When is the most dangerous time to drive?

Texas weather is completely unpredictable, and we have some of the craziest drivers in the urban areas, but also some of the most courteous drivers in the rural areas. But the question is this: when is the most dangerous time to drive?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, August is the most dangerous month of the year to drive in, and it turns out, statistically speaking, that Saturday is the most dangerous day to drive. But why is that true?

Some might argue that winter is the most dangerous due to snowfall and icy roads, which often means dangerous road conditions. But sometimes people don't really think about how drivers react to these condition. It turns out most people actually stay indoors and off the roads, and those who do go out for a drive, tend to drive slower under inclement weather.

To where in summer, kids are out of school and people travel. Speed is the single greatest factor to serious car accidents, not so much because of the violation of the posted speed limits but because drivers ignore the weather conditions that call for a lower speed. Car accidents are the number 1 cause of death for people in the ages of 1 and 34. Auto accidents kill more than 40,000 people in the U.S. every year.

In looking at the last 5 years of statistics for traffic fatalities of all vehicle types, the third quarter (July-September) tops numbers for all other quarters for number of vehicular accidents, but in general spring and summer months (2nd and 3rd quarters) are when more accidents occur than in fall and winter months (1st and 4th quarters).

On average, the spring and summer months have 11.3% more fatalities per year than the fall and winter months. The 3rd quarter alone is 5.25% higher than the 2nd quarter (Apr-Jun), 6.64% higher than the 4th quarter (Oct-Dec), but 23% higher than the 1st quarter (Jan-Mar)! So, in opposition to what most people think as the season with the most difficult driving conditions turns out to have the fewest number of fatalities.

Simulator shows young drivers the risks of distraction

One of the most persistent challenges for teen-driving safety advocates is getting novice drivers to understand that their actions behind the wheel can have far-reaching implications.

Several advocacy groups around the USA are turning to a driving simulation program that focuses on the long-term consequences of distracted and drunken driving.

One Simple Decision, created by Virtual Driver Interactive Inc. (VDI), one of the nation's largest driving simulator manufacturers, seeks to modify driver behavior by showing drivers what can happen if they have a crash while driving under the influence or texting while driving. It combines simulated driving and interactions with police, judges and emergency medical personnel in an intense, 20-minute experience featuring a real judge, actual sheriff's deputies and EMTs.

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Harry Mochel, now 19, of Rye, N.Y., experienced One Simple Decison about a year ago at a private driver's education school in Rye. "I'd been driving for a little while already," he says. "My parents had heard about it and said you should try it."

He says he was "driving" along on the simulator. "It tells you to start texting, so I took out my phone and started texting," he says. "I ended up crashing into a stop sign and got into a head-on collision. It's crazy to see how easy it was."

Just like real life, though, that was just the beginning of his troubles. "The real powerful part was that as soon as you got into the crash, the scene changes from the driving simulation scene to actual video footage of a cop walking up to you," says Mochel, now a freshman at Tulane University in New Orleans. "As he comes up, he shines a light in your face and says, 'Have you been drinking?'

"Then you have the police booking you into jail, and the court," Mochel says. "It puts everything in perspective and makes it really realistic."

The Ohio Department of Transportation paid $42,000 for four VDI simulators and uses the One Simple Decision program at events such as school days, football games and county fairs around the state, spokeswoman Melissa Ayers says.

"We recognized that there is an issue, especially among young drivers, with paying attention to the road," she says. "We started using it last year. We've gotten really good feedback. The kids realize after they've used it, 'I really can't do two things at once (while driving).' "

The program is catching on just as the federal government documents how widespread distracted driving is among the nation's youth and renews its push to curb it. Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood intensified his 3½-year fight against distracted driving, which he says accounts for about one in 10 road fatalities — 3,092 deaths in 2010.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also released the first-ever federal statistics on how widespread distracted driving is among the nation's youth. The CDC's 2011 anonymous national survey of more than 15,000 high school students found that 58% of high school seniors admitted to texting or e-mailing while driving during the previous month.

Bob Davis, the CEO and founder of Virtual Driver Interactive, says he created the One Simple Decision program after his research found that many teen drivers misunderstood the potential impact of their behavior while driving.

"I asked, 'What's the downside of texting while driving?' " Davis says. "They said, I know it's like a $25 ticket, which is not that much money. They interpreted the law as the downside was a $25 ticket. … The (simulation) experience for the kids has to be a personal one to make it really effective."

VDI's surveys found that 86% of teens and young adults who had experienced One Simple Decision said they would rarely or never drive distracted in the future; 71% said the consequences of bad choices behind the wheel were worse or much worse than they first thought, the company says.

Toyota and Discovery Education use the software for their joint teen driving-safety program, Toyota Teen Driver. "I believe in it. I really do," says Kelly Fisher, Toyota's assistant manager for national philanthropy.

