Shame that Road Rage is still a problem

I had hoped that “road rage” was only an ugly phase the United States went through some years ago, and that we’d quickly move past something so immature and dangerous.

 

I was wrong.

 

Road rage remains a problem, with news stories still recounting collisions, beatings and outright murder from road violence. Psychologist Leon James even has a website dedicated to road rage stories through the years.

 

Recently, a 22-year old University of North Florida student in Jacksonville (FL) was beaten into a coma after the driver of the car he was riding in honked his horn and flashed his lights at a truck which had cut them off. The student may or may not live. The men doing the beating have not been caught.

 

James states that a typical road rage incident happens when at least one driver chooses to act out in anger. Usually, the driver is already feeling stress when something triggers an aggressive reaction. Many road rage drivers reported being under duress in other areas of their lives, like work or relationships, all of which contribute to a driver’s stress level, making them more vulnerable to engaging in irrational behavior. 

 

Some police say road rage instigators frequently adopt this motto: “Anyone going faster than me is a maniac; anyone going slower than me is an idiot.”

 

Regardless of who is at fault, here are some common sense tips to prevent road rage:

 - Avoid confrontation. Never stop to talk it out. You don’t know if somebody will be rational or violent.

- Work on venting. Vent your frustrations, but not in front of the other driver or in ways that lead to confrontation.

- Allow sufficient time for your trip to avoid pressure to speed.

- Know your emotions and how to calm yourself down.

- Give other drivers the benefit of the doubt. Don’t assume they have hostile intent.

- Be careful when you are stressed or fatigued.

 

Edmunds also offers several common sense tips to prevent road rage.

 

My advice: take a deep breath and keep on driving. You have almost nothing to gain and a lot to lose by confronting an upset stranger on the road.

Drivers should heed children when backing up

Too often, I read stories of young children run over by a vehicle backing out of a driveway or parking space. The result is often fatal.

 

The safety advocacy group KIDS AND CARS estimates that two children are killed and 48 are seriously injured this way every week in the United States. Kids aren’t the only victims: back-over accidents result in about 183 total fatalities and approximately 7,000 injuries annually, according to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHSTA).

  

The problem is that drivers using rearview mirrors cannot easily see kids behind their cars. Consumer Reports reveals that a vehicle’s “blind zone” ranges from about 25 feet for a minivan to 50 feet for some pickup trucks. Even some sedans have a nearly 20-foot blind spot.

 

The NHSTA states that backovers often are the result of a child following a parent or guardian to the driveway without the adult knowing. A key part of the solution is to always supervise children carefully when in and around vehicles, and for drivers to be extremely vigilant every time you back up. 

 

A helpful tool is a backup camera – a video camera attached to the rear of a vehicle with a display screen for the driver. These cameras may display on the same LCD screen used for GPS navigation or other systems and automatically show the backup view while the car is in reverse. Some new cars come with this equipment, or cameras may be added later. Another aid is a backing sensor, which alerts a driver if there is an obstacle behind the bumper.

 

Eventually, I think most cars will come standard with some type of backup camera and/or backing sensor. The cameras were not designed as a saftey device; their intent was convenience. But a new law — the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Transportation Safety Act of 2007 — requires new federal safety standards to reduce a vehicle’s blind zone “…through the integration of additional mirrors, backup cameras, sensors or other technologies.” The same law now also requires auto reverse for power windows, as well as brake interlocks which prevents vehicle transmissions from being moved out of park unless the brake pedal is depressed. All these measures are designed to protect children like Cameron Gulbransen, who died when his father accidently backed over him in 2002.

 

Technology alone is unlikely to eliminate the problem. In 2008, the report “Backing Aid Sensors and Rear-View Cameras” — released by the AAA Foundation in collaboration with NHTSA, concludes that some drivers may become too dependent on rear-view cameras or backing sensors, increasing their carelessness. The report concludes that more research is needed on the effectiveness of these devices. 

 

The best solution? Be extra careful when backing up and when driving anywhere near children.

What will happen to daily newspapers?

Growing up, I assumed every major city would ALWAYS have a daily newspaper. Now I’m far less certain.

 

In the last year or so, dozens of U.S. newspapers have shut down, including major papers such as The Rocky Mountain News; The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The Christian Science Monitor. The chain that owns the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune recently declared bankruptcy. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has just reduced its distribution area, and the parent company of The Dallas Morning News has announced companywide layoffs.

