I Forgot to Buckle My 2 Year-Old Into His Car Seat

My husband and friend will often tease me, "Oh no. Fix The Toaster" is at it again. I joke that I'll look like a real ass if I die in a car accident.

Joking aside, chances are pretty high I might die in a car accident.

Sorry to be a Debby Downer, but so are yours.

Your odds of dying in a motor vehicle accident are 1 in 83, that's over your lifetime (if that's of comfort)

Your odds of dying while flying are 1 in 5,000, to offer some comparison.

Anyways, I know car accidents will always happen, I get it. I drive safely or rather I try my best. But those odds need to change.

Yesterday, after taking my two kids who are 17 months apart out and having them cry off and on for the entire outing I finally got them both in the car and was happy to get out of the garage.

I was at a light when my 2 1/2 year-old said, "Mom, I'm not buckled in!"

I threw the car into park, got out and buckled him in, not before kissing him and telling him thank you for telling me. I make mistakes.

I have accidents. (not car related, knock on wood)

I try very hard to drive defensively and I hope that I never cause a car accident.

But things happen, this I get. My point here is that:

1. Accidents happen but most that are happening are preventable.

2. I'm not saying that I'm impervious to car accidents or a fantastic driver.

I know that my heightened awareness for this topic is partly driven by the beautiful souls that are covered in fragile bones and flesh, that I drive around daily.  What Lori Coble has had to go through blows my mind. She lost all three of her children in a car accident.

Remembering-Kyle-Emma-and-Katie-Coble-Video

Even though car accidents will always happen so much can and should be done right now to change this.

Infrastructure should be looked at, merging when given only a few hundred feet is absurd and dangerous.

Speed should be reconsidered.

Driving distracted heavily examined.

Driving thoughtfully. As our contributor Scott Marshall said, driving is a team sport, I love that thought.

A Post By Our Contributor Scott Marshall

This is the first post from one of our contributors, Scott Marshall of Safe Driver. Scott is father to 4, he lives in Canada. We are please to have him sharing his insight here with us. Raising my kids has taught me many things.

I always try to get them to realize that they should think of how their actions could affect anyone else. My parents raised me the same way. So far it’s worked out quite well. There’s often remorse when they do something they know is wrong.

That remorse usually means they make the proper decision before they do the action. That should keep them on the up and up as they go through life, don’t you think? Have you been raised to think about how your actions may affect someone else?

Recently while I was out driving with my son on the freeway, we came across a situation that affected my son emotionally.

While passing a slower vehicle on my left, that said driver decided to change lanes toward my vehicle. Since I teach my students at Young Drivers of Canada a technique that will allow them to notice slight movement of vehicles in a variety of directions, I was able to notice their movement quite early. Once I noticed their vehicle’s movement toward my lane markings I tapped my horn quite a few times with the hope of getting the driver’s attention and getting them to stay in their lane. It didn’t work so I ended up having to reduce speed and move partially onto the shoulder to my left to avoid the collision.

The driver who attempted to change lanes did absolutely nothing while I continued to tap my horn except continue into my lane; the space that my vehicle was occupying. A few moments later, they changed back into their original lane.

As we continued past them, my son and I glanced over to see what a driver might look like who seemed to care less about our safety.

The driver was someone probably in their mid-twenties and they were smiling as my son and I glanced at them.

Were they smiling because they were successful at cutting us off?

Were they smiling because they didn’t crash at freeway speeds?

Only they will know.

I tend to shrug those things off as I see them happen each week when I drive, but my son couldn’t do it. He started to cry. Yes, he was upset that the driver almost hit us and would have done so if I didn’t respond as I did.

He was more upset that the driver didn’t seem to have any remorse for their actions. He actually said to me, “I could have died and they didn’t care!”

Have you ever thought of how your actions could really affect other people when you drive? This careless and thoughtless driver didn’t seem to care about us and anyone else on the road, including themselves. Why not? Were they not taught these values as a child? It’s never too late to change.

The next time you’re driving, ask yourself before you make a driving choice how it could affect someone else; even the 12 year old passenger of the vehicle near them. Remember, you can mentally scar someone with your actions; not just physically injure them. It’s time to think before you act.

