Salon.com > driving

1 in 24 drivers admit nodding off behind the wheel

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:49:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — This could give you nightmares: 1 in 24 U.S. adults say they recently fell asleep while driving.

And health officials think the number is probably higher. That's because some people don't realize it when they nod off for a second or two behind the wheel.

In a government study released Thursday, a little over 4 percent of U.S. adults said they fell asleep while driving at least once in the previous month. Some earlier studies reached a similar conclusion, but the survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was far larger.

The study found drowsy driving was more common in men and in people ages 25 to 34.

The results are from a survey of 147,000 adults in 2009 and 2010.

Weird news: Truck full of cows tips over, but cows walk away

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:39:00 +0000

A YouTube video of what starts out as an ordinary drive down an ordinary street, has gone viral today, with footage of a truck full of cattle careening out of control. The truck tips over, spilling the cows onto the street--but the cows seem unfazed and walk away:

h/t Huffington Post

Mysterious Michigan shootings continue

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Two more shootings have been reported on I-96 in southeastern Michigan today, which police believe are connected 22 other shootings that happened in the area earlier this month. “You don’t have 22 incidents and then have it all of a sudden stop,” said Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte.

Bezotte told the Detroit Free Press that at 11:52 a.m. and 12:19 p.m. he received 9-1-1 calls from two motorists who had been shot at while driving (so far, all but one of the targets have been motorists). The first caller reported no injuries, but the second caller, a 46 year old man from Grand Rapids was shot in the buttocks by a bullet.

“We need the public’s help more than ever now. We now have a victim that’s been shot," said Bezotte. The New York Daily News reports that "cops believe the shooter drives on I-96 and fires a semiautomatic handgun at other motorists." He is thought to be in his 30s and could be driving a dark 1998 Toyota Camry or a 1998 Oldsmobile Alero.

h/t NY Daily news

Weird news: Highway reopens after massive chicken spill

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:57:00 +0000

PORTERSVILLE, Pa. — A western Pennsylvania highway has reopened after a tractor-trailer crash caused 37,000 pounds of processed chicken to spill onto the road.

State police in New Castle say the truck crashed shortly before 5 a.m. on U.S. Route 422 near McConnells Mill State Park. That's about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh.

The eastbound lanes of the highway were closed for more than three hours while crews cleaned up the poultry.

No injuries have been reported.

Police have yet to say who was driving the truck or who owned the vehicle - or the tons of chicken inside it.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.