Deborah A thoughtful post from my friend, Ellen.
http://networkedblogs.com/5Zj3K
about 1 month ago - Comment
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JillSimpson Do We Tolerate Too Many Traffic Deaths?
By THE EDITORS
This holiday weekend marks the beginning of the summer road-trip season, and with it the attention to accident death tolls and pileups. While traffic-related deaths in the United States have decreased in recent years — even though more people are on the road driving more miles — the number still hovers around 37,000 fatalities a year.
Should the nation work harder to reduce that number? What’s the one thing that could be done to reduce highway deaths?
Very interesting discussion by a number of experts:
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/do-we-tolerate-too-many-traffic-deaths/3 months ago - Comment
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Cooper Pets and Distracted Driving
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/pets-and-distracted-driving/
Although driving while text messaging or talking on the phone is getting a lot of attention, pets can also be a common source of driver distraction. Exact statistics on pet distraction are difficult to come by — most surveys list unrestrained cats and dogs inside the car as one of many “internal distractions” along with grabbing loose items on the seat or swatting an insect. But nearly 90 percent of pet owners say they travel with their pets. And one survey from Nationwide Mutual Insurance found that 8 percent of drivers admit to driving with a pet on their lap.4 months ago - Comment
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ClumberKim Driving with an unrestrained dog is like not putting your kid in a car seat. Crates keep everyone safe.
3 months ago
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Deborah Teens texting while driving? Will these live tests help curb texting while driving?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100516/ap_on_bi_ge/us_no_text_while_driving4 months ago - Comment
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Quiltndollmaker I sure hope so!
4 months ago
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gottalovemom Oprah's pledge "No Phone Zone" and No Distracted Driving is making it into the FB world . Even O'Reilly had the video in tonight's show.
Emily and Cooper - you are definitely pioneers!
Here's the video that's spreading the "reality" of why NOT to text and drive.
(Hopefully, a lot of people will learn..)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QggEvJAlV1s4 months ago - Comment
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Emily Oprah wrote a great op-ed for the New York Times today, called "Dnt Txt N Drv."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/opinion/25winfrey.html?src=me&ref=general
Here's the start:
WHEN I started out as a TV reporter in Nashville in 1973, a death from drunken driving was big news. One person killed by a drunken driver would lead our local broadcast. Then, as the number of drunken driving deaths across the country continued to rise, the stakes for coverage got even higher. One death wasn’t good enough anymore. Two deaths — that would warrant a report. Then a whole family had to die before the news would merit mention at the top of the broadcast. The country, all of us, had gotten used to the idea of drunken driving. I just kept thinking: How many people have to die before we “get it”?
Fortunately, we did get it, and since 1980, the number of annual traffic fatalities due to drunken driving has decreased to under 15,500 from more than 30,000. But in recent years, another kind of tragic story has begun to emerge with ever greater frequency. This time, we are mourning the deaths of those killed by people talking or sending text messages on their cellphones while they drive.
Earlier this month, I visited Shelley and Daren Forney, a couple in Fort Collins, Colo., whose 9-year-old daughter, Erica, was on her bicycle, just 15 pedals from her front door, when she was struck and killed by a driver who was distracted by a cellphone. I think about Erica’s death and how senseless and stupid it was — caused by a driver distracted by a phone call that just couldn’t wait.
Sadly, there are far too many stories like hers. At least 6,000 people were killed by distracted drivers in 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the number is rising. A lot of good work already is happening to try to change this. President Obama signed an executive order banning texting while driving on federal business. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is pushing for tougher laws and more enforcement. States are passing laws, too. Local groups are gaining strength, spurred by too many deaths close to home.
But we are hesitant to change. I saw this firsthand when I instituted a policy at my company that forbids employees from using their phones for company business while driving. (click the link above to read the rest.)4 months ago - Comment
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Deborah Agreed.
4 months ago
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Quiltndollmaker We have all seen the distracted driver on the phone or texting pull right out in front of us?
4 months ago
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Emily Supertaskers: Why Some Can Do Two Things at Once
This piece from Time Magazine caught my eye. Here's the start of it.
Multitasking has become a way of life. Most of us think nothing of juggling a couple of chores at once, whether at home or in the office or, most dangerously, on the road. And despite some states' bans on talking while driving, as well as a raft of studies showing the potential deadliness of distracted driving, chances are good that you still have cell-phone conversations behind the wheel.
Chances are also good that you think it's O.K. because you're a truly capable multitasker. Maybe you even consider yourself one of the few supertaskers who, unlike the rest of us, are so mentally agile that they can safely talk or text — or pen a novel — while driving.
