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While tornadoes, hurricanes and floods dominate news coverage, plain old inclement weather is the cause of more fatal car accidents annually than all three combined. According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), more than 5,748,000 car accidents occur annually, based on statistics spanning from 2005 to 2014. Of these, 22 percent (roughly 1,259,000) involved bad weather…

California is poised to legalize marijuana in a few days, with polls showing a strong majority favoring Proposition 64. So it’s time to ponder the impact of legalization on highway safety. It is illegal to drive and drink. It is also illegal to drive while high on pot. But are the two things equally dangerous?…

Two study groups with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration this week approved recommendations that commercial truck drivers should be screened for obstructive sleep apnea before being allowed to drive. Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. Signs you may have sleep apnea include loud snoring and feeling…

Millions of people switched to e-cigarettes or “vapes” in recent years to continue delivering nicotine, but with minimal danger to themselves. Now they are learning that this “safe alternative” can severely burn or poison them. E-cigarettes are regulated by The Food and Drug Administration – but only when they are sold for therapeutic benefit. For…

Samsung’s Note 7 smartphones are blowing up and causing severe physical and property damage. The company is recalling these phones, including replacement phones, and now it is shutting down the entire Note 7 line. But for those who have been injured by a Note 7 explosion, it’s too late. What kinds of injuries? Most injuries…

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned recently that a spate of infections across the United States and Europe could be attributed to contaminated medical devices used in open-heart surgeries, according to STAT News. At least 11 patients in the U.S. were infected with bacteria from a heater-cooler device designed to maintain patients’…

Zero traffic fatalities — that’s the ambitious goal set this past week by the Transportation Department. Zero, zip, nada. That’s a bold ambition, given that we have been seeing record numbers of deaths the past two years. Last year was the bloodiest year since 1966, and this year is expected to be 10 percent worse….

Brain injuries can occur from pure accident to someone else’s negligence or malicious intent. They can even arise from the hazards of a job. Such injuries range from mild to severe and have a variety of symptoms that are physical, psychological or sensory for which the effects can materialize gradually or suddenly. In some cases,…

More than one third (36 percent) of all auto claims that involve animal collisions on U.S. highways occur between the months of September and November, according to PRNewsWire. The spike is in part due to animal migration patterns, particularly of larger animals like deer and elk. In particular, there is a 67% increase in animal…

Since smart phones have become omnipresent, the conundrum of solving the distracted driving problem has existed. Too often, news stories will emerge of distracted teens or adults texting while driving, causing, at best, a minor fender bender, and at worst, a serious accident with fatalities. States across the nation have reacted, passing laws to punish…