Saturday, September 1, 2018

Crown Equipment Corp. employee Travis Temple, 49, died after he was struck by a lift truck at New Bremen, Ohio

Crown Equipment Corp. employee Travis Temple, 49, died after he was struck by a lift truck at New Bremen, Ohio






OSHA opens probe into man's death
Accident occurred at Crown
By Sydney Albert
NEW BREMEN, OHIO - 

The Occupation Safety and Health Administration is investigating a worker's death after an accident at Crown Equipment Corp. on Monday. 

The accident is still under investigation, but preliminary information provided by Crown Equipment indicates that employee Travis Temple, 49, Celina, was struck by a lift truck.
Temple was transported by St. Marys Emergency Medical Services to St. Rita's Medical Center in Lima where he later succumbed to his injuries, a Crown news release states. 

According to Auglaize County Central Dispatch logs, a squad run was made at about 2:15 p.m. to Crown's Plant 4 at 510 W. Monroe St. 

Temple was lying on the ground outside of Plant 4 on the loading dock being treated by factory nurses when the squad arrived, St. Marys Fire Chief Douglas Ayers told the newspaper this morning. The squad arrived at St. Rita's with Temple at about 3:10 p.m., he said. 

According to Temple's obituary, he passed away at 6:17 p.m. Auglaize County dispatch logs indicate that Allen County Coroner's Office personnel called for information at about 7:49 p.m. 

"As with any death, the incident is being investigated by the New Bremen police," according to department news release. 

"Employee safety is of the utmost importance to Crown," a company news release states.
"The company has notified OSHA of the incident and is fully cooperating with the investigation to determine its cause. No additional information is available until the OSHA investigation is complete." 

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic event and wish to extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Temple," Randy Niekamp, vice president of human resources, said in the release. "Grief counselors are also available on-site to provide assistance to our employees where needed." 

An obituary for Temple appears in today's Daily Standard.


Crown Equipment Corp. employee Travis Temple, 49, died after he was struck by a lift truck at New Bremen, Ohio
Travis A. Temple, 49, of Celina, passed away unexpectedly at 6:17 p.m., Aug. 13, 2018, at St. Rita's Medical Center, Lima.  He was born Jan. 28, 1969 in St. Marys. On Nov. 28, 1987 he married his high school sweetheart Kathy (Huelskamp) Temple, and she survives in Celina.

Other survivors include his three children, Robert Blair (Amber) Temple, Greenville, Kylie (Jon) Gudorf, Celina, and Tyler (Amber) Temple, Botkins; his parents Jerry and Connie (Nedderman) Temple, Celina; a grandmother, Loree Nedderman, New Bremen; brothers and sisters, Trevor (Stephanie) Temple, Celina, Ben Wendt, Columbus, Tracy Temple, Columbus, Tonya Temple, Celina, and Tiffany Laffin, Celina; a mother-in-law, Leslie Huelskamp, Celina; seven grandchildren, Corbin, Brooklyn, Dexter, Callie, Clayton, Ella, and Adalyn and  numerous nieces and nephews.   

He was preceded in death by his father-in-law, Jerry Huelskamp. 

Travis was a 1987 graduate of Celina Senior High School.  He worked at Huffy Corporation in Celina, Donovan's Garage in St. Marys, the Lima Tank Plant and from 2011 to the present, at Crown Equipment Corp. in New Bremen.
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21-year-old Braden Liu crushed to death by machinery at Vegas Laser & Waterjet, a North Las Vegas business





Man crushed by machinery at North Las Vegas business ID’d


4168 N. Pecos Road in Las Vegas is pictured in this Google Street View image.



By Katelyn Newberg Las Vegas Review-Journal
August 13, 2018 - 3:35 pm



The Clark County Coroner’s Office has identified an employee killed by a heavy piece of machinery early Thursday at a North Las Vegas architectural metal and metal-cutting business.

North Las Vegas firefighters responded within five minutes of a call about the incident around 9 a.m. at Vegas Laser & Waterjet at 4188 N. Pecos Road, near Alexander Road, fire chief Joseph Calhoun said.

When firefighters lifted the machinery, the man, 21-year-old Braden Liu, had already died, Calhoun said.

Liu’s cause and manner of death were still pending Monday morning.

The business has created works installed at Vdara, Hakkasan Nightclub, Crystals at CityCenter and The Smith Center, according to its website.

Since 2008, they have been in the architectural metals and cutting service industry. 

 
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Union Pacific Railroad employee Julio Ariguznaga, 33, died after being pinned under rail car wheel in South Dallas, Texas



Julio Abraham Ariguznaga-Anderson, 33, of Dallas passed away Monday, August 13 2018.


Railroad employee who died after being pinned under rail car wheel identified


 Dana Branham, Breaking news reporter


Updated at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday: Revised to include the identity of the employee.

A railroad employee died after being pinned under a rail car's wheel early Monday in South Dallas, officials said.

Dallas police and Union Pacific Railroad police were called to the 600 block of Corinth Street about 1 a.m. after another railroad worker found his 33-year-old co-worker pinned and called 911.

The Dallas County medical examiner's office identified the man as Julio Ariguznaga on Wednesday.

The co-worker told police he had been in contact with Ariguznaga all night by radio, but he suddenly stopped responding. The co-worker then went looking for the victim.

Dallas Fire-Rescue officials pronounced the man dead at the scene.

A spokesman for Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad Inc. said in a written statement that a conductor for the company died in a "tragic accident."

"Our hearts are with the employee's family, loved ones and colleagues, as well as emergency responders at the scene," the company said.

The railroad company said it is cooperating with authorities as the incident is "fully investigated."

Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff said railroad police responded because the incident happened near the company's tracks.

"It was not our train or our crew," DeGraff said. "A very unfortunate incident. It happened as they were moving trains in and out of their yard."

The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted Monday that it sent three investigators to Dallas to examine the accident. 

=====================


Obituary for Julio Ariguznaga-Anderson

Julio Ariguznaga-Anderson Julio Abraham Ariguznaga-Anderson, 33, of Dallas passed away Monday, August 13 2018.

Funeral Services are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Saturday, August 18, 2018 in the Palms Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will be Saturday from 5-6 at Palms.

