The Safety Blog - I am Wright.com

Several positive developments in highway work zone safety are taking place this year, highlighted by a federal rule on temporary traffic control devices (23 CFR 630 Subpart K) that takes effect Dec. 1. Connecticut’s Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill June 1 that could penalize drivers who seriously injure a work zone employee with fines up to $5,000 ($10,000 if the worker dies), and the ANSI A10.47 Work Zone Safety and Highway Construction rule may be finalized by the end of this year, Chairman Scott Schneider says. Last Friday, a 54-minute FHWA/ARTBA webinar explaining the Subpart K rule was posted with an accompanying PowerPoint presentation about the new rule.

More than 40,000 people are hurt in work zone crashes per year, and almost three deaths per day occur in work zones on average, presenter Chung Eng of the National Work Zone Clearinghouse says in the webinar.

Subpart K applies to all state and local agencies that receive federal-aid highway funding. It was issued in response to Section 1110 of the current federal highway funding law, which directed DOT to enact regulations on the use of uniformed law enforcement officers, positive protective measures between workers and motorized traffic, and installation and maintenance of temporary traffic control devices during construction, utility, and maintenance operations on such projects, which will be requlred to have separate pay for major categories of traffic control devices, safety features, and work zone safety activities. While the rule does not require the use of law enforcement officers on projects, it does require the agency to develop a policy addressing their use and to consider situations where the use of uniformed law enforcement officers could improve the safety of road users and workers.

Connecticut’s new law says someone who is driving in a work zone commits the offense “endangerment of a highway worker” when they exceed the posted speed limit by 15 miles per hour or more, fail to obey a traffic control device, drive through or around the zone in any lane not clearly designated for traffic, or physically assault, attempt to assault, or threaten to assault a highway worker with a motor vehicle or other instrument. The law creates a Highway Work Zone Safety Advisory Council to make ongoing recommendations to improve safety in these zones.

Schneider, OSH director of the Laborers’ Health and Safety Fund of North America, said Friday that he hopes the A10.47 standard can be finalized by the end of 2008. The A10 committee, of which ASSE is the secretariat, is meeting today and tomorrow in Washington, D.C., but the standard is not yet ready for balloting to the full committee, Schneider said. The proposed standard includes procedures and precautions for traffic control, flagger safety, runover and backover protection, equipment operator safety, power tool safety, fall prevention, materials handling, illuminated night work, and PPE, he said.

Find more information here: http://wzsafety.tamu.edu/node/8802

Find the law here: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2007_register&docid=fr05de07-6

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Tags: DOT, Driving, Safety by David Wright - IamSafetyGeek
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To swerve, or not to swerve: That is the question. Before leaping to an answer, consider these statistics:

• A collision with some form of wildlife occurs, on average, every 39 minutes.
• One out of every 17 car collisions involves wandering wildlife.
• 89% of all wildlife collisions occur on two-lane roads.
• 84% of all wildlife collisions occur in good weather on dry roads.
• The average repair cost of a car-deer collision is $2,800.
• Approximately 200 motorists die in the United States each year from car-wildlife collisions.

To avoid adding to these statistics, trim your chances of colliding with traversing wildlife by practicing the following precautions:

• Slow down when passing yellow animal-crossing signs. These warnings are posted not because road crews just happened to have a surplus of signs, but because heavy animal traffic frequents the area.
• Wildlife is most active during dusk, dawn, and night. Deer are most frequently hit during dusk and dawn, bears and moose at night.
• Headlights have an illumination range of 200 to 250 feet. To allow for sufficient brake time, reduce your speed to 45 mph at night―or even down to 30 mph when roads are icy.
• Pay attention to shoulders. Even though wildlife may be off to the side as your car approaches, animals may suddenly attempt to flee by inexplicably leaping into the road. (Jackrabbits are particularly suicidal.) Slow as you approach, and don’t hesitate to hit the horn.
• Look for reflecting eyes.
• Slow if you spy a moose. These gangly animals harbor a weird escape gene. Instead of leaping into forested cover, moose will gallop down the road ahead of you for long distances before finally veering into the woods.
• Keep in mind that deer, elk, and antelope wander in groups. If you see one crossing, slow to a crawl. More are bound to follow.
• If you drive in a state or province that employs road salt, keep in mind that wildlife embraces it as a condiment. Roads may be drier but wildlife more numerous.
• Deer whistles are merely peace-of-mind placebos. Research remains inconclusive as to the advantages of these car-mounted devices.

