The rescue of passengers from US Airways Flight 1549. (Gary Hershorn/Reuters)

One of the more remarkable images from the Hudson River landing of the US Airways flight on Thursday is the photo of passengers standing calmly on the floating wings, waiting to be rescued.

But for people who study disasters, there is nothing surprising about the cool, collected demeanor of the passengers.

Amanda Ripley, author of the book “The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — and Why” (Crown, 2008), notes that in this plane crash, like other major disasters, people tend to stay calm, quiet and helpful to others.

“We’ve heard from people on the plane that once it crashed people were calm — the pervading sound was not screaming but silence, which is very typical,” said Ms. Ripley, who for years covered floods, plane crashes and other disasters for Time magazine. “The fear response is so evolved, it’s really going to take over in a situation like that. And it’s not in your interests to get hysterical. There’s some amount of reassurance in that I think.’’ Read more…

Recently while driving from New York to Pennsylvania, I suddenly realized I had taken the wrong exit for the New Jersey Turnpike.

For me it was a startling mistake that had me going north instead of south, and added at least a half hour to my commute. It had happened while I was talking to a friend on the phone. Even though I had been using a headset and had both hands on the wheel, I still made an important driving error.

Beyond my driving mistake, there are plenty of data to show that cellphone conversations and driving don’t mix. My Well column in Tuesday’s Science Times explores the science of cellphones and driving, and helps explain why even hands-free cellphone use takes a toll on your driving ability. Now the National Safety Council has called for a total ban on cellphone use while driving.

Read the full story, “A Problem of the Brain, Not the Hands: Group Urges Phone Ban for Drivers,” and then join the discussion below. Are you willing to give up your hands-free cellphone calls during your driving time?

Drivers over 70 are keeping their licenses longer and driving more than earlier generations, a trend that has led to dire predictions about car accident risks for aging baby boomers.

But new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety should ease those fears. It shows that fatal car accidents involving older drivers have actually declined markedly in the past decade.

“It’s not what people had expected to see,” said Anne T. McCartt, senior vice president for research at the insurance institute. “There were some studies, including our own research, that had predicted older driver crashes would become a bigger and bigger problem.”

Compared with middle-aged drivers (age 35 to 54), drivers 75 or older have far higher death rates per mile traveled. (So do drivers under 20.) Death rates jump markedly after age 80. But that does not necessarily mean that older people are worse drivers or that they are far more likely to crash.

Car fatalities involving young people are almost entirely explained by the fact that they have more accidents than experienced drivers. But while crash rates are slightly higher for older people, most of their increased risk for a fatal car accident is explained by the fact that they tend to be more frail. Older drivers are more likely to suffer a severe injury, particularly to the chest, or other medical complications.

But fatalities per capita among older people have decreased 35 percent since 1975 and are now at their lowest level. And while fatal crashes are declining over all, the rates for older driving deaths are falling the fastest. Between 1997 and 2006, the annual decline in fatal crash rates was 0.18 fewer fatal crashes per 100,000 middle-aged licensed drivers. By comparison, the annual decline for drivers age 70 to 74 was 0.55 fatal crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers, and for those over 80 it was 1.33.

Older drivers are also less likely to cause drunken driving accidents. In 2007, just 6 percent of drivers 70 and older who died in crashes had blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit. The figure for fatally injured drivers age 16 to 59 was 41 percent.

The insurance institute is conducting further research to determine why the risks appear to be going down for older drivers. It may be that today’s older drivers are simply in better physical and mental shape than their counterparts a decade ago, so they are not only less likely to make a driving mistake, but also less frail and better able to survive injuries.

It may also be that driving patterns among older adults have changed, leading to more highway driving, which is safer than driving on local roads. Older drivers may be more likely than in the past to wear a seat belt or to drive a safer car.

Research suggests education campaigns have increased awareness about older driving risks.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins recently reported results of the Salisbury Eye Evaluation and Driving Study (Seeds for short), which looked at vision, cognition and health changes among 1,200 licensed drivers age 67 to 87. The study, published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, found that after a year 1.5 percent of the drivers had given up driving on their own, and 3.4 percent more had voluntarily restricted their driving because of declining vision.

“We’re intent on doing research to try to figure out why we’re seeing this,” Dr. McCartt said. “It’s certainly a possibility that older drivers compared to 10 or 20 years ago are in better condition in various ways.”

