As my daughter gets older and is about to leave the house, these are the things that keep me up at night. You can teach and teach and teach, but no one can stop "the other guy" from doing what they do.
Too may great kids have been lost by texting. Three kids plowed into a tree 1/4 mile from school near here. One minute they are happy teens coming home from school, the next all three are dead from texting. THAT FAST.
All over in less than a few seconds.
A girl passed me on the freeway going 70mph plus TEXTING. I figured he eye's were on the road less that 50% of her driving. As she passed I watched her head bob up and down constantly.
You guys that have made it over the pain - congratulation, I have a feeling it would kill me.
Yes to all of the above. Especially the last sentence.
We just had ANOTHER car load of teens killed last week. Driving too fast and likely drunk but the test results are not available yet. The car went out of control, hit a tree, and caught on fire. I surely hope they all died instantly. They could not ID the occupants for a few days.
We just did a short trip to pick up the kids from the grandparents. The number of people who Just Have To Get Ahead of Everyone Else is amazing. They cause everyone to slow down and endanger others to get a few seconds ahead of someone else.
I do a bit of traffic control from time to time. The number of pedestrians who assume that the car driver will see them AND stop is astounding. I have seen hundreds of people who will just step out in the middle of a street with out looking at traffic. :confused2: Often they are talking on the phone or listening to music and completely oblivious to their surroundings. :confused2: There is one event I have worked helping crowds cross a street to a church. People will jay walk to cross the road instead of taking a few steps to the corner where there are crosswalks, lights, and officers to help the people safely cross. This particular intersection is dangerous because the church blocks the view of drivers who are turning down the road that is between the church and parking lot. The drivers, if they are paying attention at all, have very little time and distance to see and react to the jay walkers. Oh yeah, this is at night with limited light. :confused2: I would guess that at least half of the people jay walk without ever noticing the danger. Many of the people are elderly and have trouble walking so they do not want to take the extra steps to the cross walk. The problem is that they simply cannot move quickly when so their time in the danger zone is increased. Thankfully the intersection is most often shutdown so they are safe but all it takes is one driver not paying attention.....
Do not ever assume that the driver sees you and will stop. That does not matter if you are walking are driving.
On another forum I visit, one of the forum owners lost a father who was hit by a car. The father was on the curb waiting to safely cross when an habitual felon went over the curb, hit and killed the father. Sometimes scat happens.
Our eldest is riding a bike from the library today to the pool. Not so much worried about the traffic since it is forced to slow down at the intersection that has to be crossed but more about people near the intersection. Oh well, the oldest is more than old enough to go by themselves. I was crossing a four lane highway everyday for school when I was a few years younger than our oldest. You have to start turning them loose at some point but that does not mean you loose the worrying.
Later,
Dan
