Top Four Causes of Car Accidents

Considering the number of cars that crowd the streets of congested cities, it’s almost amazing that drivers ever reach their destinations. Occasionally, though, you will see a terrible wreck that blocks traffic for miles. If you want to reach your destination safely and on time, consider the following top four causes of car accidents so that you can become a better driver.

Distracted Driving

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Distracted driving is the leading cause of car accidents. People chatting on their cell phones, playing with the radio, or eating behind the wheel make it harder for everyone to reach their destinations safely. In fact, some researchers have released statistics showing that distracted driving is one of the key reasons that car insurance rates rise in certain areas.

Keep your eyes on the road and stay aware of what other drivers are doing. You never know which driver is trying to finish a bagel while applying makeup and chatting with friends.

Speeding

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Speeding not only makes accidents more likely, it makes them more deadly. When you drive over the speed limit, you reduce the amount of time you have to react to changes on the road. That could include a car entering your lane or a child running into the road. Regardless of what other drivers are doing, travel at a reasonable, legal speed.

Drunk Driving

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Driving under the influence of alcohol slows reaction times and makes it harder for drivers to focus. Surprises on the road can lead to accidents even when you are completely sober. Those fast changes become much more difficult to navigate when you have been drinking.

You don’t have to be completely drunk to risk someone’s life. Even a couple of drinks can slow your reaction time considerably. That’s why so many states set the legal blood alcohol limit at .08 or below.

Driving in Inclement Weather

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A sudden thunderstorm can take you by surprise while you’re out on the road. If the rain and wind obscure your vision of the road, then you can’t see the vehicles and obstacles around you. Inclement weather not only makes it harder to see the road and other people on the road, it can also throw dangerous obstacles in front of you. Tree limbs, garbage cans, and other items can quickly turn your neighborhood street into an obstacle course.

If possible, avoid driving in inclement weather. If you have any concerns about whether you can operate your vehicle safely, then wait a while for the weather to calm.

Driving accidents can happen for a wide variety of reasons. Distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving and inclement weather, however, are four of the leading causes of accidents. What are some of the other risks that you have seen cause accidents?

Filed Under: Travel Safety Tagged With:

How to Make Your Dream Vacation a Reality

Just know that no matter what your financial situation is you can, and will, be able to afford the vacation you have always wanted. Sure, the task is tall, the price is heavy and the constraints of home and work often make it difficult to get away even for a little bit, but the reality is that with some smart steps you’ll be where you want to be and you’ll feel good about how you got there.

Do Research 

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The best way to spend your money foolishly on a vacation is to book one without looking at the numbers. You should pinpoint where you want to spend your vacation and then figure out the most cost effective date and time to do that. For instance, Vegas is much cheaper during the week than it is on the weekends, so make sure you are looking at things like that when you are pricing out the vacation.

Check Message Boards

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Yes, message boards are one of the best untapped resources of the vacation market. The truth is that there will be many better opinions on how to book a trip than just the opinion of the people on your travel websites. People often know better deals and just where to find them. Don’t let the opinions of others be ignored. They can save you far more than a travel agent can.

Save Early

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Please make sure you aren’t thinking about this at the last minute. For your mental health and the well being of your wallet the best thing you can do is get ahead of the game. Start planning for a vacation a year ahead of time. This way you won’t have to scramble at the last second. Of course, there are other options:

Plan for Your Own Safety

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When traveling internationally, make sure the area you are going to visit is safe. It might not seem like a sticking point but there is nothing that is more important than your own safety. So make sure that the area is not in any danger and make sure that you have the proper precautions and measures in place in case an emergency arrives (i.e. knowing where the embassy is and knowing if your insurance will cover you at local hospitals).

Your dream vacation is far more reality than dream, you just have to have a plan of attack in place. Start planning now and you’ll find just how easy it is to have the vacation of a lifetime.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: ,

A Few Famous Bridges

The world is full of beautiful sights, marvelous cities and breath-taking natural beauty. Some of the most impressive manmade structures seen throughout the world are the architectural marvels that get us from one side of a river or body of water to the other.

One such bridge that featured regularly in the lives of Michelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci was the Ponte Vecchio which spans the Arno River that flows through Florence Italy. Miraculously it survived the ravages of World War 2. When it was first built it served as a commerce hub, with actual built-in butcher shops. Now jewelry shops flourish in the same locations. Ponte Vecchio also has the renown honor of being the location where the concept of bankruptcy was first introduced. What a busy bridge!

