I’m a Coroner, These 5 Simple Things Could Potentially Save Your Life
Newsweek · C · trust 54/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A woman has revealed five potentially life-saving tips she says she learned while working in a coroner's office.
Mariah Moretti is a California-based mother of three who spent three years working for a sheriff-coroner and attended "hundreds of autopsies" during that time. The experience gave her a fresh perspective on life and the simple steps people can take to reduce their risk of tragedy.
"A lot of these are things we don't think about or learn until it's too late," Moretti told Newsweek .
First on her list is simple advice: get your heart checked regularly if you're over 50.
"I am not a medical provider, but seeing so many people pass away from heart-related deaths that, in many cases, could have been prevented with intervention made me want to spread the word," Moretti said.
The statistics support her concern. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2024, it claimed more than 683,000 lives, including more than 76,000 people ages 55 to 64 and over 560,000 people ages 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Next, she urged drivers to be extra cautious when traveling late at night, even after a traffic light turns green.
"Don't immediately accelerate," she said. "Stop, look both ways, and then proceed. A lot of people run red lights at night, especially impaired drivers."
Research suggests nighttime driving carries greater risks. An analysis by eTags using National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data found that while only about 9 percent of driving occurs between sunset and sunrise, roughly 49 percent of fatal crashes take place during those hours.
Moretti's third recommendation is to avoid the fast lane on the freeway late at night or early in the morning.
"I've seen fatal crashes involving drunk drivers traveling the wrong way on freeways," she said. "They think they're in the slow lane when they're actually driving against traffic, causing head-on collisions."
A 2021 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety analysis found that wrong-way crashes on divided highways killed more than 2,000 people between 2015 and 2018, averaging about 500 deaths each year. Researchers identified alcohol impairment as a major factor, with six in 10 wrong-way crashes involving an impaired driver. Older age and driving alone were also linked to an increased risk of driving the wrong way.
Fourth on Moretti's list is avoiding busy roads when riding a bicycle whenever possible. "Stick to bike trails or neighborhood streets whenever you can," she said. "We saw a lot of serious accidents involving cyclists on open roads."
She believes visibility issues and distracted driving contribute to many of those incidents.
"Drivers are distracted by a plethora of things, such as phones, children, or other passengers in the car," she said.
Again, the data back up her concerns. The CDC estimates that nearly 1,000 bicyclists are killed in crashes involving motor vehicles each year, while approximately 120,000 are treated in emergency departments for crash-related injuries. Although bicycle trips account for only about 1 percent of journeys in the U.S., bicyclists represent 2 to 3 percent of those killed in motor vehicle crashes.
The fifth and final piece of advice is aimed at parents: Know who is caring for your children.
"I have seen cases where people neglect children in different ways," Moretti said. "The best way to prevent this is by doing a background check on anyone watching your children. I would also encourage families to install cameras in their home."
Related Story Two Common Health Problems May More Than Double Death Risk After 50 Federal child care rules require extensive background checks for many licensed caregivers, including criminal history reviews, sex offender registry searches, and child abuse registry checks, reflecting longstanding concerns about child safety and caregiver vetting.
However, a 2022 report to Congress found significant gaps in states' compliance with federal child care screening requirements. At the time, 27 states failed to carry out at least some of the background checks and hiring practices required by law, while 19 allowed employees to begin working with children before those checks were completed.
Moretti decided to share her advice in the hope that lessons learned from some of life's most tragic circumstances might help others avoid becoming part of the same stories she witnessed firsthand.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and Sam Wilson .
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