| Oct 27 |
Archive for October, 2009Distracted driving kills on the ground–and frightens in the air
Delta Airlines says its pilots failed in their duty because they were distracted by using personal laptops in the cockpit — which is against the rules. Engrossed in their electronic devices, they disregarded calls from air traffic control, leading to 78 minutes of radio silence and an unauthorized trip to nowhere via auto pilot. |
For those who say “I know how to drive and I’m just going to the store” when texting or making cell calls behind the wheel, how would you feel about an airline pilot doing the same? In effect that’s what happened last week when an Airbus overshot Minneapolis by 150 miles.
| Oct 22 |
Archive for October, 2009Austin has a capital idea: new law banning texting while driving
On Thursday Austin City Council unanimously passed a ban on texting while driving. It won’t go into effect until Jan. 2, but in the meantime, the city will wage a campaign to educate the public about it. |
Though Texas has failed to join the 19 states so far which | Oct 12 |
Archive for October, 2009Yaz, Yasmin, Ocella defective drugs cause heart attacks, blood clots, strokes — even death
Fortunately, these three brands are the only oral contraceptives which share the drug DRSP, or drospirenone. That drug has been known to cause serious health problems in the heart and kidneys, and also to cause breast lumps, numbness, depression, confusion, vision problems, migraine headaches and pulmonary embolism. |
Statistically, young women are among the least likely persons to have high blood pressure, heart attacks, blood clots, strokes and other cardiovascular ailments. Yet many American women are suffering in these ways — and even dying. That’s because they are users of one of three defective drugs sold as birth control pills: Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella.| Oct 08 |
Archive for October, 2009Rural drivers beware: Traffic accidents kill more of you than city folks
Why? Glad you asked. For one thing, people tend to drive faster on rural roads — and certainly have more freedom to do so, compared to city folk bogged down by numbers. Urbanites who are stalled at rush hour, take heart: At least your slow speed makes it less likely you’ll get hurt in a collision. |
Sure, cities have traffic jams, while the country has roadside vendors selling jams — and little traffic. But rural drivers should know this: You are more likely to die in a car or truck accident than those on packed urban streets or freeways.| Oct 06 |
Archive for October, 2009As ‘accident’ victims, pedestrians, cyclists are second class citizens in Texas
The driver “lost control” — a common excuse for bad driving — and veered onto the shoulder, killing the two people. No charges have been filed in the tragedy. Nor have charges been filed in the case of David Mollenauer, a San Antonio Symphony musician who was hit by a car while on his bike and left for dead earlier this year. Mollenauer survived, and witnesses even got the car’s license number. Yet again, no charges have been filed, even though the driver’s identity is known. Some say that’s because Texas treats cyclists and pedestrians as second-class citizens. If a car strikes property and damages it, then its driver is legally liable for negligence. If a car strikes a person in a motorcycle accident, bicycle accident or pedestrian accident, the car’s driver may face no penalty at all — even in a hit and run! |
An item in today’s | Oct 02 |
Archive for October, 2009CellControl could curb distracted driving, cell phone accidents
With thousands dead and hundreds of thousands injured as a result of cell phone accidents, a national summit on distracted driving addressed the issue this week. Now a new gadget also responds to the car carnage. It’s called CellControl. Introduced at the distracted driving summit in Washington, D.C., CellControl is a tiny device that can be attached to a car’s on board computer, a part of almost all vehicles built since 1996. After downloading CellControl’s software to a cell phone, the phone will cease functioning whenever the vehicle is in motion, though it will function when the vehicle is stopped. That’s right: No texting. No emails. No calling. No receiving calls. In short, no potentially fatal driving distractions. |
The world is dangerous enough beyond our control, yet many of us also need protection from ourselves. That includes the millions of Americans who blithely chat on cell phones, send and receive texts and otherwise disengage from their primary — and life-protecting — task of driving a car.