Th ttl rid,
mor d ng rou
h n you think?
ny people worry bout
flying, but in f t th rid to
nd from the irport in a
cab i more dangero ,
pecially ithout tbelt.
Suprisingly, many of ho
oUldn't thin of driving
without buckling up don't
think once (let alone twice)
bout riding be1tle in a
taxicab. Often a . p enger
h no choice; n rly half of
all cab nationwide have no
belts in the rear eat, or else
bel that are broken or inac­
cessible according to one na­
tional survey in 1989. Now a
tudy ha pointed out the
growing number of erious
head and neck injurie result­
ing when unbelted p ngers
are thrown gainst the cabs'
front eat, door, or security
partition.
About 1S0,OOO taxicab
registered in the U.S. carry
more than 2 billion passengers
each year, and thi doe n't in­
clude the large number of un­
licensed cab on the road
daily. Cab are involved in an
estimated 100,000 crashes a
year. But, there doesn't have
to be an accident for a pas­
senger to get hurt; even if the
cab merely stop hort, the
passenger may be injured if
not restrained by a belt. The
ne study looked at New
, Yor City ca , in which most
f the injurie occured when
unbelted pa sengers were
thrown against the plexiglass
and metal partitions that
separate driver and passenger.
In effect, such partitions act as
a second windshield, so pas­
sengers suffer injuries similar
to those sustained by front­
seat passengers in what med
to be called the "death seat"
before three-point safety belts
became universal.
In the event of a crash, pas­
sengers who don't wear a seat
belt are, on average, about six
times more likely to be injured
than belted passengers.
The researchers, from New
York's Lenox Hospital, sug­
gest that cab travel may be
more dangerous than other
kinds of driving, regardless of
seat belt availability. Taxicabs
may be more prone to acci­
dents because oflong hours on
the road, leading to potential
mechanical failure and driver
'fatigue, plus. there's an
economic incentive to drive
fast.
DESPITE STRICf seat­
belt legislation in .most states,
only a few states require rear
seat belts in any cars. In addi­
tion some states exempt
taxicabs from mandatory seat
belt law . Safety experts are
lobbying to close these gaps in
seat belt laws. New taxis
produced by Ford and GM
now have rear seat shoulder
and lap belts.
So, when phoning for a
cab, tell the dispatcher that
you want a cab with a usable
rear seat belt, and if he can't
guarantee one, call another
company. When hailing a cab
on the street you may not have
, a choice. If you've taken a cab
that doesn't have safety belts
for passengers, complain. If
enough people speak up, cab
owners will get the message.
._
L
r in
Sy c , th t
police promoting nocide exi t in
the U.S., creating d th for certain
"dev lued" perso ," ithout people
bein are of hat is oing on, nd
with no one claimin to to it."
Dr. Wolfe Wolfe berger, Pro -
or of the Div ion of Special Educa- -
tion and Rehabilitation in Syracuse
University in ew Yor State, char­
that our ociety carrie on "an
internal r" gainst the poor, tho e
with handi , and the elderly.
Dr. Wolfen berger ha been
known a an rchitect of
dei titutionalization police and hi
vie about the inhumanity of in-
titutions have been required tudy
for tho training to get a license to
become group home workers in the
State of Michigan.
As editor of the Training Institute
Publication Series (TIPS), he
de cribe instance of "death­
making, " ctions or policies that cre­
ate death in this country and
propaganda which undermine
"belief in the equal worth of all
human lives."
"Socially devalued
people" are "at great risk
of being put on drugs,"
whether children of
school age with hand­
icaps, prisons, nursing or
foster homes. "
Black people are also vulnerable
to such treatment.
- Wolfensberger quotes a Grpen­
peace article as saying that in assess­
ing suits for pollution damage, courts
Usually place a value on people's
lives "according to their lifelong
earning power." "One conse­
quence," he said, "is that a poor
person's life is worth le than a rich
person's," and the "logical outcome"
is "that poor people can be exposed '
to more pollution than rich ones."
