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Avoid Becoming a Victim of Road Rage

(ARA) - In today's society, we all spend more time in our cars than we'd probably like. Traffic congestion and seemingly endless road construction delays can make getting around town extremely frustrating. Chances are you have felt the pangs of road rage on occasion.

There's no doubt that there are a fair number of discourteous and just plain bad drivers on the road. Aggressive driving, such as speeding, tailgating, unsafe lane changes, failing to signal intent to change lanes, or other forms of negligent or inconsiderate driving are sometimes accidental or caused by inattention. However, the acts can be intentional as well. In fact, a recent study by Farmers Insurance Group shows that more than 10 percent of drivers admit they have intentionally cut off other drivers or have wanted to force them off the road during the past year. Of the 1,001 drivers surveyed, 14.3 percent said they had shouted at or had gotten into a honking match with another motorist.

According to the Farmers survey, most road rage occurs among younger drivers. Nearly half of respondents who said they had shouted at or gotten into a honking match with another driver were in the 18 to 34 age group, which also ranked highest among those who said they had cut off another driver or felt like forcing them off the road.

"Aggressive driving and road rage are both truly dangerous behaviors," says Jeff Beyer, senior vice president, corporate communications for Farmers Insurance Group. "They put other motorists and passengers at risk, and should not be tolerated."

But fighting road rage with anger just adds fuel to the fire. There are too many instances of road rage turning into a dangerous or deadly situation. For example, 24 individuals of those surveyed said they had gotten into a fistfight with another driver, while 37 respondents admitted to having carried a weapon with them in case of a confrontation with another driver.

Here are some tips from Farmers on how to avoid getting involved in situations that could lead to road rage:

* Always use your indicators when changing lanes or merging.

* Be courteous. If another driver is signaling to change into your lane ahead of you, let them.

* Ignore drivers who make angry gestures at you. Separate yourself from them, if possible.

* If a vehicle is tailgating you, attempt to change lanes and let it pass.

* If you are being followed, drive to a nearby crowded public place and call for help or drive to a nearby police station. You can also alert police via a cell phone.

* Never provoke another driver.

"Highway safety officials say that aggressive driving and road rage are very similar to impaired driving," Beyer says. "Motorists should try to distance themselves and their passengers from these perpetrators quickly, but safely."

For more information on Farmers Insurance Group, visit www.farmers.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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Finally, An Explanation for Your Teenager's Bad Behavior

(ARA) - Ever wonder why you can have a pleasant conversation with your teenager one minute, and the next, they are screaming at you and slamming doors for no apparent reason? New research reveals it's not your son or daughter's fault, but the work of their quickly developing brain.

A study recently conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reveals something no one knew before -- patterns of brain development don't end in early childhood, they actually extend into the teenage years. One of the doctors involved in the study explained its significance during a recent episode of "Keeping Kids Healthy," the Emmy-nominated weekly children's health television show examining real-life issues facing kids, teens and their parents.

"Before MRI came along, changes in teen brains were thought to occur at almost glacial speed," said Dr. Jay Giedd, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with the NIMH. "We thought there was less than a 10 percent change from 5 to 20 years of age. When we were able to follow individual children by watching them develop, we were amazed at how dynamic and how bustling with activity the teen brain really is."

Dr. Giedd and his fellow researchers followed 145 children through adolescence, scanning their brains every two years as they grew up. When they compared the images, they discovered less activity and development in the frontal lobes of teens than in adults. The frontal lobe is the area of the brain used for reasoning.

Dr. Giedd points out that in teenagers, the areas of the brain that control "gut" reactions are more developed than the areas for reasoning, which explains why teenagers tend to act without thinking things through.

"Bottom line is what characterizes the teen years are the extremes. They can be your lovable child one minute, like an adult the next, or anywhere in between, but don't hold that against them," says Dr. Giedd. "Parents need to expect some bumps in the road, but along with the challenges and bumps are great times." So be understanding and supportive of your teen as they make the transition to adulthood.

