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NHTSA: Dangers of 15-Passenger Vans
One of the most popular modes of transportation for youth sports groups, church groups, and other organizations is the 15-passenger van. Many families or groups of friends will also rent these large vehicles when traveling together, rather than using separate vehicles. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) warns that these vehicles can be dangerous.
According to the NHTSA, overloaded 15-passenger vans have a greater risk of being involved in a rollover accident, and many of these accidents can be fatal. Overloading the van also makes it unstable when driving, which also increases the risk of other types of traffic accidents.
Past testing conducted by the NHTSA revealed that the more occupants in the van, the greater the risk of a roll-over, even in a single-vehicle crash. In fact, a van carrying 10 occupants has a three times higher risk of rolling over than a van carrying five occupants.
Watch Out for That Icy Walkway: Seniors Especially Susceptible to Slip and Fall Injuries
Every year, over 1.5 million older Americans visit hospital emergency rooms for treatment of injuries they sustain from slips or falls. For seniors, falls are the number one cause of injury death, hospital admission for traumas, and bone fractures. The most common fractures from falls are hips, pelvis, spine, arm, hand, and ankle.
The most serious type of fracture for seniors is a hip fracture. Many seniors who receive a hip injury from a fall never fully recover and lost their ability to live independently, often needling long-term care.
A recent study by the researchers from the University of Massachusetts found that seniors are more likely to suffer a slip or fall while they are walking on order to do routine errands, rather than when they are walking for exercise. The study points out what a catch-22 this is for older people as walking is good exercise and helps them maintain balance and muscle strength, yet 63 percent of falls are caused by walking.
FDA Warns about Unknown Dangers to Babies from Keep-Sake Ultrasounds
One of the most popular items that many parents-to-be have jumped on purchasing are prenatal portraits, also called “keepsake ultrasounds.” Commercial keepsake ultrasound businesses have opened up across the country. These photos are different from the ultrasounds usually done during a medical exam because the images are in 3-D or 4-D format. One of the more popular ways to get a prenatal portrait done is by hosting or attending an ultrasound party.
These events are like many other “parties” one might have, just like makeup, cookware, or candle, complete with friends and snacks. Except the “demonstrator” here brings an ultrasound machine and most of the guests are pregnant. But just how safe are these keepsake ultrasounds and what harm could they be doing to unborn babies?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a warning to expectant parents that these medically unnecessary ultrasounds may actually be dangerous. While a normal, doctor prescribed ultrasound typically takes 15 minutes to obtain the photos needed for medical diagnosis, keep-sake ultrasounds often run up to an hour in order for the technician to obtain good photos of the baby’s face. One of the main concerns, according to the FDA, is that there has been little to no studies done which have determined what the long-term effect of a sustained exposure to the ultrasound has on an unborn child.
Truck Drivers Carry Special Responsibility When on the Road
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, there were 9,739 reported tractor-trailer crashes in 2012, which resulted in 94 fatalities and over 2,000 injuries. Due to the size and cargo weight of tractor-trailers, truck drivers have specific safety regulations they must follow when on the road.
It is necessary for truck drivers to check for defective equipment and faulty brakes before starting their shifts. They must have adequate experience driving a commercial truck and abide by the limitations that have been implemented regarding the amount of drive time they are allowed per week.
Federal regulations have been put into place to help prevent the number of trucking accidents that occur every year. The rules require drivers to:
- Not exceed a maximum of 70 hours of drive time per work week, a decrease from the previously approved 82 hours;
Caution to Drivers: Collisions Caused by Deer on the Rise in Winter Months
During this time of year car crashes involving deer are more common. The Illinois Department of Transportation documented 426 deer-related motor vehicle accidents in Cook County in 2013 with over 15,000 total accidents affecting the state. This, in addition to wintry weather conditions and holiday travel, has caused an increase in car accidents over previous years.
Deer that jump out into the road can cause rear-end accidents or other types of collisions on the road due to drivers trying to move out of the way. Motorists should abide by the following safety tips:
- Drive with caution particularly at dusk and dawn when deer activity is high;
- Reduce speed near wooded areas and fields;
- Watch for deer traveling together, one deer may indicate more to follow; and
- Avoid swerving, if possible.
