Archive for July, 2009
A bad thing? New Texas drunk driving law fights car accident carnage
The Houston Chronicle reports a furor over a new Texas law, taking effect Sept. 1, which allows police to get a blood sample without a warrant in certain cases of suspected drunk driving.
Some consider it an outrage, violating civil liberties, the Constitution and perhaps apple pie and the flag. Others protest it will create a [...]
Drivers on cell phones as bad as drunk drivers!
Who knew?
Turns out the federal government did six years ago. When it said nothing, thousands of Americans lost their lives. Others were seriously injured. And the nation is now stuck with a “serious and growing threat on America’s roadways.”
That’s the nutshell version of a shocking story in the July 21, 2009 edition of The New [...]
More Hispanic workers die in American workplace accidents; negligence is evident
In America, the number of workplace deaths has declined — but not for Hispanics.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says worker deaths overall dropped from 6,217 in 1992 to 5,657 in 2007, a reduction of about 8 per cent. Yet Hispanic worker deaths in the same period increased from 533 in 1992 to 937 in [...]
Cruise ship accidents, deaths prompt new laws
Today’s news that a man is charged with killing his wife on a cruise ship off the coast of Mexico is a grim reminder that cruise ship passengers are far more vulnerable than cruise lines’ carefree and romanticized marketing suggests.
A cruise, after all, is supposed to be about fun. Yet from murder, robbery and sexual [...]
Texting Texas students are fatally distracted drivers to come
Talk about failing to see the forest for the trees. A news report by Houston’s KHOU TV Channel 11 on its website today has the headline “Cell phone fines mean big bucks for some Texas school districts.” The story concerns fines students must pay when they text or otherwise use cell phones in class, which [...]
July 4th traffic deaths, drownings show liberty needs responsibility
July 4th weekend is a time to celebrate America’s liberty. Yet our liberties don’t include driving while impaired, a misjudgment which claims almost one third of all traffic deaths yearly, and an even higher 40 per cent of all traffic deaths on the mid-summer holiday.
Alcohol abuse by drivers crosses all geographic and socioeconomic lines. But [...]
Rash of Texas child drownings begs for greater pool safety
In June, Texas lost an average of one child a day to drowning. That’s 30 of the state’s 60 child drownings for the entire first half of the year, and all in one month — a month when pool activity escalates, and so do kids’ chances of losing their young lives.
The Houston Chronicle reports that [...]
