(PRINCETON, NJ – OCTOBER 8, 2013) – Did
you know that roughly 90 percent of a driver’s reaction depends on his or her vision?
Unfortunately, many of us aren’t even aware that we may have a vision
problem. Yet, every year increases the
odds that a person’s vision will decrease somewhat. Drive Safely Work Week (DSWW) takes a look at
how vision affects our driving in its 2013 campaign materials, which are
available for businesses to download for free at www.trafficsafety.org.
DSWW is an annual safety campaign put
forth by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS). The campaign, which takes place October 7-11,
2013, contains numerous tips for businesses to use to remind their employees
about important safety issues. NAFA
Fleet Management Association is proud to help promote the annual campaign.
Tuesday’s tip deals with vision.
While environmental conditions can affect anyone’s ability to see clearly, the
DSWW tip presents sobering statistics about the role age plays with our vision
and our ability to drive safely.
According to the tip:
- Between 15 and 65 years of age, the recovery time from glare increases from 2 to 9 seconds
- Night vision can deteriorate after the age of 40
- Difficulty with near-vision focus starts in your 40’s; those over 45 may begin needing glasses to see the dashboard instruments clearly
- More than one-third of drivers aged 18-49 report having difficulty driving in the dark most or all of the time
- By age 60, eyes need three times as much light to see as they did at age 20
Ironically, one of the best ways to
avoid having trouble driving at night is to wear sunglasses while driving
during the day. As the tip points out,
“Exposure to strong sunlight without adequate glare protection can sharply
reduce your night vision. Even a few
hours of exposure can slow your eyes’ adaptation process as darkness falls.”
Drive Safely Work Week, which has
been sponsored by NETS since 1996, encourages businesses to utilize a free
campaign toolkit to help educate employees on the importance of safety. This
year’s campaign is entitled, “Gear up for safe driving:
Mind-Body-Vehicle”. It highlights how
being mindful of physical and mental wellness – along with the “health” of your
vehicle – are all connected in making us safer drivers.
Safe driving is essential to the
fleet managers who belong to NAFA, a group that collectively manages several
million vehicles travelling on North American roads each day. NAFA has lent its
support to the annual campaign for the past several years through a series of articles
in NAFA publications such as FLEETSolutions
magazine, NAFAConnection newsletter,
press releases, and email blasts; as well as giving safety a prominent platform
at the annual Institute & Expo conference and the creation of a committee
devoted entirely to safety topics.
About NAFA Fleet Management Association
NAFA is the world's premier
non-profit association for professionals who manage fleets of sedans, public
safety vehicles, trucks, and buses of all types and sizes, and a wide range of
military and off-road equipment for organizations across the globe. NAFA is the
association for the diverse vehicle fleet management profession regardless of
organizational type, geographic location or fleet composition. NAFA's Full and
Associate Members are responsible for the specification, acquisition,
maintenance and repair, fueling, risk management, and remarketing of more than
3.5 million vehicles including in excess of 1.1 million trucks of which 350
thousand are medium- and heavy-duty trucks. For more information visit http://www.nafa.org
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