LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted "King of Pop" who emerged from childhood superstardom to become the entertainment world's most influential singer and dancer before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50.
The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.
Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.
His 1982 album "Thriller" — which included the blockbuster hits "Beat It," "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" — remains the biggest-selling album of all time, with more than 26 million copies.
He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.
As years went by, he became an increasingly freakish figure. His skin became lighter and his nose narrower. He surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, often wore a germ mask while traveling and kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions.
In 2005, he was cleared of charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him. The case took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.
Michael Jackson dies in LA hospital
You are what you eat
By Poon Chian Hui
Think twice before you reach for that can of fizzy drink. It is not just about your waistline. Think about the lines on your face too. That is because carbonated drinks can age you, nutritionists say.
Other well-loved foods like pastries, potato chips, sausages, coffee, red meat, white rice and bread can also cause premature ageing. The reason? Most of these foods are high in fat or sugar, which are not healthy for the body, said Ms Magdalin Cheong, chief dietitian and senior manager of Dietetic and Food Services at Changi General Hospital.
Foods that age us include:
Carbonated drinks which are high in sugar and have no nutrients. They have 'empty calories', said Ms Teo Kiok Seng, a nutritionist at Nutrition Network Services.
'The sugar in these drinks can lead to obesity, which increases your risk of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and stroke,' she said.
A nutritional study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that a can of carbonated drink a day can cause one to pile on 7kg in a year.
Sausages can increase the risk of colorectal cancer, a recent European study found, Ms Teo added.
The culprits are the carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds, which are formed when nitrite preservatives are added to processed meat, she said.
Ms Jaclyn Reutens, a dietitian at Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants, added that sausages are usually made with fatty meat.
Chemicals and additives are also added so a person's liver has to do more work to detoxify them. 'As we age, our organs do not work as efficiently so some people may get into trouble,' said Ms Reutens.
Coffee has caffeine. What most people may not know is that caffeine makes stress hormones shoot up and stay at an abnormally high level for hours after consumption.
'One of the biggest contributors to premature ageing is the powerful stress hormone called cortisol,' said Ms Teo. 'High levels of cortisol wear down the muscles, leading to muscle wasting.' Excessive caffeine is also dehydrating, said Ms Reutens.
Potato chips and fries are deep fried at high temperatures, giving rise to the formation of trans-fat.
Diets high in trans-fat are linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease, said Ms Teo. 'However, if palm oil is used, no trans-fat will be produced,' she added.
Sugary pastries contain a lot of sugar, which can lead to obesity. What is worse is that pastries are often made with hydrogenated oils, which contain trans-fat.
Hydrogenated oils are made by adding hydrogen to liquid oils to turn them into solids for easier storage. However, this chemical process produces trans-fat. An example would be margarine.
Trans-fat increases the risk of heart disease more than saturated fat does, said Ms Teo, as it lowers good cholesterol and increases bad cholesterol in the bloodstream.
In addition, the combination of sugar and trans-fat is bad news for our liver and pancreas, said
Ms Reutens. 'It's dangerous to overwork our organs as it means we are more exposed to free radicals.'
Free radicals are unstable particles caused by chemical reactions in the body. Antioxidants are needed to fight them, she added. 'If our intake of anti-ageing foods is insufficient to combat free radicals, we age faster and have a higher risk of diseases.'
Red meat has protein, which is essential for tissue repair, but too much animal protein may cause calcium loss from bones. This increases the risk of osteoporosis, said Ms Teo.
Studies have shown that a high protein intake in middle-aged adults is linked to inflammatory polyarthritis, where inflammation occurs in more than one joint.
White rice and white bread have very little fibre, making them 'high glycemic index' foods.
'Such foods are digested and absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly, causing a sudden spike in blood sugar level,' said Ms Teo.
This can lead to cell changes that accelerate ageing and increase the risk of chronic diseases, she added. These include Type 2 diabetes, gall bladder and heart diseases, Alzheimer's disease and certain types of cancers.
Other high glycemic index foods include mashed potatoes, processed grains and sugary cereals.
FOODS THAT KEEP YOU YOUNGKeeping youthful the natural way is not all that difficult - you just have to eat the right foods. Anti-ageing foods like berries and fish contain powerful ingredients that can help keep you in the pink of health from inside out.
Foods that keep us young include:
Green tea. It boasts catechins - potent antioxidants that have been shown to prevent cancer, said Ms Jaclyn Reutens, a dietitian at Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants.
