Natural gas explosion causes massive fire and $300K in property damage in the 15000 block of Bushy Park Road, Woodbine, Maryland

SEPTEMBER 10, 2018

WOODBINE, MD — 

Two adults, three children and the family dog are safe after a home on the 15000 block of Bushy Park Road in Howard County exploded.

The Woodbine, Maryland homeowners called the county fire department about after smelling gas at about 11 p.m. on Friday. Shortly after emergency personnel arrived, there was an explosion. While the fire was controlled quickly, the home damage is estimated at $300,000.

Investigators are working to determine the cause of the gas leak.



According to a news release from Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue, the family has arranged for accommodation.

In comments on the county’s fire and rescue service Facebook page, neighbors said they felt their homes shake due to the blast.




We were alerted late Friday night by the homeowner for an inside gas leak in the 15000 block of Bushy Park Road, Woodbine. Shortly after arrival there was an explosion, and additional HCDFRS units as well as units from Carroll County were requested.

Two adults and three children and the family dog were out of the house before the explosion and there were no injuries. The fire was placed under control quickly and fire investigators from the HCDFRS Office of the Fire Marshal are on location to determine origin and cause of the explosion.

There were no injuries to civilians or emergency personnel. The family has arranged for accommodations and will not need Red Cross assistance at this time. The property damage is approximately $300,000.

STATES OF EMERGENCY DECLARED AS HURRICANE FLORENCE RAPIDLY STRENGTHENING... ...EXPECTED TO BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE VERY SOON...

 092 
WTNT31 KNHC 101448
TCPAT1

BULLETIN
Hurricane Florence Advisory Number  45
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL       AL062018
1100 AM AST Mon Sep 10 2018

...FLORENCE RAPIDLY STRENGTHENS INTO A MAJOR HURRICANE...


SUMMARY OF 1100 AM AST...1500 UTC...INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...25.0N 60.0W
ABOUT 580 MI...935 KM SSE OF BERMUDA
ABOUT 1240 MI...2000 KM ESE OF CAPE FEAR NORTH CAROLINA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...115 MPH...185 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...W OR 280 DEGREES AT 13 MPH...20 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...962 MB...28.41 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Interests in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states should monitor
the progress of Florence. Storm Surge and Hurricane watches could
be issued for portions of these areas by Tuesday morning.


DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
----------------------
At 1100 AM AST (1500 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Florence was
located near latitude 25.0 North, longitude 60.0 West. Florence is
moving toward the west near 13 mph (20 km/h).  A west-northwestward
motion with an increase in forward speed is expected during the next
couple of days.  A turn toward the northwest is forecast to occur
late Wednesday night.  On the forecast track, the center of Florence
will move over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and
the Bahamas Tuesday and Wednesday, and approach the coast of South
Carolina or North Carolina on Thursday.

Satellite data indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased
to near 115 mph (185 km/h) with higher gusts.  Florence is a
category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Further strengthening is anticipated, and Florence is expected to be
an extremely dangerous major hurricane through Thursday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the
center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles
(220 km).

The estimated minimum central pressure is 962 mb (28.41 inches).


HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
SURF:  Swells generated by Florence are affecting Bermuda and
portions of the U.S. East Coast.  These swells are likely to cause
life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.  Please consult
products from your local weather office.


NEXT ADVISORY
-------------
Next complete advisory at 500 PM AST.

===================================================== 

 225 
WTNT31 KNHC 100853
TCPAT1

BULLETIN
Hurricane Florence Advisory Number  44
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL       AL062018
500 AM AST Mon Sep 10 2018

...FLORENCE RAPIDLY STRENGTHENING...
...EXPECTED TO BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE VERY SOON...


SUMMARY OF 500 AM AST...0900 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...24.9N 58.9W
ABOUT 625 MI...1005 KM SE OF BERMUDA
ABOUT 535 MI...860 KM NNE OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...105 MPH...165 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...WNW OR 285 DEGREES AT 9 MPH...15 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...969 MB...28.62 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

Interests in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states should monitor
the progress of Florence.


DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
----------------------
At 500 AM AST (0900 UTC), the center of Hurricane Florence was
located near latitude 24.9 North, longitude 58.9 West. Florence is
moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph (15 km/h). A
west-northwestward motion with an increase in forward speed is
expected during the next couple of days.  A turn toward the
northwest is forecast to occur Wednesday night or Thursday. On the
forecast track, the center of Florence will move over the
southwestern Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and the Bahamas Tuesday
and Wednesday, and approach the southeastern coast of the United
States on Thursday.

Satellite imagery indicates that the maximum sustained winds have
increased to near 105 mph (165 km/h) with higher gusts. Rapid
strengthening is forecast, and Florence is forecast to become a
major hurricane this morning, and is expected to remain an extremely
dangerous major hurricane through Thursday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the
center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles
(205 km).

The estimated minimum central pressure is 969 mb (28.62 inches).


HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
SURF:  Swells generated by Florence are affecting Bermuda and
portions of the U.S. East Coast.  These swells are likely to cause
life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.  Please consult
products from your local weather office.


NEXT ADVISORY
-------------
Next complete advisory at 1100 AM AST.

================================================= 

431 
WTNT31 KNHC 091448
TCPAT1

BULLETIN
Hurricane Florence Advisory Number  41
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL       AL062018
1100 AM AST Sun Sep 09 2018

...FLORENCE FORECAST TO RAPIDLY INTENSIFY INTO A MAJOR HURRICANE BY
MONDAY...


SUMMARY OF 1100 AM AST...1500 UTC...INFORMATION
-----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...24.4N 56.3W
ABOUT 750 MI...1210 KM SE OF BERMUDA
ABOUT 610 MI...985 KM NE OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...75 MPH...120 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...W OR 270 DEGREES AT 6 MPH...9 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...984 MB...29.06 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.


DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
----------------------
At 1100 AM AST (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Florence was
located by a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft near latitude 24.4
North, longitude 56.3 West.  Florence is moving toward the west near
6 mph (9 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue
today.  A west-northwestward motion with an increase in forward
speed is expected by Monday, and that motion is forecast to continue
through mid-week.  On the forecast track, the center of Florence
will move over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and
the Bahamas Tuesday and Wednesday, and approach the southeastern
U.S. coast on Thursday.

