Insurance industry worries about older drivers with smartphones

In any conversation about distracted driving – especially texting behind the wheel – it is almost always in the context of youthful drivers. After all, they're the ones addicted to their smartphones, right?

Not so fast. Increasingly it appears that a growing number of those heads glancing down at smartphone screens behind the wheel have gray hair. Older drivers are quickly catching up with young drivers when it comes to staying connected while driving.

And it's not just texting. A July 2013 survey by State Farm Insurance found a big jump in the percentage of drivers who own smartphones, particularly among drivers age thirty and older. At the same time the percentage of drivers who access the Internet on their phone while driving has nearly doubled over the past five years, going up from 13% in 2009 to 24% in 2013.

More hands-free talking

The survey results also showed the use of hands-free cell phones while driving has increased, while the percentage of people talking on a hand-held cell phone or texting while driving has become stagnant over the past three years.

This may be due, in part, to the growing number of new cars that have a Bluetooth connection. With this system, a driver may answer a call and carry on a conversation simply by pushing a button on the steering wheel, without removing the phone from a pocket or a purse.

While there has been research that suggests talking on a hands-free phone is also distracting, the same could be said for a driver conversing with passengers. It's all a matter of degree. But it's the growing presence of electronic gadgets among drivers that keeps insurance agents up at night.

Multiple distractions

"As smart phone ownership increases for all age groups, the safety community must ensure we are keeping pace with our understanding of the types of distractions drivers face," said Chris Mullen, Director of Technology Research at State Farm. "Much attention is paid toward reducing texting while driving, but we must also be concerned about addressing the growing use of multiple mobile web services while driving."

While 86% of drivers age 18-29 have smartphones, the new data shows 64% of drivers age 50 to 64 do as well, a 20% jump in two years. Even 39% of drivers 65 and older now have smartphones, the survey found.

Distracted driving is a major concern for the insurance industry, which profits when there are fewer accidents. But while most concede that texting while driving is very dangerous, it's less clear that simply talking and driving is.

Questioning conventional wisdom

Another study from Carnegie Mellon University and the London School of Economics and Political Science, also conducted this year, finds that talking on a phone while driving does not increase the risk of a crash.

For the study, Carnegie Mellon's Saurabh Bhargava and the London School of Economics and Political Science's Vikram S. Pathania examined calling and crash data from 2002 to 2005, a period when most cell phone carriers offered pricing plans with free calls on weekdays after 9 p.m. They compared data from mobile network operators and accident reports and found that there was no direct correlation between the number of phone calls made during a certain time period and the number of crashes during the same time.

"Using a cell phone while driving may be distracting, but it does not lead to higher crash risk in the setting we examined," said Bhargava, who is an assistant professor of social and decision sciences at CMU. "While our findings may strike many as counterintuitive, our results are precise enough to statistically call into question the effects typically found in the academic literature. Our study differs from most prior work in that it leverages a naturally occurring experiment in a real-world context."

For its part, State Farm is encouraging government agencies to continue their high profile campaign against distracted driving, which specifically targets electronic gadgets.

"State Farm continues to support a multi-pronged approach to encouraging more engaged driving," Mullen said. "Legislation, enforcement, education and technology all have a role to play in making our roads safer for all who share them."

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Source: Consumer Affairs (Huffman, 11/13)

NTSB faults parade plans in fatal train collision

WASHINGTON — An oncoming freight train sounded its warning, and track guard gates started to descend. But the crowd was cheering, a marching band was playing, the lights of a police escort were flashing and a truck driver towing a parade float of wounded veterans and their wives in Midland, Texas, advanced heedlessly into the crossing.

The train rammed the float at 62 mph, killing four veterans and injuring 11 other veterans and their wives.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday faulted parade organizers and city officials for their lack of safety planning, not the truck driver towing the float.

"This terrible collision between a fast-moving freight train and a slow-rolling parade float of veterans and their loved ones should never have occurred," said NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman at a board meeting to conclude a yearlong investigation of the accident. "Parade and event organizers must identify and manage hazards in advance to ensure a safe outcome for participants and spectators."

Citing other fatal accidents at parades and special events in Bangor, Maine; Edmond, Okla.; and Damascus, Va., the five-member board also made a series of safety recommendations to cities and counties regarding the need for permits and safety plans.

The parade had been an annual event in Midland, a transportation and commerce hub in the West Texas oilfields, for nine years. A local charity had invited the veterans for a three-day weekend of hunting and shopping in appreciation of their service, including a parade timed to fall near Veterans Day.

