Because of their size, commercial trucks pose unique risks to other vehicles on the road. It is a simple matter of physics; when a large object like a truck collides with a much smaller object like a car, the smaller object is going to have more damage. For the most part, the issues that cause car accidents can also cause truck accidents: - Driver Fatigue: Exhaustion impairs driver performance; when tired, we are less able to process information and respond more slowly to changing circumstances. This is problematic for any driver. For truck drivers who are expected ...

The bill, which will now head to the full Senate, would create a $94 million program to dole out grants to states that prohibit texting and phoning while driving. Unlike a competing distracted driving bill, it would not punish states for failing to enact such laws. The bill comes with strings attached for receiving federal money. States would have to pass laws against both texting and using a handheld phone while driving. In addition, the laws would have to feature primary enforcement. The primary enforcement aspect, meaning law enforcement would be able to stop a ...

When you are stopped by law enforcement in Virginia on suspicion of driving drunk, in most cases, you will be asked to perform some field sobriety tests and then asked to take a breath test. The breath test allows an officer to quickly confirm whether you are in violation of the .08 blood alcohol content limit. Implied Consent In Virginia, if you drive a vehicle on a highway, you have "consented" to be tested for alcohol in your blood. If you refuse to take the test, you are deemed by law to have "unreasonably refused" the test. The Virginia Statues require the ...

Incoming Governor-Elect Kasich has appointed state senator Steve Buehrer (R-Delta) to head the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation (BWC) after Administrator Marsha Ryan submitted her resignation following the 2010 mid-term elections. Ryan was appointed by out-going Governor Ted Strickland in 2007 to head the BWC and will leave her post in early January, 2011. Ryan has led several high-profile reforms of the Ohio BWC that have resulted in drastically reduced base rates for public and private sector employer premiums as well as bringing "actuarial soundness" to the BWC. The ...

Recently a federal court judge ruled that the 2007 FDNY entrance exam was unfair to minority applicants. This court ruling temporarily bars New York City from hiring more than 300 new firefighters. New York civil rights violation attorney David Perecman understands how this ruling can frustrate applicants like Nafis Sabir, a 33-year-old African-American man who served eight years in the Marine Reserves. When he took the city's most recent exam in January 2007 Sabir aced it, scoring higher than nearly 22,000 other candidates. His score should have been high enough to ...

In an effort to protect against convictions reached from false confessions and to protect officers from claims of coercion and police misconduct, suspect interrogations can now be recorded on video tape. The filming can be done with hidden cameras or ones in plain view, according to new state guidelines. Each New York City Police Department can decide whether they want the camera to be hidden or not. The guidelines also require interrogators to tell the suspect-- if the suspect asks--whether he or she is being recorded. If the crime suspects do not ask, they will ...

Probate courts across the nation serve many important functions: they resolve cases concerning the disposition of property belonging to deceased persons, administer court-supervised trusts, and handle proceedings to create guardianships and conservatorships for minor children as well as incapacitated or incompetent adults. But, while judges and others involved usually have the best interests of individuals at heart, gaps in the system leave open the opportunity for exploitation. Some states, like Arizona, have enacted specialized laws meant to provide an extra layer ...

Littlewoods Europe, part of the Shop Direct Group, the second largest online clothing retailer in the UK, has announced that its End of Season Sale has started early. The sale sees more than 5,000 product lines in Littlewoods Europe's online store, discounted, with savings of up to 75% off on offer. Amongst the lines included in the End of Season Sale are fashion and household related products, such as clothing and footwear for the whole family, as well as homewares, including basics such as bedding and towels. Customers can expect to see big brand names like Calvin ...

Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hospitality company and member of Dubai Holding, has announced two management appointments for its two upcoming properties in the Maldives: Jumeirah Dhevanafushi and Jumeirah Vittaveli, scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2011. Stefan Huemer joins Jumeirah Group as area general manager for the Maldives, with a particular remit to lead the pre-opening team of Jumeirah's first two resorts in the Maldives. Mr. Huemer has over 20 years experience in the hospitality sector, having previously worked for international brands such ...

Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotel company and member of Dubai Holding, has signed a management agreement with Liuhe Group, a subsidiary of Hangzhou-based WEI Jun, to operate the Jumeirah Thousand Islands Lake Resort in Qiandaohu, China. The resort is situated on Qiandao Lake in the heart of the popular Hangzhou-Thousand Island Yellow Mountain Golden Tourism Route, approximately 135 km from Hangzhou. Surrounded by lush forests and offering beautiful lakeside views, the property will consist of a luxury hotel with 89 guest rooms and a further 50 rooms in villas ...

Jumeirah Carlton Tower, the luxury Knightsbridge hotel, has been voted as one of the world's best hotels in Conde Nast Traveller magazine's seventh annual Gold List - one of only three UK hotels to be recognised for outstanding service. The panel of judges cited the hotel's above and beyond service as the outstanding feature that propelled the hotel onto the Gold List. Feedback from the panel noted the Knightsbridge hotel staff are willing to go that extra mile, from preparing a private meal for two in the gardens of Cadogan Square to setting up cooking lessons with ...

From a man that possesses many musical mastery talents comes a debut album which incorporates almost 30 years of experience playing with some of middle America's most formidable bands, now it's time for Mark Hoevet's "Keys To The Journey" album to shine through as his personal storm of pain is over and the new solo journey begins. Backed by the album's Executive Producer, Mark A. Forrest who has put the wheels in motion for major distribution, radio promotions worldwide and mass media recognition with album reviews written by some the best in the music industry, Hoevet ...