Aircraft data indicate that maximum sustained winds have increased
to near 75 mph (120 km/h) with higher gusts.  Florence is forecast
to rapidly strengthen to a major hurricane by Monday, and is
expected to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane through
Thursday.

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 15 miles (30 km) from the
center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles
(185 km).

The latest minimum central pressure reported by a NOAA Hurricane
Hunter Aircraft is 984 mb (29.06 inches).


HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
SURF:  Swells generated by Florence are affecting Bermuda and are
beginning to reach portions of the U.S. East Coast.  These swells
are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current
conditions.  Please consult products from your local weather office.

=============================== 

442 WTNT31 KNHC 090843 TCPAT1 BULLETIN Tropical Storm Florence Advisory Number 40 NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL062018 500 AM AST Sun Sep 09 2018 ...FLORENCE EXPECTED TO BECOME A HURRICANE TODAY...

SUMMARY OF 500 AM AST...0900 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...24.5N 55.8W
ABOUT 765 MI...1235 KM SE OF BERMUDA
ABOUT 640 MI...1030 KM NE OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...70 MPH...110 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...W OR 270 DEGREES AT 6 MPH...9 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...989 MB...29.21 INCHES


WATCHES AND WARNINGS
--------------------
There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.


DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK
----------------------
At 500 AM AST (0900 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Florence was
located near latitude 24.5 North, longitude 55.8 West. Florence is
moving toward the west near 6 mph (9 km/h), and this general motion
is expected to continue today.  A west-northwestward motion with an
increase in forward speed is expected by Monday, and that motion is
forecast to continue through mid-week.  On the forecast track, the
center of Florence will move over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean
between Bermuda and the Bahamas Tuesday and Wednesday, and approach
the southeastern U.S. coast on Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph (110 km/h) with higher
gusts.  Florence is expected to become a hurricane today and rapid
intensification is likely to begin by tonight.  Florence is forecast
to become a major hurricane on Monday.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles (205 km)
from the center.

The estimated minimum central pressure is 989 mb (29.21 inches).


HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND
----------------------
SURF:  Swells generated by Florence are affecting Bermuda and are
beginning to reach portions of the U.S. East Coast.  These swells
are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current
conditions.  Please consult products from your local weather office.


NEXT ADVISORY
-------------
Next complete advisory at 1100 AM AST.

======================================= 

Tropical Storm Florence Discussion Number  35
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL       AL062018
1100 PM AST Fri Sep 07 2018

Florence remains a sheared tropical cyclone.  Satellite images
indicate that the low-level center is partially exposed on the
southwesterly edge of a large convective mass, with the overall
circulation somewhat elongated from southwest to northeast.
A blend of the latest Dvorak wind speed estimates from TAFB/SAB and
the CIMSS SATCON gives a value of 50 kt for this advisory.

While the winds at 200 mb are already from an easterly direction
near the center of Florence, there is significant shear from
northwesterly winds from 300-500 mb, undercutting the outflow layer.
This shear is forecast to relax by the global models over the next
36 hours as an anticyclone builds to the north of the storm, which
should promote some strengthening by Sunday. After 48 hours, the
deep-layer flow becomes easterly near the cyclone, with very little
shear while the system is over very warm waters.  This pattern
favors significant intensification, and most of the guidance brings
Florence back to a category 4 hurricane in 4 or 5 days.  The
intensity forecast is very similar to the last one, and is raised
slightly at days 3 and 4 to come into better agreement with the
guidance.  It is interesting to note that even with a lower initial
intensity, the guidance is higher than the last cycle, which speaks
to the strength of the signal for intensification in the long range.

The initial motion estimate is 265 degrees at 6 kt.  Florence is
expected to continue moving slowly westward for the next 48 hours
under the influence of a weak mid-level ridge over the western
Atlantic.  By days 4 and 5, an exceptionally strong blocking ridge
is forecast to develop between Bermuda and the Northeast U.S. and
build westward, keeping Florence on a west-northwestward trajectory
with a notable increase in forward speed by the end of the forecast
period.  It feels like a broken record to mention that the overall
guidance envelope keeps shifting southwestward, and the official
forecast is moved in that direction.  Unfortunately with such a
large well-defined steering current from the ridge becoming likely,
the extended-range risk to the United States keeps rising, which is
confirmed by the majority of the latest ensemble guidance.

Key Messages:

1. Regardless of Florence's eventual track, large swells are
affecting Bermuda and will begin to affect portions of the U.S.
East Coast this weekend, resulting in life-threatening surf and rip
currents.

2. The risk of other direct impacts associated with Florence along
the U.S. East Coast next week has increased.  However, there is
still very large uncertainty in model forecasts of Florence's track
beyond day 5, making it too soon to determine the exact location,
magnitude, and timing of these impacts.  Interests near and along
the U.S. East Coast should monitor the progress of Florence through
the weekend and ensure they have their hurricane plans in place.

WAS IT MANSLAUGHTER OR MURDER? DALLAS POLICE OFFICER AMBER GUYGER MAY HAVE INTENTIONALLY KILLED BOTHAM SHEM JEAN AND NOT BY MISTAKE: Off-duty Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger, who shot and killed unarmed man Botham Shem Jean, 26, after entering his apartment illegally, has been charged with manslaughter

WAS IT MANSLAUGHTER OR MURDER?  DALLAS POLICE OFFICER AMBER GUYGER MAY HAVE INTENTIONALLY KILLED BOTHAM SHEM JEAN AND NOT BY MISTAKE.  THESE KILLER POLICE OFFICERS ALWAYS CLAIM THAT THEY ARE THREATENED OR FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES AS AN EXCUSE TO SHOOT TO KILL OTHER PEOPLE.  SHE LOOKS LIKE A LITTLE BITCH TO US WHO WAS DEFENDING ONE OF HER FEMALE FRIENDS OR HAD AN INSURANCE ISSUE WITH BOTHAM JEAN OR SOME OTHER CONFLICT.

