Moms Are Driving As Poorly As Teens

The headline from a Tweet I just saw said, "New Moms Among the Most Distracted Drivers."(CBS NEW YORK)

Only 4 re-tweets.

I am a parent in a time of deep paranoia. I don't have to tell you that parents are worried. Probably too much right now. There is a lot of talk amongst my circle of moms about getting into the right school, after school activities, making sure our kids get ahead.

But what about just getting our kids there safely via the automobile?

Yesterday I saw a mom driving on her minivan talking on her phone.

It made me angry. Obviously she had kids in the car. Does she not know that talking on your phone increases your chances of being in a car crash by a lot?!

Maybe she doesn't know that car crashes are the leading cause of death to people under the age of 25.

Let's channel some of our modern paranoia into preventing car crashes and saving beautiful lives.

The Baby on Board Sign, Why I Like It

"Did you buy this?"

My husband held the yellow Baby on Board sign by Safety First in horror and disbelief. Yes, I answered, but don't worry I've just got some ideas, it's for Fix The Toaster. He was relieved.

But the truth is my plans might makes him freak out more.

I plan to modify the sign. Add my own thoughts to it. And post my thoughts on the back of my minivan. I'll do this ever so often and post it here. I'll call it Read My Bumper Day.

I used to hate those signs, thinking the parents were egocentric, as if I care about your child more then my own life.

Now I think about the sign differently. At least it's asking nicely, please drive slowly or hey, this is why I am driving slowly.

Just yesterday I saw a sign that said Child On Board. I've never seen that.

So get ready for Read My Bumper Day. I'll only put my sign up for one day at a time. And I imagine I'll do it on days I'm driving on the freeway.

If you become inspired to put up your own version of a please drive safe bumper sticker please email me or post it using the hashtag #fixthetoaster

And if you are thinking I'm nuts....then let's pull out the old statistics again. The World Health Organization says that:

Key facts

• About 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes.
• Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people, aged 15–29 years.
• Over 90% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, even though these countries have less than half of the world's vehicles.
• Nearly half (46%) of those dying on the world’s roads are “vulnerable road users”: pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
• Without action, road traffic crashes are predicted to result in the deaths of around 1.9 million people annually by 2020.
• Only 15% of countries have comprehensive laws relating to five key risk factors: speeding, drinking and driving, and the use of motorcycle helmets, seat-belts and child restraints.

Media &The Flu vs. Media & Car Crashes

So much attention on this flu outbreak. While I too take precaution and worry about it I believe we need to give equal attention, if not more to car crashes. They are the number one cause of death for our children.

"...says Dr. Etienne Krug, the director of the Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention at WHO.

Krug says that when it comes to the health and survival of children around the globe, there has been a preoccupation with infectious diseases and malnutrition. But he notes that a child who survives infancy faces a series of dangers as they get older.

"Once a child reaches age 9, injuries become the leading cause of death," Krug says. "We have a huge public health problem out there. ... It is like wiping out the entire child and adolescent population of Chicago every year."

The World Health Organization found that being on the road or in a car is dangerous for children anywhere in the world"

-via NPR

Car crashes kill 260,000 children a year and injure about 10 million.

Why do we continue to focus on that which we can not control? In my mind it is as if we have taken this fatalistic approach to deaths via car crashes, attributing them to gods on a mountain top. Yet, when we are sick or our children are sick we use hand sanitzer, we get shots, we avoid public spaces.

Kids are dying at the hands of adults daily. Many of these crashes being preventable. Yet prevention, merely by driving as safely as possible, is not being taken.

Again, why?