WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.320 Initial Life Sequenzy coming to you live from Houston, Texas, home to the 2 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:21.879 world's largest medical center. Bunch everything looking ability. This is your Health First, 3 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.640 the most beneficial health program on radio with doctor Joe Gallotti. During the 4 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:30.600 next hour, you'll learn about health, wellness and the prevention of disease. 5 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:45.880 Now here's your host, doctor Joe Bellotti. Well, a good Sunday evening 6 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:53.719 to everybody. Doctor Joe Galotti. It's Sunday evening and the only place you're 7 00:00:53.799 --> 00:01:00.159 supposed to be is locked in in front of your radio or smart device, 8 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:07.599 I pad, iPhone, whatever you communicate with these days. That's where we 9 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:15.159 are broadcasting from our world headquarters in Houston, Texas and around the globe on 10 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:21.439 the iHeartRadio app. So glad to be here every Sunday evening. And I 11 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:27.719 tell everybody that with all that I do during the week, let's say the 12 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:32.519 real job, the doctoring part, taking care of patients with liver disease, 13 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:42.000 liver transplant, all totally exciting and the really dissatisfaction of taking care of our 14 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:48.040 patients and their families and their loved ones. Coming on the radio is a 15 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:55.239 highlight of the week for me because it's an opportunity to communicate with more than 16 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:02.920 one person in an exam room or a hospital room. We profess here that 17 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:07.879 the majority of chronic disease that we're all plagued by, and you know, 18 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:13.520 the sort of a dirty dozen, it is obesity, it is high blood 19 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:21.800 pressure, high cholesterol, fatty liver, cirrhosis, alcoholism, mental health issues, 20 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:29.919 cancer, So many of these can be modified with life style adjustments. 21 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:35.719 Okay, there are diseases that you were born with, genetically programmed, no 22 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:39.599 matter what, you were going to be afflicted by it. But the data 23 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:45.599 is there eighty five percent of the chronic disease that we see, the disease 24 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:51.800 that you may be suffering, is related to lifestyle choices. All right, 25 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:55.439 this segment is going to be a little short because we have met Share coming 26 00:02:55.560 --> 00:03:00.439 up from the New York Times last week and the New York Times magazine. 27 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:07.360 He had a great article on automobile fatalities. And this is near and dear 28 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:12.719 to me in view of the fact that I was a victim back in nineteen 29 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:16.039 ninety one to a near fatal car crash with a drunk driver. The title 30 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:23.120 of the article is why are American drivers so deadly? Great? Insight great 31 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:29.000 article, and Matt will be on in just a few minutes. The one 32 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:35.560 word I wanted to share with you today is health span. Now, health 33 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:42.960 span is different than lifespan. Lifespan is how long you will live. Health 34 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:49.639 Span is the amount of time that you have a high quality of life, 35 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:53.960 that you are functioning. You are living on your own or able to take 36 00:03:53.000 --> 00:04:00.639 care of yourself, and you're not plagued or shackled by really severe crime disease 37 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:04.400 and out on dialysis. You don't have any neurocognitive problems. You're able to 38 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:12.240 walk and exercise and eat, et cetera, et cetera. And the focus 39 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:16.920 for all of us in this thinking about life span, and we'll be talking 40 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:19.800 more about it than the weeks to come, is that you have to start 41 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:25.160 planning now. You may be twenty or thirty years old, but you need 42 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:29.160 to plan for when you're sixty or seventy. Are you going to be confined 43 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:31.839 to a wheelchair, to a nursing home, unable to take care of yourself, 44 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:36.680 or have a real vibrant life where you're able to do all the fun 45 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:40.199 things that you want to do, be it go fishing, hang out with 46 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:44.959 your grandkids, hang out with your wife or significant other. But that's just 47 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:51.360 sort of a new framework that we're trying to work on here with the program. 