Every year, New Year’s revelers are warned about the risks of drunk driving. But what about drunk walking?

The risks of being a pedestrian on New Year’s Day are rarely discussed, but the issue was recently highlighted by my colleague Anahad O’Connor in his “Really?” column.

It’s a little known fact that Jan. 1 is the deadliest day of the year for pedestrians. A fascinating 2005 article in Injury Prevention looked at accident data in the United States from 1986 to 2002 and found that 410 pedestrians were killed on New Year’s Day during the period. And 58 percent of the pedestrians killed had high blood alcohol concentrations. The second riskiest day for walkers is Halloween.

An average of 24 pedestrians are killed on New Year’s Day. While that may not sound like a major risk, the Injury Prevention article also points out Read more…

By now most people know that cell phones are a deadly distraction for drivers. But what about chatting with passengers?

New research sheds light on the role that conversation — whether in person or on the phone — has on driving skill.

Researchers at the University of Utah found that all conversations are not created equal. There is something uniquely distracting about talking on the phone when you’re behind the wheel; conversations with people inside the car are far less distracting to drivers. Unlike cell phone callers, chatty passengers instinctively stop talking when driving conditions change, and they offer an extra set of eyes to alert drivers to nearly-missed exits or erratic drivers. Read more…

(Jim Wilson/The New York Times)

Is a car the right place for multitasking?

A graphic on the front page of USA Today shows that most people believe it is. The newspaper reports on a survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance showing that 72 percent of drivers say they do other things while driving, like using a cell phone, eating or drinking.

Nearly 80 percent of people 18 to 44 say they multitask in the car. The numbers are slightly lower for the young and old. About 60 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds admit to multitasking, while 65 percent of adults 45 to 61 say they do it. Read more…

How fast do you drive? (Stuart Isett for The New York Times)

When it comes to speeding, many American motorists don’t worry about safety. They just worry about getting caught.

Those are the findings by researchers from Purdue University who surveyed nearly 1,000 motorists about speed limits and driving habits. They found that many drivers are cynical about the safety benefits of driving within speed limits, and many think they can drive safely while speeding as long as they won’t get caught, according to the report in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour.

“So the faster you think you can go before getting a ticket, the more likely you are to think safety’s not compromised at higher speeds,” said Fred Mannering, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue, in a press release. “For whatever reason, respect for speed limits seems to have deteriorated.” Read more…

Most teen drivers fasten their seat belts when they get behind the wheel. But troubling new data show that teen passengers are far less likely to buckle up.

The finding, to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, shows a significant gap in public education efforts to reduce teen driving deaths. While many new state laws have resulted in extra limits for teen drivers, little attention has been paid to the teens in the car who aren’t behind the wheel.

Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States, accounting for nearly 5,000 fatalities and over 400,000 injuries annually among teens 16 and older. The crash rate for teen drivers is four times higher than for older drivers.

But studies show that it’s more than just teen drivers who are at risk — 40 percent of teen motor-vehicle deaths involve passengers. Researchers from Meharry Medical College in Nashville analyzed data from national Youth Risk Behavior surveys collected in 2001 and 2003 from 12,731 black, white and Hispanic high school students aged 16 years and older.

Overall, 59 percent of students always used seat belts when driving, but only 42 percent always buckled up as passengers, the researchers found. Only about one out of three students said they always wore seat belts whether driving or riding as a passenger.

There were important differences by gender, race and even the grades teens get on their report cards, but in all categories, passenger use of seat belts ranged from 10 to 21 percentage points lower than for drivers.

Among girls, 67 percent wore seat belts while driving, but the number dropped to 46 percent when girls moved out of the driver seat. For boys, 52 percent buckled up as drivers, but the number dropped to 38 percent in the passenger seat.

Blacks were the least likely to buckle up in the passenger seat, with only 37 percent reporting seat-belt use, compared to about 43 percent by Hispanics and whites.

Students who made A’s and B’s in school were more likely to buckle passenger belts than C students, but there was still a tremendous difference in seat-belt use compared to drivers. For instance, about 70 percent of student drivers who were A students wore seat belts, but just 50 percent of A students who were passengers buckled up.