In addition, Ms Teo Kiok Seng, a nutritionist with Nutrition Network Services, said that a recent report in the European Journal Of Neuroscience suggested that regular consumption of green tea may reduce the risk of age-related degenerative brain disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.
However, not all forms of green tea carry the same health benefits.
'Green tea packaged in tea bags have gone through numerous processes that may have destroyed its goodness,' said Ms Reutens.
It is best to drink loose leaf green tea, she said.
Tomatoes contain lycopene, which helps to reduce wrinkles and fine lines, said Ms Reutens. This is because lycopene hinders the skin's ageing process.
It does this by preventing damage to the DNA in mitochondria, found in cells and which are crucial to cellular growth.
Tomatoes also contain vitamin C, which acts as an antioxidant, helping to strengthen collagen fibres, said Ms Magdalin Cheong, chief dietitian and senior manager of Dietetic and Food Services at Changi General Hospital.
Collagen is a protein essential to healthy skin.
Nuts and seeds are great sources of vitamin E and omega-6 fatty acids, said Ms Reutens.
'These two compounds work hand in hand to keep skin elastic and to reduce the signs of ageing,' she said.
That is because vitamin E is an antioxidant, said Ms Cheong.
Antioxidants mop up free radicals - the main cause of skin ageing.
A study published in the American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition in 2005 found that eating almonds together with heart-friendly foods like soya products can significantly reduce cholesterol levels, said Ms Teo.
Yogurt contains calcium, which helps maintain strong bones, and probiotics which prevent bowel diseases.
'As we age, our bones lose calcium,' said Ms Reutens. 'Calcium is therefore needed in our diet to prevent osteoporosis.'
Osteoporosis is a condition where bones become weak and break easily.
On average, a 150g portion of yogurt contains 220mg of calcium. This amount makes up 30 per cent of our daily recommended intake of 800mg, said Ms Reutens.
Probiotics are bacteria that help improve the balance of good and bad bacteria in the digestive system.
'As we age, this balance needs more effort to be restored. Eating yogurt gives it a boost,' she said.
People who are lactose intolerant can eat yogurt too, as the lactose would have already been broken down by the bacteria, said Ms Teo.
Salmon and other oily fish contain heart-friendly omega-3 fatty acids, said Ms Cheong.
Ms Reutens recommends eating these at least twice a week.
'As you age, your arteries may get increasingly clogged, resulting in heart disease,' she said. 'Omega-3 fatty acids reduce the amount of fats in the bloodstream, hence preventing excessive blood clotting.'
Berries come in red, pink, blue, purple and other assorted colours. The pigments determine the types of antioxidants found in them, said Ms Reutens.
A recent antioxidant analysis by the United States Department of Agriculture showed that blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries and raspberries top the list of 20 foods with the highest levels of antioxidants, said Ms Teo.
In general, the antioxidants in berries help to reduce the likelihood of eye-related diseases, such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, said Ms Reutens.
Because different types of berries carry different combinations of antioxidants, we should not limit our diet to one or two kinds.
'Try to eat a wide variety,' said Ms Reutens. 'Mix them with cereal or enjoy them as a snack or dessert.'
Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats, which promote a healthy cholesterol level.
It is also good for the heart, thanks to its anti-inflammatory effects that prevent heart diseases. For instance, it strengthens blood vessel walls, thus lowering the risk of internal bleeding.
However, too much olive oil is not recommended due to its caloric content, said Ms Reutens.
What these terms meanAdditive
A substance added to foods to improve colour, texture, flavour or shelf life. It can be natural (salt and sugar) or synthetic (artificial sugars, preservatives, colouring and MSG).
Some synthetic additives are said to be harmful to health.
Antioxidant
A substance that inhibits oxidation, protecting cells from damage by free radicals. Examples are catechins found in green tea, lycopene in tomatoes, and vitamins C and E.
Carcinogen
A substance that causes cancer by turning normal cells into cancer cells. It is believed that nitrites, when added to meat during processing such as when sausages are made, may result in the formation of carcinogenic compounds.
Collagen
A fibrous protein that is a major component in connective tissues like skin, ligaments and tendons.
Glycemic index
An indicator of the impact of foods on blood glucose levels.
Foods with low glycemic index, like vegetables, have carbohydrates that are digested more slowly.
High glycemic index foods, like white bread, have carbohydrates that are broken down into sugars more quickly. This causes a spike in blood glucose levels, which is unhealthy.