48 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:58.720 So I know this is little short, but Matt Share is on hold 49 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:01.800 and we're beginning him in a minute. Don't forget Doctor Joe Galotti dot com 50 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:05.399 is our website. Stay tuned, buckle in for this one. We'll be 51 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:11.920 right back every Sunday evening between just the hour of seven and a pm. 52 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:16.720 We're here trying to raise everybody's health IQ. I'm doctor Joe Galotti. Don't 53 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:23.480 forget doctor Joegalotti dot com is our website. And as I was saying a 54 00:05:23.480 --> 00:05:31.920 little earlier in the program, a wonderful article that was published last week in 55 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:36.920 the New York Times magazine and the official title of it, let me just 56 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:42.920 get it straight here, why are American drivers so deadly? After decades of 57 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:48.519 declining fatality rates, dangerous driving has surged again. And we're very lucky to 58 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:56.360 have the author of that article, Matthew Sure coming in from Atlanta. Matt, 59 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.920 welcome to the program, and thanks for taking a little time to share 60 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.920 some wisdom here with everybody. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm honored. 61 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:08.519 Well, let me let me just get to a quick question. You've 62 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:13.600 been writing for the New York Times magazine for a while. How many how 63 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.959 many articles have you had published over the years. Ooh, that's a good 64 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.720 one, and I should know the answer now. You could brag and say 65 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:28.079 too many to count, but I would imagine it's probably about fifteen or sixteen, 66 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:33.199 maybe maybe more. They take a long time these magazine articles to report, 67 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:38.240 right to actually write, so they you know, they I do about 68 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.920 three a year, two to three a year. It would be harder to 69 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.480 do more than that. Wow, And uh, making it to the front 70 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:50.079 cover is probably also very awesome. It's it's that's an honor every time it 71 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:55.000 happens, too, and you hope that you know, it's not always about 72 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:58.160 the content of the article. Sometimes it's about the content of the article, 73 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:01.800 but sometimes it's about what you can illustrate and what the editor is, what 74 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:05.480 kind of topic they want out front, and what kind of statement or impact 75 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:11.079 they want to make sure. It's always great to have. So when we 76 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:15.000 opened up last weeks New York Times and we go right to the magazine section, 77 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.839 this is there. And I would think that this is a topic that 78 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:25.399 in some way or another is near and dear to everybody, whether or not 79 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:32.800 you have fallen victim to a family or friend that expired, died in a 80 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:38.519 car crash, you yourself have been injured, or you just are concerned about 81 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:44.040 the craziness of what's happening on the road. So it drew my attention, 82 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:48.279 and right away I reached out and I said, I need to get you 83 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:53.120 on because really we talk about health and the name of the program is your 84 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:58.480 health first, which everybody knows. But driving safety, your personal safety for 85 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:01.759 yourself your family, is within the domain of what we talk about. So 86 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:07.839 how did you come upon writing the article? Tell us for a moment how 87 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:13.240 that happened. I lived down in Atlanta, where I have been for about 88 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:16.959 the past eight years, give or take, and I have two young kids, 89 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:24.319 they're eight and four years old. And the genesis of this article is 90 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:28.480 the same reason I think that most people do have reached out to me after 91 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:33.679 this piece came out, which is that I just got really scared about what 92 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:41.240 I was seeing on the roads, specifically tailgating, which is a major problem 93 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:46.600 in Atlanta, speeding, weaving in and Audelaine's the Traffic I am one of 94 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.639 the lucky few, and I'm knocking on wood right now who has not been 95 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:54.720 in the serious crash. But you're right, of course, it's increasingly, 96 00:08:56.679 --> 00:09:01.080 you know, you increasingly don't meet people who don't have a firsthand familiarity with 97 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:07.960 some kind of crash, whether severe or not. And everybody, everybody has 98 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:15.600 stories of running into what can only be termed insanity on the roads. So 99 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:20.840 I kind of went into it as I think a lot of journalists do. 100 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:26.120 They see something firsthand and they think, this feels like a problem to me 101 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.360 personally, and it feels like a problem to other people that I've spoken to 102 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:35.879 about it. And then you the way that this actually became an article as 103 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.559 I was talking to my editor about the next potential assignment and the data head. 104 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:43.399 This is about a year ago now, and the data had just come 105 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:52.159 out, and this secretary people to judge had given a speech about the uptick 106 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:56.600 in car fatalities, comparing it to gun deaths and so on, and so 107 00:09:56.120 --> 00:10:00.399 you know, at that point, okay, it's not just anecdote, it's 108 