Around the world, traffic laws are implemented with the safety of drivers, passengers and pedestrians in mind. With the invention of the automobile at the turn of the century in the 1900s, it was necessary to create new laws to keep everyone safe on the road. Over time, laws were revised and created with the changing times. Well, in most places, anyway.

Every so often around the world, certain laws were set in place that are either very bizarre or make no sense whatsoever. Whatever the reason behind these laws, at one time or another, they were put in place because it was an issue of some sort- which can be a scary thought based on some laws.

Weird Traffic Laws across the Globe

Keep in mind that all traffic laws are important, and as strange as some of them may be, it’s important that you follow them or risk the consequences! That said, here are just a few weird traffic laws that are still in place around the world today:

• Let’s start with Ohio. In Youngstown, it’s illegal to run out of gas. In Canton, on the other hand, drivers are not permitted to share the road with roller skaters.
• In Oregon, feel free to drive on the sidewalks- just make sure you yield to pedestrians! Also in Oregon, you best not be found leaving your car door open longer than absolutely necessary.
• Make sure you have a designated driver in Japan- even just being a sober passenger in a car with a driver who is intoxicated is punishable by law. This seems like common sense to us- you should never, ever into a car with a driver who has had too much to drink!
• Alaska doesn’t allow you to tie your pets to the roof of your car. We really hope this law wasn’t set because this actually happened (but it sadly most likely did).
• If you’re working on a car in Denmark, you better not start it while there’s someone underneath it checking things out. That is illegal!
• Ran into a pedestrian while visiting Sarasota, Florida? Well, you’re only facing a $78 fine. It would probably be nice if you helped out with the victim’s medical bills, though…
• Keep that trash out of your car when you’re in Hilton Head, South Carolina! Storing trash in your care there is forbidden.
• Driving a dirty car in Russia can cost you a fine of up to 2,000 rubles (or about $57 US).
• Even if you think you know EXACTLY where you’re going when you’re in Alabama, don’t drive blindfolded. That’s right- driving while blindfolded in Alabama is illegal.
• Stay off the playgrounds in Georgia! Driving through a playground there is illegal and, well, obviously puts the lives of innocent children at risk.

If you’re looking for a driving school to teach you all the latest laws and rules of the road, DriveTeam offers teen driving classes and corporate driver training to drivers of all ages to ensure everyone stays as safe as possible behind the wheel. Contact us today for more information.

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“Speed is the number one factor that causes crashes out on the highway,” says Scott Robertson, a professional driver with the DriveTeam Training Center in Cuyahoga Falls.

CUYAHOGA FALLS — Pro drivers say a few simple tactics or techniques can greatly reduce your chances of a winter accident.

“When people do not decrease their speed when there is snow or ice on the road, you’re going to end up with something like you had on I-90.”

On Wednesday, a stretch of Interstate 90 in both directions had to be closed in Lake County when snowy and icy conditions contributed to more than half a dozen accidents involving dozens of vehicles.  Hundreds more motorists were stranded in traffic for up to 5 hours.

Robertson ran through a series of demonstrations on DriveTeam’s test track, which was coated with a slick layer of snow. Using a 2005 Toyota Camry with anti-lock brakes, Robertson slammed on the brakes at certain speeds and measured the distance it took to stop.

At 40 miles per hour, the car came to a full stop at 230 feet, then at 250 feet in a second test when the track was slightly icier.  By reducing the speed to 30 miles per hour, stopping distances of between 95 and 110 feet were realized, less than half the distance at 40 mph.

“Speed is the number one contributor to accidents whether it’s on a side street, a state route, or a highway,” Robertson commented.

Then, by reducing driving speed to 20 miles per hour, the Camry came to a stop at an average of 33 feet, even with the DriveTeam test track becoming increasingly slick.

Robertson and DriveTeam also had two other strategies they say are simple but very effective in reducing the chances of wintertime accident in Northeast Ohio.

“The second things you want to do is increase your following distance. That’s one of the other factors that was involved in the I-90 crash.”

“And the third,” he concluded, “and one of the most important, is vehicle maintainance. You want to have excellent tires on your vehicle at all times.”

Story by: Dick Russ

WKYC-TV

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Terry Moir of Cleveland’s WKYC Channel 3 moderates a panel discussion about safe and effective ways to teach teens to drive. Panelist are Scott Robertson HR Director and Teen Driving Instructor at DriveTeam, Inc. and Anne Marie Hayes, teen driving expert and author of 3 Keys to Keeping Your Teen Alive. www.yourteenmag.com

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Scott Robertson, a teen driving instructor with the DriveTeam, Inc. provides tips on how to talk to your teen before they begin to drive.