Dallas police officer charged in fatal shooting of unarmed neighbor


By AnneClaire Stapleton and Darran Simon, CNN

Monday, September 10, 2018

(CNN) A Dallas police officer who fatally shot a man in his apartment after mistaking it for her own was arrested Sunday on a manslaughter charge, the Texas Rangers said. 

Amber Guyger, who is white, was off-duty when she shot Botham Shem Jean, a black man, police said Thursday. The 26-year-old native of St. Lucia was unarmed. He died at a hospital. 

Guyger was released from the Kaufman County Jail on Sunday evening after posting a $300,000 bond.

Officer entered the wrong apartment

The fatal shooting happened Thursday night at the South Side Flats in Dallas, where both Jean and Guyger lived.


Dallas police identify officer who went to wrong apartment and killed a man 

"A female Dallas police officer returned to what she believed to be her apartment after her shift ended -- she was still in uniform when she encountered Mr. Jean inside the apartment," Dallas Police Chief Ulysha Renee Hall said Thursday.

The police chief said it's unclear what "the interaction was between her and the victim. Then at some point she fired her weapon striking the victim."

The officer called 911 and officers "responded in about four minutes," Hall said.


Guyger also involved in a 2017 shooting

Guyger, 30, is a four-year veteran of the department, assigned to the Southeast Patrol Division. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney.


Dallas police officer arrested in shooting death of Botham Shem Jean

Guyger was involved in another shooting incident in May 2017, Dallas police said.

In that case, Guyger was attempting to identify a woman in a car when another passenger in the vehicle got out and took her taser. Guyger shot and injured the suspect, according to the department's statement. The suspect was later charged with taking a weapon from an officer, possession of meth and marijuana, and a parole violation.

State law enforcement leading the investigation

The investigation into the recent shooting has been handed over to the Texas Rangers, the state law enforcement agency, to "eliminate the appearance of any potential bias," the police department said in a statement Saturday.


Texas Rangers postpone charges against cop who fatally shot man at apartment she thought was her own 

"At the very early stages of this investigation -- initial indications were that they were what we consider circumstances of an officer-involved shooting," Hall said. "However, as we continued this investigation it became clear that we were dealing with what appears to be a much different and very unique situation."

Hall said investigators obtained a blood sample from Guyger to test for drugs and alcohol.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings thanked the Texas Rangers and praised Hall, who asked the state agency to take over the investigation.

"Please continue to pray for the family of Botham Jean tonight and in the weeks and months ahead," Rawlings said in a statement.

Jean remembered as a loving son and brother

Guyger's arrest was announced as Jean's family and their attorneys say they met with Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson to demand the officer be taken into custody. 


Man fatally shot by police officer mourned from Texas to St. Lucia

"We don't need evidence beyond a reasonable doubt at this point," Jean family attorney S. Lee Merritt told reporters Sunday. "At this point, we need probable cause of a crime. And the existence of probable cause is painstakingly clear to everyone." 

Merritt said attorneys presented prosecutors with a witness, and video evidence, which didn't capture the shooting, but declined to elaborate. Jean and Guyger did not have any known relationship prior to the shooting, Merritt said.

"We're still dealing in America with black people being killed in some of the most arbitrary ways, driving while black, walking while black and now we have to add living while black," co-counsel Benjamin Crump said.

Jean worked as a risk assurance experienced associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas, according to his LinkedIn page.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Harding University in Arkansas in 2016. Crump said Jean was "living, doing everything that you want a young person to do."
"He had no criminal history. He was an amazing student. He was an amazing citizen. He loved God," Crump said.

Friends and family gathered at a vigil at Jean's church, the Dallas West Church of Christ on Saturday, CNN affiliate CBS 11 reported. He was remembered by classmates, coworkers and family members as a loving son and brother, a hard worker and a powerful singer who enjoyed helping others.

"Botham loved mankind," Jean's mother, Allison Jean said to those gathered. "Botham never saw color, never saw race. Botham wanted all of us to unite."

Funeral services for Jean are scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the Dallas West Church of Christ.

CNN's Susannah Cullinane and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

29-year-old driver Mikolaycak Milorme was seriously injured by wrong-way driver Raymundo Centeno, 33, of Mount Dora, who died in the crash on the Polk Parkway in Florida

Wrong-way driver involved in fatal two-vehicle crash on Polk Parkway
Ken Knight
September 8, 2018

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — 

A wrong-way driver was involved in a deadly traffic crash on the Polk Parkway early Saturday morning, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Two vehicles collided in the crash about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, FHP spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins said.

A 2015 Smart car, driven by 33-year-old Raymundo Centeno of Mount Dora, was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of the Polk Parkway approaching Mile Marker 14, the Highway Patrol release said.

At the same time a 2008 Dodge Charger, driven by 29-year-old Mikolaycak Milorme of Winter Haven, was headed eastbound in the eastbound lanes.

The cars collided head-on on the parkway south of K-Ville Avenue.

Both drivers were taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where Centeno died of his injuries. Milorme was last listed in serious condition.

State troopers are investigating to determine whether the crash was alcohol-related. Test results are pending.  Most of the early am crashes, especially the wrong-way ones, are attributed to drunk, drugged or otherwise impaired drivers.

Neither driver was wearing a seatbelt. 

================================

1 killed, 1 seriously injured after wrong-way crash on Polk Parkway

By: WFLA 8 On Your Side Staff

Posted: Sep 08, 2018 09:03 AM EDT


POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) - 

One driver is dead and another is seriously injured after a wrong-way crash on the Polk Parkway early Saturday morning.

The crash happened just before 2:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of the parkway, just south of K-Ville Avenue.

Troopers say 33-year-old Raymundo Centeno was driving a smart car west in the eastbound lanes and collided head-on with a Dodge Charger driven by 29-year-old Mikolaycak Milorme.

Centeno was taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead. Milorme was also taken to Lakeland Regional and has serious injuries.

The crash report from FHP says neither driver was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. Troopers say Centeno was from Mount Dora and Milorme is from Winter Haven.

Milorme was not under the influence of alcohol, according to troopers. The crash report says investigators are still working to determine if Centeno had alcohol in his system.

The crash shut down the eastbound lanes of the parkway for several hours.
===================================

STATE of Florida, Appellant, v. Raymundo CENTENO, Jr., Appellee.