Julio was an U.S. Army Veteran and Purple Heart Veteran. Julio did 3 tours overseas. He also took Kendo classes. He was considered a brother by many close friends and comrades.

Julio was born August 27, 1984 in Tuxpan Veracruz, Mexico to Linda Anderson. Survivors include his mother; Linda Anderson of Angleton, maternal grandmother; Eloisa Anderson of Falcon Heights, sisters; Yesenia Anderson of Las Vegas and Mayra Anderson of Lake Jackson, brother; Robert Anderson of Lake Jackson, as well as 10 nieces and nephews whom he loved dearly.
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Samantha Sanchez, 23, and her passenger, Paul Joseph Durocher, 40, were killed in a head-on fiery collision with a wrong-way F-150 pickup truck driver, Kristina Marie Colindres, 24, who also died on southbound Interstate 15 in Woods Cross, Utah














UHP officials ID victims in fiery wrong-way crash on I-15 in Woods Cross

By Gephardt Daily Staff
 
August 31, 2018



WOODS CROSS, Utah, Aug. 31, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — 

Utah Highway Patrol officials have now have identified all three three victims killed in a fiery crash Friday morning on southbound Interstate 15 in Woods Cross.


Killed were Samantha Sanchez, 23, of West Jordan and her passenger, Paul Joseph Durocher, 40, of Draper. They were in a Hyundai Elantra, which was struck by a Ford pickup being driven north in a southbound lane of I-15.

The pickup driver, also killed, has now been identified as Kristina Marie Colindres, 24, West Valley City.

The accident was first reported to 911 dispatchers about 1:15 a.m. When rescue crews arrived they found two heavily damaged vehicles, including a burning truck in the southbound lanes near mile marker 316.

According to UHP Lt. Mike McKay, the F-150 pickup truck was reported headed north in the southbound lanes of I-15 when seconds later it hit a small Hyundai passenger car head-on.

McKay said the F-150 caught fire after the crash and was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

Sanchez and Durocher were dead when they were found, as was the pickup driver. Investigators could not initially identify the gender of the truck driver, now known to be Colindres.

Most of the early am crashes occur by drunk drivers or otherwise impaired drivers.  So, always on the lookout for these people when you are on the road during these hours.  Too late for poor Samantha Sanchez.  She was so pretty.  What a shame to be taken away so early from this world. 

 =============================


WOODS CROSS, Utah --



Three people were killed in a head-on crash that closed southbound I-15 in the Woods Cross area early Friday morning.

Later Friday police identified the two deceased occupants of the Hyundai Elantra as 23-year-old Samantha Sanchez of West Jordan, who was driving the vehicle, and 40-year-old Paul Joseph Durocher of Draper.

The driver of the wrong-way pickup truck that collided head-on with the Elantra has been identified as 24-year-old Kristina Marie Colindres of West Valley City.

According to the Utah Highway Patrol, the crash occurred around 1 a.m. on I-15 near 2600 South in Woods Cross.

Southbound drivers were being detoured off at 500 South to Legacy Parkway, but as of just before 6:30 a.m. Friday crews had cleared the scene and traffic is moving again.

Police say the driver of the pickup truck was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of I-15, where the truck collided with a Hyundai Elantra occupied by Sanchez and Durocher.

"We had a report that came in that the truck got on at 2600 South, " Lt. Mike McKay with Utah Highway Patrol said. "Within seconds of us receiving that report we had a collision, a report of a collision. The actual crash is about 300 yards north of the 2600 South ramp, so it’s very, very close to 2600 South. Not a lot of room to catch that truck."

Troopers say all three people were killed in the impact of the violent collision.

"There's a lot of debris across the roadway," McKay said prior to the road re-opening. "A lot of car parts and different items from the vehicles. We're working through that right now. I have several investigators here on scene that are mapping the accident scene and gathering information and evidence right now."

The crash remains under investigation.

The Durocher family released this statement:


Paul was from Oakland, Maine. He had 3 children he loved very much; ages 12, 14, and 19. Paul loved rock climbing, skiing, cooking, socializing, the ocean & mountains, and was a musician. He invested himself with technology and loved deep discussions about theology. He has lived in Utah for the past 8 years. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. The family's heart goes out to the other family's lost in this incident.

Here is a photo gallery of victims Paul Durocher and Samantha Sanchez.


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HURRY CAME THE LESSONS: Approximately 8 million pounds of extra air pollution are estimated to have been released as a result of Hurricane Harvey


When Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast in August 2017, many industrial facilities had to shut down their operations before the storm arrived and restart once rainfall and flooding had subsided.

These shutdowns and startups, as well as accidents caused by the hurricane, led to a significant release of air pollutants


Industry Looks For Hurricane Lessons As Climate Changes
by Rebecca Hersher







August 31, 2018 - 12:57pm

The Houston Ship Channel has the rhythm of an ant colony. Barges and oil tankers lumber through the silty water, tangles of exposed pipe rise hundreds of feet above a sea of white tanks. Residents of the coastal plain between Houston and Galveston will tell you the plain is flatter than a regulation pool table. But if you can get up high enough you'll see trains and ships and trucks moving ceaselessly from dock to dock, terminal to terminal.

The vehicles carry the chemicals and oil for your car, your clothes, your hair gel and your eyeliner, your kid's soccer ball and your mother's hospital IV. And the entire system is sitting in the path of some future hurricane.

Last August, Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 60 inches of rain on this region and, in the year since, a lot of companies have been reassessing how they prepare for, and respond to, storms.

One big issue is how to keep gas and chemicals safely contained during big floods. Approximately 8 million pounds of extra air pollution are estimated to have been released as a result of Harvey, according to an analysis of public records that the companies themselves reported.

"They could have been better prepared than they were this time around," says Bakeyah Nelson, who runs the nonprofit Air Alliance Houston. Pollution was also released into waterways. The chemicals at one company north of Houston caught fire and burned for days.

"I think every facility should be taking stock of what happened during Harvey," Nelson says. "Are there even worse-case scenarios that have been predicted or could be predicted? And [firms need] to be very intentional about their efforts in terms of preparing for these situations, which will likely be more frequent in the future."

