Slow Down To Get Around: Campaign Urges Safety For Trash Collectors

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Aside from being a dirty, tiring and often thankless job, trash collectors have one of the deadliest jobs in America.

In fact, solid-waste collection employees have the fifth highest fatality rate of any occupation in the United States, due largely to impatient and distracted drivers.

A newly energized campaign from the National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA), called “Slow Down To Get Around,” urges motorists to apply the same care passing a stopped sanitation truck or mail truck as they would a school bus that’s not flashing red lights.

Drive aggressively around a stopped or slowing school bus, and you’re likely to get a ticket. But pass a service vehicle with the same enthusiasm, and there isn’t likely to be any kind of penalty.

The NSWMA isn’t looking to impose new traffic laws, only to remind drivers to be more careful around solid waste workers and service vehicles. In 2010, 26 solid waste collection workers were killed on the job, an increase of 30 percent from 2009. 

The Slow Down To Get Around campaign hopes to reduce these numbers by encouraging motorists to reduce or eliminate distracted driving, and pass all stopped service vehicles with care.

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Urging Drivers To “Slow Down To Get Around”

Urging Drivers To “Slow Down To Get Around” To Keep The Road Safer For Everyone. Many drivers pass service vehicles too quickly and without the proper regard for the vehicles and people around them.

(NAPSI)—A little patience and courtesy can help to keep drivers and others on the road to safety. That’s the word from the sponsors of a campaign designed to keep drivers of service vehicles and the public safer.

The campaign encourages drivers to extend to service vehicles the courtesy they already show school buses. Drivers understand that when they see a school bus, children are likely to be nearby, so they are expected to slow down.

They also slow down because it’s the law. Speed up around a stopped school bus and you’re likely to get a ticket.

Unfortunately for trash collectors, postal workers and other service vehicles, it’s common for drivers to be not so courteous when they see their trucks stopped in the road.

In fact, some drivers become more aggressive when they see stopped service vehicles, speeding around to avoid them. Unfortunately, the results can be tragic.

A Dangerous Profession

Road accidents caused by distracted or speeding drivers are a huge risk for the more than 135,000 men and women of the solid waste collection industry who are out in force each day keeping communities clean and healthy.

Primarily because of such roadway dangers, trash collection is one of the country’s most dangerous professions. Just ask your local trash collector, and you’re likely to get an earful about the near misses he or she faces nearly every day.

Safety Campaign

A national safety campaign developed by solid waste companies is aimed at putting an end to tragic road accidents involving garbage collectors—a leading cause of workplace deaths for such employees. Called “Slow Down to Get Around,” the campaign urges drivers to be more careful around solid waste collection vehicles.

Setting an Example

“Unlike with school buses, there are no traffic laws forcing drivers to be cautious around garbage trucks,” said Bruce Parker, president of the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA), which represents the private-sector solid waste industry in the U.S. “It’s a major problem, but one that is easily solved.”

“It only takes one smart and cautious driver to set an example,” said NSWMA Safety Director David Biderman. “Be a leader in your community—when you see a trash truck, slow down to get around. By doing so, you may be saving a life.”

For more information, visit www.environmentalistseveryday.org/safety. A national safety campaign is urging drivers to be more careful around solid waste collection vehicles.

Automotive : Link Sponsors

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View the original article here

Slow Down To Get Around: Campaign Urges Safety For Trash Collectors

Newsletter Stay up to date on car reviews, buying guides, articles and more

Aside from being a dirty, tiring and often thankless job, trash collectors have one of the deadliest jobs in America.

In fact, solid-waste collection employees have the fifth highest fatality rate of any occupation in the United States, due largely to impatient and distracted drivers.

A newly energized campaign from the National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA), called “Slow Down To Get Around,” urges motorists to apply the same care passing a stopped sanitation truck or mail truck as they would a school bus that’s not flashing red lights.

Drive aggressively around a stopped or slowing school bus, and you’re likely to get a ticket. But pass a service vehicle with the same enthusiasm, and there isn’t likely to be any kind of penalty.

The NSWMA isn’t looking to impose new traffic laws, only to remind drivers to be more careful around solid waste workers and service vehicles. In 2010, 26 solid waste collection workers were killed on the job, an increase of 30 percent from 2009. 

The Slow Down To Get Around campaign hopes to reduce these numbers by encouraging motorists to reduce or eliminate distracted driving, and pass all stopped service vehicles with care.

View the original article here

The Happiest Happy Hour: Chauffeured around Manhattan in Exotic Supercars

When the yellow 2010 Lamborghini Murcielago crawled to the curb in front of my tired feet on 11th and West 37th, directly outside of the Javits Convention Center in New York City, I was no longer an automotive journalist. In a matter of seconds, as the exotic’s iconic scissor doors rose to welcome me into its Alcantara-swathed cabin, I became a celebrity worthy of a Jay-Z-sized posse. Passersby quickly maneuvered to snap photos. Some stood and stared, slack-jawed. A few waved in excitement, one hand shaking vigorously, the other holding a camcorder. My nagging feet suddenly felt fine. I call this phenomenon the Lamborghini Effect. And I have the crew at Signature Car Collection to thank for it.