Produced by Montefiore Medical Center in association with Thirteen/WNET New York, "Keeping Kids Healthy" is a groundbreaking weekly children's health television show that examines real-life issues that kids, teens and parents face. This Parents' Choice Foundation Award-winning show brings parents and children who are living with a particular medical issue every day, together with nationally recognized medical experts who offer practical advice and tips. Check with your local public television station for airdates and times or visit www.keepingkidshealthy.org.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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You Don't Have to be a Superhero to Save a Life

What Everyone Should Know about Organ Donation

(ARA) - No one wants to be a statistic. But Megan Shaughnessy almost became one of 17 patients who die every day in the United States while awaiting an organ transplant. She began feeling sick in September 2000. After a month of trying to figure out what was wrong, doctors found that her liver was failing due to an autoimmune disease. "I was immediately put on a transplant list as a "status 1" -- the status reserved for those with a life expectancy of seven days," she says.

After an eight-day wait, the 23-year-old San Francisco resident received a liver from a 16-year-old girl. "I am so grateful to my donor family," says Shaughnessy. "I had no other options besides a transplant." She now helps educate others about organ donation through her work as a placement coordinator with the California Transplant Donor Network.

Shaughnessy is often asked about myths and fears that people have about organ transplantation, such as whether race or socio-economic status play a role in how organs are assigned. Her answer: "If you lined up 100 people who got transplanted in the past year, you would see different ages, different races and different diseases represented," she says. "People like you and me get transplanted all the time."

Since 1954, when doctors successfully performed the first human organ transplant, the lives of more than 400,000 people in the United States have been saved by transplantation. It is the leading form of treatment for many forms of end-stage organ failure. With this success, however, has come increasing demand for donated organs. Today, more than 86,000 people are awaiting transplants nationwide.

"It is important for donors to understand how the system works and be assured that organ sharing policies forbid favoritism based upon ethnicity, gender, religion, political influence or financial or social status. Sharing is based upon medical and scientific criteria," says Walter Graham, Executive Director of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Under the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) contract with the federal government, UNOS maintains the nation's waiting list for deceased donor organ transplants.

Here's how the process works. When a person's physician determines that an organ transplant may be necessary, the patient is referred to a transplant center for evaluation. The medical team at the transplant center determines whether a patient is a good candidate for transplantation; if the answer is yes, the patient is then added to the waiting list.

When a deceased organ donor is identified, a transplant coordinator from an organ procurement organization accesses the computerized OPTN matching system. Each transplant candidate in the pool is matched by the computer against the donor characteristics. The computer then generates a ranked list of patients, based on factors such as tissue match, blood type, medical urgency, immune status and the distance between the potential recipient and the donor.

Because of the number of variables that are considered and the ongoing shortage of donated organs, some patients may wait for many years before they receive an organ transplant.

Louise Miglin was sick for 10 years before she received her liver transplant, even though, as in Shaughnessy's case, the only treatment for her condition was a transplant. "I had polycystic liver disease, which was diagnosed in 1991," explains Miglin, who lives with her family in the San Fernando Valley in California. Multiple cysts had turned her liver into what she describes as "Swiss cheese, or a sponge," with her liver growing to 20 times its normal size. However, in between the cysts, she had functioning liver tissue, so her labs were within normal range, meaning for many years, despite acute discomfort, she didn't qualify as a transplant candidate.

"For years, I felt like women feel in the last few weeks of pregnancy," says Miglin. "I couldn't sleep lying down, I could only eat small amounts of food, and I even looked pregnant -- I was wearing maternity clothes." When she started to suffer shortness of breath because her liver was pressing on her diaphragm, her activities of daily living started declining, and she had to take a leave from her job as an intensive care unit nurse. She was put on a transplant waiting list in February 1999 and was transplanted in March 2001. Had there been enough donated livers, perhaps she would have received her transplant earlier.