No. 5D14–4664.

    Decided: June 03, 2016

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Rebecca Rock McGuigan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellant. James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Allison A. Havens, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellee. The State of Florida timely appeals the trial court's decision to impose a downward departure sentence on Raymundo Centeno, Jr., after Centeno entered a plea of no contest to burglary of a dwelling and petit theft. The State argues that the sole reason given for the departure was unsupported by substantial, competent evidence. We agree and reverse.

Centeno was charged with burglary of a dwelling and petit theft after he entered the victim's garage and stole a yard trimmer. He entered an open plea on both charges and was sentenced immediately thereafter. Based on his scoresheet, the lowest permissible sentence Centeno could receive under the Criminal Punishment Code was twenty-four months in the Department of Corrections. However, despite his score, the trial court imposed a downward departure sentence of two years community control with drug offender special conditions because “[t]he offense was committed in an unsophisticated manner and was an isolated incident for which the defendant has shown remorse.” § 921.0026(2)(j), Fla. Stat. (2013)

“A downward departure sentence will be affirmed if the reason given for the departure is permissible and is supported by substantial, competent evidence.” State v. Burt, 183 So.3d 1117, 1118 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (citing State v. Bell, 854 So.2d 686, 690 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003)). Three elements must be shown in order to establish the existence of the mitigating circumstance listed in section 921.0026(2)(j). Id. First, the offense must have been “committed in an unsophisticated manner.” Second, the offense must have been “an isolated incident.” And, third, the defendant must have “shown remorse” for the offense. All three elements must be established to justify a downward departure on this basis. See id. (citing State v. Geoghagan, 27 So.3d 111, 114 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009); State v. Jerry 19 So.3d 1167, 1170 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)); State v. Thompkins, 113 So.3d 95, 98 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013) (citing State v. Brannum, 876 So.2d 724 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)); State v. Ayers, 901 So.2d 942, 945 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (citing State v. Cooper, 889 So.2d 119, 119 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)). We conclude that none of the elements have been established in this case and begin our analysis with the most obvious.

Centeno's criminal history spans nearly a decade and consists of three prior felonies and seven prior misdemeanors. His prior felony record includes possession of cocaine, attempted tampering with physical evidence, and driving while license suspended (enhanced).¹ His misdemeanor record consists of two possession of drug paraphernalia offenses, three driving while license suspended convictions, resisting an officer without violence, and petit theft. Notably, like the present case, Centeno's prior theft was the result of him stealing a tool from a store. With this record, we cannot conclude that Centeno's current offenses are isolated incidents. See State v. Jones, 122 So.3d 517, 518 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013) (explaining that prior record consisting of two felonies and two misdemeanors precluded Appellant from showing current offenses were isolated incidents); Thompkins, 113 So.3d at 99 (finding significant criminal history, including a prior conviction for the same crime, indicated crimes were not isolated incidents within the meaning of section 921.0026(2)(j)); State v. Leverett, 44 So.3d 634, 637 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) (determining crime not isolated where defendant had one prior felony conviction and three misdemeanor convictions); see also Ayers, 901 So.2d at 945 (concluding “[t]he fact that a defendant who has previously committed numerous offenses has not in the past committed the same crime as the offense for which he is being sentenced does not mean that the current offense is ‘an isolated incident’ ”).

Additionally, the record does not support a finding that the crime was committed in an unsophisticated manner or that Centeno was remorseful. The record reflects that Centeno walked into an open garage and picked up a lawn edger and blower. When he was confronted by the homeowner, Centeno told him a friend had given him permission to use the equipment. The homeowner told Centeno to leave and never come back. After Centeno left in a waiting vehicle, the homeowner discovered his yard trimmer was missing. At sentencing, Centeno acknowledged that he was out looking for lawn equipment and expensive tools because they are worth more money when pawned.

Centeno asserts that the act of walking into an open garage and taking something off a shelf is unsophisticated because it is merely a crime of opportunity. While this may very well be the case in some instances, it is not so here. Centeno admitted seeking items that would garner more money when pawned, and he has a prior conviction for a similar act. Furthermore, the record supports the conclusion that Centeno entered the victim's garage not once, but twice; the first time to steal the trimmer. These additional facts belie the conclusion that the crimes were committed in an unsophisticated manner.

Moreover, although Centeno entered a plea, he refused to admit he took the victim's yard trimmer.² Under these circumstances, the act of entering a plea and saying “I'm sorry” is not enough to establish remorse. See State v. Henderson 152 So.3d 39, 51 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014) (finding defendant failed to show remorse where he pled guilty but then denied committing the crime at sentencing); Ayers, 901 So.2d at 945 (holding that the record did not support element of remorse where defendant continued to deny responsibility for the offense); State v. Chestnut, 718 So.2d 312, 313 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (concluding “[w]e are certain that [the defendant's] denial of doing ‘what [he] was accused of’ is not the kind of remorse contemplated by the legislature.”).

Based on the foregoing, we conclude the trial court's reason for imposing a downward departure sentence was not supported by substantial, competent evidence. Accordingly, we reverse Centeno's sentence and remand for resentencing.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

FOOTNOTES

1.  The felony driving offense occurred while Centeno was on pretrial release for the current offense. He was convicted prior to entering his plea in this case.
2.  Centeno acknowledged that his girlfriend admitted to police that they took the trimmer and discarded it. Nevertheless, he maintained that he did not take the victim's trimmer, but rather a different trimmer from a different house.
BERGER, J.
TORPY and LAMBERT, JJ., concur.

Aliases:
RAYMUNDO CENTENO	RAYMUNDO CENTENO JR
RAYMUNDO J CENTENO

Note: The offense descriptions are truncated and do not necessarily reflect the crime for which the offender is on supervision. Please refer to the court documents or the Florida Statutes for further information or definition.

