Because we drive them every day, the streets, roads, and highways around, Macon and Warner Robins, can appear ordinary and unthreatening. Being familiar, they can lull us into a sense of complacency, where we think, "We've driven the road a 1000 times, we know every mile..." However, like water flowing in a river, the traffic on a road like I-75 is never exactly the same. This week, two people died on I-75 in a fatal car accident when they stopped to fix a flat tire and were struck by as many as six vehicles. The Morrow Police department was investigating the accident that occurred on I-75 at the ramp to Jonesboro Road. The two victims were from Texas and were identified as brother and sister. The accident happened when they stopped their vehicle in the "gore" of the road, the extra lane that develops when an on-ramp angles into the main road.…

When you are driving from Macon, up I-75 to Atlanta, or down I-16 to Savannah, there are things you can do to have a safer trip. If your vehicle is in good operation condition, you can make sure you have had enough sleep, don't speed, avoid any impairing alcohol or medicine and leave your cellphone turned off and out of sight. By remaining focused on the road and vehicles around you, you can greatly increase your chances of arriving safely. Of course, you can't control any of those behaviors in other drivers. If a fatigued truck driver falls asleep and crosses the median, you can only hope you are aware of it in time to take evasive action. All of your careful preparation and safe driving habits can be wiped out by a drunk driver speeding through a stop sign and striking your car broadside. With tens of thousands of car…

Driving north from central Georgia, one quickly runs into the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains, and while they lack the altitude of the Rockies, they can present many a challenge to a driver, from heavy rains and fog in summer to ice and snow in winter. These roads can be risky even in dry conditions, but when the weather turns dangerous roads can become deadly. In Virginia last weekend, a torrential rainstorm caused a 41-vehicle crash that shut down a section of Interstate 81 for hours and sent 10 people to the hospital, including two who need to be airlifted from the scene. The heavy rain combined with the sun coming out at one point, caused visibility to drop to less than 20 feet, according to one witness. Police attributed the car accidents to the rain and driving too fast for the conditions. These mass pile-ups can lead to horrific consequences,…

Summer in Georgia is hot and with that heat comes the relief a swimming pool can provide. But every swimming pool in Georgia provides something else every summer, and that is the risk of young children drowning. This threat played out in the pool in Atlanta where the five-year-old son of the musician Usher nearly died on Monday. Around 3 p.m. the boy was swimming in the pool when according to a news report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the boy was trapped by the pool drain. The boy's great-aunt and a housekeeper were unable to get the boy off the drain and began screaming for help. The great-aunt called 911 and was hysterical. Luckily, the screams for help brought a contractor who was working on the home and he was able to rescue the boy from the swimming pool and began CPR. The paramedics found the boy breathing and took…

Drivers often overestimate their driving ability. As the tagline from the radio program says, all drivers believe they are above average. Combine this overconfidence bias with the familiarity of driving the same roads every day, and it can lead to tragic results. This is why people use a cellphone, send text messages or eat while driving. They believe they can handle it. The truth is, driving is an immensely difficult task, with the brain receiving hundreds of inputs every second for things that could be significant or important. Sometimes our brains are sidetracked by other activities like reading a text or changing radio stations. Most of the time, it does not matter. Nevertheless, at the wrong moment, that inattention can be the trigger for a tragic car accident. Even highly skilled and trained drivers can suffer that one unlucky moment. Yesterday, a crash occurred in Columbus that killed one undercover…