 

Photograph og Ponte Vecchio at night. Florence...

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The Millau Bridge in southern France is the world’s tallest bridge that permits vehicles to cross. In fact this French bridge is actually taller than the Eiffel Tower.  It spans the river Tam, suspended on enormous cables. Tourists flock to see this engineering marvel that extends over 8000 feet in length with a single span longer than 1,000 feet. Its maximum clearance is almost 900 feet.  Enjoy the ride and spectacular views, but don’t get dizzy.

Of course the Golden Gate Bridge is probably the most popular bridge in the world. The Golden Gate Strait that flows between Marin County and San Francisco gave birth to this unique bridge’s name. It is still one of the longest suspension bridges in the world and is colored in the eye-catching orange color to help keep it visible in the heavy fog that often covers the bay. It too is one of the them most famous tourist attractions in the world.

Filed Under: Tourist Attractions, Travel Tagged With: , ,

Interesting Background on Missouri’s Gateway Arch

One of the most amazing tourist’s sights that has to be seen to fully appreciate is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis Missouri.  At 630 feet high it is the tallest monument in the United States.  The Washington Monument, though quite impressive is only 555 feet in height.  Equally a great sight to enjoy, the San Jacinto Monument in Texas doesn’t quite match it either at only 570 feet.

 

Gateway arch and reflecting pool in St. Louis,...

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In 1947 St. Louis held a design competition to see whose design would be selected and built. 147 applicants entered the competition. The winner was Eero Saarinen an American/Finnish architect who had won some acclaim for his ability to successfully vary his style when the project demanded it.

Hannskarl Bandel was the structural engineer who took Saarinen’s design and made changes that were necessary so that the design could actually be built.  Bandel is recognized as the one who altered the inverted catenary shape so that it would work once actually built. Saarinen attempted to achieve a certain “soaring” effect that made the design appear slightly stretched. Bandel  took the chain Saarinen had been using, went away and returned several days later having constructed the exact curve to the arc the architect had been after.

The structure began on February 12, 1963 and took two years to complete, finishing in October of 1965.  The completed structure was as wide as it was tall at 630 feet becoming the tallest structure to hold people in Missouri.  Bandel had added weight to the first 300 feet of the structure placing over 25,000 tons of concrete into the arch’s foundation. This shifted the center of gravity down making the structure much more stable than it otherwise would have been.  But in the end he had brought into physical being the elegant and impressive design dreamed up by Saarinen, and creating one of the marvels in Western World.

Filed Under: The Unbeaten Path, Travel Tagged With: , ,

A Bit of Grauman?s Chinese Theater Background

The doors to undoubtedly the most famous movie theater in the world opened on May 18, 1927. Grauman’s Chinese Theater screened the Cecil B. DeMille film “The King of Kings.”  Since that time the 2,000-seat-capacity theater has screened literally thousands of films.

55 Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Image by The City Project via Flickr

The theater is equally famous for the collection of autographs, handprints and footprints left in the cement in the theater’s courtyard, referred to as the “Forecourt of the Stars.”  There you’ll find footprints of such well known stars as Douglas Fairbanks (also a founding partner of the theater) and the fingerprints of Jennifer Aniston. You’ll also find the gun prints of Roy Rogers along Trigger’s hoof print.  And while most stars have generally left a footprint or handprint you will also find the cigar prints of Groucho Marx and George Burns.  In the case of other stars known for certain “impressions” they left on the industry you will also find Betty Grable’s legs, John Wayne’s fist and the noses of both Bob Hope and Jimmy Durrante.  And not be left to Muggles alone, the wand prints of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have also magically appeared in the cement of this famous courtyard.

Grauman’s Chinese Theater also hosted the Academy Awards – from 1944 to 1946. It was made a historical and cultural landmark in 1968. For a brief period of time the theater was owned by Ted Mann of “Mann Theatres” notoriety and was renamed the “Mann Chinese Theater”; but by 2001ownership shifted to Paramount and Warner Brothers, who though they acquired the Mann brand name as well turned the name of theater back to Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

 

Filed Under: Tourist Attractions, Vacation Hot Spots & Destinations Tagged With: , ,
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