Monounsaturated fat
A healthy unsaturated fat found in plants or plant-based foods. It is said to be able to reduce the risk of heart disease. Found in foods like olive oil, avocados and nuts.
Omega-3 fatty acids
Unsaturated fatty acids. Usually found in fish and nuts, they help to lower cholesterol levels to protect the body against heart diseases.
Probiotics
A class of beneficial bacteria that aids digestion, promotes "good" bacteria and reduces "bad" bacteria in the digestive system. Can be found in yogurt.
45 lessons life taught me
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.
To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most requested column I've ever written.
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain..
25 No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27 Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
A great testimony from Lee Kuan Yew on age-ing - keep going!
'Stay interested in the world, take on a challenge':
Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
This is Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's advice on ageing the best way one can. Yesterday, he shared some personal insights into how he himself deals with ageing. Here is the transcript of his remarks.
MY CONCERN today is, what is it I can tell you which can add to your knowledge about ageing and what ageing societies can do. You know more about this subject than I do. A lot of it is out in the media, Internet and books. So I thought the best way would be to take a personal standpoint and tell you how I approach this question of ageing.
If I cast my mind back, I can see turning points in my physical and mental health. You know, when you're young, I didn't bother, I assumed good health was God-given and would always be there. When I was about '57 that was - I was about 34, we were competing in elections, and I was really fond of drinking beer and smoking.
And after the election campaign, in Victoria Memorial Hall - we had won the election, the City Council election - I couldn't thank the voters because I had lost my voice. I'd been smoking furiously. I'd taken a packet of 10 to deceive myself, but I'd run through the packet just sitting on the stage, watching the crowd, getting the feeling, the mood before I speak. In other words, there were three speeches a night. Three speeches a night, 30 cigarettes, a lot of beer after that, and the voice was gone.
I remember I had a case in Kuching, Sarawak. So I took the flight and I felt awful. I had to make up my mind whether I was going to be an effective campaigner and a lawyer, in which case I cannot destroy my voice, and I can't go on. So I stopped smoking. It was a tremendous deprivation because I was addicted to it.
And I used to wake up dreaming...the nightmare was I resumed smoking. But I made a choice and said, if I continue this, I will not be able to do my job. I didn't know anything about cancer of the throat or esophagus or the lungs, etc. But it turned out it had many other deleterious effects.
Strangely enough after that, I became very allergic, hyper-allergic to smoking, so much so that I would plead with my Cabinet ministers not to smoke in the Cabinet room. You want to smoke, please go out, because I am allergic.
Then one day I was at the home of my colleague, Mr. Rajaratnam, meeting foreign correspondents including some from the London Times and they took a picture of me and I had a big belly like that (puts his hands in front of his belly), a beer belly. I felt no, no, this will not do.
So I started playing more golf, hit hundreds of balls on the practice tee. But this didn't go down. There was only one way it could go down: consume less, burn up more.
Another turning point came when -this was 1976, after the general election - I was feeling tired. I was breathing deeply at the Istana, on the lawns. My daughter, who at that time just graduating as a doctor, said: 'What are you trying to do?' I said: 'I feel an effort to breathe in more oxygen.' She said: 'Don't play golf. Run. Aerobics.'
So she gave me a book, quite a famous book and, then, very current in America on how you score aerobic points swimming, running, whatever it is, cycling. I looked at it skeptically. I wasn't very keen on running. I was keen on golf. So I said, 'Let's try'.
So in-between golf shots while playing on my own, sometimes nine holes at the Istana, I would try and walk fast between shots. Then I began to run between shots. And I felt better. After a while, I said: 'Okay, after my golf, I run.' And after a few years, I said: 'Golf takes so long. The running takes 15 minutes. Let's cut out the golf and let's run.'
I think the most important thing in ageing is you got to understand yourself. And the knowledge now is all there. When I was growing up, the knowledge wasn't there. I had to get the knowledge from friends, from doctors.
But perhaps the most important bit of knowledge that the doctor gave me was one day, when I said: 'Look, I'm feeling slower and sluggish.' So he gave me a medical encyclopedia and he turned the pages to ageing. I read it up and it was illuminating. A lot of it was difficult jargon but I just skimmed through to get the gist of it.
As you grow, you reach 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and then, thereafter, you are on a gradual slope down physically. Mentally, you carry on and on and on until I don't know what age, but mathematicians will tell you that they know their best output is when they're in their 20s and 30s when your mental energy is powerful and you haven't lost many neurons. That's what they tell me.
