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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Oregon Tops National Road Safety Scorecard

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Monday, December 29, 2008   

Salem, OR – We've heard a lot of statistics this holiday season about snowfall, accidents and road closures in Oregon. Now, here's one that should make you feel a little bit better about winter driving: Oregon has received a perfect score on the 2008 National Scorecard on State Roadway Laws, a comparison of highway safety laws by state.

The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) looked at seat belt, motorcycle helmet and booster seat laws and enforcement, and also considered whether a statewide trauma system is used to treat accident victims and other medical emergencies. ENA President Denise King is an emergency room nurse who explains why such a system works better than just showing up at any hospital.

"In a structured trauma system, there are specific hospitals identified that have the resources, personnel, equipment, the operating rooms – everything you need to potentially figure out what the problem is – and then, they have the resources to take care of it."

In a state with such desolate rural areas as Oregon, trauma care often means using helicopters as well as ambulances. In an emergency, King says, Oregonians can be thankful the system is in place.

"Your best chance of survival is to have it happen in an area that has a strong, structured, organized trauma system. You want to get to the right place, the first time, as quickly as possible."

The group also considered states' use of several teen driving laws, and ignition-locking devices for drunk drivers. King says the survey is compiled as a way to call attention to public policies that can prevent traffic-related injuries and deaths. In all, it includes 13 state laws that are proven to save lives; Oregon and Washington are the only states to have all 13 in place. Fourteen states, including Idaho, have fewer than half of them.

View the full report online at www.ena.org.



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