The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says motorcycle deaths are rising. One reason for this that you should keep in mind is the surge in motorcycle-riding popularity.
The Wall Street Journal says:NHTSA last week released preliminary figures [PDF] for highway fatalities in 2006, and heralded a 2% decline in overall motor-vehicle fatalities to the lowest absolute number (42,642) in five years and the lowest rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled the government has ever recorded. But underneath the positive headline was grim news for bikers. Fatalities among motorcycle riders rose 5.1% to 4,810 people, accounting for 11% of total highway deaths last year. That's the highest share ever for motorcycle fatalities, and marks the ninth straight year that motorcycle fatalities have increased.
The steady rise in deaths among motorcycle riders has coincided with a surge in sales of motorcycles since 1990. This is just one more phenomenon driven by Baby Boomers. The average age of motorcycle owners rose to 40.2 years old in 2003, up from 38.1 years old in 1990, according to a study of trends in motorcycle fatalities NHTSA researchers published in June 2006.
More than 25% of bikes registered in 2003 were owned by people 50 or older, compared to just 10.1% in 1990. Overall, people over 40 owned 53% of motorcycles in 2003, according to the NHTSA report.
See the PDF above for state-by-state statistics.
Photojournalists Talk About Chopper Safety
A Dallas news helicopter crash-landed Monday, just as investigators were wrapping up their ground work on the Phoenix crash that killed two photojournalists and two pilots. Nobody was seriously hurt in the Dallas incident.
You might find it interesting to read what other TV photojournalists have to say about the crashes and working in helicopters.
Many of the photojournalists focused on two main themes:
- The pilots are being asked to do too much, including communicate with other choppers, communicate with the news desk, report the story and fly the helicopter.
- The photojournalists wonder how many news choppers use crash-avoidance systems.
Also worth reporting: Journalists in Phoenix tell me that Belo is sending journalists from KING-TV in Seattle to cover for KTVK staffers who want to attend funeral services for their colleagues.
KPNX, KPHO and KSAZ have all offered staffs to KNXV and KTVK so their staffs could attend funeral services for their colleagues. KPNX, KPHO and KSAZ will be producing the live coverage of KNXV's funerals for their newsrooms and viewers. KTVK is producing their own.
Digital TV Deadline on the Horizon
In 2009, your analog TV will be pretty much worthless. That is about 17 months from now. See, in 2009, TV stations will switch over to digital. The "Big Switch" will occur on Feb. 18, 2009, and analog TVs will be essentially useless unless they are hooked to a converter box.
The feds have a rich Web site that even includes a countdown clock to the Big Switch.
Congress says not enough people know what is coming. The AP reports:
On Feb. 18, 2009, tens of millions of televisions that are not equipped to receive digital signals will become useless pieces of furniture. The government is spending $5 million to let owners know so they can do something about it -- not enough, critics say.
While the government has committed $1.5 billion for viewers to spend on converter boxes that will translate digital signals for older televisions, it is largely relying on the broadcast industry to spread the word about the changeover.
John Kneuer, chief of the federal agency tasked with ensuring a smooth digital transition, told the Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday that the government will be leaning heavily on broadcasters.
"It's not only their own responsibility, it's in their own interest," said Kneuer, assistant secretary in the Commerce Department and administrator of the National Telecommunications Information Administration.
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee say more people than you might think don't have cable or satellite TV, so they won't be getting a converter box from the cable company. The AP story says:
Some committee members were clearly worried. A poll released in January by the Association of Public Television Stations indicated 61 percent of respondents had "no idea" that the digital transition was going to take place.
There is a "high potential for a train wreck here," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
A 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office said 21 million households -- roughly 19 percent of the nation -- rely on an antenna rather than cable or satellite to receive television signals.
The APTS study found:
Americans aged 65 and older are consistently more likely to receive television signals via an over-the-air antenna than are Americans under 65. These findings cover the period between the first quarter of 2002 and the first quarter of 2007. In the most recent quarter, 24 percent of households with Americans 65 and older received their TV programming over-the-air, while only 19 percent of younger households were over-the-air. Moreover, the study found that of Americans aged 65 and older who rely solely on over-the-air connections to television programming, only 17 percent own a digital TV.
In addition, 41 percent of Americans 65 and older and 55 percent of those younger than 65 have purchased a new television set in the past 3 years. That suggests that the older viewing population may not be as attuned to recent changes in TV appliance offerings and may not be spending as much time in retail outlets that sell TV sets, the study concluded. Since this older population may not be exposed to DTV transition messaging from electronics retailers, they will need special focus in efforts to educate the public about the February 2009 end of analog TV transmissions.
What do consumers need to do? It depends on where you get your TV signal. Here is a chart from the federal DTV Web site:
TV set is:
| Programming from:
| You will need by Feb. 17, 2009:
|
| Analog | Over-the-air | Digital-to-Analog converter box |
| Analog | Cable or satellite | Provider will address |
| Digital | Over-the-air | Nothing
|
Digital
| Cable or satellite | Provider will address |
The site says:
Between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, all U.S. households will be eligible to request up to two coupons, worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase of up to two digital-to-analog converter boxes, while the initial $990 million allocated for the program is available.
Additional resources from DTV:
A Fight for Open Records
While in North Carolina last week teaching at the North Carolina Press Association convention, I heard a couple of interesting tidbits that I want to pass along. These issues apply to journalists everywhere.
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Al's Morning Meeting - Open Records
Al Tompkins interviews John Bussian about the legal use of open records. (1 minute, 30 seconds) |
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North Carolina journalists are fighting for records that would show how much administrators at public hospitals are being paid. Incredibly, North Carolina courts have allowed these records to be considered private. The press association took the battle to the legislature and had a tough time even finding a lawmaker with a spine who would file a bill saying the public has a right to know how much public hospitals pay.
Moreover, if hospitals were able to withhold this kind of information, then practically any private company that took over a public operation might not have to open their books. How many of you live in communities where private companies now run the jails, prisons, bus lines, garbage hauling and on and on?
I interviewed John Bussian, the legal counsel for the North Carolina Press Association, about the fight.
Should Governments Pay for Legal Ads in the Paper?
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Al's Morning Meeting - Legal Notices
Al Tompkins talks with Charlotte Observer editor Rick Thames about legal ads. (1 minute, 43 seconds) |
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For smaller newspapers, legal ads are a bread and butter revenue stream.
But in state after state, a legal fight is brewing over whether government must buy ads in local papers.
Why not just post legal notices on government Web sites instead?
I asked Charlotte Observer editor Rick Thames, who serves on the North Carolina Press Association Legislative Committee. Thames explains how big a deal this is.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
"In 2009, your analogue TV will be pretty much worthless....