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:05.919 it's backed up by statistics. Then there's the challenge of trying to make it 109 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:09.120 compelling for people to read. But that's That's how it started. And you 110 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:15.759 know, the next step after that was finding someone who could help embody it 111 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:22.799 and as kind of a doctor and like yourself, and a professor who works 112 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.039 out in Nevada. Deborah Cools is her name, and she has you know, 113 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:28.639 she does a lot of data, a lot of data stuff, and 114 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:35.440 she she does a lot of work in the er and her two specialties, 115 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:41.200 as it happens, are gunshot wounds and car crashes. So she's been studying 116 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:43.159 both for a long time. And you know, she treats spatients who come 117 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:48.080 in with these kind of injuries, and then she also tracks the data. 118 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:50.600 And she was sort of a you know, as I say in the piece, 119 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:54.360 she was a bell. Whether's the wrong word, but she had watched 120 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.480 she's in her sixties now, I believe, and she had watched it sort 121 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:05.120 of get progressively worse and then explode at the time of COVID in terms of 122 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:07.919 fatality. So she was a good place to be here. Yeah. Yeah, 123 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.440 And all of the references, the experts that you had were outstanding. 124 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:20.840 And so share tonight with everyone at probably a thirty thousand foot view the statistics 125 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:24.679 that the trends and you make you know, you start off back in the 126 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.799 forties and fifties, through the sixties and seventies, and then jump to current 127 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.720 times. So what is the main take home and the scary part of these 128 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:39.279 statistics. Yeah, you know, the history lesson that I had to give 129 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:45.120 myself in writing this article was a little bit about early automobile history, but 130 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.559 really about the fifties and sixties. In the fifties and sixties, which is 131 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.440 I'm forty two, it's a little before my time. But in the late 132 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:58.919 fifties, people started saying, oh my god, these cars are not safe 133 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:03.679 right there. The gas tanks are exploding, right, people are being impaled 134 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:07.679 by stealing steering columns, everything wrong that could happen. You know, the 135 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:11.600 roofs weren't strong enough, and so what eventually happens. And this is how 136 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.399 Ralph Nader became famous, right, that is how he made his name. 137 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:20.960 People came along and said, the automobile industry is failing Americans. They're not 138 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:28.360 building cars to safe enough standards. And this big bill gets passed in Congress 139 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:33.759 right in the mid sixties. And you know the kind of bill that frankly 140 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:37.919 probably wouldn't be passed today. It was passed by liberal Congress that passed the 141 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.519 Civil Rights Act, right, it was, it was around that same time, 142 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:46.919 and this bill said cars car manufacturers are responsible for the safety of the 143 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:50.600 vehicles introduced, and so all this is important. That it's a little long 144 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:56.080 winded, but all this is important because after this bill gets passed, you 145 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.240 know, it doesn't happen right away, but in the seventies and eighties and 146 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:05.000 nineties, cars get progressively much much safer. Right. It's better seatbelts, 147 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:11.519 airbags, even you know, the steel itself is reinforced to prevent you know, 148 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:13.720 the sort of caving in and certain parts of the car. All of 149 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:20.080 that makes cars dramatically safer. So when you're looking at the sort of you 150 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:26.120 know, x Y access access chart of car fee comedies, you see this, 151 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:30.279 you know, big downhill slope after the seventies, and it's sort of 152 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:33.639 plateaus, and then you get up to what twenty ten, right, and 153 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.720 the cars are getting really safe. They've got all the safety technology, and 154 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:41.639 then they've got they're starting to have all the sensors and curtain airbags on the 155 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:50.120 side and so on. And then you get to COVID and things just explode, 156 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:54.720 and you know, It's interesting because car our country has always had a 157 00:13:54.759 --> 00:14:01.200 problem with recks on our roads and carcat so even when we're talking about plateaus 158 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:09.240 or shrinking fatality rates, we're still we were still higher than comparable countries in 159 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:11.639 Europe, for example, or in Australia. So it's still you know, 160 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.639 there's some quotes you can look back and people will still say in you know, 161 