Month: December 2012

It’s Dangerous to Cross a Street While Texting Even If You Can Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time

Is one of your pet peeves people who walk while on their cell phone and, in their oblivious state, either bump into you or at least cause you to change your path? Mine is (when I’m not the one texting). As annoying as that is, people who text while crossing the street are not just a nuisance; they are putting themselves at risk for injury or death. Vehicle-pedestrian accidents injure 60,000 and kill 4,000 people every year in this country.

Researchers watching 1,102 Seattle pedestrians at 20 high-risk intersections during randomly assigned times found that nearly one in three people … Read the rest

Traffic Fatalities and Distraction-Affected Crashes Declined in 2011 But Fatalities of Large Truck Occupants Rose 20 Percent

Today the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a new analysis indicating that highway deaths fell to 32,367 in 2011, marking the lowest level since 1949. This is a 1.9 percent decrease from the previous year, and a 26 percent decline in traffic fatalities overall since 2005. 2011 also saw the lowest fatality rate ever recorded, with 1.10 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2011.

Other key statistics include:

  • Fatalities declined by 4.6 percent for occupants of passenger cars and light trucks (including SUVs, minivans and pickups).
  • Deaths in crashes involving drunk drivers
… Read the rest

New Federal Safety Standard for Infant Swings

Between May 2011 and May 2012, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) received reports of 351 infant swing-related incidents that occurred between 2009 and 2012. Two of the 351 incidents resulted in fatalities, and 349 incidents were nonfatal. 24 of the nonfatal incidents resulted in injuries. Hazards from infant swings can come from instability, unintentional folding, restraints that slip or break and toys on mobiles that detach when pulled.

On November 13, 2012, the CPSC announced that it had voted unanimously (3-0) to approve a new federal mandatory safety standard to improve the safety of infant swings to prevent … Read the rest