How fast do you drive? (Stuart Isett for The New York Times)

When it comes to speeding, many American motorists don’t worry about safety. They just worry about getting caught.

Those are the findings by researchers from Purdue University who surveyed nearly 1,000 motorists about speed limits and driving habits. They found that many drivers are cynical about the safety benefits of driving within speed limits, and many think they can drive safely while speeding as long as they won’t get caught, according to the report in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour.

“So the faster you think you can go before getting a ticket, the more likely you are to think safety’s not compromised at higher speeds,” said Fred Mannering, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue, in a press release. “For whatever reason, respect for speed limits seems to have deteriorated.” Read more…

Celebrating swimming? (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

Watching the American men’s relay team swim for gold in Beijing, it’s hard to believe the United States has a swimming problem.

But there’s little to celebrate about the state of American swimming at home. In 2005, there were 3,582 unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging 10 deaths per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental death among children.

But the most worrisome statistics involve black children and teens ages 5 to 19, who are 2.3 times more likely to drown than whites in this age group. For children 10 to 14, the rate is five times higher. Read more…

Ever since reading a new book about disaster survivors, I have begun to see the world differently. The stuck window in my bedroom isn’t just an annoyance, but a potential crisis during an evacuation. I pay more attention to the location of emergency exits on trains and in movie theaters. My neighbors aren’t just friends, but the people I will most likely rely on during an emergency.

Far from making me paranoid about safety, reading “The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — And Why,” has given me more confidence in my own ability to cope during a crisis.

I spoke with the book’s author, Time magazine reporter Amanda Ripley, about what we can learn from survivors of hurricanes, plane crashes and other major disasters. Ms. Ripley says that after a career of covering the tragedy of disasters, she found it therapeutic to learn how much of a difference each individual really can make during a crisis.

“The book was a way to…say what actually happens to us physically, psychologically and socially in these situations,” she said. “Let’s take these stories of survivors and combine it with the science of the brain and try to overlay some rational construct on something that is not really rational, that is quite chaotic. For me, the end result was that I felt much more optimistic about the importance of regular people in disasters.”

“The Unthinkable” has quickly become one of my favorite books. To read my recent Well column on the topic, click here. And to hear more of my conversation with Ms. Ripley, I hope you’ll listen to the podcast below.

Listen to the Podcast (mp3)

Years ago, my mother’s plane made an emergency landing after an engine caught fire during the flight. But as fire trucks surrounded the plane and flight attendants readied emergency exits and slides, something strange happened.

Instead of rushing out, many of the passengers began quietly gathering their belongings and taking items out of the overhead bins. My mother, the type to always read an airline safety card, left everything behind as she hustled to the exit, jumped on the slide and ran as fast as she could away from the plane. Years later, she talked with amazement about the odd reaction of her fellow passengers.

But their behavior was surprisingly typical. As journalist Amanda Ripley explains in her fascinating new book “The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes — And Why,” human behavior is remarkably consistent during emergency situations. Despite their immediate fears, people often are passive during emergencies, delaying evacuation and succumbing to a gathering instinct.

To learn more about behavior during a disaster — and how to improve your own odds — read my full Well column here.

And when you’re done, test your own personal disaster quotient. To take the “Unthinkable” quiz, click here.

(Credit: Kevin Moloney for The New York Times)

The July Fourth weekend is often one of the deadliest in terms of car accidents, but some towns are safer than others. A new report compiled by insurance giant Allstate has ranked the car safety of various towns compared to national accident rates.

The average driver in the United States has a collision every 10 years. But the average driver in Sioux Falls, S.D., experiences a car accident every 14.6 years. That means a Sioux Falls motorist is 32 percent less likely to have an accident than the national average. Drivers in Fort Collins, Colo., rank second, reporting collisions every 13.4 years.

For the past four years, Allstate actuaries have analyzed the company’s claim data to determine the likelihood drivers in America’s 200 largest cities will experience a vehicle collision compared to the national average. Read more…

More people are being injured by golf carts. (Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times)

Golf carts are moving off the golf course, and the result appears to be a surge in injuries, a new report shows.

The June issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports that injuries from being hit by or falling off of golf carts surged 132 percent from 1990 to 2006. Nearly 150,000 people, ranging in age from 2 months to 96 years, were hurt in golf cart accidents during that time.

