Beyond groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving — and individual victims of drunk drivers — America goes about its business each day with precious little regard for the national nightmare of drunk driving and the horrific toll it relentlessly carves from our society.

Every day new tragedies erupt and new statistics add up. Yet not enough is being done about it, which is one reason why MADD just severed its ties with the “Century Council,” an activist group — funded by the liquor industry itself — with which MADD had collaborated.

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It’s bad enough that 18 wheelers, semi trucks, big rigs, diesel trucks and tractor trailers are slaughtering thousands of innocents on America’s roads and highways. Now we learn that our beef with the trucking business may include beefy drivers.

Sleep scientists at Harvard University have discovered a strong link between overweight drivers and apnea sleep, a sleep disorder which puts drivers at high risk of driving while asleep at the wheel. As MSNBC reports, at Harvard they’re calling for mandatory testing of obese drivers, which they believe will help reduce the 5,200 deaths and 100,000 injuries yearly in this country’s large truck accidents.

Certainly, it’s important to monitor sleep apnea or apnea sleep for any driver of any vehicle. But when you drive a multi-ton big rig which can wipe out several families due to a momentary snooze, and you drive for many hours each day and night, such vigilance is even more needed. (more…)

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Texas teens, soon two of your favorite pastimes will be split. Going to the mall and enjoying a burger? No, cell phone talking or texting — and driving.

This week the Texas House tentatively approved a measure which would ban teens under age 18 from using a cell phone while driving, even if the phone is a hands-free device. Exceptions would be made only for making emergency calls while behind the wheel.

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Most parents are extremely protective of kids. But anytime they take them in a car or other vehicle they’re exposing them to the No. 1 killer of America’s children. Indeed, child safety advocate group Safe Kids USA reports that car accidents and other motor vehicle mishaps are the chief cause of child deaths between ages 3 and 14.

That’s confirmed by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, which says car accidents are the top cause of deaths in kids aged 2-14. The center also says car accidents injure 250,000 American kids yearly. With about 2,000 of them suffering fatal injury, children are the victims in 5 per cent of America’s fatal traffic accidents. And unlike adults, it’s safe to say that no such child has caused the car accident in which he or she died.

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How many wake-up calls does it take to drive home the point that driving is serious business — always? Driving requires your full attention, and that means keeping your hands on the wheel, your eyes on the road and your mind on operating a heavy vehicle at sometimes high speeds in complex traffic.

Apparently a woman in Illinois didn’t think driving required such focus. In fact, she thought driving was incidental to her primary task: painting her nails. And as a result, another woman is dead — an innocent woman who was stopped at a traffic light on her motorcycle and was wearing a helmet but nonetheless perished when a car driven by the nail-painter hit her from behind.

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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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Chances are, you place your trust in pharmaceutical products. Chances are, when you got an MRA or MRI exam, you thought you were getting results which would help you. You thought your MRI or MRA would  pinpoint internal problems and boost your health, thanks to use of an intravenous contrast dye. But if that dye was gadolinium-based, you may have thought wrong.

That’s because gadolinium used in a gadolinium MRI or MRA exam is injuring countless Americans. No, it doesn’t harm everyone. But it can prove seriously damaging to those with pre-existing kidney ailments. In fact, it can spark a potentially life-threatening condition: NSF, or Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis, also known as NFD, or Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy.

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Your car was just rear-ended by a distracted motorist blabbing on his cell phone and now — through no fault of your own — you’ve got bills to pay for damages. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

You’ve waited months for your insurance company to make good on its policy and pay for your property damage after Hurricane Ike or some other calamity — and now you’re still waiting. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

Your child was injured in a Yamaha Rhino accident when the ATV rolled over on a flat surface due to manufacturer design negligence, and now she faces surgery. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

Your loved one suffered a near-fatal overdose of powerful narcotic fentanyl from a defective Duragesic pain patch, and now requires special care. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

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Perhaps if Erin Leas had been the daughter of a phone company executive when she died in a car accident due to cell phone distractions, Texas laws might change. Instead, phone companies exert influence on your elected legislators to deny reform and maintain huge profits.

You may be saying to yourself, “I talk on my cell phone while driving, and I haven’t had a traffic accident yet, and I don’t want to quit.” But if Erin had been your daughter, you might sing a different tune.

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