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:20.840 twenty ten, oh car crashes our way down, but it's still unacceptable, 162 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:24.399 which is true. But then then you get to twenty twenty and twenty 163 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:30.360 twenty one especially, and it's like something cracks open, right, something the 164 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:35.240 doctor who I use in the start of the story calls it a switch being 165 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:39.519 flipped, and get dramatically worse and they and a lot of that is rooted 166 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:46.679 in behavior. Clearly one of the I don't think I actually put this into 167 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:48.360 the teeth, and maybe it got cut and we're going through. But I 168 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.639 spoke to a guy who specializes in the study of anger, and he was 169 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:58.600 saying, you know, before twenty twenty or twenty twenty one, Americans didn't 170 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:03.039 habitually punch flight attendance. When they got out right, it's like that there 171 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:09.919 was something loosened right, something went a little bit wrong there. The screws 172 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:16.240 totally loosened up, they did. But you see it reflected across, you 173 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:20.480 know, all different parts of America. Bullying, gun violence, suicide, 174 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:26.960 races, drug use, and all of that were more stressed than ever too. 175 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:31.200 The American Psychological Association does this Stress in America test, they call it, 176 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:35.679 and they do it every year now. And you look at the last 177 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:41.080 three years, and it's just people are anxious and nervous and worried. They're 178 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:45.519 worried about their families, They're worried about the future of the country. They're 179 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:50.480 worried about inflation, they were worried about COVID. And you know again that 180 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:56.240 this gets reflected in different parts of our lives. But the car, as 181 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:00.759 one of these experts told me, it's basically the perfect place to let it 182 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:06.000 all out. The way this psychologists and researcher put it is, if he 183 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:12.840 wanted to invent a place to sort of provoke our anxious or our anxiousness or 184 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:18.600 our stress or our anger, you couldn't do better than a car. You 185 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.799 get out there. Traffic's bad, are commute is longer than it has ever 186 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:27.759 been in American history, and you are in a bubble. You can't really 187 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:32.320 see. Sometimes you catch glimpses of the person in the car, you know, 188 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:36.279 maybe what they look like, but really it's an object that you're interacting 189 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:41.240 with, and it just it triggers you in a way that even if you 190 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:45.320 go out saying, you know, serenity, now, I will not let 191 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:51.279 this affect me, it does affect you. And especially and this is where 192 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.000 it's coming back to where it started for me, especially if you have kids 193 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:59.279 in the car and you're thinking, like God, this is these people are 194 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:03.759 putting my family's lives and danger, and the anger gets to you. So 195 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.599 it's all of these things together. The very last part of this, of 196 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:12.319 course, is the sort of part that we will never be able to change, 197 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:17.400 which is that America has built itself in the shape of a car. 198 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:22.880 There are exceptions. There are cities around the country where you can use a 199 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:26.880 bicycle or you can walk in certain areas of that city. Well, for 200 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:33.559 the most part, everyone in America drives everywhere they go because they have to. 201 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:38.480 And you go through sort of sprawl of strip malls, and then you 202 00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:42.359 get into rural areas where you have to drive because there's no public transportation, 203 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:48.039 and it's that part's not getting better, right. I mean, you can 204 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.920 again, you can do this in certain cities. You can try to roll 205 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.720 back some of this and allow more pedestrians and cyclists to be out on the 206 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:57.079 roads, but it's hard to imagine in a lot of parts of other parts 207 00:17:57.079 --> 00:18:03.039 of the country. So it's just sort of where we're at. And there 208 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:07.880 are solutions, of course, but the sort of root problem is not one 209 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.200 that we're going to be able to dress. Right. We're on with Matt 210 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:17.480 Schaer from The New York Times had a great article about just road fatalities here 211 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:22.599 in America and some of the troubles that he uncovered. The name of the 212 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:26.279 program, Your Health First. Our website Doctor Jokealotti dot com. Stay tuned 213 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:30.880 for more health and wellness news. Don't move what We're right back. Welcome 214 