So, as you acquire more knowledge, you then craft a programme for yourself to maximise what you have. It's just common sense. I never planned to live till 85 or 84. I just didn't think about it. I said: 'Well, my mother died when she was 74, she had a stroke. My father died when he was 94.'
But I saw him, and he lived a long life, well, maybe it was his DNA. But more than that, he swam every day and he kept himself busy. He was working for the Shell company. He was in charge, he was a superintendent of an oil depot. When he retired, he started becoming a salesman. So people used to tell me: 'Your father is selling watches at BP de Silva.'
My father was then living with me. But it kept him busy. He had that routine: He meets people, he sells watches, he buys and sells all kinds of semi-precious stones, he circulates coins. And he keeps going. But at 87, 88, he fell, going down the steps from his room to
the dining room, broke his arm, three months incapacitated. Thereafter, he couldn't go back to swimming.
Then he became wheelchair-bound. Then it became a problem because my house was constructed that way. So my brother - who's a doctor and had a flat (one-level) house - took him in. And he lived on till 94. But towards the end, he had gradual loss of mental powers.
So my calculations, I'm somewhere between 74 and 94. And I've reached the halfway point now. But have I?
Well, 1996 when I was 73, I was cycling and I felt tightening on the neck. Oh, I must retire today. So I stopped. Next day, I returned to the bicycle. After five minutes it became worse.
So I said, no, no, this is something serious, it's got to do with the blood vessels. Rung up my doctor, who said, 'Come tomorrow'. Went tomorrow, he checked me, and said: 'Come back tomorrow for an angiogram.' I said: 'What's that?' He said: 'We'll pump something in and we'll see whether the coronary arteries are cleared or blocked.'
I was going to go home. But an MP who was a cardiologist happened to be around, so he came in and said: 'What are you doing here?' I said: 'I've got this.' He said: 'Don't go home. You stay here tonight. I've sent patients home and they never came back. Just stay here. They'll put you on the monitor. They'll watch your heart. And if anything, an emergency arises, they will take you straight to the theatre. You go home. You've got no such monitor. You may never come back.'
So I stayed there. Pumped in the dye, yes it was blocked, the left circumflex, not the critical, lead one. So that's lucky for me.
Two weeks later, I was walking around,I felt it's coming back. Yes it has come back, it had occluded. So this time they said: 'We'll put in a stent.' I'm one of the first few in Singapore to have the stent, so it was a brand new operation. Fortunately, the man who invented the stent was out here selling his stent. He was from San Jose, La Jolla something or the other. So my doctor got hold of him and he supervised the operation. He said put the stent in. My doctor did the operation, he just watched it all and then that's that. That was before all these problems about lining the stent to make sure that it doesn't
occlude and create a disturbance.
So at each stage, I learnt something more about myself and I stored that. I said: 'Oh, this is now a danger point.' So all right, cut out fats, change diet, went to see a specialist in Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital. He said: 'Take statins.' I said: 'What's that?' He
said: '(They) help to reduce your cholesterol. ' My doctors were concerned. They said: 'You don't need it. Your cholesterol levels are okay.' Two years later, more medical evidence came out. So the doctors said: 'Take statins.'
Had there been no angioplasty, had I not known that something was up and I cycled on, I might have gone at 74 like my mother. So I missed that deadline. So next deadline: my father's fall at 87.
I'm very careful now because sometimes when I turn around too fast, I feel as if I'm going to get off balance. So my daughter, a neurologist, she took me to the NNI, there's this nerve conduction test, put electrodes here and there.
The transmission of the messages between the feet and the brain has slowed down. So all the exercise, everything, effort put in, I'm fit, I swim, I cycle. But I can't prevent this losing of conductivity of the nerves and this transmission. So just go slow. So when I climb up the steps, I have no problem. When I go down the steps, I need to be sure that I've got something I can hang on to, just in case. So it's a constant process of adjustment.
But I think the most important single lesson I learnt in life was that if you isolate yourself, you're done for. The human being is a social animal - he needs stimuli, he needs to meet people, to catch up with the world. I don't much like travel but I travel very frequently despite the jet lag, because I get to meet people of great interest to me, who
will help me in my work as chairman of our GIC. So I know, I'm on several boards of banks, international advisory boards of banks, of oil companies and so on.
And I meet them and I get to understand what's happening in the world, what has changed since I was here one month ago, one year ago. I go to India, I go to China.
And that stimulus brings me to the world of today. I'm not living in the world, when I was active, more active 20, 30 years ago. So I tell my wife. She woke up late today. I said: 'Never mind, you come along by 12 o'clock. I go first.'