Many companies say they are doing just that.

"Where we've had the opportunity, we've been investing in improving resilience of our assets in light of more severe weather events that have been occurring," says Ron Gerrard, a senior vice president at the chemical company Huntsman, which shut down multiple facilities during Harvey.

For example, says Gerrard, electrical substations at some facilities were built at ground level 40 or 50 years ago. "Today, when we modernize and rebuild those, they now stand some 10 to 12 feet above ground level on piers," he says, "in order to ensure that they're well above any flood levels, whether its 100 year or 500 year flood levels."

Rod Herrick manages a plant owned by the chemical company Covestro in Baytown, east of Houston. He says he and his team at the plant reassess their hurricane plans after every storm.

"One thing I can say I've learned about hurricanes and tropical storms:There's never one that's the same," Herrick explains. Hurricane Ike, for example, slammed the area with heavy winds in 2008, whereas tropical storm Allison caused massive flooding in 2001.

Herrick's site didn't report releasing any additional pollution as a result of Hurricane Harvey, a fact he attributes in part to lessons they learned from Hurricane Ike. After that storm, Covestro moved critical computers and servers from a building next to the bayou to a building on higher ground.

As a result, although their site flooded during Harvey and they had to shut down, they were still able to communicate and monitor what was going on — and to reopen the plant less than two weeks later.

Herrick, who is on the board of a regional consortium of chemical plant managers, has also been gathering examples of things that worked well from other companies in the region, something he says hasn't necessarily happened in the past.

"Why should it be that that I have a good practice, and some of the other sites around this area here don't know what I know?" he says.

Some of the information companies are sharing with each other is technical, such as plans for how and when to shut down, or how to move generators to higher ground or install containers under tanks to catch leaks.

But there's also more mundane information — for example, which items should employers stock up on before a storm?

"Cleaning supplies — it can be mops, brooms, squeegees," lists Herrick. "It can be diapers. It can be feminine items that aren't available. You wouldn't even think about it, but women certainly would! The faster you can help [employees] take care of their personal items, the quicker they can come back to work."

"If employees are dislocated or there's a question of whether or not they are able even to work because of some disruption from a natural disaster, that's a problem for the firm," explains Howard Kunreuther, co-director of the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Process Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kunreuther co-authored a recent book about how companies assess disaster risk, and says executives are pretty good at short-term planning and responses to disasters, such as rebuilding employees' homes.

"There's a tendency for all of us — not just firms, but individuals — to be myopic," he says, "to want to get something back in in the short term to justify an investment. It often takes a disaster to get people to pay attention."

For example, Hurricane Harvey has drawn some attention to the tanks many companies use to store hazardous liquids. Many of the leaks during Harvey occurred when the roofs of storage tanks sank under the weight of rainwater, allowing the chemicals below to escape. Some companies are now covering those roofs with geodesic domes — a technology that has been around for years, but appears to be getting more popular as big rain storms get more common.

"You're starting to see them more, which is really good for us," says Juan Flores, whose town of Galena Park is surrounded by industrial sites. "Seeing these dome structures popping up tells you they are being proactive on it. So that's something. There's still pollution, but I can say it's gotten better since the '80s."

Flores says he wishes companies communicated more with the public about what they were doing.

"During the storm, we didn't know what was going on [or] what we were breathing," he remembers "We live so close, we can hear the alarms inside the plant going off sometimes." Among other things, he says, the companies nearby didn't tell residents whether they were planning to shut down their operations — which releases a lot of pollution — and didn't warn people about leaks until days, or even months, after they happened.

During Harvey, that type of information was available to others. Richard Wells, the vice president of Gulf Coast operations for the industrial giant Dow Chemical, says his company communicates closely with local officials during storms.

"The county knows our plan," Wells explains. "They know [when a storm is coming]; at a certain time we're going to be completely shut down, cleared of all chemicals and battening the hatches, if you will."

Companies also communicate with each other, because many plants rely on each other for raw materials. As a storm approaches, there can be a cascade of plants shutting down, and then restarting when the danger has passed.

But when large numbers of facilities shut down in a short period of time, as happened during Harvey, it releases a lot of pollution all at once. And that information doesn't necessarily make it to residents who live on the other side of a fence line from a refinery, or to public health officials who might be able to warn residents to stay inside or turn off air conditioners, because those machines draw in outdoor air.

Thornton Lee Medley, a longtime pipe fitter at refineries in the region and the president of the United Steelworkers Union Local 13-1 outside Houston, says people who live near refineries and chemical plants deserve to know such information. And not just because of risks from air pollution.

"The most dangerous time in a refinery or chemical plant [comes when] bringing it up bringing it down," he says. "I would be very interested in knowing, if I was the general public, when the company had decided to bring the units in the plant down. Because that is when I would be away from my home."

"Risk management is not just important for us that are working in the facility," Medley says, or for emergency workers nearby, "but for the entire community outside." 

Hurricanes and Air Pollution

This research has been a continuing interest of the unit, funded by a mix of internal and external funds.

Projects and Products

Hurricanes
Air pollution
Climate change

=====================================

When Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast in August 2017, many industrial facilities had to shut down their operations before the storm arrived and restart once rainfall and flooding had subsided.

These shutdowns and startups, as well as accidents caused by the hurricane, led to a significant release of air pollutants. Over a period of about two weeks, data we compiled from the Texas’ Air Emission Event Report Database indicates these sites released 2,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and other pollutants.

These types of emissions that result from startups, shutdowns or malfunctions are often referred to as “excess” or “upset” emissions and are particularly pronounced during times of natural disasters, as was the case with Hurricane Harvey.


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But, as we document in a newly published study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, they also occur regularly during the routine operation of many industrial facilities, sometimes in large quantities.

And, even if unintended or unavoidable, the pollutants released during these events are in violation of the U.S. Clean Air Act (CAA).

With the EPA now revisiting the rules regarding these air toxics, our study shows how significant they are to public health – and how historically they have not been systematically tracked across the country or regulated comprehensively.

