When a loved one can’t care for him or herself, family members often feel the best choice is to put that person in a facility that can offer proper care. It takes an enormous amount of trust to leave someone dear to you in the…
Whenever a doctor settles a medical malpractice lawsuit, or a jury verdict is awarded against a doctor, that information goes into a National Practitioner Data Bank. This data bank is a big reason why many doctors refuse to agree to settlements, even for obvious malpractice…
A deadly New Jersey Turnpike wreck involving a tractor trailer and a limousine carrying former Saturday Night Live comedian Tracy Morgan has increased pressure on Congress to not loosen limits on how long truckers can drive before taking a break. Police in New Jersey say…
Sen. Mark Warner, (D-VA), is telling federal regulators and the oil and rail industries that there must be action to reduce public risk from trains carrying hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil. Warner held a safety forum on train safety in Richmond, Virginia…
Sometimes years-long investigations by federal, state, local and company officials follow any accident involving a train. Regardless of whether the rail mishap was a derailment, collision, cargo spill, fire or explosion, hundreds of experts devote thousands of hours to determining the cause. Nationa
Last month, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) gave seven updated recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding tractor trailer safety. The recommendations were in these areas: Blind spots: NTSB reported that blind spots occur on the front, side
A Virginia Department of Transportation contractor was hit by a vehicle’s side mirror while working on a stretch of road on I-64 East between Chesapeake Blvd. and Norview Ave. in Norfolk on May 20. The contractor was in a temporary work zone when the mirror…
It took nearly two weeks, but I was finally made aware that May has been designated Motorcycle Safety Awareness Week. Coordinated through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, state governments and nonprofits like the American Motorcyclist Association, the observance was launched sever
The US senators in Virginia are asking for more regulations of railroad shipments of crude oil, as well as more efficient communication with local first responders this week, after a CSX train derailed last week in Lynchburg. Three oil tanker cars plunged into the James…
FDA has not yet attempted to control the use and sale of electronic cigarettes, but many transit agencies around the US are getting ahead of the game. They are starting to adopt regulatory policies that treat e-cigarettes the same as regular tobacco products. These agencies, including…
After CSX took an important step last month of installing inside-facing video cameras into the cabins of some of its trains, it appears that other train operators are following suit. Late last month the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority revealed that it would be installing…
Railroad safety has been under the microscope across the US since last July. That is when 47 people died as a runaway oil train exploded in Quebec. Also, a tanker train derailed last December in North Dakota, which caused a major explosion as the spilled…
