in this accident, but a great many economic, commercial, and personal damages -- which the driver will pay almost none of.

I hope that steps were taken to protect the building from another hit from another driver in the future -- it would be a shame for a century-old building to have to go through this all over again.

It is important to know the crash resistance of a product before it is purchased and installed in order to protect people and property, particularly at a site like First Responders Park in Hilliard Ohio, near Columbus.  Dedicated to the first responders and decorated with artifacts of stone and steel from the World Trade Center, the park is busy with bike riders and pedestrians and is beautifully laid out and designed.

Unfortunately, it is not well protected. 

This was proven last night when a DUI driver in a small passenger car drove into the line of decorative bollards and sheered off or shattered four of them.  A small passenger car hitting four proper steel bollards would have been stopped cold and the bollards maybe slightly damaged;  these decorative bollards had no impact resistance whatever;  they failed to stop the car and will now have to be replaced. 

See video coverage of the park and damage to the decorative bollards HERE.

ASTM, the worldwide standards organization is in the final stages of completing a new test standard (WK 13074) which will provide engineers, architects, developers, property owners, and municipal or other governmental end-users with a clear and specific qualification for products and manufacturers of safety barriers for low speed (30 MPH) applications.   Vehicle incursions, whether accidental or deliberate, put people at risk every day;  more than sixty such crashes happen in the US every day, with thousands injured and hundreds killed every year.

Specifiers, you need to be on notice --   if your intent is to separate people and property from inept or drunk or violent drivers;  if you are going to install barriers in order to protect people where they live, work, play, or shop;  if you want to comply with the emerging standard AND have a safer result for your project;  if you want to protect yourself from future liability  --  remember that "decorative" is for pretty, not for safety.  The public sees decorative railings or pretty bollards such as the ones at this park and they make a presumption of personal safety, a presumption that is NOT based on the actual vehicle stopping capabilities of the product.

There is plenty of good product out there that looks beautiful and has actual crash resistance -- your clients and your projects and your customers are depend on you to make better choices.

An SUV is seen approaching a library to park near the entrance.  We see the SUV as it turns off of the street and moves through the parking lot.  Unfortunately, the drive aisle is pointed directly at the library entrance and there are no barriers to prevent an incursion by an oncoming vehicle.  As we see from the several different camera angles, the SUV accelerates instead of slowing down;  several pedestrians are nearly struck; and in a split second the vehicle is several car lengths into the library and comes to rest on top of debris and patrons.

Several injuries -- fortunately all of the injured are recovering.

Thank to Westchester News 12 for great coverage.  See the video HERE.

By all appearances, this seems like a case of pedal error.  Although sudden acceleration has not been ruled out, there have been no reports of mechanical issues.  The 58 year-old driver claims that there was some sort of mechanical failure;  this is not indicated from the video.  The SUV clearly accelerates, and comes to a stop only because of the debris (and people) piled in front of it after crashing through the entry and the circulation desk.

Now for the irony:  the designers of the building did think that bollards would be a good idea to place at the library entrance;  unfortunately, they thought two of them were sufficient and those two were placed so widely apart that the SUV had no trouble passing right between them......they look more like goal posts than barriers in the photo below.  With a nice easy access ramp to the glass doors making it even easier.

Poor design execution.  Failure to see an obvious hazard and failure to take simple and inexpensive steps to prevent a predictable and foreseeable incident.  Once again, young lives have been altered and bodies injured because of a common accident with a common cause, and because designers and builders and a municipality have failed to follow a simple standard of care to protect library patrons and employees.

It didn't have to be this way....