Illinois Considers Third Class of Motorcycle License
For the past three years, there has been a consistent increase in the number of motorcycle accident fatalities in the state of Illinois. The number of deaths has caused officials to seriously consider adding a third class of motorcycle license to the two classes of licenses that Illinois now offers.
Currently, when a person applies for a motorcycle license, they have two options to test for. The first is for cycles which have an engine less than 150 cubic centimeters. Engines these sizes are typically found in scooters and off-road bikes. The second class is for cycles with engines larger than 150 cubic centimeters.
The problem, proponents of a third license class say, is that motorcycle manufactures keep designing bikes with larger and larger engines, with enough power to hit speeds of up to 140 miles per hour. A novice rider, who passed their licensing test riding a smaller engine motorcycle, goes and purchases one of these more powerful bikes and ends up not being able to handle them. This often leads to accidents–and too often those accidents are deadly.
Car Accidents vs. Trucking Accidents: How They Differ
The number of motor vehicle accidents that occur each year has reached the millions. According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2009, over 13 million passenger accidents have occurred in the past decade, half a million which involved large trucks.
All motor vehicle accidents share a few similarities, but a collision involving a commercial truck differs from that involving an automobile based on a variety of factors. Both can be traumatic to all parties involved and result in:
- Personal injuries;
- Damage to the vehicle or vehicles;
- Medical costs; and
- Post-accident stress and follow-up care.
However, financial liability and driver responsibility when comparing trucking and car accidents are not the same. A motorist involved in a car accident with one or more cars exchanges insurance information between drivers to file a claim. When a trucking accident occurs, both the commercial driver and the trucking company may be held liable for damages. In either case, pertinent data must be collected including:
Elderly Patients at High Risk for Medical Injuries
When we do to the doctor or hospital because we are sick or injured, we put our trust into the physicians and other medical personnel that the treatment and care they give us will make us well, or at the very least, comfortable. What we do not anticipate is that the care we receive will actually cause more medical issues or be dangerous. But for many elderly patients, that is exactly what happens.
A study that was recently conducted by researchers at the Gerontology Program at Towson University in Maryland revealed that one in five elderly Medicare patients sustain injuries that frequently have nothing to do with the medical problems they are being treated for. Some of the more common injuries include being prescribed medication that causes allergic reactions, being given the wrong medication or having treatments for an illness which causes other medical problems other than the original diagnosis.
Half of Hospital Stay Fatalities Caused by Sepsis
Researchers from Kaiser Permanente, a national health care organization, recently discovered that almost half of hospital deaths that occurred between 2010 through 2012 could be traced back to sepsis. Sepsis happens when the whole body responds to a bacterial infection. In many cases, the body’s reaction in order to fight the infection is so severe it can cause organs to shut down, resulting in death.
The study examined over 7 million adult hospitalizations between 2010 and 2012. There were approximately 500,000 cases that were taken directly from Kaiser facilities, however, the remaining 6.5 million cases came from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS).
The research team not only examined patient records that were clearly identified as having sepsis, but also patients who were reported to have both organ failure and infections. This was done in light of the fact that many medical personnel do not recognize sepsis symptoms.
A Whiplash Injury Can Be Deadly
Whiplash is one of the most common injuries a person can receive in a vehicle accident. The injury occurs to the neck when a vehicle is rear-ended, causing the victim’s head to suddenly jerk backwards and then forward.
The motion is similar to a cracking whip, hence its name. It is those sudden jerking motions to the neck that pulls the ligaments and muscles farther than they usually go. This sudden stretching can injure ligaments, discs, intervertebral joints, nerve roots and cervical muscles.
Symptoms of whiplash can include neck pain and stiffness, dizziness, and headaches. Some people may suffer from back or shoulder pain as well as experiencing strange feelings to the injured areas such as a prickling or burning sensation.
In more serious whiplash injuries, the victim may also suffer from memory loss, sleep disturbances, impairment of concentration, fatigue, nervousness, depression or irritability. Healing time for someone with a whiplash injury typically takes approximately three months.
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9631 W. 153rd St., Suite 32, Orland Park, IL 60462
708-966-2408