Teenagers have the highest car crash and fatality rates of any demographic group, partly because they woefully underestimate driving risks. Injury prevention programs can change their perspective, a new study shows — at least for a while.

Toronto researchers studied 262 high school students participating in a one-day injury prevention program sponsored by their school and a local hospital. In addition to lectures about safety, the program included a tour of an intensive care unit, where students met young persons who had suffered a mild traumatic brain or a spinal cord injury.

A control group of teens were quizzed about driving safety before the talk, while others completed questionnaires about a week or a month afterward.

Their answers were troubling. The study found teens consistently underestimate driving risks and believe car and highway design are more likely than human error to cause a crash. The teens saw young age and agility as an advantage, helping them to better cope with poor driving conditions compared to more experienced drivers. Teens also believed that medical [trauma?] care, particularly in young people, is almost always effective. Read more…

(Credit: Kevin Moloney for The New York Times)

Every year, more than 2.7 million people are injured in car accidents, and 44,000 of them die, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Given that accidents, in general, are the leading cause of death for people under 45, we should all be paying more attention to the road and the cars around us. I’d also recommend a visit to the TierneyLab blog today, where my colleague John Tierney has put together an excellent “Traffic Quiz’” to test your traffic knowledge.

Full disclosure, I scored a “back-to-driving-school” 2 out of 10.

And to read more about traffic safety, check out these other posts on the safest places to drive, a troubling rise in golf cart injuries, and how to double-check car safety ratings online.

(Credit: Kevin Moloney for The New York Times)

The July Fourth weekend is often one of the deadliest in terms of car accidents, but some towns are safer than others. A new report compiled by insurance giant Allstate has ranked the car safety of various towns compared to national accident rates.

The average driver in the United States has a collision every 10 years. But the average driver in Sioux Falls, S.D., experiences a car accident every 14.6 years. That means a Sioux Falls motorist is 32 percent less likely to have an accident than the national average. Drivers in Fort Collins, Colo., rank second, reporting collisions every 13.4 years.

For the past four years, Allstate actuaries have analyzed the company’s claim data to determine the likelihood drivers in America’s 200 largest cities will experience a vehicle collision compared to the national average. Read more…

More people are being injured by golf carts. (Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times)

Golf carts are moving off the golf course, and the result appears to be a surge in injuries, a new report shows.

The June issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports that injuries from being hit by or falling off of golf carts surged 132 percent from 1990 to 2006. Nearly 150,000 people, ranging in age from 2 months to 96 years, were hurt in golf cart accidents during that time.

One reason may be that golf carts have become much faster and more powerful. Reaching speeds of up to 25 miles per hour and traveling as far as 40 miles on a single battery charge, golf carts now offer quick travel in a variety of venues. They are now routinely used at sporting events, hospitals, airports, national parks, college campuses, businesses and military bases, the study authors noted. In some gated and retirement communities, golf carts have become the primary means of transportation. Read more…

Safety ratings vary based on make, model year and Web site. (Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)

With my old station wagon headed to the 125,000 mile mark, I am in the market for a new car for the first time in more than seven years.

I had recently read about a car model that had ranked particularly high in crash testing, so ventured to a dealership to check it out. I liked the car, but didn’t like the sticker price on the 2008 model. I found a 2003 model with surprisingly low mileage. It was so affordable I almost bought it on the spot. But I opted instead to think about it over the weekend.

I’m glad I did. Read more…

Airline passengers sometimes forget they’re in public. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

How is your airplane etiquette?

Frequent fliers and flight attendants say more and more passengers are behaving in ways they would never do in other public settings. Airline seat-back pockets have become repositories for toenail clippings, dirty diapers and old food, among other things. And passengers themselves do things like polish nails, blow their noses in airline blankets, and spit tobacco — without regard to the other passengers sitting next to them. Read more…

A teen leaves a trail of upended pylons while navigating Toyota’s challenging “distraction” course.

What does it feel like to slam on your anti-lock brakes? What happens if you drive too fast on a slippery road? How do distractions like loud music affect your driving?

While driver’s education classes teach teens how to operate a vehicle, most of us don’t learn much about emergency driving conditions until we actually face an emergency. But a free advanced driving skills course offered by Toyota gives kids and parents a chance to experience real-world driving situations on a closed course. Participants maneuver through pylons, slam on brakes and speed around corners, all under the supervision of professional drivers. Read more…