This article is for my friend; Lindsay Kavet. She has the passion that more people need to help make changes with road safety. – Scott Marshall The Safe Driver 

**Thanks Scott!

Back Up Cameras Save Lives: Why The Delay Then?

When I first started driving my Lexus about 5 years ago it came with a back up camera. At first I thought it felt very strange and unsafe to me. I didn't trust it.

Cut to today, driving my minivan (gag, I know but so much easier with 3 kids) it is a Toyota Sienna and it too has a back up camera. Now when I get into my husbands car, which does not have a back up camera, I feel like I am backing up blindly. Literally, I can not see and neither can you. People under a certain height have no chance of being seen. At a certain point you really are just backing up hoping a child is not walking behind you.

Fixt The Toaster contributor Scott Marshall has written more about the dangers of it here.

Did you know that there is a federal mandate that was supposed to go into effect for all new 2014 cars to all have back up cameras?

This has been delayed (shocker) over a the camera having a 1 second delay versus is a 3 second delay once the car is started up. The DOT has estimated the backup camera could prevent about 18,000 injuries and save 300 lives a year.

This was all talked about 5 flipping years ago.

According to an article from USATODAY

The Feds reportedly have insisted on one second; automakers have argued for three seconds, because if the car has just been started, the more complex dash systems with navi, etc., take a moment to "boot up." But the feds say that leaves too much time for the car to move rearward before the image appears.

So 300 more people, normally elderly and kids likely died this year due to this delay. Here is the letter from the Secretary of Transportation Ray La Hood and another article on the delay.

What should we do to? I'm not sure, but here is a link to contact the DOT. Let's hope Ray La Hood get's this going in January. Come to think of it, this guy has a huge task on his hand. I mean, really he is the head of transportation. He's got one hell of a big crisis on his hands if you ask me.

Driving Safer Advocacy Groups

Over the last 5 years I have, from time to time, looked for safe driving advocacies. Of course I knew about MADD, but what I was looking for didn't seem to be out there. I was just looking for an organization that promoted safer driving in all forms. Now that I'm behind Fix The Toaster and I have all 9 of my likers on Facebook ;) I am finding more groups that are advocacies for distracted driving.

Groups that have been launched out of senseless tragedy like Kate's Krew. Kate was a toddler killed by a distracted driver. Her father has launched the group.

There is Distraction.gov dedicated to making our roads safer by ending distracted driving. They have a beautiful site and highlight people who have died due to distracted driving. Erik Okerblom was a beautiful soul who was struck by a speeding teenager while bike riding at the age of 19. There is also a foundation in his name.

And of course our new contributor Scott Marshall up in Canada, a father driven by his passion for making the roads safer.

So why Fix The Toaster? Well, I'm trying to act as an advocate for driving safer, looking at changing the speed limits, looking at our infrastructure, trying to switch people's brains from accepting these ridiculous statistics to questioning why do we think that's OK. I am not a Harvard grad. My husband is, he will be weighing in on some amazing statistics I've had him come up with on nights I am angrily pacing saying it's ridiculous. I was doing keg stands at the University of Iowa. But I am a mom. I'm passionate about the subject. And I have always driven in the slow lane.

And by the way, I will post on the way I drive in the near future because I know that driving too slow is dangerous as well.

Anyways, I'm hearing of people out there who want change. We just need the masses to hear us. And we need someone to help us implement the change.

Have a safe commute tomorrow. Drive with care for yourself and the people around you. Even if your first thought is "asshole" let's try to slow down and be aware.

Introducing Scott Marshall

Since I have become determined to try and make some difference in the amount of people dying in cars I've come across very few sites that have garnered a big following. Of course there is MADD, which has done amazing things. But what I was aiming for was a bit broader, as my mom would say "weirder." Just a general thought process that this is truly crazy that so many people die in car accidents and that we seem to have accepted this as, acceptable.

I have found one person whom I have really enjoyed reading. I recently emailed him and asked him if he'd be interested in becoming a contributor to Fix The Toaster and he has said yes.

So, Fix The Toaster is happy to introduce Scott Marshall.

He is a father to 4! He is a Canadian and his site Safe Driving offers up a lot of observation coming from a very good place. He is passionate about making the roads safer just as I am. He'll be posting in a couple of weeks.

Fix The Toaster is looking for more contributors, if you know someone who is passionate or knowledgeable about this subject please pass on our info to them.