I think we are the problem

As I was driving out of my neighborhood today, I noticed a young lady out of the corner of my eye roll through a stop sign, and speed on out next to me.   She was talking on her cell phone and clearly it was an important phone call at 7:00 in the morning, as she missed coming to a complete stop.   Driving is a task and one which to be done safely, must be focused on.  There is a lot of focus on distracted driving, specifically related to texting, but the thing I cannot help but wonder is what type of driver safety training or defensive driving course or driver education class had she taken.    Then I noticed as we pulled up to the next stop sign, who was in the vehicle with her – a parent.

My youngest is four and she constantly reminds me of how impressionable our kids are.   I have to be super careful of language I use and she joins me on our Daily Drive of 1 plus hours to and from work/school.   Yesterday, someone pulled out in front of me driving at a speed of less than 20m miles per hour below the speed limit.   I said God Bless you and my little girl said, “Get out of the way jerk, call him a jerk Daddy.”  Oops.

So as we were driving to school/work today, I counted the number of people who were doing something other than driving… the numbers are astounding.   I would say no less than 80% of the people I was driving around were on the phone, reading email (lap driving), eating, primping, putting on make up, listening to music with earphones on, yelling at their kids or writing?   The one that really got my attention was the lady next to me who had cigarette in her left hand and was texting/emailing with her right… the knee was steering.   Needless to say I got away from her as quickly as I could safely!

Seriously, we are the models by which our kids shape our behavior – what type of role model are you?   Right now there is a lot of focus on texting and driving, but all forms of distracted driving are problems which translate to unnecessary accidents or fatalities.   The focus behind the wheel should be driving.    What example do you set for your kids when you are driving?  Could you use some refresher driver safety training yourself?   Our safety driving video touches on what habits you should develop and addresses all forms of distracted driving.   Further, you could save yourself some $ by taking our online driver safety program, as successful completion does lead to discounts for auto insurance (make sure you check with your agent).

One group you might want to check out, this is a very powerful website and these people are personally committed to educating the public about the dangers of distracted driving, check out www.focusdriven.org, the stories are heartbreaking and you really understand the importance we all should give to being good role models for the next generations of drivers.

Be Safe,

Kent