You are a conscientious driver. You maintain your car. It goes to the mechanic at any sign of trouble or for routine checkups when it’s time. You buy new tires when the tread is worn. You don’t speed, talk on the cell phone or text when you are behind the wheel. You’ve done everything you can to protect yourself and your family.
But you’ve been fooled. Your “new” tires may not be new at all. And that nasty little secret could kill you.
There’s no expiration date on tires. They can stay in warehouses for years, allowing the rubber to dry out. Yes, they look new and store owners will tell you they’ve never been used. But that’s not the point. Dried out rubber tread can easily peel off tires at highway speeds, causing drivers to lose control suddenly with fatal results. Don’t let it happen to you. Watch this in-depth news report. It could very well save your life:
Automakers will be soon putting computers in car dashboards, making Twitter, Facebook, Internet Radio and the web accessible as drivers move down the road. The announcement came during this month’s annual Las Vegas electronics show. Manufacturers of the devices, including Google and Intel, call them “infotainment systems.”
Critics say they will add to the number of distracted driving deaths on American roads, a toll they say is rising fast. But auto industry spokesmen and others say the devices will make cars safer. They say that they are creating helpful systems that display crucial information, including sensors that try to predict dangerous driving situations. Who is right?
The stakes are high. Ford’s CEO says that “in-car-connectivity” is the key to Ford’s corporate turnaround. Statistics from the Consumer Electronics Association support his claim. Demand for these “in-vehicle” gadgets was “expected to top $9.3 billion in 2009.”
Critics argue that cell phones are killing Americans at record rates as drivers talk and text while driving. Making more electronic devices available behind the wheel, they say, will only increase the number of auto accidents. They call distracted driving America’s chief health menace.
On average, more than 41,000 people a year died in accidents in the United States over the last decade, according to a January 2010 Scripps Howard News Service story. It also cited statistics from The Institute for Transportation Engineers showing that as many as 120 people a day die from “vehicle-related crashes” in the U.S.
Those who support computers in cars say that heart disease is the biggest killer of Americans, not auto accidents. It kills more than 600,000 a year according to The Center for Disease Control.
Since texting drivers are six times more likely to have an accident, safety conscious drivers are left to wonder if their actions may one day eclipse heart disease as the leading cause of fatalities in America. You could call it a deadly dilemma.
Yes, they’re vital for protecting kids when they’ve outgrown car seats and aren’t big enough for seat belts. But, says Safe Kids USA, if the booster seat you have shows up on the “not recommended list,” it’s not an automatic cause for alarm.
Safe Kids says every booster seat fits differently. What’s right for a crash dummy may not be right for your child since kids come in all shapes and sizes and crash dummies don’t. The best way to check what’s best for your child is to visit one of Safe Kids’ free car seat /booster seat clinics. You’ll find them in every major city in the U.S.
Most states now have booster seat laws. Texas is the most recent state to adopt one. Beginning in June, Texas parents whose children aren’t in booster seats, when they should be, will be fined. Who should be in a booster seat? Under Texas Law, any child who is under eight years old and not yet 4’9” tall must be in a booster seat. Most states have similar laws. Seat belts can kill small children who have outgrown car seats. They lie across small throats and stomachs and can strangle children or inflict fatal injuries on internal organs.
Its generic name is metoclopromide. It’s also called Reglan. It comes in pill, syrups and is sometimes injected. But it has a disastrous side effect that doctors can’t cure. Those who take the drug too long or at too high a dose can develop symptoms like Parkinson’s Disease. They can’t stop grimacing, smacking their lips, blinking or moving their fingers or other parts of their bodies. Once a patient develops this condition – called Tardive Dyskenesia – it cannot be reversed.
How long is too long to take this drug? The Food and Drug Administration says it should not be taken longer than three months. Who is most at risk? Elderly women although anyone could develop tardive dyskenesia. Why is this drug prescribed? It is used to treat heartburn caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and diabetic gastroparesis. Anyone with these symptoms or who has been diagnosed with Tardive Dyskenesia should contact a personal injury lawyer.
Try typing this into a tiny device with your thumbs at 60 miles an hour while you drive. Or even 30 miles an hour. No wonder texting while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk.
Actually, it’s far riskier than anyone imagined. A new study released this July by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute measured the time that drivers had to take their eyes off the road to send or receive text messages. The drivers they tested make this news even scarier.
One hundred long haul truck drivers, in trucks that researchers rigged with cameras that recorded them while they drove, showed that drivers had their eyes off the road for nearly five seconds while texting. That’s enough time at highway speeds to cover the length of a football field. Researchers say the results are typical of anyone who texts behind the wheel of any vehicle. The study was commissioned by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. According to CTIA, The International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, “texters” sent 110 billion messages last year. Polling data from the AAA Foundation for Safety shows that 87% of people consider texting behind the wheel of a car dangerous yet many admit they do it anyway.
The famous Keebler elves are probably in shock. Their cookies are on a list of 3,222 products
recalled by the federal government since January because they were made with peanut butter paste tainted with Salmonella Typhimurium. It came from a plant in Georgia – Peanut Corporation of America – that has since declared bankruptcy. Questions about products should be directed to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since the company no longer takes calls from consumers. The FDA has created a special web page where the public can research products by brand name, UPC Code and product description or any combination of the three. The government agency plans continuous updates to the site. As of March 9, 2009, its list included hundreds of America’s favorite foods, including ice cream, candy, cookies, brownies, cakes, pies and donuts. If any of these products have made you sick, you may be eligible for legal action against the manufacturer of the peanut butter paste.
