SAFETY: Keep a portable carbon monoxide detector in your cars

Sunday, March 22, 2026

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15643759/aubrie-morgan-carbon-monoxide-death-michigan.html

Woman, 18, killed in terrifying freak accident while sitting in her running car – and no-one could work out what happened to her, until they hoisted vehicle into the air
By NATASHA ANDERSON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Published: 15:50 EDT, 13 March 2026 | Updated: 18:48 EDT, 13 March 2026

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It wasn’t until police hoisted her 2010 sedan up onto a lift that they noticed the small crack on her engine’s manifold.

The crack allowed exhaust gases to leak inside Aubrie’s vehicle, which investigators say led to her death by the so-called silent killer of carbon monoxide poisoning.

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Aubrie’s heartbroken parents are now urging other drivers, especially those with older cars, to keep a portable carbon monoxide detector in their vehicle.

They also plan to start a nonprofit organization in Aubrie’s name that will focus on raising awareness about the Carbon Monoxide exposure in cars, Today reported.

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I have heard the advice to ensure that a car’s exhaust pipe is clear in blizzards.  This is the first I’ve heard of a crack in the exhaust pipe of an old car causing a fatality.

I have a small monitor for when we travel because hotels have several exposure risks.  It was cheap, $40 and good for a decade. 

Seems like cheap insurance?

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SAFETY: Put what3words on your fridge

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Is what3words on your fridge?

BBC Radio Nottingham recently shared a clever way to help kids tell 999 call handlers where to find your home in an emergency: stick your what3words address to your fridge.

By turning what3words into a household staple, you’re giving your family a useful tool that can make all the difference when every second counts.

# – # – # – # – #

If you have a landline, then I’d put it on the phone as well.

Seems like an easy “2do”.

In addition to their name, address, and phone number, their what3words address should be easy to get them to remember.  Like their safety word.  Maybe that could be their safety word?

With all the stick on clothing labels, you could add that too.

Good idea?

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SAFETY: Dispose of Lithium Ion batteries properly

Sunday, March 2, 2025

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/02/see-a-garbage-trucks-cng-cylinders-explode-after-lithium-ion-battery-fire/

See a garbage truck’s CNG cylinders explode after lithium-ion battery fire

  • It happened recently in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Nate Anderson – Feb 20, 2025 5:21 PM |

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Garbage truck fires are never ideal, but they are usually not catastrophic. When a fire broke out on December 6 in the back of a garbage truck making its Friday rounds through the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, the fire department responded within five minutes. Firefighters saw flames shooting five feet into the air out the back of the truck, and they prepared to put the fire out using hoses and water. Four minutes after their arrival on scene, however, the garbage truck exploded in rather spectacular fashion, injuring several firefighters and police officers, damaging several homes in the vicinity, and scattering debris through the neighborhood.

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What is an infrequent event  — a garbage truck fire  —  turned into a war zone!

Do you think all the warnings are just to give someone a job?

In this case, no one was hurt.  But that was just luck.

Remember this when you’re flying or just doodling around town on your e-scooter with your laptop.

Not everything has to be sabotage by a waring country; sometimes it’s just ordinary human stupidity.

Argh!

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SAFETY: Get your exercise and walk around the care and install a dash cam

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10230701/Shocking-footage-captures-moment-vehicle-blows-red-light-hits-pedestrian.html

​Maybe all the cars should come with dash cams; not backup cameras.

(Weren’t / aren’t drivers taught to walk around the car  before starting?  I still do.  Never found anything, but hate it if I didn’t and destroyed anything.)

What else are people being taught?

  • Stop at the red lights!
  • Open driver’s door with you right hand.
  • Lock the car and take the keys.

Argh!

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