Page 9 - January 3, 2018

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Living Safe
The human factor What caused the accident? Some if this was the worst thing that she

would say the text, but I say the person’s had ever seen in her 7 years as a state
By Pete Hypes behavior and attitude surrounding what trooper. She said that though it was the
his past week, we saw the infrastructure is in place and the system it takes to prevent an accident while first of this type, they see many things
maiden journey of a new high- driving, as well as their desire to read on that job. Police officers, firefighters,
T speed train end in catastrophe is properly activated. and possibly answer the text, allowed a and medics are reactionary resources
Let me use one example to try to
near Dupont, Wash. All but the lead accentuate my point. Texting while huge distraction from the task-at-hand in place to deal with things that people
engine left the track, killing three and driving has led to many accidents. It to occur. cause. Do not get me wrong, public
seriously injuring many others. As the got to the point that many states have We need to be intentional in servants attempt to be proactive by
National Transportation Safety Board put in place laws deeming this practice everything that we do if we are serious educating the public, but the educated
(NTSB) continues their investigation, unlawful. Our phones even have a about preventing accidents. I remember public must heed the warnings and
some preliminary findings have been mechanism that prevents calls and texts a Public Information Officer for the change their behavior based on the
reported. It was initially reported that the from coming through while driving. Washington State Patrol, being asked message received. Think about it!
train may have struck something prior The problem with these features is that
to the derailment. The two things that they can be overridden or deactivated
I heard on the news were that a safety by the user. Even though texting while Paying Cash!
mechanism designed to automatically driving is unlawful or not allowed
slow the train in a curve had not been by an organization, people still do it. Gold, Silver, and Platinum
activated yet and that the engineer may There have been major accidents that
have been distracted by a trainee. This have occurred because the driver was BUYING KENNEDY HALVES 1965 TO 1969 *CALL FOR PRICE*
accident, as well as the many others adjusting the radio, so radio controls Village Coin is paying top dollar for your jewelry
that happen every day, shows us that the have been added to the steering and anything gold, silver, or platinum.
predominant contributing factor is the wheels of most vehicles. The radio is WE BUY & SELL ALL
human factor. a momentary distraction, but texting UNITED STATES
We can boil down everything that while driving is much worse. Let’s walk
happens and find the human factor through texting while driving: GOLD & SILVER COINS
somewhere in it. Whether it is a fire in Licensed and Bonded. Serving the Same Location for 32Years
the kitchen, a motor vehicle accident, • A text is received on your
a child who drowns, a train that derails phone Village Coin
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error is going to play into it somehow.
As a firefighter, I was always taught • You read the text
that every accident is preventable. The • You answer the text and
problem in our culture is that, except for let’s say, for the sake of this Gotta
the major incidents, we see accidental argument, you answer by
causes as unfortunate, but acceptable. In typing
fact, most safety mechanisms that exist love a
are there for once something occurs. A • The whole time you are
few examples would be smoke alarms, doing this, you are trying
sprinkler systems, or air bags. Even to pay attention to what is good
safety mechanisms that are put in place happening around you
to automatically slow a train in a curve • Amid the texting process, you combo
are there to override when the engineer have an accident.
does not, but it all only works when the

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