Monthly Archives: June 2012

Don’t Text and Drive!

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Texting While Driving

Putting the brakes on the distracted driving epidemic will require both dedication and creative thinking, and the FCC is committed to doing its part to address this growing crisis.

Chairman Julius Genachowski,
Federal Communications Commission
Testimony to Subcommittees of the
U.S. House of Representatives, November 4, 2009

Distracted Driving is Dangerous

The popularity of mobile devices has had some unintended and even dangerous consequences. We now know that mobile communications are linked to a significant increase in distracted driving, resulting in injury and loss of life. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2008 that driver distraction was the cause of 16 percent of all fatal crashes — 5,800 people killed — and 21 percent of crashes resulting in an injury — 515,000 people wounded. According to the American Automobile Association, nearly 50 percent of teens admit to texting while driving. Distracted driving endangers life and property and the current levels of injury and loss are unacceptable.

To stem this problem, the FCC is working with industry, safety organizations, and other government agencies, to inform and educate the public about the dangers of distracted driving and is seeking to identify and facilitate the development of innovative technologies that could reduce the incidence of distracted driving. To help in this effort and share information, we created a dedicated website.

Distracted Driving Information Clearinghouse

In addition, to collect and share information about consumer outreach activities and technology that could potentially reduce the problem of distracted driving, the Commission’s staff created the FCC Distracted Driving Information Clearinghouse.

State Laws

Currently there is no national ban on texting or using a wireless phone while driving, but a number of states have passed laws banning texting or wireless phones or requiring hands-free use of wireless phones while driving. For more information on state laws, visit www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html.

What You Can Do

Give Clear Instructions – Give teen drivers simple, clear instructions not to use their wireless devices while driving. According to Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, the easiest way to say it is: “On the road, off the phone.” Before new drivers get their licenses, discuss the fact that taking their eyes off the road – even for a few seconds – could cost someone injury or even death.

Lead by Example – Children learn from their parent’s behavior. No one should text and drive. Be an example for your children and if you need to text or talk on the phone, pull over to a safe place.

Become Informed and Be Active – Review the information in our Clearinghouse and the literature on the websites mentioned above. Set rules for yourself and your household regarding distracted driving. Tell family, friends and organizations to which you belong about the importance of driving without distractions. Take information to your children’s’ schools and ask that it be shared with students and parents.

For More Information

For more information about wireless devices and driving, visit the FCC’s Distracted Driving website. For information on other communications issues, visit the FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau website, or contact the FCC’s Consumer Center by calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554.

And now to help you avoid this or to make sure your children are safe from this, check out this App now available on Blackberry, Android, and iPhone! It disables the ability to check your email or text messages while you’re driving to better ensure you’re driving safe!

http://optionsmedia.com/html/faq.pdf

Debbie May Be Gone, But We’re Still Wet!

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We at Jeeves are glad you’re safe! Be cautious if you’re traveling around these areas and if you’re not sure what to do when you hydroplane, Talk To Jeeves on Facebook! He gives out traffic tips and things to look out for on your daily travels!

BAY AREA –
Traffic advisories from Bay News 9 traffic expert Chuck Henson:

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY:

Sinkhole closes Jerry Smith Road north and southbound from W.O. Griffin Road to Touchstone Road
Bayshore Blvd is closed from Gandy Blvd. to Rome Ave. due to high water.

PASCO COUNTY:

high water – roads being monitored:

Mitchell Ranch Road (from Rowan Rd to SR 54)
State Road 54 (from Mitchell Ranch Rd to Madison Street)
Old County Road 54 NPR (from Little Road to County Road 54)
Bellamy Brothers Road, San Antonio (from Johnston Road to Bayhead Road)
Saint Joe Road (from Curley Road to Old Saint Joe Road)

Roads closed:

Ridge Road (US Hwy 19 to Leo Kidd Rd.) closed
State Road 54 both lanes NPR (Thys Road to Old County Road 54) closed
Trouble Creek Road NPR (from Cecelia to Old Mill Pond) closed

HERNANDO COUNTY:

Quality Drive from Spring Hill Regional Hospital to Suncoast Elementary School closed due to sinkhole
Mariner Blvd in the area of Claymore Road and Little Street. Several large sinkholes have opened up in this area and the roads will remain closed until repairs can be made.
Northclifee Bv. in the area of Central Park Drive is also experiencing high water covering the roadway making it dangerous to pass.
Low lying areas of Masaryktown; evacuations taking place. Areas of Roosevelt Ave, Hodza St. and Wilson Blvd. are all experiencing flooding in this area
Citrus Way at U.S. 98 is closed due to flooding
Claymore Street at Keeport Drive is closed due to sinkhole

MANATEE COUNTY:

County Road 675 (Rutland Rd) at Jim Davis Road in Parris closed due to flooding

Stay with Bay News 9 for the latest traffic affected by Tropical Depression Debby.

‘Gator! Gator! Gator!’ Reptile and cars collide on I-275

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ST. PETERSBURG — The Toyota Scion was so new it didn’t have any dings in its maroon paint. Its oil hadn’t even been changed yet.

On the drive home along Interstate 275, heading north at 70 mph, the Scion suffered its first blemish in an unusual way.

“Gator! Gator! Gator!” Esther Foley shouted about 12:30 Sunday morning while riding shotgun.