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:34.039 back, everybody. I hope you haven't a great Sunday evening. I'm doctor 215 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:40.640 joke Altti to Your Health First. We are raising your Health IQ, one 216 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:45.440 listener at a time, every Sunday evening between seven and a pm. We're 217 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:49.839 here on a mission to make you better consumers, Keep you out of the 218 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:56.160 er, keep you healthy fighting chronic disease. Don't forget our website, doctor 219 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:03.319 Cholotti dot com. Of information there to look over, soner for our newsletter, 220 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.000 all of our social media is there, and there is even a way 221 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:11.160 to send me a message, doctor Jocolatti dot com. All right, we've 222 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:17.240 been on the phone with Matthew Schaer from the New York Times had a great 223 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:23.799 article about the deadly American drivers on the road, and it's a real, 224 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:30.039 real eye opener. I would say. Now, in the article, you 225 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:36.160 go through really chronologically, almost chapters in a sense, starting with the early 226 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:37.759 days, like you said, in the fifties and sixties, and then the 227 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:52.039 car safety became a major factor in reducing accidents and fatalities. Then you get 228 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.960 into COVID and what that switch. Everybody just became unglued. And I think 229 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.839 you're right. We never saw people beating up light attendance, or you know 230 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:07.519 the guy at the dunkin Donuts getting hot coffee thrown on him because he didn't 231 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:12.680 get the right jelly donut. I mean, everybody is just a hair away 232 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:18.799 from going postal. But one of the parts of the article that I liked 233 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:26.079 was based on some of the research where when we may be mister or missus 234 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:33.000 mild mannered behind the wheel, but if you're put into a stressful situation, 235 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:40.359 maybe people are honking behind you, we sort of do our worst instincts. 236 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:45.200 Tell everybody about that. There's this amazing study that I quote and the thief 237 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:48.519 is actually done in Lebanon, of all places, right, not in the 238 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:55.000 US, but it's very relevant to this discussion and very relevant to what you 239 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:59.440 just said about our behavior. And the study I won't go through the whole 240 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:06.680 thing because they put people into a simulator, right that looks like the inc 241 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.519 the inside of a Ford focus, and then they run simulations, and in 242 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:18.160 this particular study, they run simulations intended to provoke people to make anxious or 243 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:23.119 knee jerk responses. And the one part of this study that I nodded along 244 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:26.839 too, and I'm sure a lot of other people will too, is they 245 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:30.559 put people at a stop light and it's a blinking yellow light and you can 246 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:34.680 turn left, but you have to turn left against traffic, and the traffic's 247 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.400 coming towards you really quickly, so you're you're looking for those tiny little gaps 248 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:42.039 in the traffic. At first, there's no one behind you, So you 249 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:45.359 say, okay, I'm going to take my time, and then in the 250 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:52.039 simulator, cars pile up behind you and start to honk. And what happens 251 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:59.440 in the study is even people who are safe and careful drivers, the pressure 252 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:03.720 will eventually get to them right where they will make a move that is risky. 253 00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:07.799 So I have felt this regularly. You know, I try always to 254 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:15.680 be safe, but there's being in traffic and having that pressure put on you 255 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:22.160 and not wanting to hear honking or anger or not wanting to feel that, 256 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:26.119 and you just want you want out of that situation, so you make a 257 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:30.759 move that does end up being risky, and you know it's the cause of 258 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.240 a lot of crashes, a lot of them. Yeah, you know, 259 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.119 I know that, I would say my wife and I the kids, we 260 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:45.599 are certainly on that safer side. But sometimes when there is that oncoming traffic 261 00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:52.759 that you have to sort of just cut across legally of course, and everybody 262 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:56.440 else in the car is like all clear, and I don't move. I'm 263 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:00.480 still there with the blinker on, and you sort of get an just like 264 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.000 dude, what are you what are you waiting for? Uh? And then 265 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:08.240 there's this overwhelming sense of, oh man, another wave of cars, We're 266 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:14.160 going to be here three more minutes. And that just gets under your skin 267 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:18.880 