If you sit back - because part of the ending part of the encyclopaedia which I read was very depressing - as you get old, you withdraw from everything and then all you will have is your bedroom and the photographs and the furniture that you know, and that's your world. So if you've got to go to hospital, the doctor advises you to bring some photographs so that you'll know you're not lost in a different world that this is like your bedroom.
I'm determined that I will not, as long as I can, to be reduced, to have my horizons closed on me like that. It is the stimuli, it is the constant interaction with people across the world that keeps me aware and alive to what's going on and what we can do to adjust to this different world.
In other words, you must have an interest in life. If you believe that at 55, you're retiring, you're going to read books, play golf and drink wine, then I think you're done for. So statistically they will show you that all the people who retire and lead sedentary lives,
the pensioners die off very quickly.
So we now have a social problem with medical sciences, new procedures, new drugs, many more people are going to live long lives. If the mindset is that when I reach retirement age 62, I'm old, I can't work anymore, I don't have to work, I just sit back, now is the time I'll enjoy life, I think you're making the biggest mistake of your life.
After one month, or after two months, even if you go travelling with nothing to do, with no purpose in life, you will just degrade, you'll go to seed.
The human being needs a challenge, and my advice to every person in Singapore and elsewhere: Keep yourself interested, have a challenge.
If you're not interested in the world and the world is not interested in you, the biggest punishment a man can receive is total isolation in a dungeon, black and complete withdrawal of all stimuli, that's real torture.
So when I read that people believe, Singaporeans say: 'Oh, 62 I'm retiring.' I say to them: 'You really want to die quickly?' If you want to see sunrise tomorrow or sunset, you must have a reason, you must have the stimuli to keep going.'
This story was first published on Jan 12, 2008.
Treatment For Sugar (Diabetic) - Thank God for Lady Finger or "OKRA"
Please note that another name for Lady Finger (Bhindi ) is " OKRA ".
Last month in one of TV program I learnt of a treatment of Sugar (Diabetes). Since I am diabetic, I tried it and it was very useful and my Sugar is in control now. In fact I have already reduced my medicine.
Take two pieces of Lady Finger (Bhindi) and remove/cut both ends of each piece. Also put a small cut in the middle and put these two pieces in glass of water. Cover the glass and keep it at room temperature during night. Early morning, before breakfast simply remove two pieces of lady finger (bhindi) from the glass and drink that water.
Keep doing it on daily basis.
Within two weeks, you will see remarkable results in reduction of your SUGAR.
My sister has got rid of her diabetes. She was on Insulin for a few years, but after taking the lady fingers every morning for a few months, she has stopped Insulin but continues to take the lady fingers every day. But she chops the lady fingers into fine pieces in the night, adds
the water and drinks it all up the next morning.
Please. try it as it will not do you any harm even if it does not do much good to you, but U have to keep taking it for a few months before U see results, as most cases might be chronic.
Most Lethal Driving Mistakes
From not buckling up to not getting enough shut-eye, here's a rundown of the 10 most common mistakes motorists make.
By Claire Martin
Woman Applying Makeup While DrivingThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 37,313 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2008. If that isn't a reason to become a better driver, then we don't know what is.
In an ideal world, drivers would execute every road maneuver with precision and ease. Sadly, we do not live in a never-never land, and not everyone walks away from metal-to-metal mayhem. Truth is that drivers are not created equal. Some are too brash, others too conservative. Some are even downright clueless. The common thread is that they can all turn a pleasant day on the motorway into a surreal nightmare in the blink of an eye.
And don't just blame it on "them." Everyone is guilty of making common driving mistakes that can endanger us all. Think about it: We'll bet you can recall with vivid exasperation a whole litany of stupid moves you've made throughout the years — some benign, some not so much.
To help you stay safe behind the wheel, here's a list of 10 driving behaviors to avoid.
Swerving
The No. 1 fatal mistake made by drivers is perhaps the most simple: not staying in their own lane — i.e., running off the road or drifting into the adjacent lane. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2007, 15,574 people died in crashes where the driver simply couldn't stay in the lane.
Driving While Drowsy
"Driving a vehicle when you are fatigued is as dangerous as driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs," National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker said after a fatal highway accident in 2003 in which a college student who had been awake for the previous 18 hours was driving a carload of fellow students at 5 a.m. According to the NHTSA, in 2007 fatigued driving caused the deaths of 1,404 people, and more traffic fatalities occurred during the hours when most people are accustomed to being asleep (3 a.m. to 6 a.m.) than at any other time of day.
