Last week’s national summit on distracted driving brought much needed attention to a malady that’s killing and maiming thousands of Americans. It seems cell phone calling and texting along with web surfing is an addiction, and people can’t seem to stop doing it, even when engaged in the most dangerous thing they do each day: driving.
Since it’s not enough to say “Hang up and drive” and expect everyone to do it, anymore than it’s not enough to say “Just say no” to drugs and expect everyone to do it, states are passing laws to, in effect, legislate common sense. Up to 18 states and the District of Columbia now have laws on the books making texting while driving illegal.
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Men have always been guilty of enormous wrongs as drunk drivers. No news there. But women are narrowing the gap rapidly, and that’s news — big news.
In fact, it’s alarming news, because if women drinkers become as dangerous on our roads and highways as men, then America’s carnage from drunk driving accidents is going to get far, far worse. And it’s bad enough already, with about 16,000 drunk driving deaths per year.
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State by state, Americans are standing up to resist today’s avalanche of driver distractions, largely spurred by the cell phone industry. And now the federal government is trying to help, too.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, on behalf of President Obama, is calling for a national summit of safety experts to address the explosion of irresponsible driving that’s accompanied the invention of cell phones and texting. Millions of Americans talk by cell and send texts while driving, and many of them have killed their fellow Americans in the process.
So far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws making texting while driving illegal. Congress also is mulling legislation which would cut states’ highway funding by 25 per cent if they failed to pass such laws.
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Fatal traffic accidents involving a car, auto, truck, bus, motorcycle or other vehicles are declining in America. That’s the good news. The bad news is that at least 37,000 Americans still die on the USA’s roads and highways each year, and almost all of them die due to persistent and, in some ways, increasing driver errors.
Indeed, drivers are the most vital variable in car wrecks and other traffic accidents — not weather, defective parts or road conditions. Though such reasons and many others do arise in wrecks, most collisions continue to be due to drivers who — quite simply — make a momentary but lasting mistake.
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If terrorists were killing many thousands of Americans, injuring far more and causing billions of dollars in damages each year, something would be done about it. Sadly, homegrown “terrorists” are doing just that, and not enough is being done about it. These are the killers and destroyers also known as drunk drivers.
Drunk driving in America is a tragedy seemingly with no end. Though DUI or DWI accident fatalities have declined since as many as 26,000 died yearly three decades ago, the current annual death rate of around 16,000 is a horrendous price to pay for allowing drunks to roam freely on America’s roads and highways.
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Almost daily, word spreads that more innocent Americans have been harmed by food poisoning. At first it’s news, then the hubbub subsides as the Food and Drug Administration or other watchdogs trace the source and fix the glitch. Yet victims continue to suffer quietly, and others keep joining their ranks.
Despite new get-tough policies by the FDA, is the problem ever truly solved when so many contaminants seep and ooze into America’s food supply chain, whose weak links have become alarmingly prevalent?
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Across America, motorcycle drivers and riders are dying or are being seriously injured on a daily basis, and for most it’s not because they weren’t wearing helmets, because they were. Nor is it because they failed to obey traffic signals and rules of the road.
Instead, it’s because today’s zoned-out, multi-tasking, in-a-hurry drivers of cars, autos, trucks and other larger vehicles aren’t paying enough attention. They’re too busy making cell phone calls or texts or are in too big of a rush, and they fail to note smaller motorcycles even though such cycles and their drivers are clearly visible.
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Obviously, a single car can cause great damage on our roads. But how much more damage can a semi truck, 18 wheeler, big rig or tractor trailer cause?
Lots more. Just take a look at Urbana, Ohio, where a semi truck rammed into a row of cars which had rightly stopped for a school bus which was letting off young passengers.
As is often the case in a semi truck accident, the large truck’s driver was not injured. Probably not even a scratch. But as is also the case so often, the innocent drivers and passengers of the cars struck by the big truck most definitely were injured.
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Illness caused by asbestos has long been linked to jobs in construction, refineries and shipyards. But if ever you thought mesothelioma or asbestos cancer was confined to such work, think again. Even journalists who toil for NBC News have been found to be at risk.
This week, the staff at NBC News’ Washington, D.C. headquarters learned their building has asbestos contamination. NBC management has moved to eliminate the contaminated elements, which include baseboards with glue that contains asbestos.
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It’s not enough that thousands of Americans die or are seriously injured each year in accidents involving an 18 wheeler, tractor trailer, semi truck, big rig or other large truck. Now trucking interests want these road monsters to be even bigger — and thus more dangerous — just so they can carry bigger loads.
Your priority is the health and safety of your family while getting from point A to point B. The trucking industry’s priority is boosting bigger loads and bigger profits. Well, at least we know where it stands.
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