10.05.09

The Next Generation of Distracted Drivers Is Learning from You. That’s Right, You.

Posted in Liberty, Life, Pursuit of Happiness tagged , , , , , , , , , , , at 9:02 pm by working writing woman

texting and talking on a handheld or a handsfree cell phone is as or more dangerous than drivng drunk!

Texting and talking on a handheld or a handsfree cell phone is as, or more, dangerous than driving drunk!

Here’s a thought for all you moms and dads who still defend your habit of driving while talking on your cell phones or texting, despite the ever- growing body of  evidence that PROVES you are driving while impaired. (No matter  your self-proclaimed and non-existent superior, multi-tasking abilities.)

Your babies, toddlers, children and teens are watching your every move.  And as every parent knows, there’s no adage more true than “Monkey see, monkey do.”

Let’s fast forward.

One day in the not- too-distant future your darling 3′6″ seven-year old superhero will be your darling seventeen-year old, testosterone-fueled, completely invincible (at least to himself) 6′3″ superhero with a brand new driver’s license. Your golden boy or girl will be behind the wheel of a several- thousand-pound vehicle with cell phone or PED in hand… or NOT.

If nothing else can persuade you to put down that phone or PED and to lead your kids by your BEST example, the thought of your eventually-adolescent, hypocrisy-sniffing offspring doing exactly what you are doing today should chill your blood.

It does mine.

According to the United States Department of Transportation statistics, simply talking on the phone (handheld or NOT ) while driving is like driving legally drunk with a blood alcohol of .08.

Texting and driving makes you 23 times more likely to be in an accident that day.

Do you want your kids to drive with those odds?

Then don’t do it yourself.

Repeat after me:

I will not drink and drive.

I will not text and drive.

I will not phone and drive.

09.30.09

Watch the Conference on Distracted Driving Online Now

Posted in Life tagged , , , , , , , , at 2:59 pm by working writing woman

The U.S. Department of Transportation thinks distracted driving ( texting, phoning and drinking)  is  enough of a problem to convene a two-day Distracted Driving Summit.  You can listen to right now online.

08.02.09

Raise Your Hand if You Need a Federal Law to Tell You Not to Text While Driving

Posted in Liberty, Life, Pursuit of Happiness, useful information tagged , , , , , , , , , , , at 7:16 pm by working writing woman

While I applaud the intent of the good Senators Menendez, Schumer, Landrieu and Hagan, and I do firmly believe the findings of the many researchers on distracted driving, do we REALLY  need a law to keep us all  from texting while driving?

Well now, we do seem to need laws to keep from us shooting each other, from sticking each other with knives, abandoning our spouses and children at the mall, and driving through red lights, not to mention about six zillion other potentially stupid human tricks.

Hmmm… come to think of it,  maybe we really do need the proposed ALERT (Avoiding Life-Endangering and Reckless Texting by Drivers) Act (or possibly we could just call it American Lawyers Easy Revenue Trail Act? )

Or, is it that we need an effective tool to punish those who text while driving?

My suggestion: forget the fine. A driving-texting offender will be prohibited from owning a cell phone, crackberry or  any other form of PED, existing or to be invented, for up to ten years, until his/her brain finishes maturing sufficiently to realize TEXTING AND DRIVING DON’T EVER MIX. (This applies if the driver is 16 or 96.)

Please …tell me that you DON’T EVER TEXT WHILE DRIVING? (Reported stats say 20% of drivers DO!)

03.14.09

NYPD Aids the “The Hang Up and Drive” Movement

Posted in Life tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , at 12:13 pm by working writing woman

Friday, the 13th of March 2009 was not a good day for New York City residents who chose to talk  on their hand-held cell phones while driving.  Seems the New York City Police Department implemented a crackdown and handed out 9,016 tickets for the offense in one 24- hour period.

I say HOORAY for the boys (and girls) in blue!

What do you suppose that says about the statistical likelihood you are encountering a great many inattentive drivers who are bumper-to- bumper, or worse yet, head-on, with you and your kids, parents, friends and family who are driving, playing and walking, each day?  Read the rest of this entry »

01.15.09

Can You Hear Me Now? Join the Hang-Up-and-Drive Movement

Posted in Life tagged at 4:51 pm by working writing woman

Join the movement...buy a bumper sticker!
Join the movement…buy a bumper sticker!

Ok,  so it’s not an official movement yet. But it can be if you all get with it and join me in supporting the National Safety Council’s call to ban all cell phone use in cars.  And pass it on by sending this posting and links to a few like-minded friends. (Yes, shameless blog promotion, I know.)

Click here to go to a site that offers  several Hang up and Drive bumper stickers and the html code  for the nifty little widget to the right. ( No, I don’t know who they are or make any money from the suggestion.  And yes, I do have one of the bumper stickers. That’s my bumper in the photo.)  If you don’t like the sticker offered on the home page at this site, just look just below it to the link.

And here’s a link to The New York Times article that delves into some of the research behind the proposed ban with additional links embedded there to take you to the research.

So join in. Get a bumper sticker and start talking it up. Write to your congressional representative and your governor. As mentioned in the previous post,  I did write to Jon Corzine, asking him to be THE FIRST governor to sign the proposal into law since he almost” bought  the farm”  due to cell phone use (and speeding and no seat belt … DUH!)  in his car.

And if you send me a photo of your car with your hang -up- and- drive bumper sticker,  I’ll post it here.

01.12.09

Hooray–National Safety Council Proposes a Ban on Cell Phones While Driving

Posted in Life tagged , , , , , , at 9:11 pm by working writing woman

Who would have thought that the National Safety Council would make my year? And on only the 12th of January?

To my way of thinking, drivers who insist on talking on their cellphones are, and have been, a menace and a scourge on our society  for the last ten years. So  I can NOT begin to tell you how thrilled –no– make that ECSTATIC  — I am at the news  that the U.S. National Safety Council  is proposing a ban on cell phones while driving in all 50 states!

I wish the NSC as much success with this program as they had with seat belts and infant car seats.

I am,  after all,  the woman who sports a bumper sticker that reads “HANG UP AND DRIVE”.  I refuse to answer my phone while driving. And no, I really don’t think that hands-free is any better. ( And neither do the NSC studies.)  I don’t know why, I can’t explain it.  I just know I can carry on a conversation with a person sitting in the car and that’s not half as distracting as talking on a cellphone. It’s long been my view that cell phones and cars do not mix, kind of like alcohol and cars do not mix.

ALLELUIA… where do I send my contribution for this campaign to begin?

Now please excuse me, while I  write to Jon Corzine, the current governor of New Jersey, who, in case you do not live on the East Coast and did not hear,  was very NEARLY KILLED about 18 months ago when the driver of his official car was TEXTING as he drove the UNSEATBELTED governer to an event, going an estimated 90 MPH, in the left lane of the GARDEN STATE PARKWAY. Perhaps the good governor (who I happen to like very much)  was spared by the powers-that-be  for this exact purpose …so that he could be THE FIRST to sign the proposal into law?