John Robert Elliott, 15, of Mouton, Ala., used the program during the just-ended school year at Lawrence County High School. "It helped me prepare to be on the road," says John Robert, who has his learner's permit. "It makes you think about what you do while you're driving."

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source: USA Today (Copeland, 6/19)

Chrysler expands Jeep Liberty recall

The Associated Press is reporting that Chrysler has added more than 137,000 Jeep Liberty SUVs to a March safety recall, bringing the total number of vehicles affected to nearly 347,000.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said lower-control arms in the rear suspension can rust and break, possibly causing the vehicles to crash. However, the company says it knows of no crashes or injuries from the problem. The recall involves vehicles in states where salt is used to clear ice and snow from the roads, including those sold or registered in: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C.

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Chrysler said Monday that it will inspect the parts and replace them free if needed.

In March, the company said it was recalling about 200,000 Libertys from the 2004 and 2005 model years for the problem. Now it has added the 2006 and 2007 model years.

Vehicles covered by the recall were built from July 3, 2003, through June 29, 2007.

The company told NHTSA that as of February it had received no complaints about Liberty control arms from the 2006 or 2007 model years. But since April it has received eight reports of the problem, all from salt-belt states.

The company plans to notify owners of affected vehicles by the end of June. Customers with questions can call Chrysler at 800-853-1403.

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source: USA Today (AP, 6/11)

Used-car buyers should heed recalls

More than 80,000 used vehicles in Ohio that were advertised for sale online last year had open recalls, which can pose safety risks to both auto buyers and motorists with whom they share the road, according to a recent study.

Repairing recalled parts is essential to the performance, safety and resale value of used vehicles. But about 2.7 million used vehicles across the country that were placed for sale on the Internet in 2011 had open recalls, according to a study by Carfax, a Virginia-based company that provides vehicle-history data.

Many sellers do not divulge that their vehicles require repairs, and many buyers do not know their purchases have defects. Auto experts said consumers should do their homework whenever they buy a used vehicle to determine whether it needs repairs at a dealer.

“People need to realize these are safety issues,” said Chris Basso, public relations manager with Carfax. “By not getting them fixed, you are putting your family and other people who you are on the road with at-risk.”

In Ohio last year, about 83,000 cars with open recalls were available for sale online, according to Carfax; that was up from 50,000 cars in 2009.

Vehicles sold online represent only a portion of all used vehicles on the market.

The online listings are “just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Basso said many used car dealers and individual sellers do not disclose the fact that their vehicles have defects.

[If you've been involved in an accident due in part to a manufacturer's defect, contact The Cole Legal Group]

Auto sellers have no legal obligation to divulge unfixed recall issues, and it is not against the law to sell vehicles with defects, Basso said.

But auto manufacturers go to considerable lengths to tell car owners of recalls, he said, because defective parts can cause vehicles to malfunction or they can lead to costly damage.

Auto makers fix recall problems for free, so there are no reasons — financial or otherwise — for ignoring the warnings, Basso said.

After buying used vehicles, consumers should contact the closest local dealer that sells their brand of car or truck to determine if there are any recall issues they need to resolve, said Jim Mitchell, executive director of the Ohio Independent Auto Dealer’s Association.

“Just give them the (vehicle identification number) to see if there are any open recalls,” Mitchell said. “If there are, get them fixed, because it is to their benefit and safety to do so.”

Owners can research recalls online at websites such as carfax.com and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s site, nhtsa.gov.

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source: Dayton Daily News (Frolik, 6/3)

Groups cast doubt on validity of state hospital's electrotherapy consent forms

Texas' public psychiatric hospitals never should have used a controversial treatment on more than 120 aggressive patients because the consent forms they signed did not spell out potential side effects and other information required under state rules, mental health watchdogs said this week.

Patients who received cranial electrotherapy stimulation at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon were not told in writing that the treatment can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness and skin irritation, said Beth Mitchell, a lawyer with Disability Rights Texas, a federally funded mental health advocacy group. The consent form — a copy of which was obtained by the Austin American-Statesman — also fails to mention alternative treatments and the condition that is being targeted.

But state officials say the form was adequate and is just one piece of the informed consent process.

"The form alone may not be the full picture," said Carrie Williams, spokeswoman for the Department of State Health Services, which oversees the 10 public psychiatric hospitals. "Risks, benefits and alternatives could have been laid out verbally and documented in the progress notes."

Challenges to the validity of the consent forms come several weeks after health department officials said they learned that a North Texas State Hospital psychiatrist had conducted unauthorized research on the use of cranial electrotherapy stimulation on violent, mentally ill patients.

The consent forms go to the heart of the questions advocates have posed on the issue: Did the patients understand and willingly agree to the treatment? Or were they being used as research subjects without regard to their civil rights?