Raising a Safe Driver Panel Discussion for Parents

Tuesday, Oct. 23 BMW Cleveland Solon

Register: YourTeenMag.com/Register

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Written by
Dave Summers

COLUMBUS — Ohio teens could not use cellphones or other electronic devices while driving under a bill sent Tuesday to the governor.

Statewide Texting Ban

The House voted 82-12 to pass the bill. The Senate previously approved it, and Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign it.

All drivers would be banned from texting, though young drivers could more easily be pulled over for it.

The bill would make texting a secondary offense for adults. That means drivers could be ticketed for typing messages only if they were first pulled over for another offense, such as running a red light.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, the measure would be among the nation’s broadest in terms of teen distracted driving restrictions. The organization says texting while driving is already prohibited in 38 states.

ANN SANNER, Associated Press

Associated Press/WKYC-TV

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West Ohio Gas employees learn some safe driving strategies, but the tips can be used by anyone driving in harsh conditions.

Employees for the gas company rack up about a million miles collectively over the course of a year serving customers in a nine county area.

So, the company holds driver training courses to give workers some extra help in avoiding collisions.

Some of the tips include slowing down, clearing off all windows and mirrors, and letting your car warm up.

Also know how to use your brakes properly.

DriveTeam, Inc. instructor Ken Stout says there’s major differences in how anti-lock brakes work compared to standard brakes.

Winter Driving Tips

• If a vehicle has anti-lock brakes and the car is sliding, keep the brake pedal down until you come to a stop.
• Pumping on the brakes, like many people were taught, will cause the ABS brake system to not work as effectively.
• Stout says anti-lock brakes along with other technological advances in many newer vehicles, such as traction control and electronic stability control, are helpful in the winter weather.

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Teen Drivers

Ohio Teen Drivers

Ohio License already has a Graduated Driver Licensing law: a three-state system beginning at 15 years and six months for a learner’s permit, age 16 for the intermediate stage and age 18 for full licensure.

The bipartisan bill, which is now in committee, would require all states to have a GDL law, but if passed, it would raise standards in Ohio as well.

Teenagers would be required to wait until they are 16 to get a learner’s permit. The law would extend all restrictions on teen drivers (number of passengers allowed in a vehicle, hours of driving allowed after dark) and it would prohibit non-emergency use of cell phones and other devices, including texting.

The bill, known as the STANDUP ACT was introduced in 2009, but picked up momentum last month when a group of parents, teens, auto insurance representatives and others rallied in favor of it on Capitol Hill.

For parents like Cindy Swinehart, whose 16-year-old son just got his license, there can never be enough precautions.

“They just think we’re going to get in the car and go. It doesn’t work that way,” Swinehart said of her son, Austin.

Swinehart says she takes safety further than current laws.

Swinehart makes her son call or text when he arrives at a destination, and prohibits anyone from riding in the car with him. She says Austin will lose his driving privileges if his grades fall below a B average.

“If we can get them a little more experience, maybe it saves one life,” she said.

The state of Ohio mandates student drivers spend 50 hours practicing driving under supervision.

Driving instructors say thorough training is the key to lowering risk.

“The idea of mandating every state to do one thing doesn’t seem to fit,” said Ken Stout.

Stout founded Drive Team twenty years ago. Through clinics, his instructors have given over 2,000 teens more than 100 hours of training each.

“That’s the biggest problem they face. Learning the skill and dynamics of a vehicle. If they don’t have it, that’s the biggest risk,” Stout said.

© 2010 WKYC-TV

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Senior Driving

Grannie, age 94, hasn’t driven a car since she was 20 years old. DriveTeam, Inc and their Senior division was able to help Grannie get back on the road!

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Driving School Safety

CLEVELAND — Faulty brakes. Inadequate instruction. Crowded classrooms. These are some of the violations state inspectors found at local schools used to teach your teenager how to drive, a Channel 3 News investigation found.

The state says no violation can be too small when it comes to protecting a child learning how to drive.

Just ask Susan Sigman, of Streetsboro. Her 16-year-old daughter was driving 55 m.p.h. in a school vehicle when its brakes failed on a busy road.

“I assumed the driver training schools were regulated and very safe, especially when we are going through the schools and paying hundreds of dollars,” Sigman said. “I never got a reasonable explanation as to how this could happen.”

