Texas man crushed by big-rig makes miraculous recovery

DALLAS -- They may be small, and gingerly taken, but Greg Meece isn't taking baby steps as he walks out of UT Southwestern's Zale Lipshy hospital.

For everyone involved in his recovery, every step forward is a giant leap.

"When I was brought in here two weeks ago," says Meece, "I was an incomplete quadraplegic. And I'm going to be walking out of the hospital today."

Two weeks ago, Meece was driving on the Dallas North Tollway when an 18-wheeler lost control. The truck slammed into the concrete divider -- and landed on-top of Meece's car.

Other drivers rushed to help. But Meece was so badly crushed, doctors didn't know if he would ever walk again.

A surgery, fusing one of his own ribs to his neck, stabilized his spine.

"Never. I never doubted," says Donna Meece of her husband's recovery.

Still, she is astonished her husband rehabbed to quickly.

"I was thinking, 'We'll be here for months,'" she says, "Two weeks? I'm shocked at 2 weeks, I really am. But every day I knew he was getting better and better.

"It's a miracle," says Greg, "It's amazing. It's almost beyond words."

Greg Meece was in a rental car the day of the accident.

He says he is very frugal -- and always pays for a small, compact car. That day, he says he splurged an extra four dollars for a mid-sized car. As he walked out of the hospital, upright and able-bodied, he says it was the best four bucks he ever spent.

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source: WFAA (St. James, 3/9)



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AGs decide not to object to Honda hybrid class-action settlement.

The AP (3/1, Spagat) reported, "Attorneys general in California and four other states said Wednesday that they won't oppose a class-action settlement between Honda Motor Co. and owners of its hybrid cars over inflated claims of fuel efficiency. The five states had asked a judge for more time to consider after Honda owner Heather Peters won $9,867 in a California small claims court this month – much more than the couple hundred dollars cash that the settlement offers. The judge reluctantly granted a two-week extension for them to declare objections." Just hours before that extended deadline, attorneys general for California, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington announced they would not oppose the proposed class-action settlement.

        The Chicago Tribune (3/1, Hirsch) noted the issue "rose to prominence this month when a Los Angeles County court commissioner ruled that American Honda Motor Co. negligently misled Civic owner Heather Peters when it said the hybrid could achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon." Opting out of the class settlement, Peters was awarded almost the $10,000 small claims maximum, well above the several hundred dollars provided under the settlement. Honda says it's gearing up to appeal the Los Angeles ruling, which it called "a radical and unprecedented departure from California and federal law."

-- source AAJ News Brief

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Nissan recalling 79,000 Nissan and Infiniti vehicles to fix potential gasoline leaks

Nissan says it is recalling more than 79,000 vehicles in the U.S. to fix possible gasoline leaks.

The automaker is recalling certain Nissan Juke small crossover SUVs, Infiniti QX large SUVs and Infiniti M sedans from the 2011 and 2012 model years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says on its website that fuel pressure sensors on the vehicles may not be tight enough and gasoline could leak and cause a fire. Nissan says no fires have been reported.

Dealers will tighten the sensors or replace gaskets free of charge to take care of the problem.

The vehicles were made between Oct. 5, 2009 and Dec. 27, 2011.

The recall is scheduled to start on March 19. Owners with questions may call Nissan at 615-725-1000.

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source: Washington Post (AP, 2/27)

Federal safety regulators fine BMW $3 million for untimely reporting of safety defects

WASHINGTON — German automaker BMW has agreed to pay $3 million for delays in reporting safety defects and recalls to the federal regulators, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday.

An examination of 16 recalls issued by BMW of North America LLC in 2010 found a pattern in which the automaker failed to meet federal requirements that known defects be reported within five days, the safety agency said in a statement.

As part of the settlement, BMW and its parent company, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, agreed to make internal changes to its recall process, NHTSA said

“It’s critical to the safety of the driving public that defects and recalls are reported in short order,” NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said. “NHTSA expects all manufacturers to address automotive safety issues quickly and in a forthright manner.”

Despite the safety agency’s claim that some recall filings were late, “in every case where a defect was identified by the company a voluntary recall had been conducted,” BMW said in a statement.