"Honestly, I just don't understand how this could happen," Mitchell said. "I think there was a breakdown across the board here."

State officials say they are still trying to determine whether patients truly gave consent to the treatment. They have not yet spoken to any patients, Williams said.

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The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a mental health watchdog group whose questions about the use of cranial electrotherapy stimulation sparked the health department's inquiry, says the state needs to make sure patients' rights weren't violated.

"What we want to see is a very thorough investigation and a formal plan of correction on any findings," said Lee Spiller, the group's policy director. "This must include actual interviews of patients to determine what their actual experiences were. That needs to be made public and reported to the Legislature. The idea here is to strengthen and protect the rights of this highly vulnerable population."

About the treatment

Cranial electrotherapy stimulation is a treatment that administers a small electrical current into a patient's brain. The concept behind it is that the current increases the brain waves that cause relaxation, thus easing anxiety and other ailments.

Although the treatment is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for anxiety, depression and insomnia, it is not approved for aggression. Physicians, however, can prescribe drugs and devices for conditions other than those for which they are approved if they believe it will help patients. The FDA and the makers of cranial electrotherapy stimulation devices are currently battling over whether the treatment is safe and effective.

Since 2001, North Texas State Hospital and two other state hospitals administered the treatment with Alpha-Stim, a hand-held device powered by a 9-volt battery that delivers the current through two electrodes clipped to the patient's earlobes. It was used on aggressive patients with schizophrenia, autism, intellectual disabilities and other disorders.

But last month, state officials said they learned that North Texas State Hospital psychiatrist Allen Childs had published research studies in 2005 and 2007 on how patients reacted to the treatment. The doctor did not have permission to conduct such research, state officials say.

Childs, who is listed as a part-time employee but who state officials said has not worked at Vernon in almost a year, did not respond to requests for comment. On May 15, the Department of State Health Services prohibited the use of the treatment, saying they wanted time to sort through the issue. Alpha-Stim had not been used at any hospital campus since February, Williams said.

The nature of consent

An informed consent form is a document that details a course of treatment and its risks, benefits and possible alternatives. In essence, it says that patients have the information they need to make an educated decision about the treatment to which they have agreed.

In general, consent can be obtained orally and documented in the physician's notes, said Rocky Wilcox, general counsel for the Texas Medical Association. In most cases, there is no requirement that all the information be listed in a form.

But state rules make a distinction for people receiving mental health treatment, said Mitchell, of Disability Rights Texas. Informed consent for that population is defined as the "knowing written consent" of information, including a description of any "discomforts and reasonably expected risks" and a disclosure of any appropriate alternative procedures, according to the Texas Administrative Code.

Written consent is required for multiple reasons, Mitchell said. Patients in psychiatric hospitals are not free to leave at any time, so a detailed consent form is an extra precaution to ensure that they have been fully briefed on their care and did not feel coerced into agreeing to treatment they did not want, she said. It's also a way to make sure that all patients get a consistent message about what treatments entail, she said.

State officials say that the consent form provided to patients was adequate, though it could have been improved with more details and clearer language.

"Informed consent is not just about a piece of paper," Williams said. "It's about the deep dialogue that happens between doctor and patient about a treatment. That's when it's determined whether the patient truly understands the risks and benefits. The form comes into play as the final, written acknowledgement."

According to the company that makes Alpha-Stim, side effects can include skin irritation, headaches, nausea and dizziness. But the four-paragraph consent form provided to patients does not mention any potential side effects. The document states that "no significant negative side effects have been reported from CES treatment since it first began in the U.S. in the late 1960s."

"I think this borders on deception if they're not spelling out what the side effects are and then just say we just chatted about it verbally," said Jim Harrington with the Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit foundation that promotes civil rights and economic and racial justice. "That's nonsense."

The consent form states that the treatment reduces stress and that there have been more than 45 scientific studies of anxiety, 30 of depression and 30 of insomnia published in U.S. scientific literature. Whether doctors were prescribing cranial electrotherapy stimulation for any of those problems is unclear, as the forms do not say what problem is being treated. Childs' studies focus only on aggression.

Paul Lombardo, a Georgia State University College of Law professor who specializes in mental health law, said the consent form does contain some important elements. It describes the treatment and how it works, though not in language that most patients could understand, he said.

But parts of the document appear to be promoting the treatment, he said, particularly the mention of scientific studies.

"They are, in a consent form, essentially repeating claims that were obviously written by an advocate of this process," Lombardo said. "That's what it looks like."

Typically, state hospital consent forms are written by the agency's clinical oversight committee, whose members approve new treatments and create standardized forms for all the hospitals.

The consent form for cranial electrotherapy stimulation was not created by the committee, and the agency is still trying to determine who wrote it, Williams said.

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source: Austin American Statesmen (Ball, 5/31)