- THE TENNESSEE Attorney
General was quoted in TIME as sug­
gesting that punishm�nt f�r mu�er
should reflect the social value of the
person who gets killed, noting, "kill­
ing the President creates more social
harm than taking the life of a home­
less person."
- In a two-day period in New
York Gity, a homeless man and a dog
were killed on the subway tracks.
Ninety people telephoned to express
concern about the dog, none about the
man.
- "Alarmist article and car­
toons" criticize the benefits received
by elderly people, "sometime in
waves." Robert J. Samuelson, in a
Newsweek column, "under the guise
of a propo al to tax social securi ty
income of the wealth" had "hidden
proposals to cut the cost-of-living to
the elderly poor." Wolfensberger
'said, "Such a cutback would be ab­
solutely devastating for the older
poor (and) might dramatically in­
crease the homeless ... push elderly
people into nursing homes, which
would, of course, cost more than the
money saved by this measure."
- The 1989 "Oregon Plan" for
reorganizing the Medicaid system,"
which has received worldwide atten­
tion, attempts to ration health care in
ways Wolfensberger sees as going
beyond "high-technology or un­
proven treatment" to "discriminate
against devalued groups merely be­
cause they are devalued." He notes
that it would "deny coverage to
patients with AIDS in their terminal
stages." The plan has been supported
in Michigan by State Representative
David Hollister.
� Since insurance companies are
aware that they make more money if
people die soon after they get sick,
rather than requiring services for a
long time, they re emphasizing in
,
HEALTH
I.
their dvert' emen the idea of the
"qu lity of life," and promotin
"livin will," (documen wh re
people re treatment). move
underfoot to offer lower medical in-
urance t to people who ign
living ill, which cut Ole up­
po.
- There . growing endency to
llow d truction of relative , par­
ticularly tho e who h ve ndi ps or
re considered of "inferior quality. In
19 9, ccording to Time, an elderly
Philadelphia man trangled hi
bedridden wife with necktie and
pleaded guilty to voluntary
manslaughter.
- A (woman) judge who en­
tenced him to no more than proba­
tion, aid, "You took care of a very
ick woman. It' important that you
not torture yourself. Try to go along
enjoying your life."
- Wolfensberger ugg thi t-
titu even pplie to gay rel tion­
hip and people of color. In th
Jeffrey D hmer Ca e, youth D h­
mer w torturing to death e caped
nd n ed for h lp to polic . Th
police handed him b ck to Dahmer,
because they umed it w "mere­
ly" gay "lover' quarrel." D hm r
then killed the victim.
- There are e forts to allow medi­
cal doctors to decid who live and
who die, even without the
knowledge of the family.
"Without consulting the family,
friends and ervice workers in that
person' life, medical personnel are
apt to withhold even ba ic life up­
porting treatment" or "even take ac­
tive measu� to end th person'
life." through uch measure
deadly drugs," Wolfensberger said.
- Wolfensberger al 0 talks of
ways that people can be "indirectly
- Another "indirect" w y "so­
cial marginalization," which "typi­
cally includes making people poor."
Such persons "are at much greater
risk of health impairment, and if they
do become ill, the medical treatment
they receive is apt to come too late
and to be of low quality," he ys,
that th re on for
i re ult of Me
of "pI ure, com­
fort, e e nd elf-indulg nee,"
here "people are no longer illing
to crifice for a moral good."
People who not considered at-
tractive or pleasant nd "who c exist­
ence mak dem nd "on othe will
be id to h ve a "low quality of life,"
he dds.
Wolfensberger I 0 tal of kill­
fu1 manipulation of 1 nguage l)y "al­
Ii of death" to 0 cure the reality of
what' being done.
ebac ou
neighborhoods.
For iriformation and
treatment referrals call:
1· ..
. Michigan Department of Public Health
"Not at my party."
"Not in our state