Archive for October, 2009

Distracted driving kills on the ground–and frightens in the air

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.
Delta Airlines says its pilots [...]


Austin has a capital idea: new law banning texting while driving

Though Texas has failed to join the 19 states so far which ban texting while driving — a no-brainer law if ever there was one — at least some Texas cities are passing such laws, and the latest and largest is our capital city of Austin.
On Thursday Austin City Council unanimously passed a ban on [...]


Yaz, Yasmin, Ocella defective drugs cause heart attacks, blood clots, strokes — even death

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 [...]


Rural drivers beware: Traffic accidents kill more of you than city folks

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 packedĀ  urban streets or freeways.
Why? Glad you asked. For one thing, people tend to drive faster on [...]


As ‘accident’ victims, pedestrians, cyclists are second class citizens in Texas

An item in today’s San Antonio Express-News shows how far Texas has to go to treat pedestrians and cyclists with respect on our roads. It pertains to a horrible accident last week in which a San Antonio-area couple riding a tandem bicycle on a road’s shoulder were hit and killed by a pickup truck traveling [...]


CellControl could curb distracted driving, cell phone accidents

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.
With thousands dead and hundreds of thousands injured [...]