Excess emissions in Texas

Our study examines the occurrence of excess emissions in industrial facilities in Texas over the period from 2002 to 2016. We focused on Texas because, unlike nearly all other states, it has established comprehensive reporting requirements. Texas collects data on so-called hazardous air pollutants that cause harm to people exposed to them, such as benzene, as well as substances called criteria pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides that contribute to the formation of ozone.

As a general rule, states set limits to industrial air emissions based on provisions in their State Implementation Plan (SIP), which is their strategy for meeting CAA requirements. The EPA in turn is responsible for ensuring that each state’s SIP is drafted in accordance with the CAA.

The CAA requires sources of air pollution to achieve continuous emissions reductions, which in essence means companies need to install and maintain equipment to limit the release of pollutants that happen during routine operations.

Excess emissions occur when pollution abatement systems, such as scrubbers, baghouses or flares that curtail emissions before they are released, fail to fully operate as the result of an unexpected malfunction, startup or shutdown. That is, a facility fails to maintain continuous emissions reductions, thereby exceeding its permit limits.

Though one might assume that such occurrences are rare, we found that excess emissions in Texas are frequent, sometimes large, and likely result in significant health damages for individuals living in communities near where these emissions are released.
Storage tanks in retention ponds are surrounded by floodwater left behind by Harvey at ExxonMobil's refinery in Baytown, Texas.
Photo: Tom Fox, MBR

Specifically, there are four important takeaways from our study.

First, excess emissions represent a sizeable share of permitted (or routine) emissions. In the case of the natural gas liquids industry, excess emissions amounted to 77 thousand tons over the period 2004-2015, representing 58 percent of the industry’s routine emissions for that pollutant.

Refineries emitted 23 thousand tons of excess emissions (10 percent of their routine emissions of SO2) while oil and gas fields released 11 thousand tons (17 percent of their routine emissions of SO2).

Second, the distribution of excess emissions is highly skewed. While thousands of excess emissions events occur every year in Texas, the top 5 percent of events release more pollutants than all the other events combined. In extreme cases, excess emissions events can release vast amounts of pollutants in a very short period of time.

In 2003, a Total oil refinery in Port Arthur emitted 1,296 tons of sulfur dioxide within 56 hours, due to a power outage caused by a lighting strike. That was almost twice the amount of the total sulfur dioxide that refinery emitted that year from its routine operations.

Third, several industrial sectors account for a disproportionate amount of excess emissions. Facilities in just five sectors – natural gas liquids, refineries, industrial organic chemicals, electric services and oil and natural gas fields – emit about 80 percent of all excess emissions from industrial facilities in Texas.

Moreover, a few facilities within each sector are responsible for the vast majority of excess emissions. For example, the top six oil refineries are responsible for 70 percent and 77 percent of the excess emissions of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, respectively, released from all 30 Texas refineries.

Finally, excess emissions have important health effects. Using a model that links pollution to mortality, we estimate that the health damages attributable to excess emissions in Texas between 2004-2015 averaged $150 million annually. These estimates are certainly not comprehensive, as they only consider damages from premature mortality due to particulate matter (PM) emissions caused by the emission of sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides.

The model does not account for the direct damage from other pollutants or from nonfatal, acute health events such as asthma attacks. As such, our estimate can be considered a lower bound.

Beyond Texas

The data we analyzed in our study reveal the magnitude of the problem caused by excess emissions. Yet it is important to remember that they only capture the situation in Texas. We know very little about excess emissions and their trends over time at the national level. That’s because Texas is one of just a few states (the others being Louisiana and Oklahoma) that systematically track and make public information on these type of pollution releases.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has gone as far as to implement a system that requires facilities to publicly report excess emissions events within 24 hours of their occurrence, information that the TCEQ then makes available on its website.

Though Texas is unique in its reporting requirements, excess emissions events are common elsewhere, as the watchdog group the Environmental Integrity Project has documented in a series of reports.

Excess emissions are underregulated

The EPA, after decades of leaving excess emissions outside of its regulatory focus, made a concerted effort to update its approach during the final years of the Obama administration.

Prompted by a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club, the EPA issued a State Implementation Plan (SIP) call in 2015, asking states to revisit the way they regulate excess emissions. The agency found that certain SIP provisions in 36 states were “substantially inadequate to meet Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements.”

This means that industrial facilities may have been regularly surpassing the limit of their permitted pollution limits, in part because of these excess emissions. But because of state agency exemption provisions, it could be the case that these facilities would not always be penalized. In other words, the EPA determined that many states had, as a matter of policy, often failed to treat excess emissions as violations and potentially shielded offending companies from paying fines.

The EPA is now revisiting its policy as part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to scale back many of EPA regulations and decisions during the Obama era. Given the frequency, magnitude and important adverse effects for public health, the EPA’s ultimate decision on how states should treat excess emissions is consequential.

In addition, much is still to be learned about the magnitude of the excess emissions problem across the country. If an effective regulatory framework is to be designed to reduce them, it is imperative that more states begin tracking excess emissions events in a detailed and systematic way, following the example set by Texas.
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A Pearl Harbor Elementary School bus crashed into two other vehicles on Friday in Salt Lake, Oahu, sending at least 28 people — mostly students — to the hospital; 3 are serious

 Here's a look at the bus involved in the crash. (Image: Katz Yoro) 

A school bus was involved in a crash Friday in Salt Lake. (Image: Matthew Yosting)

 Many persons injured in a crash Friday in Salt Lake, Oahu involving a school bus. (Image: Matthew Yosting)




Friday, August 31st 2018
By HNN Staff

SALT LAKE, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) -

A school bus crashed into two other vehicles on Friday in Salt Lake, sending at least 28 people — mostly students — to the hospital.

The majority of patients were in stable condition, but three were seriously injured: A 16-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man, who were in vehicles, and a 9-year-old, who was on the school bus.

Sources told Hawaii News Now the school bus was from Pearl Harbor Elementary School.

Paramedics on the scene identified 61 patients in all, 59 of whom were on the bus.

Of those, 28 patients were transported to the hospital: Two were taken by ambulances, while the rest were taken on the bus with paramedics on board.

The driver of the school bus was not injured.

The incident happened about 2:30 p.m., when the bus was traveling on Bougainville Drive.

