As the swine flu crisis nears pandemic proportions, millions worldwide brace for possible exposure to a virus more dangerous than many other flu bugs — a virus so dangerous it could kill.

But while fighting swine flu is vital, in some ways the media coverage of it and public panic toward it are disproportionate, at least in the context of other deadly infections which assail us daily and rarely are noted on the public radar that swine flu now commands.

These other afflictions are varied and many, but they include what is virtually a hidden epidemic: hospital acquired infections.

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A motorcycle accident can mean many things to many people. For Gale Harold of ABC dramedy Desperate Housewives, it meant a serious injury which sidelined him while he was playing one of the biggest roles of his career: as Jackson Braddock, the new boyfriend of Susan Mayer, played by series star Teri Hatcher.

For others, a motorcycle collision may mean death — or at least debilitating injuries. In such cases, and when the motorcycle driver was not at fault, an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer can help victims seek the financial compensation they deserve from those who are accountable.

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We often think progress is measured by technological advancement. After all, many of our cars now have a GPS, or global positioning system, which helps us to navigate anywhere in the world. Via satellite links, a GPS can provide digital mapping info and automated voices to direct us from anywhere to just about anywhere else.

But is that truly progress? At least, can it be progress when many such GPS devices are faulty and lead drivers virtually over a cliff, or going the wrong way down a one-way street, or into a narrowing street in which they’ll be stuck?

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Studies show that persons who call and text while behind the wheel drive as poorly as if they were drunk. Now imagine a driver being drunk and using a cell phone at the same time.

That’s what Houston prosecutors are confronting as they assess the case of a man who reportedly was both drunk and receiving a cell phone call when he ran off a road and into a drainage ditch recently near Bush Intercontinental Airport, causing the unimaginable horror of drowning five young children who were occupants of the vehicle.

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Yes, America had fewer traffic fatalities in 2008 than in any year since 1961. Yes, it’s heartening that while 37,313 people died this way last year, that was 9.1 per cent fewer than the year before.

But no, that number is still unacceptable. And any progress we’ve made is still tempered by the grim fact that so many traffic deaths come from one particular source of galling carnage: drunk drivers. No matter how much we strive, exhort and pray, drunk drivers are slaughtering innocents on America’s streets and freeways.

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In case anyone had any doubt about the dangers of Yamaha Rhino ATVs, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission makes it clear: They kill people — even when driven at slow speeds and on level surfaces, as is often the case in a fatal Yamaha Rhino rollover accident.

After a study of 50 incidents involving the Rhino 450, 660 and 700 models — incidents which claimed 46 driver and passenger deaths — the CPSC concluded that these vehicles, as designed and manufactured by Yamaha, should not be driven by anyone, anywhere, anytime. “Owners of the affected Rhinos should stop using them,” the CPSC urged.

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