A summary report of NHTSA’s investigation said the agency noticed in late 2010 a “troubling trend” in the automaker’s recall filings over the course of the previous year — the company’s initial recall filings were missing important information. Each time the problem was brought BMW’s attention, the automaker would promise to provide the information but then would take “an inordinate amount of time to do so,” the summary said.

For example, in only 6 out of 16 recall reports in 2010 was BMW able to say how many vehicles were affected and how many were expected to be recalled, the summary said. In only five of the reports did the automaker supply the required chronology of events, and all but one of the five were missing dates or other important information, the summary said.

NHTSA investigators also complained it was taking BMW on average over 30 dates to supply “fundamental” information missing from recall updates.

The recalls involved motorcycles, as well as sport utility vehicles.

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source: Washington Post (AP, 2/10)

So what happens the next time there’s a wreck on Highway 183?

 

So, what do we do if it happens again?

With all the oilfield traffic in Gonzales County, it should come as no surprise that driver mishaps should occur on a frequent basis, if not a daily basis.

When motorists were held in gridlock while traveling south of Gonzales last week on U.S. Highway 183, they soon discovered they would have to find a new way to get where they needed to go. Without a doubt, this was a great inconvenience to all of them.

Traffic was backed up more than 15 miles last Friday afternoon after an 18-wheeler ran off the road near Hochheim.

According to a report from DPS officer Matthew Southall, at 1:07 p.m., a 2007 Freightliner driven by Wallace Witham, 51, of China Grove, was headed south on 183 and tried to make a left turn onto state Highway 111 when it overturned onto the passenger side, sliding off the roadway and onto the median.

The accident caused the tanks the trucker was carrying to spill oil across the road, and police subsequently blocked off 183 for the next several hours. The resulting bottleneck extended as far north as Circle G Truck Stop at state Highway 97, just a mile south of Gonzales.

Perturbed drivers were forced to either wait in the makeshift parking lot, or turn around and seek an alternate route to their destinations until the mess was finally cleaned up, which DPS reported was around 4:30 p.m.

The Texas Department of Transportation, which is shepherding a major overhaul of Highway 183 from south of Gonzales to the DeWitt County line, said it has no contingency plan in the event of another accident that may block the highway.

So, what do we do if it happens again?

Be sure you have a good book to read in your car – you’ll be stranded there for quite a while.

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source: The Gonzales Inquirer (Ford, 1/27)


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Many Texas highways will soon get 75-mph speed limit

Good news for Texas leadfoots:

The speed limit will soon rise from 70 to 75 mph on nearly 1,500 miles of highway. The new limit was approved Thursday by the Texas Transportation Commission after studies on the roads determined that the change would be safe.

For Fort Worth-area motorists, the changes affect only out-of-town trips. For example, on a trip to Austin, drivers can save a few minutes by driving 75 mph on Interstate 35 south of Hillsboro. Same goes for those traveling to Abilene. They can go 75 mph on I-20 west of Weatherford.

But before you put the pedal to the metal, wait until you actually see the new speed limit signs, which will be posted in the coming days or weeks.

"The new speed limit is not official until the signs go up," warned Carol Rawson, Texas Department of Transportation traffic operations director.

Where will the new speed limits be?

I-10: 289 miles, El Paso, Gillespie, Kerr, Kendall, Bexar, Guadalupe, Caldwell, Gonzales, Fayette, Colorado, Austin, Jefferson and Orange counties.

I-20: 423 miles, Crane, Ector, Midland, Martin, Howard, Mitchell, Nolan, Taylor, Callahan, Eastland, Erath, Palo Pinto, Van Zandt, Smith, Gregg and Harrison counties.

I-27: 109 miles, Lubbock, Hale, Swisher and Randall counties.

I-30: 139 miles, Hunt, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus, Morris and Bowie counties.

I-35: 106 miles, Webb, Medina, Atascosa, Bexar, Hill and Cooke counties.

I-37: 130 miles, Nueces, San Patricio, Live Oak, Atascosa and Bexar counties.

I-40: 166 miles, Deaf Smith, Oldham, Potter, Carson, Gray, Donley and Wheeler counties.