Police are still investigating the cause of the crash, but witnesses said the bus apparently crossed the center line and crashed into two vehicles.

This story will be updated.
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15 passengers treated after pepper spray released on Kahului-bound Hawaiian Airlines flight. The passenger who brought the pepper spray on board could face civil penalties of up to $13,000. Pepper spray is not allowed to be carried on planes, though it is permitted in checked baggage.



Emergency responders met the plane at Kahului Airport. (Image: Kevin Olson)


15 passengers treated after pepper spray released on Kahului-bound flight 

August 31st 2018
By HNN Staff








 Emergency responders assisted passengers are an irritant was apparently released on board a flight from Oakland to Kahului. (Image: Kevin Olson)

 

Flight attendants asked people to leave their seats and move to the back of the cabin after an irritant was detected on an Oakland-Kahului flight. (Image: Nicholas Andrade)
 

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -

An apparent accidental release of pepper spray mid-way through a flight from Oakland to Kahului on Friday sent a number of passengers into coughing fits and forced those in the front section of the cabin to leave their seats for more than half an hour, Hawaiian Airlines and passengers said.

Hawaiian Airlines said 12 passengers and three flight attendants were treated for respiratory issues after the plane landed at Kahului Airport at 10:37 a.m. They have all been released.

Maui police and the TSA are investigating the incident, and the passenger who brought the pepper spray on board could face civil penalties of up to $13,000. Pepper spray is not allowed to be carried on planes, though it is permitted in checked baggage.

Video taken shortly after the plane landed in Kahului shows a firefighter speaking to passengers, asking anyone who needs medical assistance to leave their seats first and seeking to reassure them.

"We know what the cause is," the firefighters says. "Everybody is OK."

A passenger told Hawaii News Now that the incident happened about three hours into the flight when "all of a sudden" multiple people in first and premium classes started coughing.

Passenger Nicholas Andrade said people were putting wet paper towels and clothing over their mouths, and that a baby threw up.

"Everyone was afraid," Andrade said.

Flight attendants ordered people in the front of the cabin to move to the back of the plane and stand there for about 40 minutes while the air cleared, he said. Passengers were then told they could return to their seats, but Andrade said the irritant still hadn't dissipated and that he started to have trouble breathing again.

Another passenger, Kevin Olson, said the incident was "scary."

"First class and premium section passengers all started to cough and the flight attendants could barely see or talk," Olson said.

The plane, Hawaiian Flight 23, had 256 passengers and 10 crew members on board.

Hawaiian Airlines said an emergency was declared after the pepper spray was released "out of an abundance of caution."

"During the cruise portion of the flight ... passengers in the forward section of the Boeing 767 experienced an unpleasant odor," Hawaiian Airlines said. "The odor was determined to have come from a can of pepper spray brought on board illegally by a passenger."

In a twist, the pepper spray release wasn't the only incident associated with the flight.

The flight was delayed about 90 minutes in Oakland after a teenager inadvertently shared a photo "depicting a fake crime scene featuring a child-sized mannequin" with other passengers waiting at the gate. The teenager had the photo for a school science project.
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Cause and origing of fatal fire undetermined after 3 months. Narges Casnajad and her youngest son Sepehr Koshkoye Delshad, 8, died in the fire at the Mountain Village Garden Apartments complex





Narges Casnajad and her youngest son Sepehr Koshkoye Delshad, 8, died in a fire at the Mountain Village Garden Apartments complex - photo supplied



Residents of a Lynn Valley apartment complex where a fire took the lives of a North Vancouver mother and her eight-year-old son in June may never know what caused the fire to start.


North Vancouver police and fire investigators say they can’t pin down the cause of the June 11 fire that resulted in the deaths of Narges Casnajad and her youngest son Sepehr Koshkoye Delshad at the Mountain Village Garden Apartments at Whiteley Court.


After two months of on-scene investigation, including sifting through “large volumes of fire debris,” interviews with witnesses and examination by structural and electrical engineers, fire investigators have ruled the cause as undetermined.

That’s likely to be unsettling news for residents who still live in the building, where the fire also sent 15 people to hospital and left 14 families – made up of 40 people – homeless.

“If I still lived there and there was no reason for the fire, I wouldn’t feel safe,” said former Mountain Village resident Jacqueline Diamond, who was a friend of Casnajad when both lived in the complex and had young children.

Diamond, who organized a fundraising campaign to help displaced families in the wake of the fire, said she felt “a little bit angry” when she heard the cause couldn’t be determined. “Everybody’s speculating about it.”

Investigators did rule out some possible causes, said fire Chief Brian Hutchinson of District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services. “We know that it wasn’t one of the building systems,” like an electrical problem, he said. “That was ruled out in the early stages.” Arson is also considered unlikely.
  Narges Casnajad and her youngest son Sepehr Koshkoye Delshad, 8, died in a fire at the Mountain Village Garden Apartments complex

Fire investigators also ruled out the possibility of a barbecue on a balcony starting the fire.

Investigators also know where the fire started – outside, in a breezeway that ran between buildings. Beyond that, however, any number of possible causes, including accidental causes, remain possible, said Hutchinson.

Hutchinson added investigators haven’t been able to determine whether smoke alarms were functioning in the apartment where Casnajad and her son died.

Residents in other units reported their smoke alarms went off, alerting them to the fire, he said. There were smoke alarms in the apartment, said Hutchinson, but whether they were working remains unclear because “there was significant fire damage in the suite where the deaths occurred.”

Because the apartment complex was built before 1979, the building code allows smoke alarms in the complex to be battery-operated, rather than wired into the electrical circuits of the building. Landlords are required to inspect the smoke detectors within apartments when the tenancy changes and replace them at least once every 10 years.

Multi-family apartments built after 1979 must have smoke detectors permanently wired into the building.

According to the provincial Office of the Fire Commissioner, statistics show a “strong link between working smoke alarms and reduced fatalities from residential structure fires.”

Diamond said while families displaced by the fire all have some kind of temporary shelter now, many of them are still on a search for permanent homes.