Led by three police vehicles and a marching band, two floats with veterans and their spouses were en route to a banquet in their honor on Nov. 15, 2012 when the collision occurred. One float had just cleared the highway grade crossing, and a second flatbed truck was edging across the tracks when it was struck by a Union Pacific train. Several veterans and their wives managed to jump from the float before the collision.

NTSB investigators described to the board how safety precautions for the annual parade had melted away over the years.

After the first few years that the parade was held the route was changed from one that didn't cross Union Pacific's tracks to a route that did cross the tracks. For several years after the route change, parade organizers would alert the railroad to their plans and police were stationed at the highway grade crossing. But even those precautions were dropped by last year.

In the early years of the parade, organizers also obtained parade permits from the city. But last year, no permit was obtained in violation of city regulations, investigators said. Even if a permit had been issued, city regulations didn't require parade organizers to submit a safety plan, they said.

"It seems things got lax in the planning," highway safety investigator Gary Van Etten told the board. "There was no (safety) plan."

Midland officials, responding to the board's findings, said in a statement that while they've already implemented significant changes in the city's process for handling special events, they said they also realize there is more work to be done.

"The review and upcoming one-year anniversary of the accident bring back many painful emotions and memories, and our hearts continue to go out to the families who relive the accident every single day," the city's statement said. "Our hope is that those who have followed our story are still listening so that these recommendations can also help them hold safe, successful events in the future."

The railroad crossing warning system was activated the required 20 seconds before the accident, and the guardrail began to come down seven seconds after that, but the truck's driver was unaware of the danger because circumstances of the parade had created an "expectation" of safety, investigators said.

Police were stationed at intersections along the parade route and the truck driver had been allowed to proceed for 34 minutes through a series of red lights before the accident, investigators said. By the time the driver arrived at the grade crossing, he had reason to assume he could proceed through a red light there as well, they said.

"I think he was led down the primrose path, he was invited across these railroad tracks," said NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt.

The truck driver didn't recognize the warning bells that sounded as the train approached because of noise from the crowd, the marching band and motorcycles in the parade, investigators said.

The driver told investigators that he did not see the flashing lights of the grade-crossing warning system or detect the presence of the train until the float was on the tracks because he was looking at his side-view mirror to make sure float passengers weren't being jostled as he negotiated a dip in the roadway on approach to the grade crossing.

The train's engineer sounded the locomotive's horn and pulled the emergency brake seconds before the collision, but was unable to stop in time. The first truck towing a float, which was in front of the truck that was struck, was fitted with a train horn that had been sounding throughout the parade, yet another reason why the driver of the truck that was struck didn't register the danger until it was too late, investigators said.

Show of Support, the group that organized last year's parade, is holding a banquet this year, not a parade, Midland spokeswoman Sara Higgins said.

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Source: Merced Sun Star (Lowy, 11/05)

Mother angry over handling of school playground accident

PASADENA, Texas -- A first grader from Fisher Elementary is nursing a broken wrist and her mom believes the school didn't do enough after it happened.

Herminia Castillo fell off the monkey bars.

"She landed really, really hard on the floor,' said Herminia's mom Rosalinda Garcia. "Not one of the teachers had gone to go and check on her or see if she was okay."

The school let Garcia look at surveillance video from the playground and she noticed it was actually other students who helped Herminia over to the adults.

"They weren't supervising her properly to attend to her on time," Garcia said.

We asked Pasadena ISD for the video but they won't release it at this point.

However, district officials tell us that another child was injured moments before and since Herminia's injury didn't appear that serious, they went in order.

The first grader was eventually taken inside.

"The teacher took me to the nurse and then the nurse put ice on it and water on it," Castillo said.

Garcia says she got the call about what happened an hour later.

When they were reunited, the 6-year-old was taken to the emergency room. Her fractured wrist means no PE or recess for a little while.

Since Herminia's mom thinks some retraining is in order, district officials have agreed to meet with her next week to talk about it.

No one from Pasadena ISD would talk on camera about the incident but they did send us this statement:

We regret that this first grade student got hurt playing on the playground during recess. Teachers on the playground and the campus R.N. responded quickly and appropriately to this child’s injury. The supervising teacher who responded to the injured student got to her within 35 seconds.

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Source: KHOU (Craig, 10/24)

Grandmother Drowns in Horrific Theme Park Accident, Family Sues

It was September 5, 2011, when the Forbes family attended Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, Texas, when tragedy struck. Allen-resident Linda Forbes had been enjoying the park with her family that day when she was pulled from the “Lazy River,” an attraction that is described on Hurricane Harbor’s website this way:

“Sometimes, it’s fun to be lazy. Kick back and float or tube along this easy-going river that gently cruises at a current of three miles per hour.” The “Lazy River” is depicted in an image as a large, linear pool in which patrons can float lazily on various floating devices such as tubes.