A new University of Utah study on distraction in the driver's seat finds that such virtuosos do exist: the paper, which has been accepted for publication this year in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, found that a very small percentage of participants — 2.5% to be exact — were able to do other things successfully while driving (in the study, it was solving math problems and memorizing words) without a drop in performance on any task.
In fact, some of these supertaskers performed better while multitasking than they did while completing the tasks alone. The authors of the study suggest that there may be a set of biological, genetic and perhaps behavioral factors that contribute to efficient multitasking, and that maybe some of these factors can even be learned to make the rest of us better at doing two things at once.
Here's the link to the rest of the story: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1977523,00.html
5 months ago - Comment
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Deborah The "multi-tasking" term that so many have embraced, seems a term over-used and applauded. Mostly by women, it seems to me. *aghast* (I have heard countless women brag about this) Perhaps out of neccessity? I don't know, I hate it. Hate it. Multi-taksing generally means that NOTHING really gets the attention it deserves or requires. So, now we're surprised that people are doing 12 things while driving? I'm not buying this study.
4 months ago
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Brandie The Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Texting while driving could get you pulled over under a bill approved by the state House.
The bill also says drivers under 18 can be pulled over for texting
or using a cell phone of any kind, even if they're using a headset.
There's an exception for emergencies.
Using a handheld cell phone would remain a secondary offense for
adult drivers. That means police could only write the $124 ticket if
you're pulled over for something else.Continue reading http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011249343_apwaxgrdrivingwhilephoning1stld.html6 months ago - Comment
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Becki A national crackdown on distracted driving takes an unexpected turn today. A new study shows that the number of traffic crashes did not drop in three states and the District of Columbia after they banned drivers from using handheld cellphones.
The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), examined insurance claims for crash damage in New York, Connecticut, California and Washington, D.C., before and after handheld bans took effect and found no reduction in crashes.
"Absolutely, we were surprised by these results," says Adrian Lund, president of IIHS and HLDI. An Insurance Institute study in 2000 found that drivers talking on cellphones were four times as likely to crash as drivers not using phones. "The key finding is that crashes aren't going down where handheld phone use has been banned," Lund says. "This finding doesn't augur well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2010-01-29-cell-phone_N.htm7 months ago - Comment
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Becki I want to point out that this refers to bans on handheld phones--I think it's likely that hands-free phones cause just as much distraction, or inattention blindness, and that that is the real issue. I don't think you can conclude from this study that phone use, or texting, while driving is safe.
7 months ago
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Cooper In this segment, a few of the victims in the audience of the Oprah show tell their stories. Our friend Shelli Ralls who lost her son Chance Wilcox is included and her words are so powerful.
http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Victims-of-Distracted-Driving-Accidents-Videos8 months ago - Comment
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Becki When I caught a glimpse of you and Emily in the audience, the pain on your faces for these families was almost as poignant as their words. Such devastation, and all preventable.
8 months ago
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Brandie Good news - they are producing a apiece (or maybe an entire show?) about the people's reaction to this show! So the conversation will continue on!
7 months ago
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Cooper Oprah has a pledge too! Woo Hooo! Click link above to sign.
http://www.oprah.com/questionaire/ipledge.html?id=48 months ago - Comment
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Emily
Set your DVRs - Oprah's show on distracted driving airs today! She
calls it "America's New Deadly Obsession" - which it is. Please spread
the word - the more people who see it the better! (Look for Cooper and
me in the audience.)
8 months ago - Comment
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robin I didn't see you guys either in the audience. I also made my son and husband watch (most) of it with me. Very, very powerful for all of us....I am sure we will talk much more at dinner about all of it tonight.
8 months ago
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Brandie What a powerful show! I didn't catch most of it when it aired this am (we were out of the house) but I caught the entire show when it reran this evening. I don't know how many times I teared up - but the show was so emotional. I'll admit to talking and driving (never again though) but how anyone can claim to be able to text and drive - you have to keep looking at your phone - how anyone thinks they can do both is beyond me. And I hope more and more people get the message to not do this.
8 months ago
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Emily
Berdine
Japsi has written a feature article on Mom Sends The Msg, detailing the
history of the campaign and its importance. Way to help spread the
word!!!! Thank you, Berdine. Here's the start to the article (click
the link below to read the whole piece):
In a telephone interview with Emily McKhann, we discussed the campaign that she and Cooper Munroe, both from http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-26915-NY-StayatHome-Moms-Examiner%7Ey2009m11d23-Welcome-to-the-motherhoodcom , have started. It is called http://www.momsmsg.com/my-blog/2009/10/take-the-keep-your-mind-on-the-wheel-pledge.html#more . The purpose of this campaign is to keep the drivers mind on the wheel and not to become distracted by texting while driving.