Now, finally, to answer the swerve-or-not-to-swerve dilemma, experts advise not swerving. You can suffer more ghastly consequences from an oncoming UPS delivery truck than from a leaping mule deer or skittering antelope. It is best to lock the breaks, jam the horn, and (if time allows) duck low behind the dashboard.

Moose are the lone exception to the do-not-swerve rule. An adult moose can grow to 1,600 pounds. Consequently, colliding with a moose is comparable to colliding with a compact vehicle on stilts, with the likelihood of fatal or long-term injuries to the front-seat occupants of your car. So if the situation allows, swerving for a moose is a defensive option.

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What Is Car Sickness?

In scientific mumbo jumbo, car sickness is defined as a condition in which the fluid contained in the semicircular canals of the inner ears becomes disturbed, and the eyes and inner ears dispatch conflicting motion-sensor feedback to the brain.

When you’re traveling in a car, the inner ears sense movement. But your eyes trick your brain by focusing on a stationary object within the car, like a book or a radio knob. When this occurs, the brain gets heaved out of whack and defensively reacts by stimulating the body’s histamine reactors―which in turn instigate nausea and vomiting.

If this all sounds too complicated to understand, imagine the semicircular canals as your body’s version of those yellow fluid bubbles found inside a carpenter’s level. When the fluids become imbalanced, stomach mayhem follows.

Who Is Susceptible?

Toddlers and young kids are the most vulnerable to car sickness, making some family vacations memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Prevention

Unfortunately, unlike other sicknesses, there are no annual shots to improve immunity to motion sickness. But fortunately, there are plenty of preventive measures you can follow:

• Avoid back seats. Passengers riding in front are less susceptible to car sickness. If kids must ride in the back, make sure child safety seats are positioned high enough to allow them to see outside.
• Always sit facing forward. This sounds obvious, but some station wagons and minivans feature backward-facing rear seats.
• Focus on objects outside of the car. This coordinates the eyes with the inner ears. Car bingo works well in diverting a child’s attention to the passing scenery.
• Don’t read if you’re vulnerable to car sickness.
• Open the windows and fill the car with fresh air at the first sign of queasiness.
• Don’t pack the car with strong-smelling foods, Mr. and Mrs. Tuna Fish Lover. This can easily compound the problem.
• Don’t avoid feeding your kids six days prior to departure under the false belief that an empty stomach can’t get sick. An empty stomach is just as susceptible as a full stomach. If your kids complain of nausea, try to settle their stomachs with dry crackers or a slice of bread.
• Avoid roads with frequent red lights. The stopping and swaying magnifies the inner ear’s sense of movement.
• Don’t ignore the symptoms by driving faster with the intent of arriving at your destination faster. Stop at a rest area and go for a walk or toss a Frisbee. This might delay your arrival, but it far outweighs having to clean your car.
• Consult your doctor for travel-sickness medications.
• Try using accupressure bands on your wrists. They work well for some.

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Tags: Driving by David Wright - IamSafetyGeek
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There are no bad cars, only bad drivers. It’s up to the operator to stay alert, especially at night, when road dangers wax and alertness wanes.

According to the National Safety Council, vehicle death rates at night are three times higher than during the day. This is an especially mind-jolting statistic considering fewer drivers occupy the roads after dusk.

One problem is vision. Almost 90% of a driver’s reaction depends on it. Without the favor of sunlight, depth perception, peripheral vision, and color recognition plummet, demanding more sharpened focus at a time when weariness begins to weight the eyes.

Night also attracts greater numbers of booze-addled drivers and roaming wildlife, creating an almost video game-like setting of endless distractions.

Fortunately, there are many precautions you can take to heighten your road safety.