to the sense that, okay, you want me to move, I'm gonna 268 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:21.720 I'm gonna cut somebody off and you and you, uh, you know, 269 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:26.480 you potentially put yourself at risk. So it's it's the external cars honking, 270 00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:30.799 and then maybe you've got a backseat driver saying why didn't you go, and 271 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:36.079 that just sort of amps you up to hit the hit the gas and and 272 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:38.480 try to go. It's it's, it's, it's it's a it's a whole 273 00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:42.960 study on human behavior, which is fascinating, it really is. And now 274 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:47.960 imagine doing it being in that situation, you know, six times on one 275 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:52.279 commute, right, the average commute now is for a lot of people is 276 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.480 way over half an hour and continues to to stretch upwards. And you know, 277 00:23:56.599 --> 00:24:03.480 this is another thing where it's it's not quite equitable how we put people 278 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:07.920 into these certain situations. And by that I mean a lot of the pedestrian 279 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:12.599 fatalities, a lot of the pedestrians who are killed or hit by cars or 280 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:17.759 in low income communities where there's not a lot of infrastructure. There aren't sidewalks, 281 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:22.119 there aren't overpasses to get over the roads. And similarly, a lot 282 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:27.200 of the accidents, a lot of the crashes take place in rural community orror 283 00:24:27.319 --> 00:24:33.559 communities where people have to drive a really long time to get their kids to 284 00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:37.839 school, to get their kids, to get themselves to work. And again, 285 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:41.400 it's just a matter of the more time you spend in a car, 286 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.640 and the more time you're spending on the road, the more you're putting yourself 287 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:51.720 into stressful and potentially dangerous situations. And not you know, a lot of 288 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:56.160 people don't have the luxury like I do. I'm very lucky my kids can 289 00:24:56.200 --> 00:24:59.359 walk to school. I don't take that for granted. It's not common in 290 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:00.759 this country. Yeah. Yeah, And you know, it's sort of a 291 00:25:00.839 --> 00:25:06.000 bad, bad saying of being a road warrior. You know, you don't 292 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:10.480 you don't want to be known as the road warrior because you drive many hours 293 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:15.319 or you're sort of a professional driver if you're in sales or having to travel 294 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:19.559 for a job. But that that whole connotation of a road warrior means you're 295 00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:25.119 ready to do battle with the next guy. And that's that is that is 296 00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:30.519 a nutty way to be the uh the other point, and if you could 297 00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:37.079 comment quickly on the number of people that don't buckle up, it's crazy. 298 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:42.200 Yeah. I mean, so there's two steps in here that I've the two 299 00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:49.799 overall trends that are just very hard to wrap one's mind around. The the 300 00:25:49.799 --> 00:25:55.000 one that's a little easier to wrap one's mind around is drunk driving and intoxicated 301 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:59.960 driving right which had been going down for ten years or still in a national 302 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:03.279 level, and then just through the roof right now and now some of that 303 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:08.200 is intoxicated driving and having to do with marijuana legalization around the country. Some 304 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.640 of it is the same COVID switch that happened. Again, it's understandable, 305 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:15.759 but it's also one of those things where you think, my god, we've 306 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:22.640 been learning about the problem with drunk drivers for decades now, and we somehow 307 00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:26.000 started rolling backwards. But the one that really shocked me is seapbelt use, 308 00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:32.759 the lack of restraints and a lot of fatal crashes. So when you look 309 00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:37.000 at the last let's say three years of available stats for fatal crashes, a 310 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:45.920 significant amount involved unrestrained drivers and passengers, which is just it doesn't really make 311 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:51.000 sense to me, and When I spoke to researches about this, no one 312 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:55.799 could explain it either. It's not like the education is not there. We 313 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:59.200 all know we have to wear seat belts, and in fact, a lot 314 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:04.359 of cars don't let us drive without beeping loudly in our ear until we put 315 00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:10.279 our restraints on. And yet people are turning off those beepers. They're they're 316 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:15.400 turning off the warnings, and they're driving around unrestrained, where they're letting their 317 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:19.119 kids drive around unrestrained or outside a car seats, and it's, you know 318 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:26.920 again, it's there's no there's no reason that this should be so in America 319 00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:30.839 in twenty three, twenty four. It it just doesn't make sense, all 320 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:36.319 right, Matt, hold that line of thought for a second. Final segment 321 00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.599 coming up, This is Your Health First. I'm doctor Joeklotti. Don't forget 322 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:45.599 visit astuctor Joglotti dot com. Stay tuned. Final segment coming up. Too 323 00:27:45.640 --> 00:27:51.519 important to leave stay seated. You should have your seat belts on, by 324 00:27:51.519 --> 00:28:04.839 the way. Final segment tonight on this installment of Your Health First, we're 325 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:08.960 really very lucky to have Matt's share from The New York Times with us, 326 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:18.519 and he had the front cover of last week's New York Times magazine with an 327 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:27.319 article about dangerous driving on the American roads. Why are American drivers so deadly? 