Nuclear safety officials dinged Raleigh-based Progress Energy for a minor safety violation at its Brunswick nuclear plant near Wilmington.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this morning that the plant's emergency diesel generators were not properly protected from possible flooding during a hurricane. The generators are needed as a backup source of electric power to operate pumps and other emergency equipment required to keep nuclear fuel from melting down and releasing radioactivity.

The generators were not properly protected because the Brunswick plant had not sealed off the fuel-oil tank room that stores the diesel to run the generators.

The agency said the oversight was of "low to moderate safety significance." It did not merit a fine, but the NRC will increase its oversight of the nuclear plant with an extra inspection.

This week the National Transportation Safety Board said North Carolina and the other 49 states should ban practically all use of cell phones (including the hands-free variety that some folks think is safer) and other portable electronic devices while driving. [12/20 update: Car-phoning is a convenient habit that would be hard to give up. See today's Road Worrier column with a vigorous debate in the comment section, and add your thoughts.]

Is this a great idea, or is it going way too far? Does phoning make you dangerous behind the wheel -- or are you confident that you won't kill yourself while you're yakking with your secretary or your boyfriend?  I'm writing about this Monday. Please let me hear from you by email, with your name and daytime contact info. Or call me 919-829-4527.

This far-reaching recommendation came after NTSB blamed a texting driver for starting a chain-reaction pileup in Missouri in August 2010, in which two people were killed and 38 others were injured. As the Associated Press reported:

"According to NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration], more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents", said [NTSB] Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. "It is time for all of us to stand up for safety by turning off electronic devices when driving."

"No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life."

Critics protested that NTSB was over-reaching. ... [MORE]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today it will open a formal safety defect investigation to assess the risk of fire in Chevy Volts that have been damaged in crashes.  The probe, spurred by two Chevy Volt battery fires that followed NHTSA crash tests, could mark a setback for GM and its plug-in electric hybrid car.

The announcement came a day after a Chevy Volt battery caught fire at a NHTSA test facility Thursday, one week after it had been intentionally damaged in a crash test.  It was the second battery fire after a NHTSA test this year.

The first fire, in May, broke out in a parked Volt after it had been deliberately crashed in a NHTSA test designed to measure the vehicle's ability to protect occupants from injury in a side collision. The crash damaged the car's large lithium-ion battery and ruptured the coolant line, and NHTSA blamed the fire on the damage to the battery.

NHTSA engineers attempted to recreate the May event in three separate tests last week, on Nov. 16, 17 and 18.  The battery damaged in the Nov. 18 crash test later smoked and emitted sparks.  The battery damaged in the Nov. 17 test, which was monitored later at the NHTSA testing facility, caught fire Thursday, a week later.

Chevy Volt drivers, what do you think about this? Please let me hear from you by email, and don't forget your weekday contact info.  I'll get back with you on Monday.

Meanwhile, NHTSA seeks to reassure Volt owners: ... [MORE]

Police say a Broughton High School student injured when she walked into the path of a car had been distracted by her phone as she stepped into the street.

Mikala Danielle Gleason, 14, suffered minor injuries Thursday afternoon when she was struck by a car as she walked across St. Mary's Street near the high school campus. The Raleigh Police crash report said she was not using one of several marked pedestrian crosswalks nearby, and "she was looking at her phone with earphones in when she was struck by the vehicle."

The student could not be reached Friday for comment.

“We do see this frequently, where people are walking across the street and just not paying attention,” said Lt. Tim Tomczak, who oversees traffic enforcement and crash reconstruction for the Raleigh Police Dept. “Distracted walking as a pedestrian can be even more deadly than distracted driving, because you don’t have anything to protect you.”

James A. Willetts, the driver, said he could not avoid hitting her. No charges were filed. ... [MORE]

This new video, produced in-house at NCDOT, is all about what not to do when you need to be paying attention to the road.

Gov. Bev Perdue said today that she has asked the state Division of Motor Vehicles for an assessment of North Carolina's mandatory car safety and emissions inspections because we "need to know if we need this kind of system," the Charlotte Observer reported. [11/3 update: see today's Perdue story.]

Perdue was responding to stories by The News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer raising questions about whether the inspections are reliable, effective and necessary. Inspection garages report finding safety flaws in one out of every 10 safety inspections, failing 3 percent of the cars and making repairs necessary to pass another 7 percent.

Legislators said this week they will push to eliminate the safety inspection requirement for all cars or at least for cars only a few years old.

View Academy Road @ Duke University Road in a larger map

NCDOT traffic engineers are planning changes that should make drivers more alert to the dangers of a sharp curve in Durham where five people have died in high-speed crashes since 1992.

Matthew Grape, a Duke University senior, was killed Sept. 15 when a car driven by a fellow student crashed into trees near a curve on N.C. 751 (Academy Road) just south of Duke University Road.  The speed limit is 35 mph, but investigators said the car was traveling at 70 mph. 

Four other people died in two crashes at the same spot in the 1990s, in cars going faster than 80 mph.  Alcohol was involved in all three crashes.

Kelly L. Becker, a regional DOT traffic engineer, recommended today that DOT install three black-on-yellow arrow chevrons on the outside of the curve, replacing one there now.  She recommended two new signs to  remind northbound drivers that they are approaching the curve, and the relocation of an existing curve-ahead sign to provide more advance warning for southbound drivers.

"I think this will provide more visibility for that curve," Becker said. "It is a pretty sharp curve."

North Carolina is among a dwindling number of states that require safety inspections for every car, every year.  Including cars that are nearly new, only a year or two old.

I’m doing some reporting on this.  I’d like to know what drivers think about taking their cars in for safety inspection each year (I’m not concerned here about emissions inspections):

Does this inspection requirement help you keep your tires, brakes, lights, wipers etc working properly?
Does it make your car safer?
Or is inspection a waste of your time and money?

Please share your experience and your opinion on mandatory car safety inspections.

Email me or call me at 919-829-4527. Don't forget to include your name and contact info.

The General Assembly this morning approved a 14-month delay in the effective date for signed driving logs -- documenting that parents were in the front seat to supervise 60 hours of driving -- that will be required before 16- or 17-year-olds can get their driver's licenses. [See 9/15/11 story.]

Parents and teens needed more time to comply -- and DMV needed more time, too.

This changes a law, enacted in June, that added several tough new provisions to North Carolina's graduated licensing program.

Parents or other supervising adult drivers must sign the logs to show that they supervised 60 hours of driving, spread out over at least six weeks. The original legislation said the logs would be added to the requirements for any provisional driver's license issued after Oct. 1.  Teens at least 16 years old, who have had limited learner's permits for at least a year, are eligible for provisional licenses.

The rewritten language, approved today, says the 60-hour logs will be required for any teen 15 or older who receives a limited learner's permit after Jan. 1.  That means it will apply to provisional licenses issued after Jan. 1, 2013. ... [MORE]

Sure, it's the automobile driver's responsibility to watch out for people walking across the street.  But pedestrians bear part of the safety burden, too.

NCDOT says distracted walking is a safety hazard, just as distracted driving is. Pedestrians should stay off their mobile phones, unplug their mobile music, and pay more attention to traffic.

I'm reporting on this today.  If you've had experience with reckless pedestrians who nearly got whacked while they yacked on the phone -- or if you want to confess your own lapses in pedestrian safety -- I'd like to hear from you by phone (919-829-4527) or email.  Don't forget to include your name and daytime phone number.