When Forbes, a 64-year-old grandmother, was pulled from the water, park employees came to her aid and began chest compressions, according to a summary in The Dallas Morning News (9/7/13). With the victim lying on her back, a mask was placed over her face in an effort to force oxygen into her lungs. The mask, however, proceeded to fill with water, presumably from the victim’s lungs. Forbes was finally rolled over onto her side only after a guest at the park, who was also a paramedic, instructed employees to do so, preventing water from re-entering the victim’s lungs.

According to the horrific theme park accident report, park employees also brought a defibrillator in an effort to revive the victim. However, the defibrillator failed to activate. The lawsuit notes that a locked exit, which was closest to the victim, may have prevented the victim from being transported to the hospital in a timely manner.

Forbes was pronounced dead as the result of the amusement park accident at Arlington Memorial Hospital later that evening.

Amusement Park Deaths are rare, but also real byproducts of the amusement park experience. Safety advocates place a great deal of emphasis on regular inspections and maintenance, as well as sound design principles to maximize the safety of patrons.

And Theme Park Accidents occur at both fixed installations, such as Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, and traveling installations that are a popular feature at state fairs.

In 1979, according to The Dallas Morning News (9/28/13), a gondola from the Swiss Skyride attraction dislocated and plummeted 80 feet to the ground, killing one bystander and injuring 15 other patrons attending the Texas State Fair that year. Four years later, a rider was killed and 16 other patrons were injured - two seriously - after a spinning car on the Enterprise ride dislocated from the ride and crashed into the midway.

Both Amusement Park Deaths resulted in multimillion-dollar lawsuits. However, the tragedies also fostered more stringent management and inspections of thrill rides at state fairs. While the Enterprise ride was inspected by a representative of the insurance company and deemed safe before it was opened to riders during the Texas State Fair of 1983, a more thorough inspection following the Horrific Theme Park Accident revealed fractures in the Enterprise’s steel frame that might have been detected had a more thorough inspection taken place prior to the ride opening to the public.

Jim Sinclair, deputy general manager of the Minnesota State Fair, told The Dallas Morning News that in Minnesota inspectors are on-site 24 hours a day for the entire run of the State Fair. Inspectors perform constant spot checks and review daily inspection reports. “The level of exposure that comes with a state fair operation like in Dallas or here [St. Paul, Minnesota] or Milwaukee is such that you want that layer of inspection,” he said in comments published in The Dallas Morning News.

“We have the risk.”

As for the amusement park death of Forbes, The Dallas Morning News says that her death was not reported to the Texas Department of Insurance because the Lazy River is not licensed as a ride per se - although the park’s water slides are. For an unlicensed ride, there is no requirement to report a death or injury, according to the report.

On the Hurricane Harbor website, the Lazy River is listed as a family ride. The amusement park lawsuit continues.

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Source: Lawyers and Settlements (Gibb, 10/19)

Train hits stalled 18-wheeler; Driver escapes unharmed

A driver was able to jump out of his 18-wheeler Wednesday morning before a train collided with the semi-tractor near County Road 1130 and Highway 80.

The driver was towing a flatbed trailer and got stuck on the tracks at railroad crossing 1130, said Drew Peters, Midland Fire Department battalion chief.

The train collided with the truck and dragged it at least half a mile west toward the intersection of Highway 80 and East Loop 250, Peters said.

The flatbed trailer wrapped around the front of the train engine during the collision. The crash created a debris field scattered across the tracks, Peters said.

The crash investigation is ongoing and it’s currently unknown if the driver will be cited.

Gene Powell, public information officer for the Texas Department of Transportation, said a crossing arm was damaged in the crash. Union Pacific has asked that the crossover be closed to traffic until the crossing arm is repaired, which should be completed by this week, Powell said.

The crash also caused a diesel spill of about 100 gallons, he said.

Department of Public Safety troopers, as well as Midland police and fire units, responded to the crash at about 9:14 a.m.


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source: Mywesttexas.com (White, 10/9)

Overdosing on pain reliever acetaminophen

Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is one of the most popular pain relievers in the United States, but a new report by ProPublica finds acetaminophen may have caused the deaths of more than 1,500 people over 10 years.

The parents of a 12-year-old boy, Davy, told ProPublica that they took him to the hospital after treating him for a sore throat for a week with maximum strength Tylenol sore throat medicine. The hospital found that Davy had liver damage from the acetaminophen, and was declared brain dead a few days later.

"The key issue with acetaminophen is really what they call the narrow margin of error. It's the narrowest margin of error between the dose that can (help) you and the dose that can harm," said T. Christian Miller.