“Seeing is believing,” the old saying goes. While statistics can make believers out of some doubters, there is nothing like watching an accident happen. In this case, the deadly force of an 18-wheeler. When there’s a fatal accident with a truck, more often than not, the dead are found in the other vehicle. An animation by the National Transportation Safety Board on http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/animations.htm demonstrates the deadly force of a truck in an accident that left three school bus passengers dead and seriously injured two others. The truck weighed more than 79,000 pounds. It slammed into the side of the bus when its brakes failed. The NTSB said the poor condition of the truck’s brakes and inadequate truck inspections were the cause of the 2001 Arkansas accident. But the safety lesson for all drivers is clear: Don’t drive in or around 18- wheelers on the highway if you can avoid it. And watch side roads for truck traffic. There’s no room for mistakes. Note: The National Transportation Safety Board website also has scores of animations that recreate plane crashes, collapsing bridges and other accidents that have made national headlines, including the crash of a light plane into a Manhattan skyscraper in 2006 and the a Southwest Airlines plane that overran the runway in Chicago in 2007.
In fact, it’s the biggest in years! It means that people hurt by bad drugs can sue drug manufacturers in state court even if labels on the drugs include a federal warning about their potential danger under some circumstances. You might be tempted to say “So what?” But if the ruling had gone the other way – that is, for the drug company involved – millions of Americans would have no right to sue drug companies that hurt them or their loved ones when federal warnings on their drugs are inadequate. Jim Adler, an attorney with 30 years experience in personal injury law, says that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – the federal agency charged with making sure drugs are safe – is “underfunded and understaffed…” setting up the situation where “…drugs are being tested on the American public.” How did the question end up before the court? A Vermont musician was injected with a drug to relieve migraine headaches even though the warning label said the type of injection she received might cause gangrene. A large portion of her right arm was amputated after the worst happened. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, she can keep the $6 million awarded to her by a Vermont state court.
You are a conscientious driver. You maintain your car. It goes to the mechanic at any sign of trouble or for routine checkups when it’s time. You buy new tires when the tread is worn. You don’t speed, talk on the cell phone or text when you are behind the wheel. You’ve done everything you can to protect yourself and your family.
Automakers will be soon putting computers in car dashboards, making Twitter, Facebook, Internet Radio and the web accessible as drivers move down the road. The announcement came during this month’s annual Las Vegas electronics show. Manufacturers of the devices, including Google and Intel, call them “infotainment systems.”
Yes, they’re vital for protecting kids when they’ve outgrown car seats and aren’t big enough for seat belts. But, says 
Its generic name is metoclopromide. It’s also called Reglan. It comes in pill, syrups and is sometimes injected. But it has a disastrous side effect that doctors can’t cure. Those who take the drug too long or at too high a dose can develop symptoms like Parkinson’s Disease. They can’t stop grimacing, smacking their lips, blinking or moving their fingers or other parts of their bodies. Once a patient develops this condition – called Tardive Dyskenesia – it cannot be reversed.
Try typing this into a tiny device with your thumbs at 60 miles an hour while you drive. Or even 30 miles an hour. No wonder texting while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk.
The famous Keebler elves are probably in shock. Their cookies are on a list of 3,222 products
“Seeing is believing,” the old saying goes. While statistics can make believers out of some doubters, there is nothing like watching an accident happen. In this case, the deadly force of an 18-wheeler. When there’s a fatal accident with a truck, more often than not, the dead are found in the other vehicle. An animation by the National Transportation Safety Board on http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/animations.htm demonstrates the deadly force of a truck in an accident that left three school bus passengers dead and seriously injured two others. The truck weighed more than 79,000 pounds. It slammed into the side of the bus when its brakes failed. The NTSB said the poor condition of the truck’s brakes and inadequate truck inspections were the cause of the 2001 Arkansas accident. But the safety lesson for all drivers is clear: Don’t drive in or around 18- wheelers on the highway if you can avoid it. And watch side roads for truck traffic. There’s no room for mistakes. Note: The National Transportation Safety Board website also has scores of animations that recreate plane crashes, collapsing bridges and other accidents that have made national headlines, including the crash of a light plane into a Manhattan skyscraper in 2006 and the a Southwest Airlines plane that overran the runway in Chicago in 2007.
In fact, it’s the biggest in years! It means that people hurt by bad drugs can sue drug manufacturers in state court even if labels on the drugs include a federal warning about their potential danger under some circumstances. You might be tempted to say “So what?” But if the ruling had gone the other way – that is, for the drug company involved – millions of Americans would have no right to sue drug companies that hurt them or their loved ones when federal warnings on their drugs are inadequate. Jim Adler, an attorney with 30 years experience in personal injury law, says that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – the federal agency charged with making sure drugs are safe – is “underfunded and understaffed…” setting up the situation where “…drugs are being tested on the American public.” How did the question end up before the court? A Vermont musician was injected with a drug to relieve migraine headaches even though the warning label said the type of injection she received might cause gangrene. A large portion of her right arm was amputated after the worst happened. Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, she can keep the $6 million awarded to her by a Vermont state court.
