Thursday, January 20, 2011

Death By Walking Around - Keep Kids Alive!

The latest report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) indicates that 1,891 pedestrians died as a result of motor vehicle incidents in the first 6 months of 2010. If the trend continued throughout the year almost 3,800 people would lose their life via the act of walking around - something we may well take for granted.

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25® has worked with many families who have experienced firsthand the death of a loved one who was walking around. These include:

8 year-old Shaye Martin, hit by a speeding motorist in a school zone while walking on the sidewalk to school

5 year-old Nicolas Riconosciuto, hit while walking in his neighborhood the first week of kindergarten.

11 year-old Tia Townsend, walking in a marked crosswalk with a friend, when struck by a motorist who pulled around a vehicle that has stopped to let them cross safely.

10 year-old Sierra Feaster, struck by a speeding motorist while crossing in a marked crosswalk in a school zone

For their families, and many more, 1 death by walking around is one too many, as it would be for any of us.

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 is committed to pedestrian safety as we live our mission every day of the year. Two key components make up our commitment. These are:

Stop! Take 3 To See®- an educational initiative that targets observance of stop signs and stop lights on the part of motorists, and also works to teach children of all ages how to cross the street correctly, and safely. Click Stop! Take 3 To See®.

Keep Kids Alive Drive 25® and Be Aware! Drive With Care® initiatives work to educate and engage motorists in doing their part to keep pedestrians safe. First by observing the speed limit or driving even slower when pedestrians/cyclists are present, and secondly by being observant of all that is going on around them while driving - this means saying no to any and all behaviors that lead to distracted driving (cell phones, eating, grooming, etc.).

Join us as we work to reach the goal of "target zero" - that is, no deaths as a result of motor vehicle incidents. It is the only acceptable goal. Help mobilize your community, neighborhood, school, business, or civic organization to be the solution to the traffic safety problems we ourselves cause - speeding, tailgating, running stop signs and stop lights, not buckling up, driving while intoxicated or intexticated. Get started by visiting www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org today.

"Don't let the 2 minutes you 'save' be the last 2 minutes of someone's life." David Townsend (Tia's dad)

In safety,
Tom Everson
Executive Director/Founder
Keep Kids Alive Drive 25 - A Non-Profit "For Action" Organization 501(c)(3)
www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org


Thursday, January 6, 2011

Good Grief! What Can We Do To Keep Kids Alive?

All around the country we are barraged with news stories and headlines about tragic deaths that we feel helpless to prevent. Who can know when a teenager will snap and kill? See Millard South shooting: Suspension ignited fury. Or, who can know when a mother will forsake herself and her own child? See Lafayette girl called dad 19 times day she died.

In the midst of grief and shock we can stand mystified questioning just what any one of us can do to make a difference and keep kids alive? In the wake of tragic deaths, we can also ask, "What can I do that would make a difference each day to keep kids of all ages alive?"

A simple answer is to do what is in our power to do to keep ourselves and others alive. Simple answers are not always so easy to live out though. An example would be to simply focus on our driving behaviors. Can we manage to go through a day by not speeding, stopping correctly at all stop signs and signals, not tailgate, not engage in any form of distractions that take our focus off the task at hand - driving, make sure everyone is buckled up, and never drink and drive?

If we can do these simple, but necessary, actions each day, we each will have done something meaningful, and do-able, to keep ourselves and others alive.

The question then becomes not only "can we do it," but, "will we do it?"

The answer lies in your decision behind the wheel today.

In safety,
Tom Everson