Up ahead, near the Gandy Boulevard exit, an old truck walloped the tip of the alligator’s tail.

Legs extended, mouth open and signature teeth bared, the gator bolted — right into the passenger side of the 2012 Scion.

“Like a battering ram,” said 41-year-old driver Bruce Foley.

Esther Foley, 33, had to remind her shocked husband to pull over. There was no way the insurance company would believe this without a report, the Temple Terrace couple figured.

Deer and cars collide all the time. But how often does a car get T-boned by a 12-foot alligator crossing an interstate?

It’s far more common to hear of alligators enjoying backyard pools, but Tampa Bay-area authorities say they field calls for the reptiles on roads — some of them heavily traveled — several times a year. A few months ago in Largo, a 10-foot alligator got stuck under a car that had rolled over it in traffic.

On this night, car and gator would meet again.

In the rearview mirror of the scuffed and dented Scion, Bruce Foley watched another car collide with the alligator — longer than the width of the lane — as it scrambled off the pavement.

“What’s going to happen,” he wondered, “when it goes the rest of the way across the median?”

About half an hour later, headlights heading south on the interstate hit a silhouette.

Verna Christopherson, 79, and son Mark were driving home to St. Petersburg, a few bucks richer after a night on the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino slot machines.

By the time they spotted the alligator in front of them on the highway, it was too late.

The car ran over it and launched several feet into the air.

The gator went flying, too.

“He was real fat,” said Mark Christopherson, 56.

The 12-foot gator could have weighed up to 1,000 pounds, estimates Seminole trapper Vernon Yates, who had not been called out on this incident. Likely coming from the adjacent Sawgrass Lake, the alligator might have been a little scrawnier. The reptile was probably an older male that may have been wandering in search of a mate, he said.

The slow-moving creature would have needed to rest often to make it across two directions of multilane interstate traffic.

Verna Christopherson “kept it pretty cool” while driving, her son said, but he wouldn’t let her get out after they stopped on the side of the road. He scraped a brown ridged scale off the underside of the car.

After wreaking $2,000 in damage to the northbound vehicle it encountered, the alligator left minimal marks on the Christophersons’ car.

It caused no injuries.

But the last leg of the dangerous journey proved fatal for the alligator, which died on the side of the road.

Stephanie Wang can be reached at swang@tampabay.com or             (813) 661-2443      .

By Stephanie Wang, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, June 18, 2012

Golf cart deaths more common than thought

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Erika Robinson was devoted to her family and determined to make sure her 5-year-old son spent quality time with his father, Nathaniel Williams.

On Saturday, she and her son, Graham — nicknamed “Bub” — headed to Williams’ Land O’Lakes home for a visit. Leaving Graham with friends for a few minutes, she and Williams decided to take a ride through the neighborhood in a golf cart around 10 p.m.

“Apparently they were just going to take a quick spin because they didn’t even take Bub with them,” said her father, Ted Robinson. His daughter rarely left Bub’s side, he said.

On the ride, Williams, who was behind the wheel, took a sharp left turn on Sheffield Road. Robinson, 27, fell out of the cart and hit her head on the pavement.

A few hours later, she was dead.

According to a safety expert who studies golf cart accidents, deaths and serious injuries happen far more often than people realize.

“News media always describe them as freak accidents, but they are not,” said Kristopher Seluga, who works for Technology Associates, a Connecticut-based company that reconstructs accidents. “Somebody dies every week in this country from falling out of a golf cart.”

Most often, it involves a left turn. The passenger has no place to hold onto, and the rail on the outside of the vehicle acts as a fulcrum that causes the person to fall up and over, onto his or her head.

That scenario was similar to what happened to Robinson.

Christopher Grainger, 16, said his parents were watching a movie when Williams arrived, frantic, on their doorstep, directly across the street from the accident.

Grainger grabbed a flashlight and headed out with his mother, Lisa Grainger, to help. She spoke to a 911 dispatcher, relaying CPR instructions to Williams as he tried to save Robinson.

“I felt bad for the guy and the girl,” Christopher Grainger said. “The guy was pretty devastated, worried, shocked, didn’t know what to do. The girl was unconscious.”

About 13,000 golf cart-related accidents require emergency room visits each year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Seluga would like to see all golf carts have seat belts and a hand rail on the inside of the cart.

Children are more likely to fall because they are unable to brace their feet on the floorboard, Seluga said.

In 2010, Gabriella Wiegert, 6, died when she fell from a golf cart her sister was driving. Her father, Shannon Wiegert, started an online petition to get the Florida Legislature to require helmets and seat belts on the carts. About a year after his daughter’s death, he killed himself at his Lakeland home.

Florida doesn’t require seat belts and allows children as young as 14 to drive golf carts. Driving the carts is forbidden before sunrise or after dark, however. It was nighttime when Williams and Robinson headed out for a ride.

The couple met in high school and dated for years before Graham was born. They broke up soon after but remained in close touch.

Robinson and her son lived with her parents.

“She stayed close to home,” said her father, describing her as an excellent mother.

The accident remains under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Williams could not be reached for comment.

Robinson’s memorial service will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Boza & Roel Funeral Home, 4730 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa. The family will receive friends from 6 to 7 p.m.

By DONNA KOEHN, EDDIE DANIELS | Tbo.com 
Published: June 19, 2012
Updated: June 19, 2012 – 10:13 AM