==============================



Overnight apartment fire claims two lives, injures 12 more in North Vancouver
By The Canadian Press
Mon., June 11, 2018



VANCOUVER, CA - 

An apartment fire in North Vancouver has killed two people and sent a dozen to hospital for treatment of various injuries.

The victims were trapped when the blaze tore through one of four buildings in the 170-unit complex around 2:30 a.m. Monday, said Wayne Kennedy, deputy chief with District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue.

A firefighter works on the scene of an apartment complex fire in North Vancouver, B.C. on Monday, June 11, 2018. An apartment fire in North Vancouver has killed two people and sent a dozen to hospital for treatment of various injuries. (Jonathan Hayward / The Canadian Press)


“One half of the building was fully affected by the fire and the other half was affected by smoke and water,” Kennedy said.

RCMP said in a news release that 17 units in the wooden, two-story complex were extensively damage, leaving about 70 people permanently displaced.

Flames were visible as firefighters pulled up, Kennedy said, but residents from other suites were already rushing to assist people and that was a huge help to crews.


As a precaution, crews evacuated other buildings in the sprawling 4.5-hectare complex and sent more than 100 residents to a nearby reception centre.

Fire crews didn’t immediately realize two people were trapped, Kennedy said.

“There was some mention to us, early on, that there were a couple of people who weren’t accounted for, but due to the intensity of the fire and the amount of units that were involved it wasn’t a safe alternative for us to get into some of the units until we had a better control of the fire.”

Firefighters were able to check the suites several hours later and found both people in the same unit.

The BC Coroners Service confirmed via email that it is in the early stages of an investigation into two deaths.

The victims were from the same family, but their names and ages have not been released, police said.

Mounties added that 12 survivors were treated in several area hospitals for injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to burns.

Most residents were allowed to return to their suites in unaffected parts of the complex within hours.

Crews continued to douse hot spots on the fire Monday, and Kennedy said an assessment of the structural integrity of the building would also be required.

He said it was still unclear what sparked the blaze and work to determine a cause would begin as soon as possible.

An RCMP arson unit, the fire department and the coroners service are all working on the investigation.

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3 missing people were swept up in the flash flood waters in Harford County, Maryland inside their disabled vehicle




3 May Be Missing In Flash Floods In Harford County: Police 

Search efforts near Calvary Road at James Run Road will resume on Saturday, police reported. 

By Elizabeth Janney, Patch Staff 

September 1, 2018



BEL AIR, MD — 

Police said the search for three missing people who were swept up in the flood waters in Harford County Friday night has been suspended until 7 a.m. on Saturday. Although a vehicle was found that may contain two of the people, authorities reported the waters were so high that it was unclear whether it was the vehicle that washed away and if it had the two missing persons inside.

Rescue crews were initially called to James Run Road at Calvary Road around 6 p.m. on Friday, according to Maryland State Police.

A vehicle had become disabled on a bridge in the area because of high water, and when a truck pulled up and the woman inside got out to try to help them, she was swept off the bridge by the swift water, police reported.

Then officials said the disabled vehicle, which had two people inside, also got swept away.

The driver of the truck went to a nearby quarry to search for the victims and alerted first responders, police reported.

Late Friday evening a vehicle was found about a quarter-mile from where the vehicle was swept away, but police said high water conditions prevented officials from confirming whether it was the same vehicle and if anyone was inside.

Maryland State Police officials said they concluded search efforts at 11 p.m. Friday and will resume the search at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Harford County had received 25 swift water rescue calls by 9 p.m. Friday, according to Rich Gardiner, spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

Swift water rescue teams from Anne Arundel, Howard and Carroll counties as well as Baltimore City and Chester County, Pennsylvania, have been requested to assist Harford County crews, Gardiner said.

Harford County has opened an emergency information line for those with storm-related reports and questions. Contact 410-838-5800 with non emergencies and 911 with emergencies.

Officials warn that flash floods can come without warning when there is excessive rainfall.


"Following the simple advice of 'Turn Around, Don't Drown,' could save lives during flash flooding conditions," Maryland State Police advised.
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4 people in their early 20s died during street-racing after the driver lost control of his white sedan, hitting a guardrail and flipping over on the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley








SPEED KILLS.  IT IS FRIDAY NIGHT, TIME TO DIE!


Friday, August 31, 2018 11:54PM
MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) --



Four people died after a street-racing crash shut down the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley Friday night, authorities said.

Investigators said three cars were involved in the wreck, with one car hitting a guard rail and flipping over around 7:32 p.m.

The car lost control and killed four people inside when it flipped over.

Riverside County firefighters responded to the scene, and first reported victims trapped and others who were ejected. One person suffered serious injuries and was transported to a hospital.

The other two drivers fled the scene, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol urges anyone with information to call (951) 637-8000.



These stupid speedsters will not do that again, as they reached their final destinations. For the rest of us, learn and live!




=========================







Crews work at the scene of the Friday night crash on the 60 Freeway. .

Four die in accident that closes 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley



(KTLA) Howard Blume


Four people died Friday night in an accident that might have been caused by street racing on the 60 Freeway near Redlands Boulevard in Moreno Valley.

The single-car accident apparently happened when the driver lost control, causing the driver’s vehicle to hit the center median and flip to the other side of the highway.

The call came in at 7:29 p.m. according to the incident log of the California Highway Patrol, which responded to a report of an overturned white sedan that had landed between the first and second westbound lanes.

At the scene, responders found that the force of the crash had ejected two people from the vehicle. One person was in traffic lanes and the other on the roadside, according to the CHP log. Both died at the scene. Three people were trapped inside the car, according to the incident report from the Riverside County Fire Department.

Two of the people trapped in the car also were dead at the scene. One occupant was extricated alive and transported to a local hospital for treatment.


(Los Angeles Times)

KCAL Channel 9 reported that CHP investigators believed that three cars were racing before one car lost control. All the occupants of the car that crashed were in their early 20s, KCAL reported.

Officers quickly shut down the westbound 60, which was expected to remain closed for hours. The eastbound side was entirely closed briefly, according to the CHP log. Then it partially reopened, with traffic backed up for miles on a holiday weekend.