 

Various reasons are cited for the demise of newspapers, from the Internet’s ability to deliver news immediately (and free) to short-sighted greed of newspaper owners who have slowly scuttled news rooms.  

 

I hope newspapers survive. I enjoy spreading the Sunday edition on my living room carpet, and I love reading the weekday comics with my 6-year-old daughter. Still, mine might be the last generation that waits every morning for a paper to be hurled into the front yard. I assume my tech-savvy grandkids will get a chuckle when I tell them, “In my day, news was printed, and then we waited until someone delivered each paper house by house.” I already sound like my 79-year-old father, whose first job as a 14-year-old in Illinois – in the days before modern refrigeration – was to deliver blocks of ice, house by house, to keep everyone’s ice box cool.

 

Here’s one sign that daily papers have lost their value. Just five years ago, if I left early in the morning – before the paper was delivered – odds were fairly good that before I got home a sneaky neighbor would snatch the paper off my driveway. Today, nobody steals my newspaper. The danged thing could lie on the driveway for a week and nobody would touch it; everybody is reading news online.

 

There is no dearth of articles and blogs announcing the end of daily newspapers. For a very funny column bemoaning all the “newspapers are dying” blog entries out there, check out this post by Paul Dailing.

 

In a serious article in The Nation, blogger John Nichols and University of Illinois professor Robert McChesney jointly state that daily newspapers “are disintegrating and are possibly on the verge of extinction.” The larger concern of Nichols and McChesney is that journalism as we know it is dying, leaving no guard dog to hold politicians and public administrators accountable.

 

I think people will always hunger for good investigative reporting in their local community, in some format. It’s unlikely that citizen journalists, amateur bloggers or well-meaning gadflies can completely fill the shoes of experienced reporters who provide this objective and accurate reporting. Rather, let’s hope that good reporters migrate to the Internet rather than disappear altogether.

 

Not everyone has thrown in the towel. The founders of www.newspaperproject.org defiantly state: “While we acknowledge the serious challenges facing the newspaper industry in today’s rapidly changing media world, we reject the notion that newspapers—and the valuable content that newspaper journalists provide—have no future.”

 

I hope they’re right, but I’m afraid that newspapers have become the melting ice blocks of the 21st century.

Protect yourself against identity theft

Have you protected yourself against financial identity theft?

 

While the odds are very low that you’ll be victimized, it’s worth taking a little time to reduce your chances of someone stealing your personal information. Thieves may then apply for a loan or credit card in your name. When the bad guys don’t pay the bills, lenders start calling you and the delinquent accounts appear on your credit report. 

 

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), 8.3 million American adults, or 3.7 percent of all American adults, were victims of identity theft in 2005. The FTC states that while some identity theft victims resolve their problems quickly, it usually takes time and money to recover your good name and credit record. 

 

Identity thieves often target your Social Security number and credit card numbers. The FTC cites the following as the most popular ways thieves get this information:
- Dumpster diving. They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information.

- Skimming. They steal credit or debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
- Phishing. They pretend to be a real bank or company and send an email request for your personal information.

- Changing your address. They divert your billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form.
- Simple stealing. They steal wallets, purses, mail or similar items that contain your personal information.
 
To protect yourself, take these simple steps:
- Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information before you discard them.
- Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet or write your number on a check.
- Don’t give out personal information unless you know for certain who is asking.
- Use firewalls and anti-virus software to protect your home computer.
- Monitor your accounts and bank statements each month, and check your credit report on a regular basis. Consumers are allowed by law to receive one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. To get your free reports, visit
www.AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.

 

Private companies offer credit monitoring services, ID fraud prevention and identity theft insurance. Some people believe these services offer peace of mind; others believe such services offer little real protection and nominal help should you become a victim. Before committing to any service, conduct a little online research and read each company’s fine print.

 

Consumer Reports is skeptical of such services and has published a fine article explaining how to prevent identity theft, outlining steps you can take either for free or for less than what a private company might charge. For example, the article notes that for about $30 you may ask the national credit reporting agencies to place a “security freeze” on your credit. This prevents anyone from looking at your credit report, except for the government or companies that already have a financial relationship with you. Lenders who can’t pull your credit report aren’t likely to grant new credit to someone else in your name.

 

For more information on how to protect yourself — or if you’ve recently been a victim of ID theft — visit the website of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.