Faster, better…

Posts Tagged ‘safety’

SOMD.COM is reporting that, Charles County Cops Target Seatbelt Violations During May. What I would rather see is twenty-four by seven aggressive driver enforcement everywhere. These seat belt events are peripheral to the proximate cause for most accidents – aggressive driving.

It’s virtually impossible to drive ten miles in Southern Maryland without having an aggressive driver less than one car length from your back bumper. People no longer stop at stop signs and those that do (when they stop behind me) wave wildly and angrily because I did stop.

What I’d like to see are the drivers of vehicles with police and firefighter vanity plates driving the speed limits and stopping for stop signs. Police cruisers need to be operating at safe speeds and only taking those extra risks with emergency lights activated. Stop sign enforcement at high risk intersections needs some serious attention. When was the last time you actually saw anyone in Southern Maryland STOP at a stop sign? . The colloquial speeds on neighborhood streets need to be closer to the actual limits and people must stop at red stop lights – period.

There are few example setters for traffic safety on Maryland highways. Driving in Southern Maryland is very dangerous. Each day I drive I have to be prepared to drive defensively. Law enforcement on our highways seem limited to radar speed traps. Aggressive behavior is mostly ignored. (I even see police vehicles in lines of vehicles all following at unsafe distances – too closely.  This means serious offenders may never get a ticket and these serious offenders WILL cause an accident later. Anarchy rules  on Maryland’s roads and highways.

We have enough dangerous behavior on our roads to keep traffic cops busy and traffic schools busy for months to come. It could even be a viable long-term revenue stream!  It’s time for the various police agencies to end political correctness and to stop patting each other on the back and get some real traffic enforcement done.  All we seem to see in Maryland each and every year is the hype about “Click it or ticket.” Seat belt enforcement events briefly mitigate the carnage and remind only a very few they need to be wearing seat belts. These events are designed for politically correct media exposure but do not deal with the proximate causes of traffic deaths.

I’d much rather the police were after the SERIOUS HAZARDOUS MOVER: following too closely, excessive speed, failure to stop at stop signs, driving while inattentive,  failure to stop at a red traffic lights, blasting through intersections at the last minute, passing at high speed on the right, passing in no passing zones, obvious enraged driving, and driving while intoxicated. It would not hurt to have a traffic division dedicated to driving enforcement.

Get out there and deal with aggressive driving!  Click it ot ticket only mitigates the carnage for a brief period and does not deal with the public safety problem on our highways.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 29, 2009 – Having friends and family aboard is what boating is all about. But in an emergency could they quickly locate a fire extinguisher or provide accurate location information to rescuers — without your help?

read more | digg story

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

My wife and I were walking along the beach at Plum Point over the weekend and noticed a rather high concentration of seanettles (stinging jellyfish) along the shoreline. Yuk. Last year these biotic nuisances didn’t show up until later in the season. Or at least that’s what we think we remember. I’ve heard fishermen on the marine VHF radio comment that they have moved through vast quantities of the jellyfish. We met some un-escorted un-supervised children in the eight-to-ten age range on the beach that did not know about seanettles or the potential for stings and let them know. (Parents – you should be on the beach with your children for safety sake. More for drowning protection rather than jellyfish stings.)

This website at the NOAA is where you can monitor the progression of the seanettle up the Bay. Be aware of your surroundings before you jump in the water.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that causes regular outbreaks in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Swine flu viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person

read more | digg story

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

(CalvertNews.Info via DIGG) CALVERT COUNTY, MD – On April 25, 2009 at 8:00 am, over 300 cyclists will be mounting up and hitting the roads in the first annual End Hunger In Calvert County Bike Ride. Riders from throughout the metropolitan area and as far away as Maine will arrive with one goal in mind: to help feed hungry families in Calvert.

read more | digg story

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Public Affairs

PRESS RELEASE
Date: April 11, 2009
Contact: Anthony Turner
Public Affairs Officer
310-488-0723
[email protected]

http://www.news.auxpa.org/

Don’t be fooled by warmer weather, the water is still cold.

As air temperatures around the country get warmer more and more recreational boaters are taking to the water. The Coast Guard Auxiliary cautions boaters not to be fooled by the warmer air temperatures, the water is still cold.

“Even though the weather is warmer, the water is still extremely cold,” said Anthony Turner, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. “With water temps still very cold hypothermia occurs very quickly.”

Hypothermia occurs when the body’s core temperature falls below its normal level of 98.6°F to 95°F or cooler.

Hypothermia is dangerous because it affects the body’s core – the brain, heart, lungs, and other vital organs. Even a mild case of hypothermia affects your physical and mental abilities, and increases the risk of accidents. Severe hypothermia causes loss of consciousness and may result in death. Cold water is especially dangerous because loss of body heat occurs 25 times faster in cold water than in cold air.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary strongly urges the public to wear life jackets anytime while out on the water and to check weather conditions before heading out. Having proper survival gear while underway and filing a float plan (www.floatplancentral.org) with a friends or family member is strongly recommended.

Now is also a good time to take advantage of a free Vessel Safety Check offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary or the Power Squadron. For more information visit www.safetyseal.net.

