As federal, state, and local officials seek to slash the nation’s spiking road toll of injury and death, law enforcement authorities need to crack down on the scary prevalence of motorists who get behind the wheel while intoxicated by marijuana or alcohol. Indeed, as NPR reported: “A large study by U.S. highway safety regulators found….
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A holiday health warning to take to heart about drinking
Cardiologists and other doctors have words to the wise for the aging, party-hearty-for-the-holidays crowd: Excessive boozing, as part of their seasonal merry making, puts those who partake of too much liquid cheer at heightened risk of heart problems. The last thing, too, that public safety advocates would want to see in times when the nation….
Continue ReadingGiving many thanks on yet another holiday fraught with health concerns
Millions of us will have much to give thanks for during the annual holiday, which, like several of its recent versions, again will be a time of health wariness and uncertainty, too. The seasonal feast — which brings so many the joy of not only a grand meal but also the pleasure of gathering with….
Continue ReadingD.C. drivers need to learn a key safety lesson: Slow down near schools
With students returning to classes in a few weeks, motorists need to make an important safety pledge to youngsters and their communities in Washington, D.C.: Please, for goodness’ sake, slow down. This is not happening as it should, putting kids at heightened risk, a new study has found. As the Washington Post reported: “D.C. drivers….
Continue ReadingThe U.S. summer of 2022: Infectious outbreaks and vital vaccines
In the 21st century, in the wealthiest and supposedly most advanced nation on the planet, infectious diseases and vaccines continue to be major part of the news headlines. Experts and regular folks are paying attention to the persistent coronavirus pandemic, a stubborn and apparently widening outbreak of monkeypox, and a startling spike of meningitis and….
Continue ReadingEnjoy a great Fourth — safely and without dangerous, illicit fireworks
This great country will celebrate its 246th birthday on July 4, 2022 — a national holiday marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. Here’s hoping one and all have a glorious, fun, and safe Fourth! Wouldn’t the holiday be all the finer if folks, especially those fortunate….
Continue ReadingRoad deaths shatter records, as pedestrian fatalities skyrocket, too
Even with budget-busting gas prices, Americans are driving with abandon, especially as the nation heads into the summer vacation season. But what will get motorists to slow down, buckle up, and heed vital road safety steps — especially as the latest new numbers underscore the lethal toll if they don’t? Traffic fatalities climbed by 10%….
Continue ReadingMotorists across region need to look in the mirror to improve road safety
When it comes to serious traffic and road safety problems in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, to quote the late, brilliant cartoonist Walt Kelly of Pogo fame: We have met the enemy and he is us. We are the reckless, speeding, and law-defying motorists not only from the District but, yes, big numbers of bad-behaving….
Continue ReadingPandemic is taking terrible toll on mental health, with links to road deaths, overdoses and homicides
Not all grievous injuries are apparent to the eye, as anyone who has experienced catastrophic illness or injury can attest. And now we’re learning a lot more about the hidden costs — mental, emotional, social, and spiritual — inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. Reporters Emily Baumgartner and Russ Mitchell of the Los Angeles Times surfaced….
Continue ReadingU.S. urges booster shots for all 18 and older and especially the 50+
With studies showing that as many as half of patients infected with the coronavirus suffer physical and psychological problems for six months or more after they thought they first recovered, wise people may want to take every precaution they can against the disease. They may wish to heed new federal recommendations calling for vaccine boosters,….
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