Car Crashes Are The #1 Cause of Death To Kids Ages 1-12

Car crashes are the singular biggest event claiming the lives of our youth.

Car crashes are the #1 KILLER of American kids ages 1-12. 

We all go out while pregnant and make sure we invest in the best car seat, a lot of us go to the local firehouse and have them properly install it. Then we labor for hours, sometimes days and we finally drive our precious newborn home as safely as possible.

If only we always drove home like we do on that drive.

As a mother I of course am trying to encourage other mothers and fathers to help spread the word. Our children are dying in mostly preventable crashes. 

We need to slow down, get off our phones, not tailgate and drive with more care. 

Keeping our kids safe goes beyond the car seat. It frustrates me that the media focuses on freak accidents and we all start to live in fear of events we truly can not predict. But these car crashes, a lot, can be avoided.

Talk about tailgating and using your phone at the dinner table. It is important. 

Fix The Toaster T-Shirts & Bumper Stickers Coming Soon

Interested in promoting safer roads by promoting humans to drive better?

Fix The Toaster has some cute new t-shirts and bumper stickers headed our way soon.

Stay tuned.

Humans Are Mostly Good, Tailgating is Really Bad, So Why Are People Doing It?

Do you tailgate?

You shouldn't.

It's dangerous. Really, really dangerous. If the person in front of you isn't going fast enough pass them but better yet relax. 

Especially on the freeway when you are driving at high speed where injuries are a lot greater, due to speed. Can you imagine crashing at 65MPH or 80MPH? The thought horrifies me.

Women, on average, labor 18-24 HOURS with their first child. Your arriving 10 minutes faster to a destination or even 60 minutes faster is not worth compromising your life or someone else's.

If a true accident were to occur and the person in front of you had to quickly stop and you did not leave enough room and you hit them that would be a crash. 

You would seriously injure, perhaps kill someone and you could have avoided it.

Why You Should Care About Distracted Driving Month

Today I had my kids color in free, printable pages I downloaded from AT&T's site.

They read "No Text On Board"

I taped them into the inside of my car.

Hoping someone will see and think twice. You are probably thinking, yeah right lady. Before you leave this page, hear me out.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death to people under the age of 12.

A lot of fatal car crashes are avoidable. That is what drives me mad. But that fact drives me. And it is a fact.

Adults are now texting and driving more then teenagers. What a pathetic statistic.

Look around you when you are at stop signs. People have their heads down, looking at their phones. They are probably talking or texting to people they like or perhaps love. They risk not only their own life but yours and others as well.

April is Distracted Awareness Month.

You should care.

Around 110 Americans die in car crashes every single day. And what pisses me off is that a lot of these crashes don't need to happen. They are not accidents. When you are given a diagnosis of cancer the majority seek treatment. Why are we Americans driving around pretending that "accidents" just happen and there's nothing to do to avoid them but buy a safer car? That's the big fat lie we are living by. When we are sick we take care of ourselves. We need to take care of ourselves by driving safely.

I'm talking to as many people as I can now about the dangers of texting, talking and using hands free while driving. It is not safe. Please help us spread the word.

I had printed out on the table a page that had information about a little 9 year-old girl who was run over by someone texting and driving. My 6 1/2 year-old asked who she was. I hesitated and then said, she was a little girl who got run over by and adult texting and driving and she died.

My son was quiet.

A few minutes later I heard him ask my nanny, "Where is this little girl?" My awesome nanny explained that the girl went before her time.

We talk to our kids about danger. The dangers of pools, guns, strangers. We need to talk to them about the danger of cars. But we need to stop being the danger.

We have to start driving with more care for one another.

Because who wants to die in a freaking car crash? Speeding and zipping through lanes just to get somewhere 10 minutes before others is senseless. Especially if you never get there.

There is so much that can be done so I hope you can do something in honor of Distracted Driving month for all of the people who have died in car crashes.

And in the last 10 years alone that number is over 1/2 million, in America alone.

Where are the ribbons for that cause?

Look Around You

I have seen so many acts of disrespect for human life on the road.

I am sure you are seeing it too.

Don't join the masses. Refuse to answer or look at your phone while driving.

Texting and driving is so cliche I'm really surprised people still do it honestly. Do you want your legacy to possibly that of someone who killed someone because you were texting? Eh. Really?

Even hands free is dangerous.

April is Distracted Awareness month and I am making a change. No more talking on my phone AT ALL when driving.

I hope you can join me and convince others to do the same.

I will be putting this No Text on Board by ATT on my car for April.

You can download it if you click here and look under "Spread The Word" "Download Kit." Your kids can color it.

I'm becoming convinced that we will see a major change in the way we look at driving and our role in the deaths that come from it in the next 20 years. Be a part of the revolution baby. I'm actually holding a get together tomorrow at my house for locals who are interested in making our community safer.

The more I talk about this with people the more they agree and I feel less like a worry wart. People are tired of feeling unsafe on the streets.

