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Will Driverless Tractor-Trailers Contribute to Safer Roads?
According to a recent study released by the trucking industry, the most popular mode of freight transportation continues to be by tractor-trailers. Although some cargo is delivered via rail, marine, and air transport, the majority of freight is transported by truck. This is evident to any commuter driving on the nation’s roads by the increasing numbers of those huge semis rolling by.
The study of the trucking industry revealed that was almost 10 billion tons of freight transported by truck last year, or approximately 70 percent of all transported cargo. Transporting that freight logged in more than 168.4 billion miles, which comes out to roughly 69,000 miles per truck. Additionally, according to the study, there were 3.4 million truck drivers driving those trucks.
The nearly 170 billion miles of transport also represent an increase in truck accidents which occur every year. National statistics put the number of annual fatal tractor-trailer accidents at almost 4,000. Another 77,000 truck accidents cause serious injuries to victims.
FBI Busts Illegal CDL Operation
The next time you are driving down the road and a tractor-trailer passes you by, you may wonder just how qualified the person driving that truck actually is, especially if they are driving with a Florida commercial driver's license (CDL).
The FBI and Florida state law enforcement officials recently announced they had busted a commercial driving license scheme which was based in that state. Three people have been indicted for conspiracy to aid and abet the unlawful production of Florida CDLs, as well as several other federal charges. The defendants targeted Russian-speaking immigrants from California, Illinois, New York, and Virginia. At least 600 people were given CDLs without receiving the proper training.
According to the FBI, the three were running a truck driving school, which ran an online campaign marketing to people who spoke Russian offering Florida CDLs for $2,000. Potential students would pay the fee and travel to Florida, where the defendants would then provide them with false residency documents in order for the student to obtain a regular Florida’s driver’s license – which is a requirement in order to obtain a CDL.
CDC Offers Several Mobile Apps to Help Public Stay Safe and Healthy
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the federal agency that is in charge of health promotion, prevention and preparedness activities. As the U.S. public health institute, the goal of the CDC is to improve the overall health of everyone in the country. With more and more of American society relying on smartphone apps as a way to garner information - including important health information - the agency has developed several apps which can assist people in avoiding injury and illness.
The CDC Mobile App is the agency website’s companion app. It provides safety updates, as well as many important health articles, health tips, and medical journals. The app also features the “Disease of the Week.”
If you are a frequent traveler, then the CDC’s Can I Eat This? mobile app could be one of the most important thing to take along on your trip. The app allows you to select the country you have traveled to and then enter information about the food you are considering eating. The app will tell you how safe the food is and help avoid illnesses like "Montezuma’s Revenge" and travelers’ diarrhea.
New Report Addresses Frequency of Diagnostic Errors
According to a recent report from the same organization that put together the groundbreaking 1999 “To Err is Human” report, most people will deal with at least one medical diagnostic error in their lifetime– errors which can prove to be dangerous, if not fatal. These errors include either a late diagnosis or one which is totally incorrect.
The report, titled “Improving Diagnosis in Health Care,” was organized by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (IOM).
In preparing the report, researchers determined that there are approximately 12 million patients who receive an incorrect or late diagnosis each year. The report also found that the number of these errors will probably increase due to the processes that are currently in place throughout the healthcare system.
Some of the other findings of the report include:
Illinois Number Four Nationwide in Dog Bite Insurance Claims
We Americans love our dogs. In fact, statistics say that more than half of all U.S. homes have at least one dog, and currently there are between 70 and 80 million dogs in this country. But as much as we love our dogs, there are numerous incidents that result in a person becoming the victim of a dog bite. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) puts the number of people who are bitten by dogs every year at over 8 million. Approximately 890,000 of those victims require medical treatment, and more than half of those victims are children.
And it is not just dog bites that require medical attention. People can also become injured if a dog jumps on them, or knocks them down. This can be especially dangerous to elderly victims and children.
A recent study conducted by the Insurance Information Institute (III) reveals that one-third of the total amount of homeowner insurance claim dollars which were paid in 2014 were for paid to victims who had been injured by a dog. The total amount paid to these victims was over $530 million. The study found that although the number of claims decreased from the year before, the average cost per claim increased.