"I spent 25 months on the waiting list -- two years, one long day at a time," says Miglin. She had long talks with her kids, preparing them in case she didn't get a transplant in time. She carried a beeper with her 24 hours a day and couldn't travel more than two hours from her transplant center. "I was so excited when they were taking me to the operating room on the gurney," she says.

Both Shaughnessy and Miglin urge people to consider organ donation. "I can't think of a good reason not to be a donor," says Miglin. "Even if you think you're not healthy enough to be a donor, let the professionals decide." She also notes that in her work as an ICU nurse, she saw situations where possible donors had not discussed organ donation with their families. "Let your family know that you want to be a donor, she urges. Thousands of people, like Megan and I, are counting on you to save their lives."

For more information on organ donation, contact UNOS at www.unos.org.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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Daytona Beach Resorts Ready to Welcome Summer Guests

World's Most Famous Beach restores luster following Florida storms

(ARA) - The "World's Most Famous Beach" is finding a silver lining in last summer's unprecedented hurricane season. The hurricanes that battered Florida are also powering renewal, as Daytona Beach readies for the summer travel season and beyond.

Fueled with insurance money, hotel owners are not only repairing storm damage, they are also taking steps to renovate and rejuvenate beachside resorts.

Oceans Resorts, the largest owner of oceanfront property in northeast Florida, is pouring millions of dollars into revitalizing two beachside Daytona resorts, the Acapulco and Treasure Island. Restoration on each will be complete by the end of May, in plenty of time for the summer family travel season.

"The Acapulco and Treasure Island will be completely new resorts,'' says Oceans vice president Doug Kosarek. "From the lobby all the way to the roof, every room is being redone and enhanced. But the change is more than physical. We will be working very hard to bring both of these resorts to a 'four-star' level of quality. Therefore, we are upgrading our restaurants, lounges and every aspect of guest services."

Another Oceans Resorts property, the landmark Plaza Resort & Spa, in the heart of Daytona, raced to restore storm damaged oceanfront rooms in late 2004 so the resort would have all of its rooms available for fall and winter season special events, such as Biketoberfest, the Turkey Rod Run, the Super Bowl in nearby Jacksonville and the February Speedweeks that include the Daytona 500.

The 322 room Plaza Resort & Spa, which has anchored Daytona tourism for a century, will soon be showing it is still a trendsetter. The Plaza will covert to a condo-resort this year, as part of an additional $12 million renovation. Prices for the hotel condo units range from the $140,000 to over $400,000. Owners and guests will enjoy luxuries such as a no-drive beach and a 15,000 square foot European styled spa on the first floor of the resort.

Plaza sales managers report brisk reservations for the Plaza suites, especially online through www.owntheplaza.com. In the first weekend, more than a third of the rooms were sold. "For a century the Plaza has been a magnet for guests who wanted to come and enjoy the sun and beach in Daytona," says Kosarek. "Now guests can buy a piece of history and own part of this unique property."

With the value of oceanfront property escalating, existing property owners are also using the storms as a catalyst to raze aging buildings and start over with a clean palate for urban planning and renewal. The transformation of many formerly three-star properties to four-star hotels is another sign that the days of wild spring break parties are long gone -- replaced with large, luxurious and affordable beach-front accommodations for vacationing families.

Ocean Waters Development (OWD) is overseeing the construction renovations at the Plaza, and will also manage the redevelopment efforts of other properties owned by the parent company of Oceans Resorts. OWD officials estimate the company will develop more than 2 million square feet of resort property in the next several years along Florida northeast coast. The group also has residential condo resort projects underway in Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach.

"We are working to make Daytona an even better place to not only visit, but to live," says Steve Sandholtz with Ocean Waters Development. "Florida always comes back strong. Over the next decade, Daytona is a going to be a hot spot for exciting new resort communities."

For more information on Oceans Resorts, visit www.DaytonaHotels.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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