The Ohio Department of Public Safety has issued 45 violations to local driving schools since 2006. The state conducts inspections of teen driving schools every other year — looking into everything from records to instruction manuals to building conditions — and it also checks their vehicles every year.

Ken Stout, who operates a driving school in Cuyahoga Falls, says schools that can’t meet minimum standards put students in danger.

“It’s wrong,” said Stout, owner of DriveTeam Inc. “I would hope that folks in our business would look at every car that goes on the road and understand that’s your son or daughter that’s in that car.”

The state requires eight hours of road training, but one student attending J.N.O. Drivers Enterprises simply had to drive around downtown Sandusky to get her diploma.

The state yanked the school’s license in March.

Parents could try asking if a school’s been cited. But three schools Channel 3 News visited undercover denied having violations.

At National Drivers Training in Solon, an employee said: “Oh no. We’ve never failed inspection. They wouldn’t be used.”

But state records show inspectors failed one vehicle at the school for a frozen brake pedal. Owner Bernard Ralls said the violations are “just words on paper” and that he fixed the brake pedal right away.

“It means to me I want to know what the problem is and let’s get it squared away,” Ralls said. “It doesn’t mean I failed an inspection.”

Ralls also owns Town and Country Driving School, where an employee also denied the school had any vehicle violations.

The state found three Town and Country school vehicles in need of repair. “That’s three cars out of 32,” Ralls said. “That means the rest of them they couldn’t find anything wrong.”

At 1st Choice Driving School in Cleveland Heights, an inspector ordered one car off the road. The school’s co-owner said it wasn’t a big deal and that it was immediately fixed.

Kim Myers, of Richfield wishes she had checked with the Better Business Bureau before enrolling her daughter at Heights Driving School II in Fairlawn.

“Finding out they had a rating of ‘F’ disturbed me,” Myers said. She did not know the state suspended the school’s Ravenna license for a week for not having enough table space, textbooks or in-class instruction.

“Who are they putting in the car with my daughter?” Myers said. “Now I’m worried.”

Heights Driving School II owner Charisse Pflueger said the state violation happened under the previous owner, who “instead of spending so much money to fight it, we just went down and took the punishment.”

Pflueger also said she’s tried to work with the Better Business Bureau to resolve complaints, but parents don’t want to hear that the school’s contract says it has six months to finish training the students.

Parents are urged to question driving schools about violations, look at cars and sit in on a class.

AAA also said parents should find out whether the school uses a fixed driving route because that helps teachers focus on instruction and helps prevent abuses, such as teachers running errands.

In the view of state driving exam supervisor, violations should not be taken lightly. “They should not get a violation,” said Mary Kilbane, supervisor of the state Highway Patrol driver testing facility in Mayfield Heights.

“Their vehicles should be in excellent working condition.”

© 2009 WKYC-TV

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

For those who participated in the Porsche Sport Drive event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio two weeks back, it was an afternoon of smiles. Porsche offered select customers, guests, sports-car aficionados, and media representatives the chance to drive its vehicles on the challenging 2.4 mile, 15-turn course and Autocross course in what it called a “spirited test drives.”

In addition to Porsche’s national team, Fred Baker Porsche Audi of Bedford and Cascade Automotive Group of Cuyahoga Falls, two of the area’s premier Porsche dealers, hosted the event.

Porsche Test Drives

Driving instructors from the Porsche Driving School in Birmingham, Alabama were also on hand to make sure things didn’t get out of hand. They offered some basic driving instruction, as well as some important technical information on Porsche’s new vehicle lineup. Everyone got the chance to drive the company’s brand-new lineup of Cayennes, Boxsters, and Caymans.

When it comes to familiarizing its customers with its vehicles, no one does it better than Porsche. Gene Hauck, Porsche sales manager at Fred Baker, gave me the run down of the afternoon’s events at the lunch prior to the event.

“After lunch, we’ll break up into three different groups,” Hauck explained. “One group will head to pit lane to drive the sports cars, and another will head to pit lane to drive the Cayennes. The third will head to the Autocross course to have a little fun with the Boxster and Cayman. You’ll also get the chance to ride along with an instructor on the Autocross in a hot lap in each of the cars.”

“You should be familiar with the Autocross and the new PDK transmission,” added Pat Primm, a partner in the Cascade Auto Group.

Last month, Primm offered me the opportunity to test drive a Boxster on an Autocross course set up at DriveTeam, a driver’s educational facility near his dealership. I had the opportunity to experience Porsche’s new Doppelkupplungsgetriebe or PDK transmission…

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