On Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 5:25 AM 4 teenagers lost their lives in a terrible crash in Sarasota, Florida.  So far the police are only saying that speeding was most likely a factor and that alcohol and/or drugs were not factors.  Even if alcohol and/or drugs was a factor the results remain unchanged -- 4 teenagers (male - 19, male - 19,  female, - 15,  female - 14) lost their lives.  On Tuesday March 15, 2011 another crash occurred on I-75 about 20 miles away resulting in another life (16 male) ending and his 16 year old girl friend being air lifted to the hospital in serious condition.

Many of the teens that visited the site of the first crash had actually sat through a seminar three months earlier dealing with this very likelihood.  One of the teens at the scene said emphatically that he had heard the  message of the seminar but it didn't mean anything to him at the time however this lost of life really drives home the point.

Once again, how many deaths will it take until we know that driving is dangerous and must be treated with respect that should be given to a potentially loaded firearm?  The passengers in the 4-teen crash could have told the driver to slow down (and maybe they did) but they lost their lives anyway.

We don't need even one more death to know that "Driving is NOT a social event" and "You DON'T get do overs when driving".  It is within every driver/passenger's personal control to NOT become another statistic.  However, it takes applied common sense and proactive safe driving to get back to your driveway safely no matter what your age is!

Please check this link for the newscast of the event.

What advice would you give to someone just before they get into a car to go somewhere?

On August 25, 2009 a young man in Polk County, Florida was texting while driving and lost sight of the proper control of his vehicle.  The end result was that he slammed into a garbage truck that another young man was working behind and severed both of his legs and his right hand index finger and thumb.

What on earth could be so important that it's worth negatively and horrifically changing the rest of someone else's life who was just doing their job???  Please note that the texter didn't even have the decency to at least first ask permission to take the other young man's legs and fingers away from him!!

Florida does not yet have a no texting/cell phone law on the books and while that is a terrible shame please look and listen to what a Connecticut Highway Patrolman had to say about how effective the law is even a year AFTER it's been enacted. Click on this LINK and watch the 3 minute video (make sure to unmute the speakers on the video).

While a law does give the police the ability to cause people financial pain before (hopefully) they cause someone else or themselves irreversible physical or mental pain you must understand that with or without the law IT"S WRONG TO USE YOUR CELL PHONE WHILE DRIVING!!  If the message is so important it must be delivered now, pull over first and that way you won't misspell any words.  BTW, who knows whose life you won't affect negatively.

What are your thoughts on the need to have a law?

Can you legislate away ignorance?

Please share your thoughts!

In November 2010, the Today Show ran an article on what it's like to be an elderly driver in an automobile and showed some ways for people to simulate the restrictions that age places on our bodies.  These changes do not occur instantly or they would be relatively easy to deal with.  They occur over time and announce their presence in your life sometimes in a very violent way.

On the Today show, February 9, 2011, a video of an 83 year old individual driving the wrong way on a highway showed in dramatic fashion what the consequences could be if people's ability to safely drive a vehicle are not evaluated by one's self as well as interested family members.

Please view the attached link and see what was shown.  Fortunately no one died however the potential was absolutely there for a bad ending.

How do you bring this delicate topic up to a loved one?

Under what conditions should we consider "helping" people we know and love who shouldn't be on the road operating a vehicle?

What happens when you don't die?  The simple answer is you live!  I know that seems obvious but there is more to it than that.

When you live, you get old, when you get old, you get frail, and when you get frail, you need help.  This is a paradigm that many insurance companies use to help people realize that Long Term Care Insurance is an important investment for younger people while they have their health.

This also describes what unavoidably happens in each of our lives as a driver behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.  Not many people can easily see that as they age their ability to operate a vehicle becomes more and more difficult to do with an adequate safety margin.

Please check out this link to see a feature article on this very topic during the Today Show on November 10, 2010.  The article unfortunately comes with a 30 second commercial that I don't know how to get rid of so please persist and see the article to increase your awareness about a subtle but increasing threat on our nation's highways.

How would you recommend opening a discussion of this issue with your parents? 

What about someone in your own neighborhood that you were very fond of?

Please share your thoughts to help others on this very important issue.