Current Community Supervision History:
Offense Date	Offense	Sentence Date	County	Case No.	Community Supervision Length
04/10/2014	BURG/DWELL/OCCUP.CONVEY	12/19/2014	ORANGE	1405280	2Y 0M 0D
04/10/2014	BURG/DWELL/OCCUP.CONVEY	08/05/2016	ORANGE	1405280	2Y 0M 0D

DC Number:	X88064
Name:	CENTENO, RAYMUNDO JR
Race:	WHITE
Sex:	MALE
Hair Color:	BLACK
Eye Color:	BROWN
Height:	5'07''
Weight:	150 lbs.
Birth Date:	01/14/1985
Supervision Begin Date:	12/19/2014
Current Location:	ORLANDO
Current Status:	ACTIVE
Supervision Type:	PROBATION FELONY
Scheduled Termination Date:	08/04/2019

THE BLOODY U.S. ROADS: More than 4,300 people were killed in accidents involving semis and other large trucks in 2016, a 28 percent increase over 2009; however, less than 10% of trucks have automatic emergency braking and other safety technology because NHTSA will not require them to do so

Lethal inaction: As fatal truck crashes surge, U.S. government won’t make an easy fix

By Mike Hendricks
mhendricks@kcstar.com

September 09, 2018 05:30 AM

Trucker Jeff Kolkman was an ace within Green Transportation’s squadron of “road pilots.”

The lanky, 38-year-old father of four was, according to his dispatcher, “a very safe driver who followed the rules. He always put safety first.”

Until one spring afternoon when he didn’t.

In a dash-cam recording from inside the cab of a 2016 Volvo semi, Kolkman stares down at a black tablet computer in his right hand while piloting the 18-wheeler down the interstate at 70 mph. It ends seconds later as the truck slams into the rear of a 2014 Toyota Camry stuck in traffic outside West Terre Haute, Ind.

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Kolkman’s big rig never braked, one witness told the state police. It “barely slowed down,” said another.

Four lives were lost in that fiery crash near the Illinois-Indiana border last year, adding to a grim toll: fatal truck wrecks are growing at a clip almost three times the rate of deadly crashes overall.

More than 4,300 people were killed in accidents involving semis and other large trucks in 2016, a 28 percent increase over 2009, according to the federal government. It would be equal to a 737 airliner crashing twice a month, killing all on board.

“Those should be eye-opening numbers,” said John Lannen of the Truck Safety Coalition. “If air carriers or railroads reported similar numbers, there would be national outrage.”

Yet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal regulatory agency responsible for protecting us from danger on the nation’s roads, has failed to mandate changes that over the past two decades might have averted thousands of rear-end truck crashes like that one outside West Terre Haute.

“They are absolutely a culpable villain in this picture,” said Steve Owings, who co-founded the advocacy group Road Safe America after his son was killed in a rear-end truck collision outside Atlanta 15 years ago. “We need to hold them accountable.”

In a months-long investigation, The Star found that NHTSA has largely ignored repeated pleas from the National Transportation Safety Board to take action that would prevent trucks from rear-ending other vehicles. While big trucks collide with cars in a variety of ways, experts say these types of wrecks are among the most devastating and yet perhaps the easiest to prevent with technology.

On at least 10 occasions since the late 1990s, the safety board recommended that NHTSA require forward crash avoidance and mitigation systems on all heavy trucks.

Two decades after the safety board first sounded that alarm, NHTSA has yet to publish a proposed regulation of its own, much less put one in effect.

“Many of these crashes could have been mitigated, or possibly even prevented, had rear-end collision avoidance technologies been in place,” the safety board said in a scathing 2016 critique of NHTSA’s failure to act.

It’s not as if the technology is groundbreaking, or unfamiliar. Many new cars — and soon all — come equipped with automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems, among other high-tech safety features.

The auto industry promises that, by 2022, this safety equipment will be standard on all new passenger vehicles sold in the United States.

Makers of heavy trucks, on the other hand, have made no such commitment. As a result, only a small percentage of semis on the road today have collision avoidance technology.

While some large trucking companies are willing to shell out a couple of thousand dollars for the optional equipment when updating their fleets, others would rather not add to the $150,000 price tag of a new Kenworth, Freightliner or Peterbilt.

Presented with The Star’s findings, some in Congress say it’s time to act. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, said the rising death toll from truck accidents is proof that such safety concerns shouldn’t be left to market forces.

“Safety mechanisms for the trucking industry have not kept up with the pace of technological advancement,” Booker told The Star. “It’s time that Congress take meaningful action to improve safety across our transportation sector.”

Motorists on today’s crowded highways are even more vulnerable to being rammed from behind by an 18-wheeler in a work zone or traffic jam than they were a decade ago. And it’s only going to get worse in the decades ahead as freight shipments by truck climb to meet the needs of a growing economy and a consumer culture that does much of its shopping online.

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NHTSA won’t say why it has not followed through on the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations.

Robert Kreeb, a division chief who has been involved in much of NHTSA’s crash avoidance research, referred all questions to the agency’s communications department. It provided a written statement that said NHTSA is still studying the technology.

“NHTSA researched early systems from 2013 to 2016, and is currently studying next-generation AEB (automatic emergency braking) technology through a naturalistic driving study using a field operation test,” the agency said. “NHTSA expects to complete the critical field operation testing in 18 to 24 months. This research and other information will help inform an agency decision on next steps.”

Safety advocates call that “paralysis by analysis,” and say American motorists would be better served if NHTSA moved forward with technology that’s been proven to save lives instead of committing so much of its limited resources on things like driverless cars. The European Union began requiring crash avoidance systems on big trucks some three years ago.

“It’s all being pushed off by this need to focus on this thing in the future,” said Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, D.C.

The priority should be on saving lives now, said Jim Hall, who was National Transportation Safety Board chairman when the NTSB first pushed for trucks to have crash alert systems in the late 1990s.

“Our government has failed to fund safe roads and encourages 80,000-pound trucks on the same highways as families and children in 3,000-pound vehicles,” Hall said.

Why not mandate, he added, “available technology to provide safety to those who fund the highway system — the taxpayer?”
‘They go too fast’

Angela Arvanitakis of Overland Park fears sharing the road with big rigs, and even more so after one plowed into her daughter’s car last year in Nebraska.

“They go too fast,” she said. “I’m nervous every time I see a semi coming near.”

Brake lights blazed cherry red across the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 on Aug. 21, 2017, as the highway jammed up with people leaving Omaha for a better view of the total solar eclipse. Demi Arvanitakis was at the rear of the line behind the wheel of her white Prius.


