Distracted to Death - Keep Kids Alive!

Dear Friends in Traffic Safety,

I hope that many of you caught Oprah's show on January 18th highlighting the tragic results for families, and many others, of driving while texting, talking, or e-mailing on a cell phone while driving. This is a must view for all of us. Check out Oprah

The research has been done. Driving while talking on the cell phone leads to a 4X greater chance of crashing - the same as driving drunk at .08 blood alcohol level. Texting while driving leads to and 8X greater chance of crashing. Driving while intexticated is even a greater threat to all of us, especially when one considers that more people may be driving while texting than those who drive after drinking. Both behaviors lead to thousands of deaths and well over 1 million injuries each year.

In the midst of the fast and frantic pace of life, the plain and simple challenge is to view driving as a skill that takes our singular focus. It is up to each of us, as drivers, to make the decision each and every time we get behind the wheel to set the cell phone aside and transport ourselves and our passengers from point A to point B. In the process we must decide to observe all the rules of the road - speed limits, traffic signals, space management between vehicles, signalling our turns and lane changes - in order to keep others safe on the road as well.

To put it in a different context, could we imagine a quarterback of a football team trying to run a play while texting? Wouldn't we see this as ludicrous? The players focus would be anywhere but on the task at hand. And yet, many believe they can handle multi-tasking behind the wheel.

The invitation to us all today is to put down the phone and drive. Take the pledge to make your car a "No Phone Zone". Do it because it is absolutely the right thing to do regardless of what laws may permit in your state. More and more states will be enacting legislation to ban cell phone use behind the wheels. None of us has to wait for a law to force us to do what common sense should lead us to do each day. To do more, please visit FocusDriven and www.KeepKidsAliveDrive25.org.

In safety,
Tom Everson
KEEP KIDS ALIVE DRIVE 25® - A Non-Profit "For Action" Organization 501(c)(3)
402-334-1391
kkad25@kkad25.org
http://www.keepkidsalivedrive25.org/