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THE' KNO W -HO W ' •
YOU' ' NEED ' ' TO' ' S T A Y ' HEALTH Y
health department
HOLIDAY ROADS
To get your family safely to your
holiday destination you need to
make sure you are alert and
rested. Too many drivers aren’t: In
one survey, 60 percent of drivers
admitted to falling asleep at least
once while driving on highways. A
few signs that you’re too tired to
be behind the wheel include
persistent yawning, wandering
thoughts, and the inability to
remember driving the last few
miles. The National Safety
Council offers these tips to
combat drowsy driving:
• Begin your trip early in the
day and share the driving with
a companion. Avoid driving
between midnight and 6 a.m.,
no matter how close you are to
your destination.
• Keep the temperature cool. It
should be chilly enough that
passengers need blankets.
• Stop every 100 miles or 2
hours to get out of the car and
take a brisk walk around. The
exercise combats fatigue. Have
a light snack.
• As soon as signs of fatigue
begin to show, get o ff the road.
Take a short nap in a safe,
well-lit area. Never stop on the
side of the road where you
could be struck from behind.
— MARTHA MILLER JOHNSON
by the numbers
2
0
. 2
S
he percentagei of U.S.
ouseholds with .onlv .
wireless phones in their
homes at the end of
2008 (the number is
likely higher now)
;
If you’re thinking about ditching your landline
;
telephone, realize it may mean a slower 911
;
response time. The nation’s emergency
response system is based on landline phones
:
plugged into places with real street addresses.
:
Cell calls, by contrast, are routed to 911 centers
:
based on the tower closest to wherever the
:
phone is, creating problems for emergency
I
responders. Before cutting the cord:
ideal dose
c hocolate
An ounce of chocolate a day— maybe two if
you have no trouble maintaining a healthy
weight or can cut back on other
indulgences— can keep the doctor away.
Research done at Harvard, University of
California at Davis, and the U.S. Department
of Agriculture in the past few years confirms that compounds in
chocolate improve blood flow and reduce blood clotting and oxidative
damage. Outside of unsweetened cocoa powder, dark chocolate bars
are the best choice, says Katherine Tallmadge, spokesperson for the
American Dietetic Association. A 1.3-ounce, melt-in-your-mouth morsel
has about 187 calories. Check labels, though, because cocoa content
varies. You want bars with 60 percent or more cocoa. — mike butler
1. CALL YOUR LOCAL POLICE
Use the department’s non-emergency number
and ask if you can make a 911 cell phone test
call during a non-busy time. "See who
answers your call, ask what they see on the
screen, and ask them where they think you
are,’’ says Paul Linnee, a consultant in
Minneapolis who specializes in 911 matters.
"Most places will be happy to take that 911
test call.”
2. DON’T EVER ASSUME YOU ARE GOING
TO BE LOCATED
When you call 911 from a
cell phone— at home or out on the road—
always tell the person answering your call where
you are even if they don’t ask, Linnee says.
3. CONSIDER BASIC SERVICE
Find out if
your phone company offers what’s called
"measured service.” It’s a bare-bones landline
phone service and can be as cheap as $17 a
month for a small amount of usage. "Use that
phone to call 911,” Linnee says.
248 DECEMBER 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
PHOTOS: VEER
