The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "fatal car crashes" ...
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Fatal Experience: Teen Drivers and Rural Roads
This series explores the issues of teen drivers and rural roads. "The purpose is to raise awareness and prevent additional accidents, not just among teens, but people of all ages." Though, it is a known fact that teens take more risks when driving, which lead to higher fatal accident rates. Further, a majority of these fatal accidents took place in one specific school district, which led to additional research.
Tags: accidents; teens; Tazewell County; Illinois; driving; rural roads; deaths; crashes; cars; vehicles; traffic; tragedy
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Fatal Freeway Design: HOV Lanes in North texas
"Despite official claims of success, WFAA-TV showed the design of the newly opened HOV carpool lanes in the Dallas area lead to a 40% spike in serious car crashes and directly contributed to three deaths."
Tags: hov; carpool; dallas; accidents; safety; highway; Texas; department of transportation;
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Tread Secrets: Evidence Disappearing
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company settled many plaintiffs, hired an ex-con to retrieve evidence of tread failure at fatal crash sites, and were able to make judges seal the records in wrongful death and product liability cases.
Tags: Cooper Tire; Tires; Tread; car; car crash; traffic; accident; Frank Ruggier; scandal
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Deadly Express
In a 9-month investigation, The Miami Herald uncovered inaccuracies in the government's reporting of the frequency of fatal cargo plane crashes. Through the analysis of extensive government documents dating back to 2000, the reporters found that 69 planes have crashed claiming the lives of 85 people, thus "making air cargo the nation's deadliest form of commercial aviation." Despite this fact, pleas to apply more stringent safety regulations on cargo flights have been ignored. Worse yet, when these lax safety standards result in fatal crashes, the pilots are often saddled with the blame.
Tags: aviation; cargo planes; FAA; regulations; plane crash; CAR
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Fatal Assumption
Expert auto repair surgeons lure customers into thinking they have a safe car by creating dummy airbags covers, but the bags are not inside. The tape exposes the case of a 50-year-old woman who was in a car accident and her air bag never deployed. The airbag had been cut out by the dealer who sold her the car. Dealers save thousands of dollars and that could cost lives. Many other cases like these are investigated by the news team. The tape shows how to tell a fake from a real air bag. It also holds a few of the liars accountable for making buyers think the cars have air bags.
Tags: TAPE; airbag; car; automobile; auto; auto dealer; car dealer; car accident; accident; fake airbag; Washington State Patrol Fatal Incident Report; Department of Licensing; collision; car crash; missing airbag.
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Death on the Roads
A 12-part Newsday series looks at why "Long Island is one of the most dangerous places in the nation" to drive a car. "Collisions claim roughtly 275 lives each year on Long Island," writes Jo Craven McGinty. "That's the equivalent of a Boeing 757 crashing annually, and it's more than five times the number of murders." The series delves into the causes for those numbers and concludes among other things that "bad driving, bad roads and bad vehicle design" are to blame.
Tags: driving; accidents; accident; crash; roads; collision; vehicle design; wreck; SUV; fatal; car; danger; pedestrian; seat belt; truck
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Dying to Drive: Inexperience, speed can be deadly mix for teenage drivers, statistics show
According to the author, "The series analyzed fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in which at least one driver was between the ages of 14 and 19. Among the major findings: Speeding contributed to more than half of the wrecks. More than two-thirds of people killed in cars driven by teens were not wearing seat belts. More than half of the wrecks were single-vehicle crashes. More than three-quarters of the crashes involved sober drivers."
Tags: motor vehicles; car crashes; car accidents; teens; speeding; seat belts; fatal motor vehicle crashes; fatal car crashes; driving; drivers; teenagers
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Loose seat belt laws
There is no state law in Ohio requiring back-seat passengers to wear seat belts, unless the driver is 18 and driving with a temporary permit. The Beacon analyzed federal (NHTSA) crash data and found that ..."More than a third of the 279 children ages 4 to 15 years old, who died in crashes from 1994 through 1999 were riding legally unbuckled in back seats."
Tags: crash; seat belt; transportation; children; fatalities; safety; child seats; House Bill 113; CAR
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High Rollers: At Riverboat Casinos, The Free Drinks Come With a Tragic Toll; Drunken Patrons Hit the Road and Cause Fatal Crashes; The Lawsuits Pile Up; No Help from Mr. O'Lucky
A Wall Street Journal investigation of riverboat casinos in rural areas reveals that most have a free drink policy that owners know contributes to drunk driving accidents. The Wall Street Journal was "able to prove that riverboat casinos, in pursuit of higher profits, plied patrons with free alcoholic drinks, often got them drunk, then allowed them to drive away. We showed that, because of the rural location of most riverboats, this policy often lead to fatal accidents; that the casinos knew of these accidents; and that they knew free alcohol helped impair the judgement of gamblers, thus tipping the odds in their favor."
Tags: riverboat casinos; drunk driving; alcohol; cars; automobiles; gambling; poker; slot machines; ethics; free; money; profits
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Explorer Has Higher Rate of Tire Accidents
An analysis by the Washington Post reveals that the "Ford Explorer has a higher rate of tire-related accidents than other sport-utility vehicles," regardless of the tire brand. The findings suggests that there is something about the design of the Explorer that contributes to accidents. This may mean that Firestone Tires are not entirely to blame for the recent fatal accidents. The study found that even if Explorers were equipped with Goodyear Tires, they were still more like to have tire-related accidents.
Tags: Ford Explorer; Firestone Tires; Goodyear Tires; Ford Motor Co.; automobiles; CAR; FARS