Gottfried Medical manufactures medical devices. They specialize in the engineering and manufacturing of made-to-measure compression garments, including: stockings and sleeves. The majority of their products aid in controlling numerous vascular conditions and lymphedema. They also manufacture compression garments specially engineered to suppress and control hypertrophic scarring, resulting (most often) from serious burn injury. Their new facility is almost 12,000 square feet, nearly double the previous. This writer had the pleasant opportunity to spend a day there, asking ...

The 2011 golf season is fast approaching in Myrtle Beach, and the team at MyrtleBeachGolfVacations.com is ready to provide custom Myrtle Beach golf packages to golfers from around the world. Golfers that choose to book a golf trip through Myrtle Beach Golf Vacations will be personally assisted by Branden Player, who is the director of golf at MyrtleBeachGolfVacations.com. Branden is a Myrtle Beach native, and he has personally played at many of the golf courses on the Grand Strand. Why would one settle for booking through a phone operator who doesn't even play golf, when ...

The AAA Great Vacations EXPO, held January 21-23 at Veterans Memorial, will offer unheard-of discounts for travelers seeking the best deals on vacations and getaways. AAA Travel and the dozens of other EXPO exhibitors will offer a host of specials throughout the three-day event, but those deals are available exclusively to EXPO guests. Whether travelers are seeking a Caribbean cruise, a family road trip or a quick romantic getaway, they'll find incredible discounts and giveaways on many types of travel and travel-related products. Just a few of the deals include: - ...

Alpha Center for Divorce Mediation, pioneered integrated divorce mediation services 15 years ago, have once again brought critical advancements to the way divorce is handled by introducing a new concept that facilitates divorce mediation online. Pennsylvania and New Jersey divorcing couples now have an option to mediate online, as an alternative to in-office sessions. This affords clients the privacy of mediating their divorce using their personal computers in a home setting. Many savvy couples have already learned to forgo expensive and grueling court battles and ...

STONEVILLE, MS – Landscape trees, valued for their aesthetic nature and their environmental benefits, are becomingly increasingly valuable in urban environments. A single mature tree can add considerable value to commercial and residential properties. Conversely, tree mortality can result in significant economic losses. Urban trees must endure adverse growing conditions that reduce their structural strength and subject them to stresses, predisposing them to disease. One particularly devastating pathogen, wood-rotting fungi, can compromise the stability of urban trees, resulting ...

KINGSTON, RI – Erosion is a significant problem on highway embankments in New England. To mitigate erosion on the regions' highways, slopes are seeded with a grass–legume mixture that usually including red fescue, a grass preferred for its drought-tolerance and ability to thrive in acidic, infertile soil. "A mixture of red fescue, perennial ryegrass, and kentucky bluegrass is planted to stabilize the soil, but only the red fescue survives long term on slopes", noted Rebecca Nelson Brown, lead author of a report in HortScience. Brown and a team from the Department of Plant ...

ITALY – Most agricultural crops require large quantities of nitrate-rich fertilizer to realize optimal yields. The dilemma for growers is finding ways to balance the amount of nitrogen needed for production while minimizing potentially harmful nitrates that can leach into ground and surface waters. Increased interest in environmentally beneficial "low-input" approaches is challenging researchers to identify genotypes that have a characteristic called "high nutrient use efficiency", or NUE. Using vegetable types with high NUE could help growers lessen environmental impacts ...

EL PASO, TX – To conserve dwindling water resources, municipalities are encouraging the use of "recycled water", municipal wastewater that has been extensively treated and deemed safe to reuse for irrigation and other purposes. Using recycled water can be cost-effective and helps conserve the potable supply. In areas of the U.S. where production of bedding plants means income and jobs, commercial growers are looking for ways to use reclaimed or recycled water for irrigation, but using recycled water does not come without challenges. The water can contain high levels of ...

RALEIGH, NC – Christmas trees provide a significant source of revenue in southern Appalachia, resulting in millions of dollars in sales during the holiday buying season. The most popular species in the region is fraser fir, appreciated for its fragrance and consumer-friendly traits such as soft needles, strong branches, exceptional needle retention, and natural Christmas tree shape. Frasers, indigenous to isolated high-elevation mountains in southwestern Virginia, western North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee, are under attack by a pathogen called Phytophthora cinnamom, ...

A large collaborative study has added to the growing list of genetic variants that determine how tall a person will be. The research, published by Cell Press on December 30 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, identifies uncommon and previously unknown variants associated with height and might provide insight into the genetic architecture of other complex traits. Although environmental variables can impact attained adult height, it is clear that height is primarily determined by specific alleles that an individual inherits. Height is thought to be influenced by ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A lung transplant can mean a new chance at life. But many who receive one develop a debilitating, fatal condition that causes scar tissue to build up in the lungs and chokes off the ability to breathe. University of Michigan researchers hope a new diagnostic tool they developed to predict bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) will allow doctors to intervene earlier and, ultimately, to provide life-saving treatments. BOS is the leading cause of death for those who survive one year after lung transplantation and more than half of recipients will develop ...

Emergency department overcrowding can result in long waiting times for seriously ill patients. They then compete with patients with less severe illnesses for the next available treatment. In this edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[50]: 892𔃆), Michael Christ and his coauthors provide an overview of current practice for initial assessment of emergency patients. Triage provides reliable methods that can be used to assess the severity of an illness and the urgency of treatment in emergency departments. In English-speaking countries, ...

An influx of invasive species can stop the dominant natural process of new species formation and trigger mass extinction events, according to research results published today in the journal PLoS ONE. The study of the collapse of Earth's marine life 378 to 375 million years ago suggests that the planet's current ecosystems, which are struggling with biodiversity loss, could meet a similar fate. Although Earth has experienced five major mass extinction events, the environmental crash during the Late Devonian was unlike any other in the planet's history. The actual number ...