Summer
heat brings high risks and extreme fire danger
Highway
Safety
Closed
cars become deadly greenhouses
The
responses are strikingly simple – the results
shockingly tragic: “I was only going to be inside
for a few minutes… I didn’t think it would
get that hot…I forgot.” Whatever the reasons,
leaving a child unattended in a vehicle while outside
temperatures soar is a deadly combination. It has
been a deadly combination 15 times across the nation
already this year, including one in Idaho.
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AAA
offers tips for keeping cars running safely
Near record hundred-degree summer heat puts vehicle
occupants at risk, especially in overheated vehicles
where there is no opportunity to seek relief.And about
half of AAA's 120,000 calls for roadside assistance
in Idaho and Oregon this summer will result in a tow.
Overheating vehicles are common during hot summer
days, often resulting from driving in slow-moving
traffic during hot weather with the air conditioning
running, and driving up long, steep hills.
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Phoenix
writer shares hot tips for hot cars
1. Park in the shade;
2. Window tinting/sunshades; 3. Service your vehicle;
4. Items you should have in your car; 5. Items you
should not have in your car
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Motorcycle
fatalities increase in '06; overall deaths decline
Motorcyclists
killed in collisions continued to rise last year,
according to the 2006 Idaho Traffic Collisions report
released by ITD's Office of Highway Operations and
Safety. Despite the rise in motorcycle fatalities,
however, the overall number of motor vehicle fatalities
declined last year — from 275 in 2005 to 267.
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Wildfires
Fires
force intermittent highway closures
An outbreak of wildfires throughout Idaho is stretching
the limits of firefighters and has led to several
highway closures this week. U.S. 20 was closed intermittently
near the Idaho National Laboratory Wednesday and
Thursday as crews battled a large grass fire at
East Butte. High winds complicated firefighting
efforts in the predominately grass- and sagebrush-covered
area. INL workers were asked to stay home Thursday
because of the fire.
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Crews
battle 18 blazes in Idaho
Fire activity report from the National Interagency
Fire Center, as of Friday, July 20...
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Highways
New
rumble strips warn motorists who cross the line
There’s
nothing wrong with your vehicle’s alignment.
And your iPod is working just fine.
That slight shuddering you feel, and hear, as you’re
driving is a warning you are crossing into the opposite
lane, or getting close to veering off the side of
the road.
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District
3
Unusual
visitor draws attention at district office
Safety
is a collaborative effort in District 3, as a recent
incident clearly shows. It involved staff from engineering,
design, traffic, maintenance, incident response and
even information technology. Althea Fackrell provides
detail
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Public
Transportation
New
partnership creates free system in Valley County
A
true partnership involves groups and organizations joining
together to accomplish collectively what they could
not do separately. Perhaps there is no better example
than the creation of a new transportation system serving
four Valley County communities and one of the nation’s
newest four-seasons destination resort – Valley
County Connections.
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Highways
GPS box helps track maintenance activities
Tracking
the location and activities of ITD highway maintenance
vehicles might get easier thanks to a pilot project
featuring a little gold box. The Preco PreCise System
combines global positioning satellite (GPS) technology
with Wi-Fi and cellular communication capability in
a small gold box that could be mounted in all ITD highway
maintenance vehicles, according to Steve Spoor, ITD
highway equipment superintendent with the Office of
Highway Operations and Safety.
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