Earlier this year, a Los Angeles Times analysis of coroner’s records, police reports and media accounts found that at least 179 people had died in suspected street races in Los Angeles County since 2000. There were 984 street-racing incidents in Los Angeles County last year — including spontaneous races and organized events, according to data tracked by the California Highway Patrol.

Police say street-racing incidents in the area are on the rise, driven in part by racers’ ability to promote meet-ups, fuel regional rivalries and adapt to police responses through Instagram accounts.
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Eight people dead, dozens injured on I-40 in New Mexico after a blowout tire caused a semi ruck driver, Elisara Taito, to swerve across I-40 and hit a Greyhound bus head on. The tractor-trailer belonged to Jag Transportation Inc. based out of Fresno California






The driver of the semi-truck, Elisara Taito



Eight people dead, dozens injured on I-40 in New Mexico after a blowout tire caused a semi ruck driver, Elisara Taito, to swerve across I-40 and hit a Greyhound bus head on. The tractor-trailer belonged to Jag Transportation Inc. based out of Fresno California




The front of the Greyhound bus was severely damaged during the crash.
NTSB is launching a go-team to investigate today's crash involving a Greyhound bus and a truck-tractor semitrailer on Interstate 40 in Gonzales, New Mexico.  

 New Mexico go-team includes specialists in human performance, motor carrier operations, vehicle factors, highway factors and survival factors.



GALLUP, N.M. — 

At least eight people died after a Greyhound bus and tractor trailer collided in New Mexico on Thursday. Remarkably, the driver of the truck survived the head-on crash. Greyhound said late Friday that the driver of the bus had been killed.

Elisara Taito was hauling produce from California to Tennessee when his semi blew a tire and things got really bad, really quickly.

"Then it just locked up," he said.

He told CBS News he saw the bus in front of him "right away."

"I was trying everything that I could to avoid it," Taito said.



The Greyhound bus, en route to Los Angeles from St. Louis, was in the west-bound lane of Interstate 40 near Thoreau, New Mexico. The semi weighing over 70,000 pounds crossed the median and slammed into it head-first.

"As soon as it happened I almost just knew that I was going to die. I was surprised that I made it," Taito said.

Rachel Cunningham, who was on the bus at the time said people were "screaming and panicking."

Dr. Andrea Kofahl was also on the interstate coming back from a hiking trip. She immediately called upon her training as a medic.

"I was expecting a lot of very critical casualties," she said. "But I was thoroughly impressed with the response we had seen."

The response came not just from EMTs and police, but also from passersby who used ladders to pull people from the demolished bus.

The National Transportation Safety Board was on site Friday investigating, but they had not yet interviewed the truck driver, Taito. He said the New Mexico State Police have.

"They asked for a drug test," he said, adding that it was clean.

"I am sorry. I mean I don't know if I can do anything to change it... I can't," Taito said.

One passenger was a pregnant woman who went into labor after the crash. Her twins, born Thursday night, added two to the number of patients. But the mother and her babies are doing well.

 ==============================
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) --
The death toll has climbed to eight after a Greyhound bus and tractor-trailer collided in a devastating crash in New Mexico, hospital officials told ABC News Friday.

The tractor-trailer belonged to Jag Transportation Inc. based out of Fresno California state police told KOAT in Albuquerque.
On Friday afternoon, two of the passengers on the bus filed a lawsuit against Jag Transportation and driver Elisara Taito alleging negligence lead to the deadly accident.

On Thursday, the tractor-trailer veered into oncoming traffic when one of its tires blew, hitting the bus head-on, according to New Mexico State Police.

Forty-nine passengers were on board the bus and most were taken to local hospitals with injuries.

One person died after arriving at a hospital, bringing the death toll to eight.

 Officials have not released the identities of any victims.

Two six-page lawsuits are both alleging negligence against Jag Transportation and its driver.

The company is based in Fowler.

Several attempts tonight to reach out to them but the texts, emails, and calls have not been returned.

The overhead video shows the devastating images of Thursday afternoon's Greyhound bus crash in New Mexico that killed at least eight people and injured more than a dozen others.

Friday we have learned that tire failure involved a semi-truck belonging to this Fowler trucking company named Jag transportation.

We went to the company's seemingly abandoned building with boarded windows and a sign suggesting it is looking for new drivers, but no one was there to answer our questions.

A nearby business owner telling us the owner recently purchased the property but has not moved in.

"I got out of my truck grabbed and started helping people," said witness Christoper Jones.

Meantime, an eyewitness who was there when the big rig sheered the Greyhound, describes what the California truck driver told him.

"Talking to the driver of the truck trailer I guess his front semi left tire popped on him so it took him through the median to oncoming traffic right into the Greyhound bus."

Family members of the truck driver have identified him to Action News as 35-year-old Elisara Taito.

They say Taito is a man who works hard to provide for his family.

They also told us Taito and his brother are both truck drivers for the company - a company they say told them not to talk to the media.

Likely because Friday the two passengers filed separate lawsuits against Taito and Jag Transportation -- claiming negligence in the deadly accident.
===========================


 (CNN)

At least seven people were killed in northwestern New Mexico when a tractor-trailer crashed head-on with a nearly packed Greyhound bus, officials said.

"We do expect that number to rise," New Mexico State Police spokesman Officer Ray Wilson said on Thursday. Dozens of passengers were seen trying to climb out of the windows of the bus while some bystanders walked among piles of debris carrying ladders.
Most of the 49 people on the bus, including adults and children, were taken to area hospitals with different degrees of injuries. The driver of the truck sustained injuries that were not life-threatening, the state police said.

Wilson had initially said six people suffered minor injuries.

As of Thursday night, seven deaths had been confirmed. In a statement, the New Mexico State police said their identities would not be released until their next of kin were notified.

The horrific scene began around 12:30 p.m. when a semi truck was traveling eastbound along Interstate 40 in McKinley County and it blew a tire. The driver lost control of the vehicle, which crossed the median and struck the westbound bus, Wilson told reporters.
Bus crash near Thoreau

Aerial footage by CNN affiliate KRQE showed the bus damaged on the front edge, but upright, in the grass median. Nearby was an overturned vehicle and the truck trailer on its side, with what appeared to be produce boxes spilled on the median.

