The National Safety Commission Alerts
Safety is No Accident
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Avoid Getting Distracted When Driving with Children
SNAP! That was your patience breaking under the pressure of having to juggle children or pets whilst driving, we've all been there before, bored children and restless pets can be really tricky to handle, but if you don't handle them properly, you could be putting yourself at risk of dangerous accidents hurting your, your pets, or even your children.
Let's face it, children can be very stressful sometimes, whether they are hungry or just bored, it can mean the difference between a nice day out and a day out to forget. Recent studies have shown that over ¾ of car collisions are caused by distracted drivers, and the majority of incidents occur within 3 seconds of the initial distraction. With such frightening statistics, it's obvious why more and more people are trying to find ways to keep their children and pets at bay while driving.
The best way to deal with children when traveling is to make sure they are occupied. Stretching around every five minutes is not only inconvenient, but very dangerous. The best approach to take is an organizational one. Pre-planning can often be a very clever tactic, think about where you're going, how long the journey will take, and the time you'll be leaving. These 3 factors are very important when it comes to pre-planning, as they could be the difference between a successful trip and a disastrous one.
When travelling for long periods of time, you might want to make sure that children have things to do that are appropriate for their age groups. Younger children might be perfectly contented with a coloring book, but older children may not. Try putting together a travel play pack for younger children. This can include coloring books, their favorite toys or stuffed animals, anything that you know will keep them occupied for the whole journey.
If you're stuck for ideas, there are some brilliant travel-sized games on the market, such as popular board games shrunk and made appropriate for car travel for children to play against each other, or personal games, electronic or otherwise. You could even put together a little music compilation to play in the car filled with child friendly songs; they will be far too busy singing along. For older children, MP3 Players, hand held electronics or books can keep them busy for as long as you need them to, however older children are usually a lot easier to deal with in the car.
Labels: avoid distracted driving, distracted driving, driving dangers, driving distractions, vehicle accidents
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Super Fog – Tips For Dealing With A Dangerous Weather Phenomenon
As we enter into the spring time, which is a drier period in the south, the forest fire emergency levels will increase. The fire season presents some unique problems due to a little known weather phenomenon called "Super Fog". Super fog is not limited to the south but the weather conditions, namely high humidity, normally prevalent in the southern part of the US, makes the area more prone to the phenomenon.
To understand super fog we have to look at how smoke from wildfires or controlled burns can create the conditions for a super fog.
Smoke and ash from a burn mix with the humidity in the air forming tiny droplets around each speck of ash or solid contaminant produced by the fire. As the droplets accumulate, the smoke turns into a combination of smoke and fog creating a super fog that can form as an almost solid wall with visibility reduced to near zero. Super fog appears most often at night and forms most readily at a low level over creek and river beds. While it most often forms at night, it is usually at its heaviest in the early morning hours before the heat of the sun can burn it off. That means it is present most often during the morning rush hour. The problem with super fog is that it is almost impossible for weather forecasters and scientists to predict because the local winds at night are unpredictable and the super fog can form more than 20 to 30 miles away from the site of the fire.
Super fog is especially dangerous on high-speed highways and interstates when cars and trucks, traveling at high rates of speed enter into an almost zero visibility situation that can cover the highway for miles. The inability of cars and trucks to see each other and to slow or stop at the same rate of speed creates a critically dangerous situation. In January of 2008, a controlled burn in central Florida created a super fog event that blanketed Interstate - 4 west of Orlando. Cars and trucks entering the fog began crashing into one another leading to a pile-up that ultimately involved 70 vehicles, 38 injuries and 4 deaths. Another fog related pile-up in California in 2007 involved 100 vehicles resulting in 2 deaths.
Super fogs are impossible to predict and it is impossible to predict when they may lift or how far away from the actual fire they can occur. How can you avoid getting trapped in a super-fog?
Labels: driving dangers, super fog, weather conditions