The campaign started when Emily and Cooper where invited by the White House and the DOT to attend a http://www.rita.dot.gov/distracted_driving_summit/press_release/2009_09_29.html .
They created Mom Sends The Msg campaign the very next day, a result of
what they had learned at the Summit, the impact it had on them, and the
necessity to help spread the word of the dangers of texting while
driving.
Texting while driving is not only a problem with adults. Teens watch
adults and pick up on their behaviors. If an adult does something then
it must be okay. Texting while driving is not okay. This is distracted
driving and it is very dangerous. A young man, http://www.rita.dot.gov/distracted_driving_summit/press_release/2009_09_29.html ,
found this out the hard way. He is in his early twenties today, but in
2006 he was texting while he was driving and caused an accident that
killed two people. Those two people will never go home to their
families again. Reggie Shaw's life will forever be changed; he was
sentenced to jail time. The state, in which the accident occurred,
Utah, now has a law in place against texting while driving as a result
of this accident. Reggie Shaw also spoke at the Distracted Drivers
Summit in 2009. This accident has bothered him ever since, and he
dedicates his time to go around the country talking to others about why
they should not text and drive.
You would not get in the car with someone who is drunk, then why get in the car with someone who is texting. http://www.examiner.com/x-26915-NY-StayatHome-Moms-Examiner%7Ey2010m1d15-Mom-sends-the-msg-campaign
8 months ago - Comment
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ChristineC Emily and Cooper, your lights are about to shine for everyone! From this, Oprah, and other magazines; you two are going to be superstars! Of course, those of us on this board have already known that. Awesome job ladies and keep up the wonderful work!!
8 months ago
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CoffeeMom Very cool!
8 months ago
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Cooper Even as concerns rise about technology distractions for drivers, automakers are rapidly bringing PC features to the dashboard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/technology/07distracted.html8 months ago - Comment
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Deborah Honestly, as soon as one does it others will be at their heels. I am BEYOND ticked about this. Why do we care about would-be terrorists, cancer or shark infested waters if we can drive and eat and smoke and text and put on make-up and send an e-mail while driving. AGH!!!!!! I hope LaHood makes waves on this. I'll be splashing around on this as well!!!
8 months ago
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gottalovemom Someone has to put a stop on this madness!!
8 months ago
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Cooper A consensus is emerging for an outright ban of cellphone texting when behind the wheel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/technology/02distracted.html8 months ago - Comment
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Becki This is such common sense! How can anybody NOT think that texting behind the wheel is a serious and dangerous distraction? The mystery to me is why we haven't seen more action on this before now.
8 months ago
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Cooper OK, everyone - we have a job to do! In Pennsylvania, a http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2009&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=2070 has passed the Transportation Committee and it now sits in Appropriations awaiting a full House vote. What on earth are Pennsylvania's lawmakers waiting for? As each hour ticks by, texting drivers continue to travel the roads of Pennsylvania essentially with blindfolds on. This must stop. Why? Just ask http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=92558 to a distracted driver. It's an awful story but could happen to any of us -- Jacy and her parents were driving home together from Jacy's college graduation when they were hit, killing Mr. and Mrs. Good and putting Jacy in a coma.Pennsylvania moms, we know what we need to do: 1) Rep. Eugene DePasquale, who represents the 95th district, and Rep. Josh Shapiro have been working tirelessly on this cause for years. In fact, Rep. DePasquale has http:// http://www.pahouse.com/Depasquale/cellphone_petition.asp that urges Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass this important legislation against distracted driving. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION http://www.pahouse.com/Depasquale/cellphone_petition.asp .2) Please urge your legislators to pass the bill and make it a law. To find out who your legislators are in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, go here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/ and call them or send them an email demanding they pass the ban on distracted driving in Pennsylvania!3) Put a link to this post on your Facebook, Tweet it and blog it. SPREAD THE WORD!4) http://www.momsmsg.com/my-blog/2009/10/take-the-keep-your-mind-on-the-wheel-pledge.html#comments to "Keep your Mind on the Wheel!" We look forward to hearing you story, too. If you have a Pennsylvania distracted driving story, comment or question post in the comments below. Thanks everyone, looks like it's up to the moms to Send the Msg and get that bill passed into law.PS. Please remember - http://www.pahouse.com/Depasquale/cellphone_petition.asp (it only takes a second to sign)!