One witness, Chris Jones, was driving along the highway when he came upon the crash site. He quickly jumped out of his car to help the injured when he didn't see any ambulances around.

"Just trying to help them, comfort them, calm them down, get them taken care of until EMS got there," Jones told CNN affiliate KCAL.

Jones, who has medical training as Navy veteran and volunteer firefighters, said he first tried to get an idea of who was hurt.

Another witness, Marc Gonzales, said the scene was a "complete catastrophe," with skid marks on the side of the road. Passengers tried to climb out the bus windows and bystanders grabbed ladders from their vehicles to try to rescue them, he said.


"It's by far one of the worst accidents I've encountered. ... It was horrible," Gonzales told KRQE.


"You could tell that people were distressed, screams were coming from the bus," he said.
Twenty patients were initially taken to the Gallup Indian Medical Center in Gallup, acting chief medical officer Dr. Kevin Gaines told reporters. Some families were among the patients, as well as four children, he said.


Ten patients were being treated for injuries ranging from broken bones to bruises, he said. One was in critical condition and two were in serious condition, Gaines said.


Six patients were released and four others were transferred to other medical facilities in New Mexico and in neighboring Arizona, Gaines said.

The Los Angeles Greyhound bus had originally departed from St. Louis and had just made a stop in Albuquerque prior to the crash, the company said.


"Our first priority is taking care of our passengers and their families as this incident has deeply impacted all involved," the company said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone as we continue to give our support to all affected.


The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending 10 investigators to the site.
This is not the first deadly crash involving a passenger bus in the state in recent months.
In July, the driver of a passenger bus tried to avoid a crash along I-25 near Bernalillo, but lost control and rolled crossing the highway. The it bus was then plowed by a semi truck traveling in the opposite direction. Three people were killed in that crash, CNN affiliate KRQE reported.



==================================


7 killed in bus crash involving semi on I-40 near Thoreau

By: KRQE Media


Allison Martinez

August 30, 2018

GRANTS, N.M. (KRQE) - 

 A deadly Greyhound bus crash shut down I-40 Thursday, leaving families wondering what happened to their loved ones.

Police say it was a blowout tire that caused a truck driver to swerve across I-40 and hit a Greyhound bus head on.

Just after 10 p.m., State Police confirmed seven people are dead. Dozens of people were injured, while the truck driver is expected to recover.

The crash happened around 12:30 Thursday afternoon between Grants and Gallup, near Thoreau.

I-40 was shut down for nearly eight hours and it just now reopened, although westbound traffic is still limited to one lane.

"It was horrible there was people trying to climb out of the windows of the bus... bystanders trying to help people getting ladders out of their truck to get to windows of Greyhound bus to assist," witness Marc Gonzales said. "When we went by the overturned semi, everything in the trailer was out on the road. It was a disaster...you could tell people were in distress, screams were coming from bus."

The witness says people were screaming as rescuers tried to get them out.

They say they saw bystanders shading children with blankets after they were finally rescued.

Only six of the 48 on board were not transported to a hospital.

The Greyhound bus was headed from St. Louis to Los Angeles. It was running a couple of hours late Thursday morning when it left Albuquerque at 10:30 a.m.

The accident threw debris all over the road, causing I-40 westbound to completely shut down for hours.

McKinley County Emergency Management has established the following number for family members of passengers looking for information on their relatives: 505-722-2002

This is not the first deadly bus vs semi crash in New Mexico. In July, the driver of a passenger bus tried to avoid a crash along I-25 near Bernalillo, but lost control and rolled. It then was plowed by a semi. Three passengers were killed in that crash.


“By far one of the worse accidents I’ve encountered. There was people trying to climb out of the windows of the bus. “ —witness #breakingnews State police say multiple people have died in a bus crash in I-40 near Thoreau. @KRQEAllison @MarissaKRQE will have the latest on @krqe pic.twitter.com/SrDCaNzDCe— Jessica Garate (@krqegarate) August 30, 2018


Officers have confirmed multiple casualties in this crash. Officers and EMS are still working this scene actively. More information will be released when available.— NMSP (@NMStatePolice) August 30, 2018


McKinley County Emergency Management has established the following number for family members of passengers looking for information on their relatives: 505-722-2002— NMSP (@NMStatePolice) August 30, 2018


#TrafficAlert McKinley County: I-40 westbound is closed at mile marker 50 near Thoreau due to a crash involving a passenger bus. Traffic is being diverted onto the frontage road in Thoreau. Expect delays. More info will follow when available.— NMSP (@NMStatePolice) August 30, 2018

=============================




http://metroforensics.blogspot.com/2015/03/united-states-still-has-one-of-highest.html

 UNITED STATES STILL HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST ROAD ACCIDENT DEATH AND INJURY RATES IN THE WORLD: AT LEAST 40,000 DIE AND 2.5 MILLION INJURED EACH YEAR.

 Despite the improvements in road safety, the United States has one of the highest death rates at about 1 person dead per 10,000 people. Unfortunately, only undeveloped countries have higher death rate.

 Some states, such as Texas and West Virginia (sorry, WV, despite your tremendous progress in traffic safety, you are still at the top of the worst-death-rate list) have death rates of nearly 1.5 percent, i.e., fifty percent more people die compared to the national death rate.

 Approximately 40,000 people are getting killed each year.  In the 1950s and 1960s, about 55,000 people used to die on the roads – so, there has been improvement in the number of dead.

 However, the number of injured is rising.  Roughly 2.5 million are injured (yes, you read it correctly – 2.5 million injured) per year.  That is, 1 percent (1%) of the population that is eligible to drive is injured every year.

 It is worse than a war zone out there.  So, please be safe and be on the lookout for weaving-through-the-traffic drivers, crazy drivers, reckless drivers, sick drivers, medical-condition drivers, sleepy drivers, negligent drivers, stupid drivers, careless drivers, drunk drivers, speeding drivers, drugged drivers, texting drivers, talking-on-the-phone drivers, looking-at-the-GPS drivers, hurry-hurry drivers, tailgating drivers, upset drivers, eating-while-driving drivers, putting-the-lipstick-on-while-driving drivers, elderly drivers, and so on.

 
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