One reason may be that golf carts have become much faster and more powerful. Reaching speeds of up to 25 miles per hour and traveling as far as 40 miles on a single battery charge, golf carts now offer quick travel in a variety of venues. They are now routinely used at sporting events, hospitals, airports, national parks, college campuses, businesses and military bases, the study authors noted. In some gated and retirement communities, golf carts have become the primary means of transportation. Read more…

Mowing the lawn is a summertime ritual and a rite of passage for many children. But a surprising number of adults and children are injured every year in mowing accidents.

Danger in the grass? (M. Spencer Green/Associated Press)

Last year, nearly 210,000 people were treated in clinics and emergency rooms for lawn mower-related injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. About 16,200 of those accidents involved children.

The medical literature is filled with reports of lawn mower accidents and injuries. A 2006 report in the medical journal Pediatrics found that the average age of children injured in lawn mower accidents is 11, and the majority are boys. About 41 percent of lawn mower injuries to children are lacerations, while about 21 percent suffer muscle or ligament injuries. About 15 percent suffer burns, and 10 percent experience fractures. Amputations of the hands, fingers, feet and toes account for about 5 percent of injuries. Read more…

With so much in the news these days about elevator problems, it reminded me of this harrowing video of a man trapped in a New York elevator for 41 hours.

The time-lapse video shows Nicholas White, who in October 1999 was a 34-year-old production manager for Business Week. He stepped out for a cigarette break and on his way back to his desk was trapped in the elevator over the weekend. His plight was chronicled in this New Yorker story about the life of elevators.

And if your claustrophobia hasn’t kicked in, check out this interactive graphic of “entrapments” in New York City elevators last year.

Have you ever been trapped in an elevator? Share your story below.

Safety ratings vary based on make, model year and Web site. (Charlie Riedel/Associated Press)

With my old station wagon headed to the 125,000 mile mark, I am in the market for a new car for the first time in more than seven years.

I had recently read about a car model that had ranked particularly high in crash testing, so ventured to a dealership to check it out. I liked the car, but didn’t like the sticker price on the 2008 model. I found a 2003 model with surprisingly low mileage. It was so affordable I almost bought it on the spot. But I opted instead to think about it over the weekend.

I’m glad I did. Read more…

A teen leaves a trail of upended pylons while navigating Toyota’s challenging “distraction” course.

What does it feel like to slam on your anti-lock brakes? What happens if you drive too fast on a slippery road? How do distractions like loud music affect your driving?

While driver’s education classes teach teens how to operate a vehicle, most of us don’t learn much about emergency driving conditions until we actually face an emergency. But a free advanced driving skills course offered by Toyota gives kids and parents a chance to experience real-world driving situations on a closed course. Participants maneuver through pylons, slam on brakes and speed around corners, all under the supervision of professional drivers. Read more…

Controversy has hit the bike lane.

Bicycle-friendly cities like Eugene, Ore., Gainesville, Fla., and Palo Alto, Calif., have developed extensive bike lane networks since the 1970s, and bigger cities such as Chicago and Houston have begun to paint bike lanes on streets as a way of encouraging bicycle use, according to the Web site bicyclinginfo.org.

But as the site BicycleUniverse notes, bike lanes have long been a contentious topic among cyclists, drivers and city planners who debate the safety value of the lanes and whether they really encourage more cycling.

Now Slate magazine has weighed in with a funny video that claims to have found the “stupidest bike lane in America.” Slate video editor Andy Bowers dons a camera-helmet to capture the action as he pedals through the Westwood neighborhood near the University of California, Los Angeles campus. But the journey lasts only a few seconds — this bike lane, extending 275 feet, is less than a block long. Even so, Mr. Bowers is open to the notion that there might be an even sillier bike lane elsewhere, and he is seeking “stupid bike lane” submissions. Do you have a stupid bike lane story to share?

Driving with a cellphone. (Daniel Hulshizer/Associated Press)

New Jersey recently strengthened a law banning cellphone use while driving, and police there reportedly are already handing out tickets. I drive a lot in New Jersey and wasn’t aware of the law change until a friend pointed it out to me.