For more information about safe boating, please visit: http://www.uscgboating.org/

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard created by an Act of Congress in 1939. The Auxiliary, America’s Volunteer Guardians, supports the Coast Guard in nearly all of the service’s missions.

###

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

The “Unofficial Coast Guard Blog” has an excellent article on the new 406 MHz EPIRBs required on some vessels. I suggest anyone that carries an EPIRB read this article and make sure they are familiar with how it works, registration requirements and so on.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

(Press Release) BALTIMORE April 5, 2009- The Coast Guard rescued two people and their dog from an aground boat in the Potomac River Sunday.

Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes, Md., deployed a rescue boatcrew at 5 p.m. to a 30-foot sailing vessel that had run aground and was taking on water near St. Clement’s Island.

The rescue crew removed Jeffery Shauberger, his son Jeffery Shauberger Jr., and their pet rottweiler from the boat and transported them to a campground near St. Patrick’s Creek.

The sailboat is lit and anchored on the shoal near St. Clement’s and does not affect navigable waterways.

“Both people, including the dog, were wearing their lifejackets,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Jon Lee.

The Coast Guard encourages all boaters to wear their lifejackets when on the water.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

By Jim Schultz, REDDING.COM-Saturday, April 4, 2009 A Shingletown woman was sentenced Friday to six years in prison after being convicted last month of gross vehicular manslaughter for ramming into the back of a car in 2007 while texting on a cell phone.

Excerpt:

And despite heartfelt claims from Matis-Engle’s friends that she was a caring, loving and gentle person, Beatty said it was clear to her that the woman’s personality changed dramatically when behind the wheel of a vehicle.

“She drove without any concept that people might be in her path,” Beatty said.

Bridgett said that Matis-Engle used her cell phone to conduct three separate bill-paying transactions in the final four minutes before the collision and was in the middle of one of those transactions when she slammed into Winn’s car.”

read more | digg story

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

United States Coast Guard Press Release March 27, 2009: LOS ANGELES – As the weather in Southern California gets warmer and with the increase in daylight hours more and more recreational boaters are getting out on the water. “Before hitting the water, the Coast Guard urges boaters to make sure they have the required safety equipment and that it is in working order by taking advantage of a free Vessel Safety Check offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary,” said Anthony Turner a spokesman for the Coast Guard in Los Angeles.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary has been conducting free Vessel Safety Checks since 1947. Unaffected by recession or inflation they were free then and still free today.

Vessel Safety Checks are conducted by qualified members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and are the best way of learning about problems that might be a violation of state or federal laws and provide the boating public with additional safety tips that could possibly mitigate or eliminate preventable danger on the water. To find a Vessel Examiner go to www.safetyseal.org. Vessel Safety Checks can be conducted on any type of watercraft from boats, personal watercraft, to kayaks.

Lifejackets, fire extinguishers, and distress signals are just some of the items that are required by federal regulations. The Coast Guard also suggests boaters equip their vessels with a marine VHF radio, GPS device, and 406 MHz EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon).

Aside from being prepared for an emergency, another advantage of getting the free Vessel Safety Check from the Coast Guard Auxiliary is that there aren’t any penalties associated with not passing. Those who do pass will be able to display this year’s Vessel Safety Check decal on their boat.

According to Turner, the U.S. Coast Guard and local law enforcement also conduct their own inspections.

Unlike the inspections offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary, if you fail to pass one conducted on the water by law enforcement you could face fines and be ordered back to the dock.

Now is also a great time to take advantage of one of the many boating safety courses offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary and become acquainted or reacquainted with basic boating skills, seamanship and the most current rules and regulations that may also save a live or prevent and accident.

For more information about boating safety visit the U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety Division website at: www.uscgboating.org/.

To locate a boating education course offered by the Coast Guard Auxiliary visit http://www.d11s.org/PDF_files/PEclasses.pdf.

###

Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard — Proud History. Powerful Future.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

(Coast Guard Auxiliary Press Release – 032309) – Click and read how not be a “Gilligan” this boating season.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

In response to car accidents caused by text messaging and health concerns of minors in automobiles, the Maryland General Assembly is considering heavier restrictions against motorists’ freedoms.

read more | digg story

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

This one was real close to home. The specifics are not yet known but a man was killed at this intersection the evening of march 6, 2009.

Read the rest of the story.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content

Apparently in Maryland it was legal, until February 20 of this year, to change lanes without signaling. It all makes sense now. Everyone drives like they are omnipotent NASCAR racers. Even police don’t signal. Well Maryland is finally out of the dark ages realizing what a rolling multi-ton pile of metal can do to the human body–many deaths later. It is now illegal to change lanes without signaling. This should be one more tool in a police officer’s fight against aggressive drivers. Three violations in a row are required for reckless aggressive driving citations and one of those in the state of California has always been failure to signal when changing lanes.

I’m happy that this little over sight was corrected. Now it will, unfortunately, take generations to bring Maryland drivers up to par with the safer states. Are there safer states? Post for another time.

Read the rest of the story.

Enjoy the read? Support DougWeb with coffee money ;)

Sphere: Related Content