What will it take to wake up and shake up government authorities, charter bus lines and the public about the potential for catastrophic dangers in bus accidents?

Early Friday morning, another chartered bus bound north from Houston had a horrific bus accident in the Dallas area, killing 14. This bus accident wasn’t many miles from the spot where another chartered bus from Houston caught fire and exploded in 2005, killing 24 nursing home residents who were fleeing Hurricane Rita. (more…)

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In this election year, there’s much talk of hope, as there should be in any campaign season. After all, without some hope, why bother voting for either side? But hope isn’t solely about society or the world improving. Sometimes it’s closer to home — wherever that home may be. And as millions of Americans ease into their elder years, that home, for many, will become a nursing home. And that’s where hope gets tricky.

Nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect have been common in America for decades. While many nursing homes and assisted living facilities are deservedly reputable, many others — too many others — are not, often due to underpaid, undertrained and overworked staff. (more…)

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Just because summer is winding down doesn’t mean boaters are coming ashore. Our waterways remain a magnet for fishing, skiing and other boat-driven recreation, and that means these often crowded waterways also remain a danger zone for boating accidents.

Some innocent boaters in New Jersey learned how dangerous it could be early Sunday morning when another boat slammed into theirs, killing one person and injuring four others on the boat, one of them critically.

Their boat — a single-engine, 17-foot recreational boat — was following all safety measures, investigators said. The boat that struck them then sped off, and authorities are searching for it. (more…)

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Are swimming pools inherently dangerous places? Try asking the 24 Houston children who have drowned in pool accidents so far this year — two more than in all of 2007. Their silence speaks volumes.

Even in shallow ends, pools may be too deep for some children to stand with their head above water, and many pools also have a deep end of more than six feet. Pools also may lack sufficient means, such as ladders, for children or anyone to climb out of the water readily.

In nighttime hours, pools also may be poorly illuminated, if they’re lit at all, making it harder to spot a swimmer in distress. And most pools don’t tend to have lifeguards, but if anything just a sign alerting you to what’s already obvious: No lifeguard on duty. (more…)

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Are construction crane fatalities officially an epidemic yet? Already this year, people have died in Houston, Oklahoma City, New York City (in two separate accidents) and now Central Texas. And as tragic as those deaths are, the frequency of the calamities is becoming almost as routine as celebrities who can afford chauffeurs being arrested for their own drunk driving. In either case, such events are needless, avoidable and persistent.

The latest such construction crane tragedy occurred Wednesday in Smithville of Bastrop County, about 45 miles southeast of Austin. There, workers were removing steel girders from an old bridge spanning the Colorado River. The idea was to replace the bridge. (more…)

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