If users take the recommended daily dose, it's a pretty safe medicine.

"If you go over that and not too far, you can get in trouble," said Miller. When taken in larger than recommended doses, acetaminophen can damage or destroy the liver.

"What makes Tylenol unique is it's really a pretty safe medicine at the recommended doses, but if you go over two pills, four pills, six pills, eight pills over a number of days, depending on your condition, you can get into trouble with things like liver damage and even death," said Miller.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still struggling to identify the number of pills over the recommended dose that could be seriously detrimental to users.

"The number they put out right now is studies show that anywhere from about four pills over, to eight pills over of extra strength, taken over several days, can get you into trouble.," said Miller. "A one-time dosage of about four times (over the recommended dose) can also get you into trouble in terms of liver damage and fatality."

Another couple Miller and his ProPublica colleague spoke to were the parents of 5-month-old Brianna Hutto, who was given Tylenol.

"The doctor then comes in and says I figured it out. It's acetaminophen poisoning. She's been poisoned by Tylenol. Her liver is failing. Her enzymes are high," Brianna's mother told ProPublica.

"How did this happen? How did she get poison or whatever from medicine that's always given, that we were told to give?" said Brianna's father.

The unfortunate story of Brianna underscores the dangers of Children's Tylenol versus Infants' Tylenol. Counter intuitively, Infants' Tylenol has a higher concentration of acetaminophen.

"What happened is the major manufacturers of acetaminophen, like Tylenol and others, were selling two different concentrations of infants' and children's, and the infants' was three times more concentrated than the children's," said Miller.

"So if you mixed up the dosage, in other words, if you gave your infant baby Infants' Tylenol at a Children's Tylenol level, you could end up poisoning them completely accidentally. That happened a number of times over 15 years, and that's what happened with the Hutto's."

CNN's medical team points out that if taken in its recommended doses, users are safe to take Tylenol, and this is not just a Tylenol problem. Acetaminophen is in hundreds of other medications, and Tylenol has a new cap that warns users about the ingredient, and to use it safely.

Tylenol said in a statement to CNN:

"As the makers of tylenol®, we understand that consumers have a need to know about the medicines they take and we have a responsibility to help them make informed choices, including helping them to understand both the benefits and the risks. When taken as directed, acetaminophen (the active ingredient in tylenol®) has one of the most favorable safety profiles among over-the-counter pain relievers. However, when an overdose is taken, it can result in serious liver damage. Consumers should always read the label on the medicines they take, never take more than the recommended dose, and talk to their doctor if they have any questions or concerns. Visit us at http://www.getreliefresponsibly.com for more information."

For people at home with Tylenol, with Infants' Tylenol and Children's Tylenol,

"If you're a parent, the number one thing is to follow what the label says. And as of now, that label is: If you have a kid under 2, call your doctor for recommendations. So that's what parents should do right now, is follow the label as it's labeled, and be careful when administering doses to their kids," said Miller.


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Source: CNN (Tapper, 9/23)

Police say woman's death at Texas climbing gym a tragic accident

GRAPEVINE, Texas –– Police say the death of an experienced climber at a Grapevine climbing gym was an unfortunate accident.

According to Grapevine police, 52-year old Susan Mailloux likely forgot to clip herself into the safety rope system provided by the gym. If Mailloux’s Facebook page is any indication, she loved rock climbing. It is covered with pictures of her on the wall.

Yesterday, police say, she was climbing with her boyfriend and his son, at Summit Climbing. At the top, 25 to 30 feet up, police say Mailloux let go, as if she thought she was tied in. She was not.

“Once she got to the top of that road ladder she simply released as if she was attached to it and then she fell to the ground,” said Sgt. Robert Eberling with the Grapevine Police Department.

The gym requires climbers to sign a waiver warning against all types of possible injury or death, including “freakish accidents which cannot be forseen.” Police say Mailloux failed to clip into, what’s called an auto-belay, an automatic harness system that lowers a falling climber, slowly, to the ground.

Ben Mann is also a climber at Summit, he did not know Mailloux.

“All of the rock walls are lined with ropes and about every five to ten feet there’s a sign that says don’t forget to clip in, or make sure you’re clipped in,” Mann said.

The manager of the Budget Suites in Irving, confirmed Mailloux had lived here for several years Former neighbors say she also has a son in the Navy. The owner of Summit said Mailloux came in once every week or ten days to climb and police confirm had experience climbing.

The gym was closed today and will also be closed tomorrow, the owner says, out of respect for Mailloux and her family.

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Source: Kens5 (Schechter, 09/24)