Just How Safe Is That Zipline?
The activity of ziplining has soared in popularity over the past several years. Originally utilized by scientists and researchers exploring the dense jungles of Central and South America, ziplining has become fully mainstream, with many thrill seekers seeing it as a “safe” alternative to flying activities, such as hand gliding. As the cold weather sets in across the Midwest, many traveling to warmer destinations for the holidays may have the opportunity to clip on and try ziplining for the first time.
What is Ziplining?
Ziplining works like this: a person wears a harness which is then connected to by pulley system to a cable which runs high above the ground. According to statistics, there are more than 700 ziplines worldwide, and more than 200 of those lines are right here in the United States.
With more and more people venturing onto ziplines, there have been thousands of people who have been injured while participating in the activity. On study puts the number of people injured in ziplining accidents at more than 17,000 in the past 16 years. However, the majority of those injuries occurred just in the past four years.
NHTSA: Motor Vehicle Fatalities on the Rise in 2015
There was positive news in 2014, which saw a decrease in traffic fatalities from the year before. Unfortunately, that is not a trend that appears to be taking place in 2015. Instead, national statistics are pointing to an increase in vehicle accident fatalities.
According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA), the total number of traffic accident fatalities in 2014 was 32,675. However, the number of people killed in the first six months of 2015 was 8 percent higher than the number of fatalities for the first six months of 2014. The NHTSA uses data from its Fatal Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
The NHTSA says that the majority of these fatal accidents are preventable and are caused by drivers’ deadly behaviors, such as speeding and distracted driving. For example, data from 2014 fatalities reveal that:
- Alcohol-related crashes were involved one-third of all fatal crashes, responsible for the deaths of just under 10,000 victims;
Are You Covered for Injuries Sustained in a Ridesharing Crash?
More and more people are turning to ridesharing companies – such as Uber and Lyft – instead of taxicab services, mainly because the ridesharing fees are less expensive than taxis and wait-times are often much shorter. As cab companies continue to feel the economic pinch of the competition, they have become more aggressive in campaigning to convince commuters why they should avoid ridesharing companies, even to the point of presenting ridesharing as being no safer than hitchhiking.
One of the alleged problems that taxicab organizations point out is that if a person is injured in a ridesharing car crash, there is a good possibility that the driver will not have enough auto insurance to pay for the victim’s medical bills, loss of wages, and any pain and suffering. But is that statement really accurate?
Limited Private Insurance
How Safe Is Whole Body Cryotherapy?
Many of us are counting down the days until spring and the arrival of warmer weather. By February and March, most are ready to say goodbye to winter and its freezing temperatures, so it may hard to imagine that there are people who purposely expose themselves to temperatures as cold as 200 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. However, this is exactly what people are doing during a whole body cryotherapy (WBC) session, but after the recent death of a 24-year-old woman, many are beginning to ask just how safe is this latest fad?
What Is WBC?
Regular cryotherapy is based on the concept of applying ice to injuries, which helps with pain and swelling. A WBC session involves standing in a chamber where the temperature is dropped to anywhere between -184 and -264 degrees Fahrenheit. Participants, who are barely clothed during the session, stand in the chamber for two to three minutes, surrounded by either refrigerated air or liquid nitrogen.
How Safe Is Your Child in the Backseat?
During the 1990s, airbags became standard equipment in virtually all passenger vehicles sold in the United States. This led to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as well as auto manufacturers and other government agencies, to advise parents to keep young children in the backseat. In the event of a car crash, the backseat is supposed to be the safest place for children.
Dangerous Positioning
Regulators and experts have offered such advice because airbags – although a potential life saver for a front-seat adult occupant in the event of a crash – can seriously injure, even kill, young children if the airbag deploys while the child is in the front seat. This is because the force of the explosion of the bag, which is approximately 200 m.p.h., can be withstood by an adult body, but to the small bones of a child, that force can be crushing.
Seat Failure and Collapse
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9631 W. 153rd St., Suite 32, Orland Park, IL 60462
708-966-2408