328 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:33.599 Huge question? He went into great depth trying to outline that, and 329 00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:40.519 it really is a pleasure having him here on your hell first with all of 330 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:45.480 you, Tonite. So much of what you wrote gets down to the behavior 331 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:49.960 people are more angry now, whether or not it's all spilling over from COVID 332 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:55.920 or were stressed down, and again sort of all the geopolitical things that we 333 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:02.160 read about every day. But so on one hand, somebody that's trying to 334 00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:06.680 solve this problem, which is a behemoth problem to start off with, would 335 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:11.480 say, we have to get it at the behavioral level, which, yes, 336 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:17.039 we probably do have to address the mental health of our drivers. But 337 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:26.559 technology, do you think there is technology available on a shelf somewhere in Detroit 338 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:37.279 or Japan or wherever that we can prevent a car from starting if you're intoxicated 339 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:42.319 or you're under the influence of a drug, or if your car weaves a 340 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:48.599 certain way, sort of a steering wheel sensor that knows this is the behavior 341 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:56.279 of somebody intoxicated, the car slows down or does something or calls nine to 342 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.839 one one whatever. Do you think we're there and we we'll be there to 343 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:07.359 say we're going to solve this major public health problem with technology. Worry about 344 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:12.480 the behavior later. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, here's 345 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:15.160 how I would answer it. There. We know how, we know how 346 00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:19.240 to solve this problem, and we could solve it in a few years if 347 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.640 we wanted to politically, and then this way, it is very analogous to 348 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:29.200 the gun conversation, right, we know we know how we can stop gun 349 00:30:29.240 --> 00:30:32.599 depths from happening in this country. Although we may be sort of pass the 350 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:36.000 point of no return, but for a while at least we knew how we 351 00:30:36.039 --> 00:30:41.079 could solve the gun crisis in this country, which is to restrict the sales 352 00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:45.559 certain kinds of weapons and to move towards a model that's maybe more European, 353 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:49.759 let's say. But of course that's not politically feasible in the US. Some 354 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:55.519 people would say that's not part of American culture. And I use that analog 355 00:30:55.640 --> 00:31:00.319 because it's true of cars as well. Now, the drunk drivings up, 356 00:31:00.720 --> 00:31:04.599 yes, for sure, but on a on a larger level, we could 357 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:11.359 install a massive network of speed cameras, cameras, we could install speed governors 358 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:17.279 on cars, which is something that's going into action i believe next year in 359 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:21.039 some parts of Europe. That will prevent the car from going a certain speed 360 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:25.799 in a certain part of a city or on a certain road. And yeah, 361 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:30.599 of course we could. There's technology now where, at least in Georgia, 362 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:34.240 there is where judges can, for instance, insist that a convicted drunk 363 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:40.680 driver. It's like a key, a breathalyzer key that's connect to the actual 364 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:47.079 key, so that there. The technology is there and it's a matter of 365 00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:52.599 deciding to use it. Another thing that just blew my mind and reporting this 366 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.799 is that there are all these cameras all over the United States that are on 367 00:31:55.960 --> 00:32:00.480 top of red lights, and a lot of them are not allowed to be 368 00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:06.200 used to monitor the behavior of drivers, and in fact, in some states 369 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:10.319 it's unconstitutional to use them at all because people had said, well, you 370 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:13.680 know, it's not fair. I don't want to be monitored that way. 371 00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:15.319 How do you know it's me in the car, et cetera, et cetera. 