She and three friends, all 19-year-old sophomores at Creighton University, had binge-watched eclipse documentaries the night before and were headed for Lincoln.

“We expected some traffic,” she recalled, but doesn’t remember whether traffic had come to a complete stop or was creeping along. Nor does she recall whether she checked the rear-view mirror and glimpsed the blue semi roaring up behind her at highway speed.

“I had a brain injury, so I lost a lot of memory from that day,” she said.

What she does know is that her friend and backseat passenger Joan Ocampo-Yambing would still be alive today had truck driver Robert Richmond been paying attention to the flow of traffic and hit the brakes in time.

“She was right behind me,” Arvanitakis said. “I heard she was killed on impact.”

Today’s crash avoidance systems were designed to compensate for human failure and misbehavior. According to the safety board, speeding, distracted driving and impairment are, in that order, the three leading causes of fatal wrecks.

Truck crashes have grown deadlier as speed limits have risen across the country, because even today’s well-built cars with all their safety features are no match for the lethal mass of a semi traveling at high velocity.

Forty-three states have maximum speed limits of 70 or above, compared to 35 states a decade ago. In seven states, 80 mph is now the limit on interstates; only two set it that high in 2008.

“Surviving a crash becomes less viable at about a 45 mph impact and it starts to go up pretty exponentially,” said Capt. Chris Turner, who heads the truck safety program for the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Our roads are also more clogged with traffic now than a decade ago, increasing the potential for more wrecks.


Smart truck technology can help reduce accidents


Trucks can be equipped with technology that will help prevent accidents on highways. Those devices tend to be optional since they are not required by federal law.
By Neil Nakahodo | Shane Keyser | John Sleezer

Today’s forward collision avoidance systems can prevent more than seven out of 10 rear-end truck collisions, according to companies that have deployed the equipment in their fleets. When wrecks do occur, injuries are generally less severe and property damages are lower, findings that NHTSA does not dispute.

“The silver bullet out there right now is automatic emergency braking,” said Jeff Burns, a Kansas City attorney who specializes in truck wreck cases.

At least 300 people die and 15,000 are injured annually in wrecks where a semi runs into the back of another vehicle, according to a University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute study.

Since the summer of 2017, three rear-end truck crashes very much like the one in Indiana left eight people dead in the Kansas City area: five in a single wreck on the Kansas Turnpike near Bonner Springs on July 11, 2017, one that same month on I-435 in Overland Park, and then in February two along that same stretch of interstate when a semi hit a minivan near State Line Road. Both of those victims were children.

All three wrecks might have been averted if the semis that crashed into slow-moving traffic had automatic emergency braking.

Pam Biddle, a former Kansas City TV station executive now working in Columbus, Ga., knows well the heartache that the survivors of truck wreck victims feel. Biddle’s 23-year-old son, Aaron Lee, who earned straight A’s at Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kan.; her ex-husband, Brian Lee; and Brian Lee’s girlfriend, Stephanie Swaim, were in the Camry that Kolkman’s semi rammed outside of West Terre Haute.

On impact, shards of plastic, glass and metal rained onto the highway. Only after the semi shoved the burning wreckage of the Camry under a 53-foot flatbed trailer loaded with steel bars did the vehicles come to a stop.

“Their wallets were the only way they could identify them,” Biddle’s daughter Kiera Davis said of her dad and brother.

There wasn’t much else left when friends and family members visited the tow lot a day or two later to collect what personal items they could find. It took close to an hour to scrape the melted soles of Aaron Lee’s shoes free from the front floorboard.


Biddle was distressed to learn that in the seconds leading up to the wreck, the truck driver wasn’t paying attention to the road ahead. But even more disturbing was to discover that the federal government has long known how to prevent such crashes, yet cautious bureaucrats and Congress have failed to intervene.

“I was appalled,” Biddle said. “To know that this could have been prevented, that I could still hold my son and that my children could still hug their father, if only someone with the power to change it had taken action years ago, is beyond disheartening.”
A history of inaction

The NTSB has long insisted on the need for forward crash avoidance systems in large trucks. This year, the safety board once again included automatic emergency braking systems for trucks on its annual list of “Most Wanted Transportation Safety Improvements.”

But the independent agency has limited authority. It can only investigate commercial vehicle crashes and make recommendations on preventing them.

The agency has no power to impose rules. That authority rests with Congress and federal regulatory agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Jim Hall was shocked at NHTSA’s lack of urgency on the matter when, in 1997, the agency said it had no plans to test the systems in large trucks after the safety board first suggested doing just that. Hall, then the NTSB chairman, told a Senate committee two years later that the safety board was “disappointed” in the agency’s attitude. He has seen nothing to change his opinion since.

“I am even more disappointed today than I was in 1999 over the lack of leadership and safety culture at NHTSA,” he told The Star.

NHTSA is notoriously slow to act. Its bureaucrats and scientists can spend decades studying an issue before proposing a new safety requirement only to drop it suddenly.

One example that especially galls highway safety advocates: In 2006, the agency began considering a proposal to require use of a mechanism that limits the speed of big trucks and to set that limit at no more than 68 mph. It would not have added a dime to the price of a new truck and prevent an estimated 1,115 fatal crashes every year, according to NHTSA’s own estimates.

But after 11 years of consideration, the agency shelved the rule last year in response to industry complaints and a Trump administration edict blocking most new regulations on business.

Even when NHTSA does act, it can take a very long time. Decades passed before NHTSA got around to setting height and strength standards for the bars that hang from the tail ends of truck trailers that help prevent the roofs of cars from being sheared off when they rear end trucks.

So the fact that 20 years have gone by without the agency moving forward on requiring crash avoidance systems is not all that unusual, according to auto safety activists like Janette Fennell.

“You see this over and over and over again,” said Fennell, founder of Leawood-based KidsAndCars.org, which pushed NHTSA for years to comply with a congressional mandate that all cars have backup cameras.

A decade passed before they finally did this year, and Fennell says the parallels with truck safety regulation delays “are uncanny.”

