Safer vehicles and increased law enforcement has resulted in the lowest driving fatality rate ever last year. There were 41,059 traffic deaths in 2007, down 1,600 from 2006. Fatalities are now at 1.37 per 100 million miles traveled, which is the lowest number since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started keeping track. The proliferation of safety technology, like side curtain air bags, stability control, and traction control, are apparently helping to make our roads safer, and good old-fashioned seat belts are being used more than ever. The "Click it or Ticket" campaign isn't the only way law enforcement has helped to lower fatalities either, as increased drunken driving patrols have lead to a 3.7% decline in deaths. Still, 13,000 people died last year as a result of drunken driving, which is 13,000 too many. News on the safety front isn't as good for motorcycle drivers, though. A record 5,154 bikers lost their lives on U.S. roads in 2007, which is over 200 more than in 2006. Part of the reason for that increase is that there are more motorcycle drivers on the road, with 6 million motorcycles registered last year, up 2.2 million in the past decade.
We're saddened to convey the latest reports from Italy on the untimely passing of Andrea Pininfarina. Andrea Pininfarina, head of the eponymous design studio, was the son of Sergio Pininfarina and grandson of the carrozzeria's founder Battista "Pinin" Farina.
According to the announcement by Confindustria, the industrial association over which Sergio once presided and of which Andrea served as vice-president, Andrea was killed in a motorcycle accident in Turin, not far from the company's headquarters. He was only 51 years old. Our condolences to the entire Pininfarina family, and our appreciation to Guy for alerting us to the sad news.
Professionals earn pockets full of cheese usually because they do whatever it is they do better, faster, stronger than anyone else. Sometimes, though, they get the big bucks because they'll do something again after having nearly killed themselves the first time. That is: they'll get right back on the horse when a lot of non-professionals would instead grab a gin and tonic and watch reruns of I Love Lucy.
Jorge Lorenzo earned his money and a stay in hospital over the weekend during practice for the MotoGP China Grand Prix. On one run the bike bucked under him coming out of a turn, sending the 21-year-old rider up out of his seat like he was riding a bronco, but he managed to keep the bike upright and moving. On a following run he wasn't so fortunate, highsiding, somersaulting, and suffering a fractured left ankle, a painful right ankle, a cut heel, a knee abrasion, and forearm compression.
But here's where Lorenzo really impresses: he still got on the bike to qualify on Saturday, and came in fourth in Sunday's race. Follow the jump to check out the videos of the bucking incident and the highside. And from now on, the word you're looking for to describe Jorge Lorenzo: pro.
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Motorcycles always have that ever-present danger of turning their operators into hamburger should the rider take a spill. Racing crashes are especially nasty, and while leathers do offer protection from road rash, cushioning impacts to the upper torso is key to increasing survivability. Dainese, a manufacturer of cycling equipment, has been working on an airbag system to help riders avoid injury called the D-Air suit. The system relies on accelerometers and gyroscopic sensors embedded in the suit, and when a computer determines there's a need, an upper-body airbag is deployed in less than a half a second. It looks like a similar, although much more complicated design, than the Airbag Jacket by Impact Jackets, which has already saved at least one life that we know about. Of course, this would all be avoidable if people didn't insist on climbing onto a powerful engine supported by the minimum of wheels and zooming around at the highest possible velocity, but what fun is that?
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