372 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:20.640 But we know that these things work, right, We have models in 373 00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:25.079 other countries where over ten years after installing, you know, you look at 374 00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:30.319 the decade after the installation of a massive speed camera network, and it's like 375 00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:36.400 a it's like a cliff drop off of fatalities and of speeding and aggressive driving 376 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:40.319 because people learn that they're being monitored and that they can drive that way on 377 00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:45.200 that specific road. So you know it's there. It's sort of a political 378 00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:52.200 will question, honestly, and I don't have super high hopes for it. 379 00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:55.680 I do think what they're what the Federal Department of the Transportation is doing, 380 00:32:55.799 --> 00:33:01.319 is encouraging and interesting, which is working on the roads themselves, right, 381 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:08.200 So that's adding more aroundabout adding more intersections. It's called the do road starvation 382 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:14.400 road diets where they make the roads themselves a little bit smaller and they encourage 383 00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:20.119 more pedestrian bicycle use. And you know that does work. That works too. 384 00:33:20.279 --> 00:33:23.160 Does it work as quickly or as well as a speed camera, No, 385 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:27.839 but it helps, it does help. Yeah. Now, I know. 386 00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:31.000 We were on vacation several years ago in I think it was outside of 387 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:38.119 Phoenix, and there was maybe every eight or ten miles they would be a 388 00:33:38.279 --> 00:33:46.640 mile of cameras, speed cameras, and I got nailed. I was driving 389 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:52.000 through and I said, I think we just got flashed, and sure enough 390 00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:55.960 there was one hundred, one hundred and fifty dollars fine. And that was 391 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:00.039 like the first day we were there, Matt. So yeah, the family 392 00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:05.119 was on me to say, Dad, slow down. But it did change 393 00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:08.760 behavior when we saw that zone. Now it wasn't the entire free way, 394 00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:14.440 it was just these spaced out zones that you had to go through that were 395 00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:19.639 monitored. It slowed down. Now whether or not people when you hit their 396 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:28.199 pocketbook they respond will be seen, Matt in the in the final minute here, 397 00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:34.440 And I really do appreciate you coming on for the average person citizen listening 398 00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:39.840 tonight with the data, and certainly I'll link the article and the magazine article 399 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:45.880 for everybody, But what would you say in a minute. The take home 400 00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:55.000 is so that you yourself can be less of a victim to a car crash 401 00:34:55.039 --> 00:35:00.679 that may kill you or your family. The thing that I've taken away personally 402 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:06.559 from doing this research and from writing the article is that and this is not 403 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:08.920 an easy thing. I'm not pretending that this is an easy thing to do, 404 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:14.079 because we're all human beings and we all carry our own anger and stress 405 00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:21.880 inside. But what I try to do now is be more cognizant about my 406 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:28.119 own feelings when I'm driving, and to always think very carefully when I am 407 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:31.800 driving. So the advice that I got from a researcher about this is you 408 00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:36.960 stay in the right lane as much as you can. You play music, 409 00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:40.719 soothing music as much as you can. And when you feel yourself provoked, 410 00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:45.639 which you inevitably will, because we all do, you just try. You 411 00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:49.760 know, you don't think I'm not going to be perfect. It's not, 412 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:52.920 you know, I'm I'm still a person, I'm still a human being. 413 00:35:52.960 --> 00:35:55.079 But I'm going to try to let this one go. I'm going to try 414 00:35:55.159 --> 00:36:01.000 not to let this escalate in the way that affects other people on the road 415 00:36:01.039 --> 00:36:06.079 alongside me, or affect people who are in the car with me. And 416 00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:08.679 again, that's not easy. That's not an easy I'm not pretending it is. 417 00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:13.480 But it does work. And if everyone did that just a little bit, 418 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:16.280 we'd get in a much better place, I would agree. Matt's share 419 00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:21.400 with The New York Times, thank you so much for coming on tonight. 420 00:36:21.719 --> 00:36:24.159 Thank you. I really appreciate it. All right, Well that does it 421 00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:29.079 for us tonight on this Sunday evening. Thank you all very much for tuning 422 00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:32.280 in, taking an hour of your day out to just become a little bit 423 00:36:32.360 --> 00:36:37.159 more wiser, a little bit more safer. Don't forget, we'll be back 424 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:42.440 here next Sunday evening. Take care of yourselves and the ones you love. 425 00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:46.199 Eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, and don't get too crazy behind 426 00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:49.880 the wheel. All right, take care. We'll see you next Sunday night. 427 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:54.079 You've been listening to Your Health First with doctor Joe Bilotti. For more 428 00:36:54.079 --> 00:36:58.679 information on this program or the content of this program, go to your health 429 00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:07.599 first dot com.