“Lives are being needlessly taken,” she said.
Washington roadblocks

Weeks apart along the same stretch of Georgia interstate, 10 people were killed in two rear-end semi truck crashes. Horrified by the loss of life, a congressman from suburban Atlanta introduced a bill he hoped would prevent similar carnage.

Had it passed, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson’s Safe Road Act of 2015 would have forced federal regulators to write a rule requiring automatic emergency braking systems on all heavy trucks.

But as a Democrat in a Republican Congress, Johnson’s bill was dead on arrival in the House, as was a similar one introduced by fellow Democrat Cory Booker in the Senate that same year.

Still, the bills’ supporters remained hopeful, because NHTSA chose that moment to take what at the time seemed like a step forward. Four safety groups had formally asked the agency to begin the long process of writing a regulation requiring that all large trucks be equipped with forward collision avoidance and mitigation systems.

NHTSA made no promises, but accepted the petition for rulemaking and published an endorsement of sorts in the Federal Register, agreeing that the systems “have the potential to save lives by preventing or reducing the severity of rear-end crashes.”

Then nothing happened.

In the three years since, there have been no hearing notices or invitation for public comments, much less a proposed rule, which doesn’t surprise Joan Claybrook.

“When I was NHTSA administrator in the 1970s,” she said, “I had to push like heck to get anything done.”

No one knows the agency better inside or out. Before she headed NHTSA under President Jimmy Carter, Claybrook had teamed up in the 1960s with fellow auto safety advocate Ralph Nader to push for the legislation that led to NHTSA’s creation.

She said efforts aimed at getting NHTSA to impose a rule requiring automatic emergency braking on trucks is doomed to failure without active support from a strong leader heading the agency.

And there simply haven’t been many over the years, she said, under Republican or Democratic presidents.

A year and a half into Trump’s presidency, an administrator still hasn’t been confirmed and the current nominee, acting administrator Heidi King, has neither a background in highway safety nor solid support so far in the U.S. Senate.

“It doesn’t have any leadership; that’s a problem,” Claybrook said.

Another problem is that the agency lacks a sense of urgency to get anything done, she said. Staffers lack enthusiasm for writing new regulations when they know there’s no support at the top.

Regulators are also subject to pressure from industry groups, which spend a fortune trying to influence policy. Lobbying efforts on behalf of the trucking industry totaled $11 million in 2017, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That’s in addition to campaign contributions to congressional candidates, overwhelmingly Republican incumbents, which totaled more than $5.2 million in the 2016 election cycle.

“Anything that costs money, the industry usually opposes,” Claybrook said. “Not every single company. But mostly. And it anesthetizes the agency. Unless you have a strong leader in these regulatory agencies who is intent on getting things done, it’s really hard.”

That’s led to a growing trend within NHTSA to broker voluntary deals aimed at achieving the same goals as a regulation, but without any teeth to enforce those aims.

An example was when automakers agreed to install automatic emergency braking on virtually all passenger vehicles by 2022.

While the Obama administration trumpeted that deal as a great achievement, Claybrook and others were unimpressed because it came without uniform standards or any mechanism to enforce them.

“The whole concept of voluntary standards is a reflection of how broken the NHTSA auto safety rulemaking process is,” said Amit Narang, a policy analyst at Public Citizen, the Ralph Nader-founded advocacy group that focuses on auto safety and other issues.

“NHTSA has basically thrown up their hands and said our rulemaking process is just too intense and requires too much cost-benefit analysis.”

Other countries have taken bolder steps. Last fall, South Korea said it would require automatic emergency braking as well as lane-departure warning technology on all new cars and trucks by 2021.

The European Union felt confident enough in the technology that it passed a rule a decade ago that all new big rigs sold in the EU’s 28 member nations come standard with automatic emergency braking as of 2015.

The United States, meanwhile, is still in study mode.
‘What’s to lose?’

The consequence of not requiring automatic emergency braking systems on trucks was made tragically clear one night two years ago outside of Goodland, Kan.

A Toyota Sequoia was having engine troubles and traveling about 40 mph on I-70 when a semi going the 75 mph speed limit hit it from behind. Six of the 11 people crammed inside the Toyota died.

In a report published this spring, the NTSB spread the blame. The trucker was tired, the agency said. The driver of the SUV had not turned on his flashing hazard lights, and the vehicle was overloaded.

But the NTSB also stressed that the crash might never have happened had the truck driver’s employer paid for the optional collision avoidance system that the 2016 Volvo tractor was pre-wired for.

Former American Trucking Associations executive Howard Abramson finds it disheartening to think that less than 10 percent of the trucks on the road today have that safety equipment because truck owners are free to go without it.

“When you have 80,000 pounds crashing down the roads full of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of goods, capable of killing large numbers of people, why wouldn’t you put in a system that costs a couple of thousand bucks?” Abramson asks. “What’s to lose?”

For those in the trucking industry who believe saving lives should be a priority, the evidence is clear, said Steve Williams, a trucking executive who heads a pro-safety industry group called the Trucking Alliance.

As the owner of Arkansas-based Maverick Transportation LLC, he has invested heavily in safety technology over the last couple of decades and seen it pay off.

Fewer wrecks means less money paid out of the company’s self-insurance fund and less spent on repairs and replacement of damaged equipment.

But while the Trucking Alliance — short for the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security — is in favor of the government requiring automatic emergency braking and other safety technology, the group represents a small fraction of a heavily fragmented trucking industry.

You get different opinions from the industry’s two main lobbying groups.

The more powerful of the two, the American Trucking Associations, is high on the technology, and has been since at least 2015, when the group’s then-executive director, former Kansas Gov. Bill Graves, called for trucking companies to voluntarily adopt advanced safety technologies.

But he was careful in not coming out in favor of a government mandate.

“Our position is the same,” ATA spokesman Sean McNally said recently. “We would like and we would urge equipment manufacturers to make this equipment standard.”

But there are many small firms that might not be able to afford these safety upgrades, he said, and shouldn’t be forced to shoulder that cost.

The other big lobbying group is OOIDA, the Owner- Operator Independent Drivers Association, which is based just outside of Kansas City in Grain Valley, Mo.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 86 percent of the nation’s half million trucking companies have fleets with no more than six trucks, and most of them have only one or two.

