NYC, Bronx, Albany, Poughkeepsie and NY Statewide Accident Injury Law Blog

Few things that you do while driving are as dangerous as going through an intersection. You must trust other drivers who are purposefully driving in a way that would cause an accident if they make a simple mistake.

Say that you come to a four-way stop, for instance. You drive forward when it's your turn, but the driver on the cross-street thinks it is his turn and also drives forward. The two cars crash in the middle, with both of you insisting the other person caused it.

One of the main reasons that driving distractions are such a problem on America's highways is simply that there are so many distractions to choose from. Sometimes, it feels like not a drive goes by where you don't experience them.

Naturally, some of the biggest distractions are easy to pinpoint. They are things like:

• Using a cellphone
• Talking to passengers
• Reaching for things that fell on the floor
• Interacting with children or pets
• Doing personal grooming
• Singing along with the music or even dancing
• Looking at objects in the car or along the road

It seems so simple: If the light is red, all traffic has to stop. There are exceptions, such as when you're making a right turn, but even then, you have to stop first, check to see if the way is clear and then turn. There's never a situation where you can just blow through a solid red light.

And yet, people do it all the time. They cause accidents, they put other people in the hospital and they even take lives. Why does this happen? A few reasons include:

• The driver was distracted and never saw the light at all. For instance, some drivers have admitted to reading or writing emails while they drive, taking their attention away from the road.
• The driver was attempting to beat the red light by speeding up, rather than slowing down, when it turned yellow. If they timed it wrong, then they could go through the red at a high rate of speed.
• There were no other cars around or so they thought. Some drivers will run a red light if they can't see any traffic passing through, but that can lead to a crash when they simply overlook an oncoming vehicle.
• They were thinking about something else. A busy person with their mind on their work or a conversation with a boss or a loved one may run a red light while simply thinking about everything else in their life and driving on autopilot.

You know that nursing home neglect can often lead to dehydration. It's not intentional abuse -- at least, not all of the time. It's just the fundamental neglect of the person's basic needs. That could mean not bringing them food and water as often as they need it, even though they are dependent on the care of others.

When you help your loved one move into a nursing home, you begin to worry about neglect and vow to watch out for the most common signs and symptoms. That starts with dehydration, so exactly what should you be looking for? A number of the most common symptoms are:

• Headaches that linger, even if they're mild
• Constipation due to a lack of fluids to soften the stool
• Irritability that has no other cause
• Excessive cramping, which is most often in the legs and arms
• Dark yellow urine
• Urinary tract infections
• A general sense of dizziness, which may get worse whenever they stand up
• Fatigue and excessive sleepiness
• Repeated complaints about thirst -- although it is important to note that many elderly people have a decreased sense of thirst and may not know how thirsty they are
• Weakness and trouble with physical tasks that should be possible
• A face that is flushed with warm, dry skin
• The onset of various sicknesses, such as a fever