---------- Forwarded message ---------Date: Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 1:20 PM Subject: Re: bright colors save lives

To: "Schneider, Justin" <jschneider@national.aaa.com> Thank-you for your reply. Knowing that a single color is not safe in all conditions, will you please take down the advice to those of us trying to get to our cars to wear bright colors? As you said, the relationship between color and safety is not clear. Does not advice to wear bright colors give us a false sense of security? Shouldn't cyclists and pedestrians be advised that bright colors have questionable if no benefit at all? Finally, can you please advise the NHTSA and police reporting agencies to stop u sing "dark clothing colors" as a "cause" for pedestrians and cyclists being hit by automobiles? I feel that for all modes, useless safety advice is worse than no advice at all. Sincerely, XXX ---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Schneider, Justin <jschneider@national.aaa.com> Date: Tue, Mar 12, 2013 at 8:08 PM Subject: RE: bright colors save lives

Your email to Ms. Yolanda Cade, Managing Director, AAA Public Relations was received and referred to my attention. Thank you for sharing your concerns and ideas regarding cycling safety. Car buyers often ask, "What color c ar is safest?" Unfortunately, the relationship between car color and safety is n ot at all clear, because only two scientific investigations of the matter have been conducted to date, and the authors of both studies admitted that they were not able to draw clear o r generalizable conclusions. The relationship between car color and safety is co mplex. Background color (trees, desert, etc.), weather conditions (rain, fog, snow),and daylight have a profound effect on cons picuity. In addition, any study of the relationship between car color and crashe s must consider all confounding variables including age, sex, weather conditions , and the time of day that the crash occurred. It's unfortunate that there isn't a safer solution for parking your vehicle when you visit your local gym. A good start may be to discuss the safety concern wit h your gym, and also with your local city planning department. Traffic Engineers are tasked with this solving these types of issues, but they often don't know a bout them, because they aren't reported. We suggest visiting the League of Ameri can Bicyclists website for more information on safety techniques for riding in t he traffic situations your faced with daily. We welcome your feedback at any time and thank you again for sharing your thoughts.

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/courses.php Justin Schneider Supervisor AAA National Member Relations 407-444-8371 ----- Original Message ----Sent: Friday, March 08, 2013 11:00 PM Eastern Standard Time To: Cade, Yolanda (Clark) Subject: bright colors save lives Brightly Color Automobiles I have a problem when parallel parking on 50 MPH roads where I try to cross (the re is no cross walk) and I almost get hit everyday because I can not see the bla ck and gray cars. I noticed that you suggest bright colors for cyclists: http://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/bike-safety/ Since the roads are so deadly there are almost no cyclists on these roads. There are many cars. Can you please recommend bright colors to motorists as well so we can get to and from our cars safely? Can you please sponsor a bill which states that if a car is not brightly colored and it's hard to see then the one driving this car is automatically liable for the accident? Often dark clothing is given as a reason. I can see people walking on the street with my car because it has headlights, and I drive slowly enough to stop at any time. Plus, pedestrians are slow. Cars literally come out of no w here due to the dark colors even during the day. The car below, for example, has a good mix of colors to be seen in any kind of d aylight: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hBDTbuHXNrA/UOdXaZegP9I/AAAAAAAAHaU/AvEUHr7dy1Q/s1600/ Nyestafferingerbil_politidk.jpg I have tried to get them to slow the speed limit, but I have heard there's a law which prohibits this obvious safety precaution. 50 MPH roads and parallel parki ng do not mix! Can you please propose a solution which still allows me to park near my gym, but not be faced with almost certain death, daily? Certainly your organization is in favor of brightly colored cars and slower spee d limits, both obvious solutions which will save many of your member's lives.