That’s the constituency OOIDA speaks for, and many of those companies have a hard enough time making ends meet without having to pay more for their trucks, the groups says.

Plus, some are skeptical about the equipment’s effectiveness.

“We don’t know whether this stuff really works,” said OOIDA’s president Todd Spencer.

It works, said long-haul driver Mike “Mustang” Crawford of Long Lane, Mo., although he worries about drivers’ increasing reliance on it.

Over the past 24 years, Crawford has driven 6 million accident-free miles without the assistance of any of the new safety technology. But at the truck stops he visits, he’s heard testimonials from his peers.

“I do believe it’s helped stop a lot of accidents,” Crawford said.

Still, he said, “You have to watch what you’re doing, you have to forget Facebook. You have to forget tweets.”

But what if a driver doesn’t heed that advice, like on that day a year ago last May outside West Terre Haute, Ind.? Kiera Davis, whose dad was behind the wheel of the car hit by the trucker, wants more trucking companies to adopt the technology.

But why wouldn’t the government require it?

“It’s taking more lives and it doesn’t need to continue to happen,” she said with notes of anger, grief and disgust. “I would urge them to do something immediately, because it is so preventable.”

==============================





December 21, 2017 | Washington, DC
Manufacturers make progress on voluntary commitment to include automatic emergency braking on all new vehicles



WASHINGTON, DC — Four of 20 automakers report that automatic emergency braking (AEB) is standard on more than half of their 2017 model year vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced in the first update of manufacturer progress toward equipping every new vehicle with the crash avoidance technology. Even without making it standard, another five automakers report that more than 30 percent of vehicles they produced in 2017 were equipped with AEB.

“The growing number of vehicles offering automated emergency braking is good news for America’s motorists and passengers,” says U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “With each model year, manufacturers will increasingly utilize technology to allow vehicles to ‘see’ the world around them and navigate it more safely.”

Twenty automakers pledged to voluntarily equip virtually all new passenger vehicles by September 1, 2022, with a low-speed AEB system that includes forward collision warning (FCW), technology proven to help prevent and mitigate front-to-rear crashes. The commitment is intended to get the technology into a wider swath of the vehicle fleet faster than otherwise possible today.

“IIHS is pleased to see that automakers are steadily moving toward the shared goal of putting standard AEB into every new car they sell,” says David Zuby, executive vice president and chief research officer of IIHS. “This is a big win for safety on our nation’s roads, which will see fewer crashes and injuries because of this commitment.”

By 2025, the commitment will prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries, IIHS estimates. Consumer Reports supported the commitment and agreed to assist in monitoring automaker progress.

“This progress is great news for luxury car buyers and many others, but many automakers still need to do more, as Consumer Reports analysis indicates that only 19 percent of 2017 models included these lifesaving technologies as standard features,” says David Friedman, director of cars and product policy and analysis at Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization division of Consumer Reports. “Automakers, safety groups, and the government should also work together to make highway operation and pedestrian detection standard features on all AEB systems.”

Manufacturers recently submitted their first yearly progress report to NHTSA on the AEB status of the 2017 fleet for vehicles manufactured from Sept. 1, 2016, through Aug. 31, 2017, for the U.S. market (Docket ID: NHTSA-2015-0101). The participating automakers include Audi, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. These companies represent more than 99 percent of the U.S. automobile market.

Toyota is the frontrunner when it comes to having the largest number of 2017 vehicles with standard AEB. The automaker equipped 56 percent of its 2017 fleet — 1.4 of 2.5 million vehicles — with AEB. General Motors has the second-highest number of 2017 models with AEB — 551,777 of 2.8 million vehicles, representing 20 percent of its 2017 fleet. Honda is third-highest with 492,330 of 1.6 million vehicles with AEB, representing 30 percent of its 2017 fleet.

In terms of the proportion of vehicles produced with AEB, luxury makers in general lead the way. Tesla included the technology on nearly all 2017 Model S cars and Model X SUVs, either as original equipment or via an over-the-air software update, although the feature was deactivated on some vehicles for part of 2017. Mercedes-Benz equipped 96 percent of its 2017 vehicles with standard AEB. Seventy-three percent of 2017 Audi vehicles have AEB, followed by 68 percent of Volvos and 58 percent of BMWs. Just under half of Subaru’s 2017 vehicles have AEB.

Other manufacturers have yet to make significant progress. Fewer than 10 percent of 2017 vehicles sold by Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Kia and Mitsubishi have AEB. Jaguar Land Rover and Porsche didn’t offer the feature at all on 2017 vehicles.


Background

Initially announced with 10 automakers in September 2015, and another 10 in March 2016, the voluntary commitment was brokered by NHTSA and IIHS to make AEB with FCW standard on virtually all light-duty cars and trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds or less beginning no later than Sept. 1, 2022. The commitment calls for the technology to be standard on virtually all trucks with a gross vehicle weight between 8,501 pounds and 10,000 pounds beginning no later than Sept. 1, 2025.

AEB, also known as autobrake, among other names, includes a range of systems designed to address the large number of rear-end crashes in which drivers do not apply the brakes or fail to apply sufficient braking power to avoid or mitigate a crash. AEB systems use on vehicle sensors such as radar, cameras or lasers to detect an imminent crash, warn the driver and, if the driver does not take sufficient action, engage the brakes. Forward collision warning alerts drivers to conflicts ahead but doesn’t take action for the driver. AEB systems halve rear-end crashes, while FCW alone reduces them by nearly a third, IIHS research indicates.

Conforming systems must come with FCW that meets 2 of 3 NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings’ requirements and AEB that earns at least an “advanced” rating from IIHS. Although a low-speed AEB system is standard on all Volvo passenger vehicles, not all include forward collision warning as outlined in the voluntary commitment. Mazda also offers a low-speed AEB system without forward collision warning.

For more information from NHTSA, go to nhtsa.gov

Through enforcing vehicle performance standards and partnerships with state and local governments, NHTSA reduces deaths, injuries and economic losses from motor vehicle crashes.

For more information from IIHS, go to iihs.org

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses — deaths, injuries and property damage — from motor vehicle crashes. The Institute is wholly supported by auto insurers.