I-44: 11 miles, Wichita County.

I-45: 143 miles, Walker, Madison, Leon, Freestone and Navarro counties.

Four other highways in Central Texas got the new speed limit late last year, all in the Austin area -- I-35 from Georgetown to Salado, and Texas 130, Texas 45 and U.S. 281 -- and a number of roads have had it for several years. Once the signs are up, Texas will have 3,063 miles of highway with a 75-mph limit.

And, of course, Texas is famous (safety advocates might say infamous) for its 80-mph limit on 521 miles of I-10 and I-20 in far West Texas.

That's a grand total of 3,584 miles where drivers can go 75 mph or faster.

While the higher threshold may be fun for speed freaks, state officials caution that being allowed to go fast doesn't necessarily mean you should.

But for those who feel comfortable driving 75 mph, tests conducted by state engineers have concluded that the roads are designed for that speed and that under current conditions the overwhelming majority of traffic is already going that fast -- illegally, for now.

"People should know we didn't make these decisions in a vacuum," said Texas Transportation Commissioner Bill Meadows of Fort Worth.

For the complete run-down, view here.

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source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Dickson, 1/26)

25,000 unsafe toys seized at Port of Houston

Consumer safety inspectors at the Port of Houston have seized more toys deemed unsafe for children - largely because of choking hazards and lead paint - than almost any other consumer product imported to the United States, second only to fireworks.

The toys, 25,000 of them, are among 117,000 foreign products like mattresses, electronic devices, lighters, bike helmets and all-terrain vehicles confiscated in Houston by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 2010 through 2011.

Even now, dozens of boxes of toy bears imported from China are parked at an inspection station on North Wayside Road.

"If the bear's nose and eyes can be easily pulled off, those small parts could choke children," said David McCabe, the compliance investigator at the port as he pulled parts from a toy bear to test them in a cylinder. "Anything that fits in the cylinder is too risky for children to play with."

Nationwide, 19 investigators assigned to the busiest ports have confiscated, among other things, toy guns, cars, trucks, helicopters and dolls containing lead paint, lead content, phthalates and small parts deemed dangerous. Phthalates are chemicals used in plastics and other products.

"In response to the lead in paint recalls in 2007, CPSC started to place investigators at key ports of entry full time," said Carol Cave, the director of the Office of Import Surveillance and Inspection.

Faced with a swell of concern and 45 million children's toys and products recalled about five years ago, Congress in 2008 boosted the budget of the CPSC and required it to set up a website where consumers can both register complaints and read reports posted by others.

"We think the products being turned back stopped people from shipping stuff here in the first place. Now they're not sure if they are able to get in," said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Chicago-based Kids in Danger, a consumer advocacy group. "It's a very effective program to keep unsafe toys from our children."

Lead is believed to cause both brain damage and behavioral problems in children. A number of studies have linked phthalates to early puberty in girls, genital defects and reduced testosterone production in boys.

In 2010, there were 17 toy-related deaths and 181,500 injuries among children of 15 or younger, according a CPSC report. Eleven of the deaths were from asphyxiation or choking.

Most seized products come from China, although collaboration with the Chinese government has reduced the number of recalls, officials said. CPSC established an office in Beijing last year to make it easier to communicate with Chinese officials about safety problems, like toxic metals in toys.

Currently, 45 percent of imported consumer products and 90 percent of toys sold in the United States come from China and Hong Kong.

Products from South America like jewelry also are stopped for containing lead or cadmium.

The Port of Houston imports more foreign waterborne tonnage than any other U.S. port. McCabe is responsible for inspecting 150 shipments a year, or one every other day.

With the ongoing Panama Canal expansion project, the number of containers handled by the Port of Houston through the canal could grow by 15 percent in the next few years, according to the Houston Port Authority.

Determining whether a foreign shipment should be destroyed is a stringent process.

CPSC investigators first test the product with tools in the field and send product samples to labs in Maryland.

"The lab will use a device that mimics a child's strength to try to pull the eyes and noses from the bear, which can produce a precise result," said McCabe.


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source: Houston Chronicle (Wang, 1/23)