Community Corner
Distracted Driving: Why It’s Not Just Cell Phones Putting Moms at Risk
Mom's are no stranger to distracted driving. Shuttling kids to and from destinations have created distractions long before cell phones were an issue.
It’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month and all the recent news regarding has got this mom thinking; it’s not just cell phones being used without headgear responsible for distraction. Coming from someone who works from home, works weekends and has an extremely active child; it’s pretty easy to see how our busy lives can get in the way of good, responsible driving. My level of distracted driving has gone from a six (out of 10…bad, I know) to about a two and that’s only when my daughter has a full water bottle, a great selection of board books and a stuffed animal or two. Being prepared is an excellent way to reduce distracted driving, which reduces stress for everyone traveling in the car.
In all honesty, this concept is one of those way-easier-said-than-done things, but looking at these stats might get you thinking: according to the U.S. Department of Transportations, in 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving." Distracted driving comes in various forms, such as cell phone use, texting while driving, eating, drinking, talking with passengers as well as using in-vehicle technologies and portable electronic devices." Ummm, yeah no kidding!
Well, I don’t know about other moms driving around; but this mom is guilty of talking to my daughter, soothing her tears, asking her if she wants a book, some water. This mom is guilty of changing the Pandora station from Raffi to Paul Simon to Disney and back again. How can we as mothers transport our children, keep them safe, run them from class to lessons to practice, feeding them in between, without being distracted!?
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As modern Americans we spend a large segment of our time shuttling ourselves and our wee ones to various destinations. We spend so much time with our kids in the car and yet it is the last place we should be talking or singing along with others. It's hard thought because, we WANT to hear about what happened at school and we WANT to have a sing- a-long in the car. And although we don’t want to deal with it; we are forced to intercede between two warring parties if necessary. (Any mom with more than one child gets me on this one!)