9 months ago - Comment
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Deborah My mind is not on the wheel tonight. I'm home. There was a horrific car crash today in our little town. I didn't witness it, though my oldest saw it on the bus on his way home from school. Four ambulances and many police cars. Stretchers with people on them and a body bag. I had to drive by the local tow-trucking place shortly after the accident and they had one of the vehicles on a flat bed. A dark navy Town and Country minivan. We know TWO local families with that van. I called both. It wasn't them. Thank goodness. But, it was somebody. It was somebody's someone. A clear day at 3:00pm. Hmmm....distracted driving? I tend to think so.
9 months ago - Comment
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cinda OH, Deborah, I am so sorry and more so for the families involved. Followed by the gratitude of "it's not them" is "it's somebody's someone". Prayers going toward your town.
9 months ago
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gottalovemom I've actually seen the ad on TV and billboards in NYC!
Now, I hope the message gets through to everyone...
http://news.vzw.com/news/2009/10/pr2009-10-23.html9 months ago - Comment
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lindseyh Originally Posted by /profile.php?u=6643 in /circle.php?l=57997
I was in a massive car accident in January which has changed my life completely. I'm in no way embarrassed of my story nor is it hard to talk about. I've always been told dont text while you drive, and not to drive when your upset, but like every other teenager I didn't listen. On January 11, 2009, I had the wake up of a life time. At the time, I had a jealous boyfriend that liked to start arguements. It was around 6 o'clock that Sunday morning when he woke me up to start a fight; the fight quickly got out of hand. As the fight escalated, my friend came to check on me to see what was going on, I told her not to worry about a thing just go back to bed. The fight got physical, so I left. I told my friend I was going around the block and I'd be right back to get her, I wasn't going to let her in the car with me while I was that upset. Irecieved text after text from her and my ex, and the little I remember, none of the messages were very nice from either party. No one saw the wreck, only the aftermath. The conclusion that was drawn: while texting my black Honda two-seater hit a patch of ice, which then made me hit a parked car, and as I was told I must of tried to correct myself which in result made the car flip until it hit a rock wall about 50 feet from the house I was at. The EMT note stated that it took 30 mins to an hour to remove my body from the demalished vehicle and once they took my blood pressure my top number was at 40. I wrecked on a Sunday and don't have any memory of being awake until that Wednesday. I was later told about the accident and the parts of my body that it affected. Both femurs were broken and are now held in place by rods and screws. Both of my knee caps were broken and have been wiredtogether. On my right lower extremity, my tibia was not only broken but was missing 6 cm of bone and 13x8cm of muscle and skin (now accompanied by a metal rod) ; also, my fibula was broken and now is accompanied by a metal rod that resembles a hook at the end going into my ankle, to finished off my right leg I have plates and screws inserted into my ankle, and a muscle and skin graft was taken from my stomach and thigh to replace what was no longer there on my shin. I also had 7 fractured ribs on my right side, a fractured pelvic bone, a bruised liver, and 2 fractured disks in my neck. The night of my accident, after my emergency femur and knee surgery, after my parents finally started to understand what happened to their 18 year old daughter, I had a stroke. My stroke affected the right side of my body, the doctors said I wouldn't be able to talk due to the stroke, so imagine the shock when I woke up speaking. Unfortunately, it did affectmy arm, hand, and fingers. We aren't sure what percent the stroke affected my right leg, due to the fact that I couldn't move it or stand on it because of the trauma. I had 3 surgeries in the first month and my last surgery in march. I was told it would be a year before I'd walk. I regained the ability the walk with a walker by Easter and was walking with no assistance by mid-June. I feel as though this is a topic that is extremely important. Most of my injuries are completely visible if i have on a tank top and shorts. I believe you need physical evidence to believe in something. I'm willing to be that example to help people who either have been through it and to raise aweness that no ones invincible
9 months ago - Comment
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Cooper Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am so sorry you went through this and it is SO important to share. You are saving lives by telling your story. Unfortunately, ee had to remove the photo of your leg because many moms read the site with kids in their laps. I hope you understand. Your story is very important. Thank you for sharing.
9 months ago
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Deborah Hmmm...having trouble getting this to re-size. It says:
Honk if you LOVE Jesus.
Text while driving if you want to meet him.
3 months ago
Brandie I saw that a billboard last week!
3 months ago
JillSimpson Love that! Always good to get the msg across with humor!
3 months ago