After the initial media day at this year’s 2011 New York International Auto Show, I was invited to an informal happy hour hosted by Signature, an up-and-coming exotic car rental firm from New Jersey. The kicker: We would be chauffeured to appetizers through the streets of Manhattan in the coolest way possible – coddled in the seat of one of six exotic supercars in Signature’s fresh fleet. Ride in a hand-built chariot to drinks and food? Ah, YES PLEASE. (Sure, a drive of the cars would have been best, but considering the mix of light libations, hellish NYC potholes/construction zones, and low-slung carbon-fiber bodies, being chauffeured seemed the better choice.)

I have visited New York’s bustling urbanscape a few times. I’ve seen the city’s innumerable monuments and picturesque, movie-set-like panoramas. But never have I experienced some of these sites while strapped into a deeply recessed bucket bolted into a snarling Lamborghini.

For this event, Signature blocked off its top rides: A Ferrari California, Aston Martin DB9 Volante, Maserati GranCabrio Sport, Ferrari F430 Spider, Bentley GTC, and Mercedes-Benz S550 all joined the party. Despite the hordes of taxis and pedestrians passing within inches of our expensive metal, the group stayed close and in line during our 30-minute tourist drive. You can only imagine how much the Lamborghini Effect was compounded. (A few NYPD officers flashed their emergency lights just to get beside us to look closer at the six-figure sports cars.)

From the Javits Center, our exotic lineup ventured along the Hudson River’s shore on 11th street to West Street. We passed Ground Zero, then slowly cruised further south to State Street past the Charging Bull onto Water Street. After cutting further south to East River Drive, we headed north to the South Street Seaport where our destination — a homey New Zealander restaurant called Nelson Blue — awaited. Everything outside became more appealing when looked at from inside a supercar. Then again, maybe it was the extremely low perspective, which gave even the lowest of passing curbs extra clout.

When the angry bull was subdued at a stoplight, I spoke to my driver, Hamed Zolghadr. Though only 25 years old, the slick-haired, smiling driver was an industry veteran who gained experience and made valuable friends while working at a local Lamborghini dealership.

“I started off washing cars,” he explained. “Then after a few years, I worked my way into the service department and became a technician. During my time there, I met Marcello and the rest of the guys, and now I’m here helping our business grow. We have some big plans in the works and we can’t wait to see what happens.”

He said Signature’s business is still going strong despite the economic downturn.

“Thankfully, we are doing very well. We’re constantly adding new cars, and we’re going to open a new 5,000 sq-ft. showroom near Newark Airport soon. Now we’re pursuing new outlets for exposure. Our customers are happy, and we love to make them that way.”

As for the folks filling their cars, the gamut is wide.

“We get all types of people renting cars from us. From ones just wanting to experience a supercar for the first time in their life, to the wedding couple wanting a cool ride, to the one person who just wants a fast car to flaunt for a night. The variety is huge. There are also the well-off ones that want to test drive new cars. For them, we offer our membership program.”

With the Murcielago parked, our group headed inside Nelson Blue for delicious Kiwi grub. If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by this restaurant. Like the food and drink, the ambiance is superb and laidback. I got to meet Marcello Bommarito, Signature’s CEO. He used to run the Lamborghini dealership Hamed worked at, but he grew up loving and respecting Ferrari.

“My father has worked for Ferrari for decades, and I used to do logistics for them, too. So you could say I have a thing for the brand,” said the Tifoso in his distinct New Jersey accent.

Nowadays, he loves all exotics. They are the bread and butter of the business he started with good friends only a year ago. I asked him what separates Signature Car Collection from its many competitors.

Unlike other exotic car rental firms, Marcello said Signature handles everything it can in-house, in order to pass appropriate prices on to their customers.

“We have a body shop in-house. We do all maintenance on our vehicles at our headquarters, too. We are a one-stop shop.”

Everyone on payroll is also a real car guy or girl. Lastly, Signature is family owned and operated, meaning Marcello’s team is tight-knit, knowledgeable, and dedicated to making the customer experience the best it can be.

“We love seeing that smile on their faces,” Marcello said. “One wedding story in particular was a fun one. The bride-to-be rented our LP640 for the wedding, but the groom didn’t know. Yep, he was a diehard Lamborghini fan.

“So while the couple was taking wedding pictures outside of their hotel, my team drove by, as if to tease the groom. During the photoshoot, he stopped the photographer and pointed the car out to his fiancee. We drove by a second time, but this time we stopped, jumped out, and handed him the keys nonchalantly. He was ecstatic!”

After only a year, Signature has grown from a one car-operation (starting with the Ferrari F430) to one of the busiest rental firms of its kind in the Northeast. Luckily for the team from Lodi, their next decisions deal with what colors their future Italian cars will be painted, not how they’ll struggle to stay afloat. (Expansion plans include opening offices in Miami and Chicago.)

Food in belly, it was time to head back to Midtown. I was the last to leave.

“We saved the California for you,” Marcello said smiling. “The open top gives the city another flavor.”

How fitting — the born-and-bred Californian entering the New York City night in Ferrari’s most advanced topless grand tourer to date. Another car, another of the city’s many tasty flavors. Yes, this was my happiest happy hour ever.

For more information, visit http://www.sccexotics.com

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