Today, the popular blog BoingBoing provides a helpful link for keeping track of the various cellphone driving laws. The link takes you to the Cellular-News site, which offers a list of cellphone driving laws by country. Scroll down to see the breakdown by state.

Another good reference I just found is provided by the Governors Highway Safety Association. I like this site because in addition to information about cellphone rules, you can click on your state and get more specific information about the driving laws there.

Obviously, the best solution is to just not talk on the cellphone while you’re driving, no matter what state you are in. Drivers chatting on cellphones are four times more likely to be involved in crashes that cause serious injury, the British Medical Journal reported in 2005.

Last night while walking into the St. James Theater to see the new production of “Gypsy” starring Patti LuPone, my friend noted that there might be glitches, since the show is still in previews. “Sometimes technical things happen, like stuff falls out of the ceiling,” she told me.

Patti LuPone in a 2007 production of “Gypsy.” (City Center)

My friend, a former actress, was talking about what might happen on stage, but her words turned out to be oddly prescient.

Toward the end of the show, as Ms. LuPone’s Mama Rose was about to launch into her show-stopping number, there was a crash in the balcony. A huge metal plate, about 30 inches in diameter and part of the ventilation system, came crashing down from the ceiling. It hit a young woman in the head and ricocheted into the back of my friend’s neck before rolling into my seat.

Confused, we looked up and saw the hole in the ceiling. The young woman held her head and sobbed and quickly fell into hysterics. My friend was startled, but luckily had been wearing her coat, which cushioned the blow to her neck.

Anyone who has lived in New York knows that from time to time objects fall out of the sky. Bricks topple from office buildings, and window-washers drop cell phones on passersby below. Last summer, my colleague Sewell Chan wrote a blog post called “When Things Fall From Above” on just this issue. Read more…

If you had to, could you survive a house fire, save a drowning victim, escape from a sinking car? (Matt Hempel/Associated Press, Uli Seit for The New York Times, Ann Johansson for The New York Times)

Are you fit enough to save your own life?

That’s the premise of a new reality show from Discovery Health that premieres tonight. Called “Fit to Live,” it’s based on Dr. Pamela Peeke’s book of the same name and raises the question of whether you have the strength, endurance and agility to escape a natural disaster, flee a burning building or pull your family from a wrecked car.

Fitness isn’t about working out at the gym or running a marathon, notes Dr. Peeke, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and chief medical correspondent for Discovery Health Television. Fitness is important for coping with life’s emergencies, big and small, whether it’s running to make an airport connection or fleeing a burning building.

“Fit to Live” joins a series of reality-meets-health TV shows like ABC’s “Fat March” and NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” But this show isn’t a weight-loss contest. It’s a fitness test to determine if someone, whether they are skinny or fat, is in good enough shape to save their own life. In the show, five average people are given 10 minutes to escape a simulated fire in a 30-floor building. During the simulated emergency, they find stairways blocked and “bodies” to rescue, and none of them can make it to safety on the roof. “They all died,” noted Dr. Peeke. After undergoing a month of basic fitness and health habits, the contestants retake the test.

While this may sound far-fetched, I can personally attest that fitness counts in an emergency. On September 11, 2001, I was on the ninth floor of the World Financial Center, which was just across the street from the World Trade Center. After the second plane struck the Trade Center, my building was evacuated. A nine-floor descent doesn’t sound like much, but my group was stuck behind a slow-moving overweight woman. It took what seemed like forever to get out, and it was truly frightening. The evacuation was far more challenging for the people several floors above us. Read more…

(Credit: Ted S. Warren/Associated Press)

Talking on the cellphone while driving isn’t just a safety risk. It also slows down traffic.

Motorists talking on the phone drive about two miles per hour more slowly than people who aren’t on the phone, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Utah. And while hands-free devices often are touted as safer alternatives, the scientists found that people using them also putter along, which suggests that it’s the talking, not the cellphone, that distracts the brain.

While a few miles per hour may not sound like much, as many as one in 10 drivers on the road is talking on the phone, says University of Utah psychology professor David Strayer, who coauthored the research. Slower cellphone drivers may be increasing overall commuting times by 5 percent to 10 percent, he calculates, and talking on the phone may increase each daily commuter’s travel time by 20 hours a year. Read more…