This Young Woman Speaks Up When Friends Text While Driving

Do you speak up when you are a passenger in the car and the driver begins to text or talk on their phone?

You should.

Even if the person mocks you.

Read and hear about Cady Reynolds, a 16 year-old who was killed by a fellow distracted texting, teen who ran a red light, while texting.

"Distracted driving kills. Safe driving starts with you," says the sister of Cady Reynolds.

On May 30, 2007, 16-year-old Cady Reynolds was driving her best friend home from a movie near Omaha, NE when another teen driver--who was texting behind the wheel--ran a red light and slammed into her car at 50MPH. Cady was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries and died the next day. (Distraction.Gov)

Are you a teen? Do you ask drivers to stop texting and talking while driving? Are you an adult who feels comfortable, doesn't feel comfortable? I'd love to hear.

Bumper Sticker Failure

About a month ago I wrote how I was going to make my own bumper stickers and drive once a week with them. Yeah, that didn't go over so well.

My nanny thought I was selling my car for $40,000, it was hard to read the sign.

Then I found the sign thrown in my trunk, see husband for that.

So, that's not going to happen people. But I did just come across a nice free, printable sign that you could post on your car from Stop The Wrecks.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/dGUea4fcagc]

Kids Drowning in Pools vs. Kids Dying in Car Crashes

With the weather warming up more kids will be swimming.

Pools and kids scare me to my core. Just this week I had a conversation with a woman about Fix The Toaster, I asked her if she knew that car crashes are the number one cause of death to kids. She said, no, she thought pool drowning would be. No, I said, car crashes.

But I wanted to know the statistics, so here you go.

Every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 or younger. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States.^{1 CDC}

So according to the Centers for Disease, 2 kids, under the age of 14 die daily in drownings.

5 kids die daily in car crashes.

As the weather warms you will no doubt hear about kids drowning in pools. It is a sick fact and it frightens me of course.

But you will not hear of the kids dying in car crashes nearly as much.

5 Teens Die in a Car Crash

5 more teens lost their lives due to a car crash.

According to WLOX they ran a stop sign. A preventable crash. 

Very sad for all of the families who lost their children in this horrific car crash.

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.

Playing Out: Closing down streets so kids can play

This is amazing. In the UK two moms started something called Playing Out. They organized planned closing of streets to cars so kids can go out and play in them! And parents can socialize.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/30483877 w=435&h=239]

"I think we don't do enough things as a community anymore and that makes me sad...we go into our houses shut the door and we are alone..it doesn't seem like it should be like that," says one woman from the video.

Another woman talks about how far much less TV is watched because of it. Really a forward thinking idea. The moms talked about the older kids playing with the younger ones.

New York City has a similar program called Play Streets.

Speeding Is Never Worth It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkxJW-LZGz0

A bit too graphic video but still thought provoking.

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?

Car Crashes, Looking the Facts in The Eye

When I start to talk about Fix The Toaster with people, they almost always laugh, initially.

Then I start talking about numbers.

Like that fact that about 115 Americans die daily in car crashes. Most of which are avoidable

The fact that about 40,000 Americans die annually in car crashes.

The fact that almost 1/2 million Americans die in car crashes every 10 years.

Bring this up as topic. See what kind of response you get. Let's get the wheels spinning.

Also, do you tell your kids how dangerous driving in a car is? We frighten them about pool safety, walking with scissors, wrapping things around their necks, guns but do you let them know how dangerous it is to be in a car? It is the number one killer of people under 25 in the USA. You probably don't, because you don't want to scare them.

Because we have to drive.

I think we need to really look this issue in the eye, it is scary and it needs to be fixed.

Disagreeing With the Argument That Car Crashes are a Given

I just came across an older article, from 2010, written by a mom who was affected by a piece on NPR she heard. It talked about the fact that about 5 children die every day in the USA in car crashes.

The comments she received on the piece seem very backwards to me. Such as:

"Even if you never rode in a car ever again there are many ways we lose our lives, it is the human condition."

Yes, we will all die. But would you write that same sentence if it were commuter airlines killing 5 children a day? Every time there is a plane crash massive investigation goes into it. Our airlines have become very safe due to the pressure and demand to keep them that way.

Would you fly if 40,000 were dying in plane crashes every year?

Another commenter, whom I agreed with had this to say:

Casey@Good. Food. Stories. 12/13/10 at 5:35am

After almost 10 years of being able to use public transportation for my daily commute, I'm back to driving every day. You are right to worry - texting drivers, road rage, blatant disregard of lights and traffic signs (not to mention NO ONE stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks) - sorry to rant, but the things I see on a simple 10-minute drive are enough to strike fear into any mother's heart. 

The Sarah Lily Grace Fund

I went to an event this afternoon in Pasadena, called The Sarah Lily Grace Fund. 

I mention it here on Fix The Toaster for two reasons.