Night Driving Safety Tips

• Keep headlights on one hour before dusk and one hour after dawn to increase your vehicle’s visibility.
• Make sure headlights are properly aligned. Askew headlights can diminish road coverage and blind oncoming traffic.
• Conduct regular maintenance checks to assure all signal and brake lights are functioning properly.
• Wipe windshield’s interior to eliminate glare.
• Use low beams when driving through fog.
• Don’t drink and drive. This sounds obvious, but even if you’re not boozing heavily, bear in mind that just one drink can promote sleepiness.
• Be extra alert when driving at night on weekends. Drunk-driver-related car fatalities are at their highest on Friday and Saturday nights.
• Don’t out drive the beams of your headlights. In other words, reduce your speed.
• Maintain a greater-than-normal distance from the car in front of you. Distances are more difficult to gauge at night.
• Switch to low beams when you’re behind someone so you don’t blind them.
• To avoid glare from oncoming traffic, focus eyes on the right edge of the road .
• Look for signs of oncoming traffic. Watch for headlight flashes when approaching hills or hairpin curves.
• Don’t ignore eye fatigue. Address immediately with frequent stops and brisk walks. Or pull into a rest area and catch a catnap.
• Stem smoking urges. Cigarette smoke clouds vision.
• Be aware that deer travel in herds. If you spy one, reduce your speed. Chances are good that more deer are lurking just out of sight.
• If your car fails, pull it off the road as far as possible. Turn on emergency lights and the inner dome light and don’t wander. Stay in the car until assistance arrives.
• Don’t play stranger with your optometrist. Eye exams are recommended once every three years for drivers younger than 40; every two years for drivers between 41 to 60; and once a year for drivers older than 60. If you have perfect vision but have trouble seeing at night, simple glasses with anti-reflective lenses could help.

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For just about every aliment you might have there most likely exists a medication to tackle the problem. You can simply head down to any grocery or drug store and find isles brimming with what is commonly termed over-the-counter relief. For more serious infirmities you can hit your doctor up for a prescription and gain access to the more potent fixes doled out by pharmacists.

But new insight is emerging from various studies on just how risky some of these drugs may be when incorporated with driving. Some of the findings have actually shown that many allergy medications we rely on each year to help us manage through a day are worse than alcohol.

At least after a few drinks you will feel the effects. With certain medications you may never even realize you are in any sort of peril or a threat on the road. Yet, motor skills are dulled and reaction times are distorted, even though you still you feel comparatively chipper. The next thing you know the world starts spinning, things get just a bit too blurry, and you wind up in an accident.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in a lurch because the organization is not quite sure how to respond to the new studies. It already requires certain measures. Just look on the back of any box or bottle of medicine and you will see all sorts of warnings. Usually the information is listed right before the dosage directions. But how arbitrary is the phrase “may cause drowsiness.”

However, most companies are getting better at trying to advocate caution without instilling fear in a patient. So maybe the FDA will find the proper balance to make sure consumers are aware of what hazards a drug can possibly pose. After all, at the end of the day these companies still have remedies to peddle. Still, you will see a bit more detail instructing you to avoid alcohol, which will enhance the other side effects, and inform you to at least use extra caution when driving.

What to Watch For

The active ingredients in allergy medication are one of the major causes for concern. As a group they are referred to as antihistamines. There are a variety of types, with some of the most prevalent being:

• Diphenhydramine
• Chlorpheniramine
• Brompheniramine
• Clemastine
• Doxylamine

All of the popular brands (Clairton, Benadryl, Sudafed, etc.) use antihistamines. But the ingredient is not limited specifically to allergy medicine. You will find it in cough medicine, cold tablets, flu therapies, or just about any drug that “helps you rest.”

The rule of thumb is to simply use extra caution. If you are sick you hopefully will not be pounding alcohol, unless it is a hot toddy. But you may force yourself into work, which may mean getting behind the wheel. It does not take long to fall asleep, especially while being lulled in a moving vehicle, and trying to keep awake will take a Herculean effort in certain situations.

So if you feel yourself nodding out, pull off somewhere. It could save your life. If you experience any other symptoms that seem out of the ordinary consult a pharmacist or just call in sick and get some rest.

If you are having a prescription filled, make sure to discuss all of the possible side effects and get a “thumbs up” on driving, just to ease your mind. It is better to be safe than end up in a ditch somewhere groggy and disoriented from medication.

Take extra time to go over the fine print if you are taking any type of prescription drug to treat allergies, anxiety, high blood pressure, serious pain, depression, or cholesterol. These tend to pack quite a punch, especially if mixed with alcohol.

The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), one of the five Centers of the FDA, is an excellent resource for information about the safety of both over-the-counter and prescription medications in the United States.

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