Drinking and Driving
Every 40 minutes someone dies in a drunk-driving accident. (In all 50 states, a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or more is considered illegal, but a little-known fact is that you can be charged with driving while impaired even if you're under the legal limit.) Young drivers are particularly prone to drinking and driving: The 21- to 34-year-old set is responsible for well over half of alcohol-infused fatal crashes. Not surprisingly, the decision to get behind the wheel while intoxicated is made most often at night and on the weekends. According to the NHTSA, 60 percent of drivers who died after dark in 2007 were legally drunk. Alcohol is also a factor in half of pedestrian traffic deaths — both drivers and pedestrians are the culprits.
Overcorrecting
You get panicky when the wheels of your SUV hit the rumble patch on the shoulder of the highway, so you throw the steering wheel in the opposite direction to get the vehicle back on the road. This is a classic example of overcorrecting or oversteering, and it's a particularly perilous maneuver when you're behind the wheel of an SUV driving on the highway at high speeds. Consider it a rollover waiting to happen. More than 4 percent of automobile fatalities a year occur because of drivers overcorrecting.
Speeding
Racing, driving faster than the posted speed limit or simply going too fast for road conditions — i.e., speeding — comprises the second highest cause of death in fatal crashes, according to the NHTSA. Once you hit 55 mph, you're in the danger zone: 30 percent of fatalities occur at 55 or above. The worst-case scenarios invariably involve speeding without wearing a seat belt or a motorcycle helmet. Fatality rates for speeding motorcyclists are shockingly high: In 2007, speeding was a factor in 36 percent of motorcycle fatalities. Of those, 41 percent of drivers and more than half of passengers were not wearing helmets (only 20 states and the District of Columbia require helmets).
Failure to Yield Right of Way
For drivers age 70 and above, failing to yield while merging into traffic is the top cause of crashes. In a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers 80 and older simply fail to see the other vehicle they should be yielding to. Drivers 70 to 79 see the vehicle but misjudge whether they have time to proceed ahead of it. Failure to yield right of way was the fifth leading cause of fatal crashes in 2007.
Erratic or Reckless Driving
At its mildest, we're talking about weaving and tailgating; at its most severe, this kind of driving involves steering down the wrong side of the road, exceeding the speed limit by 20 mph or doing more than 80 mph, and worse. Reckless driving can bring fines, jail time — and death. More than 1,850 fatalities in 2007 were the result of erratic or reckless drivers.
Running Red Lights
A whopping 75 percent of automobile crashes occur in cities, according to the nonprofit Insurance Research Council. The most common cause of these accidents? Hitting the gas when the light turns red. Of the myriad types of collisions that can result, head-on and side-impact collisions are the most dangerous. NHTSA statistics show that of the 41,059 automobile fatalities in 2007, 54 percent occurred in cars that sustained frontal damage. When you cut it too close while running a light, your front end or another car's front end is impacted. Either way, it's a recipe for a deadly accident.
Not Wearing a Seat Belt
Despite the fact that seat belt use is far more prevalent than even a decade ago — not to mention being legally required — 33 percent of people who die in vehicle fatalities failed to buckle up. Without a seat belt, car drivers and passengers put themselves at risk of being ejected from a vehicle, and 76 percent of the time the ejection ends in death.
Inattentive Driving
Eating, talking on a cell phone, typing text messages and fumbling with the car stereo all fall under the umbrella of inattentive driving, which was responsible for 4,704 deaths in 2007. Of these bad habits, cell phone use behind the wheel is becoming standard practice, with an estimated 1 million Americans driving and talking on the phone at any given time. With that comes a four-fold increase in the risk of crashing. One example, which caused the NTSB to launch an inquiry, involved an SUV that veered off the left side of the road, jumped the median, flipped and landed on top of a vehicle driving the opposite direction. The driver was trying to negotiate high crosswinds while talking on a handheld phone. Surprisingly, using a hands-free device likely wouldn't have made a difference. "You'd think using a hands-free phone would be less distracting, " said Anne McCartt, author of a study published in the British Medical Journal. "But we found that either phone type increased the risk."
Retired Proctor and Gamble official sends an open letter to President Obama
An Open Letter To President Obama
By Lou Pritchett
Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
Note: Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat.
Mr. Pritchett confirmed that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated "open letter." “I did write the 'you scare me' letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits.
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