One, I was beyond inspired at the cause that the father Matthew Badger fights for. I'm beginning to look at the way other organizations with a mission run themselves. I blogged about the afternoon via my Expressing Motherhood blog.

Reason Two: While walking my 6 year-old and holding my 2 1/2 year-old to the private home I was not shocked at the fact that a few angry people sped by us on the slick roads, pissed off that a bunch of cars were parked on their beautiful, what I am assuming can only be a very quiet street in Pasadena.

Matthew Badger has spent almost a year dedicated to this fund, spurned by the unimaginable loss of his daughters.

A beautiful afternoon on a rainy cool LA Sunday, surrounded by supportive artistic LA parents and their kids.

Trying to Drive Safely in LA When it Rains Upsets People

It's been raining in Los Angeles.

And there is a great stereotype that people in LA don't know how to drive in the rain.

The problem with this great saying about us is that I think a lot of people think some people drive too slow when it rains. I think the other half of people think the majority drive too fast.

When I texted the CHP the last time in rained here in LA, I asked them, what piece of advice would you give fellow LA peeps in regards to how to drive when it rains?

Their response was: Slow down and leave more space between yourself and the car in front of you.

I have come to the conclusion that doing this infuriates a lot of drivers here and they react by making very sad, poor, judgements in regards to how they drive.

I tweeted today: Post to come on me attempting to drive the speed limit in the rain in LA. Angers a few people. Been passed by people who race to the red.

Gary Kavanagh from @GaryRidesBikes responded: in my experience (before giving up car) rain or shine, driving within speed limits always pisses some people off.

Well I have been passed, very dangerously and angrily twice in the last few days.

The worst was on Friday, coming back from a lovely dinner with another family. I had my 6 year-old in the back of my minivan ( and YES I think it really pisses people off that I drive the speed limit in a minivan, the car just pisses people off in general)

I was going East from Hollywood and taking surface streets Los Feliz was very very slow as it always is and then as it always does, it freed up right before the hill down into Atwater Village. The speed limit was 35. I was gearing up to go 35 when I heard an engine revving. The car behind me gunned it, crossed the double yellow line, into oncoming traffic to pass me on the left.

He then got in front of me and went into the lane next to me and he stopped at the red light.

Uhhh. OK, he loves to stop at red lights, I know there should be a club of people who love to race to red lights.

I pulled up next to him. I looked over at him and rolled down my window.

I felt like he wouldn't shoot me. I don't know, call me an optimist.

"Hey, how's it going?" he said and I could tell he was taken aback. He was a white guy, bald, not bad looking.

I stared at him and smiled and said, "What are you doing?"

"Just going with the flow of traffic," was his response.

You mean gunning it going about 45, crossing a double yellow line into oncoming traffic. BTW let me remind you I was going the speed limit and the roads were slick. The CHP, the people who will come wipe bloodied faces off of the street when people get into car accidents, have recommended to drive a bit slower and leave more room. And believe me the CHP have seen more blood and destruction due to cars then I'm sure they thought they ever would.

I smiled, "So many people die in car accidents," I responded.

"Drive safely," he said.

"I do and you should too." I responded.

The light changed and I drove and he was slower then me.  Because the person in front of him was turning.

I drove away with my heart pounding.

Why aren't people getting it?

Today I was passed very angrily on the right, again on slick roads. I was going to speed limit.

See, in LA, if the roads are somewhat clear, people want you to speed. But fuck that idea of going as fast as you can if it's clear. I was sharing the road with bikers.

I had my child in the car. I care if you have your child in the car. I care if you don't have children.

Something is really wrong when it is unsafe for us to actually drive the speed limit and not speed.

Change is needed.

A Graphic Video About Texting And Driving

Wow. I just stumbled upon this video about texting and driving. I had to pause it at 1:00 as I truly feel like I might pass out. It is graphic.

But I applaud this video.

We are killing ourselves and other people, grandparents, moms, dads, hot single young women and men, babies. Over our greedy desire to text.

Warning this video is very, very graphic.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQB5Bl_2GKI]

Taking Action to Bring Attention to All These People Dying By Car Crashes

OK. So, I don't have all the answers about what to do. I'm trying to bring about discussion and awareness to the fact over 1/2 million fellow Americans have died in car crashes since 9/11.

What color ribbon do I wear for that cause? Oh wait. Nothing. We are currently accepting this statistic as a given because our roadways have become a place of battle. Literally we are killing ourselves and each other.

I did indeed put pen to paper though and wrote a letter to a local paper.

Here is it.

Chances are maybe one person will begin to think differently about the importance of driving their 5,000 vehicle close to 40 next to my 26 pound toddler next time we pass on the street.

Certainly the man who tailed me down our loverly quiet street yesterday didn't read it or doesn't really give a....

Well anyways, it's a start.

I encourage you to write your local paper. I'd love to hear about it!! Let's get this movement going.