So soon, the first ever National Salubrious Driving Day is over. *sigh* But that doesn't mean we can't stay happy safe and healthy out there. Heck, that's the point, isn't it? To establish the salubriety habit so that it lasts all year? Yes, it is. And what better occasion to practice our salubrious driving skills than Thanksgiving weekend!
Have you noticed that the airlines appear to be knocking themselves out trying to make driving look better by comparison? Well, it seems to be working, because while plans for air travel are down by 6.7% for the Thanksgiving holiday, driving is up by 2.1%, or so AAA is projecting according to the AP. (AAA: Thanksgiving travel to go up, air travel down) That's 38.4 million of us who will be driving more than 50 miles away from home over the weekend, never mind the gazillions who will be heading out to the mall on Friday! And some of them may still be feeling a bit woozy after that scrumptious (and huge!) Thanksgiving dinner. So watch out!
And remember to stay salubrious out there. Here's a link to Salubrious Driving: an 8 Step Program, in case you could use a little extra help. Happy safe and healthy Thanksgiving wishes to all!
The Happy World of Safe and Healthy Driving: The Book AND The Holiday
Is it Mother Rider's job to declare national holidays? Ordinarily, no. But just this once, in honor of the double special occasion, I'm going to make an exception to the general rule. So here goes...
In honor of our Dad, who also happens to be the father of salubrious driving, and to celebrate our new book, which is dedicated to him in loving memory, I hereby declare his birthday, November 22nd, the first ever
National Salubrious Driving Day
And if you all will kindly head on over to the petition and sign it, then ask all your friends to sign it too, and they ask their friends, and so on, by next year at this time we may be able to persuade the nice folks in Washington to make it official. Because let's face it, salubriety is a worthy goal, but doesn't always come naturally. We could use a little support out here!
So what is this salubrious talk about anyway? Well, it's about creating a Happy World of Safe and Healthy Driving together. You can read all about it in our new book:
Riders on the Road is one of those charming little humor books that, oh by the way, shows you how to laugh your driving cares away, with The Rider Method and its companion 8 Step program. The second edition is bigger and better, with more entertaining stories, provocative questions and practical driving advice for regular American drivers like you and me. But this is more than just a book; it's a movement, which is why we need a genuine holiday and sure appreciate your support.
What does our Dad the ace professional driver have to say about this? Oh, boy, we wish he were here to tell you himself. Sadly, Dad's gone on ahead to St. Peter's Heavenly Bar & Grill, but here's a quote that he left behind:
Read and heed the lessons from the road that I’ve passed on to my children, and you too shall learn how to laugh off your driving woes and become happier and more salubrious behind the wheel. It takes only a lick of sense and a few bucks to spend on my daughter’s entertaining and informative book, Riders on the Road. Friends, I devoted well over 30 years to teaching myself salubrious driving. You only have to read the book and do what she says. My advice is to do it now. And remember, salubrious means healthy and safe, not slow.
Could you use a little more peace and harmony on the road? We can help. For the complete scoop, and to enjoy a little Roadside Revue, check out our website at www.RidersontheRoad.com. As Dad says...
Let there be peace on the road, and let the drivers thereon all be salubrious, even happy, and their passengers too. And hey, why not the bicycle riders and the pedestrians while we’re at it. Let’s all get salubrious. Now! This means you!
Yes, Sir. We are on it. Happy Birthday, Dad! This book's for you.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been counting and projecting again, and the results are excellent. We the drivers of America are buckling up more and killing fewer of one another on the road. Yay! Mother R is so proud of us that she is not even going to crab about our making many of the alarming statistics in her book out of date.
I will only bore you with a few of the new facts (see Traffic Safety Facts for more), such as seat belt use increasing by a measly 1% to a grand total of 84%. That's nice, but you can do better, and that's exactly what I expect for the next report. Don't make me tell you again! But I will tell you that traffic deaths have declined by a whopping 7% in the first half of 2009 as compared to the same period in 2008. Good job, salubrious drivers!
Mother R doesn't have to tell you that texting is popular, and that doing it while you're driving is not safe, now does she? Of course not! And how many of you are still doing it anyway? Yeah, I thought so.
It's encouraging to see that state traffic regulators are jumping on this important safety issue by enacting bans, but there's considerable concern that such rules will be difficult to enforce. Huh. Imagine drivers ignoring the law! Do we ignore speed limits, cell phone and seat belt rules or stop signs? OK, so they have a point.
Which brings us to Mother Rider's basic safety rule motto, which is: We should be smart enough to do the right thing without being told!
Still, there are a bunch of techie folks out there who think we need extra help and are hard at work creating apps that will prevent texting in a moving vehicle using GPS technology, or making it safer to do with voice recognition technology. Check it out in this WSJ article: Firms Racing to End Texting and Driving
And in the meantime, will you please just listen to Mother and don't do it! Thank you, dears.
So I was showing the British teen texting and driving PSA to my brother-in-law this morning, and found much to my surprise that thanks to flags by the user community, this video is now restricted to the 18 or older crowd. OK, it's easy to lie about your age and watch it anyway, but for heavens sakes YouTube, who the heck do you think needs to see the dang thing? Right, teens! Many of whom are under 18. Use your head, YouTube, and remove the silly age limitation.
Oh hey, just a minute. You don't suppose they suspect teens will be more likely to watch if it's forbidden, do you? Imagine! Still seems kind of stupid to me, but then I am slightly older than 18. What do you think?
The real Vermont DMV issued a warning today that scammers are trying to weasel credit card information from Vermont drivers by pretending to offer convenient DMV services online. Apparently the setup looks pretty realistic, making it easy to be fooled if we're not careful. So if you find yourself looking for DMV services at a web address other than www.dmv.state.vt.us, it is fake. Get out of there in a hurry, and DO NOT enter any personal information, especially credit card numbers. For genuine Vermont DMV services, you can follow the link above, or navigate to the real site via Vermont.gov. And you can find the complete warning here: Bogus Vermont DMV website discovered
I know I'm repeating myself, but when the commandment is this important, that's what Mother needs to do, over and over again, until everyone gets it. And that goes double when she has amazingly disturbing video backup from a British public service spot. So here it is, with thanks to Mr. Hughes for creating it and to her friends Laura and Kim for finding and passing it on:
Sure it's staged, but if you are tempted to blow it off on that account, here's why you absolutely should not, in the words of writer/director Peter Hughes:
"Yes it is violent, but the reality of a fatal road accident is much more gruesome, is much more violent and my position on this is that if you are old enough to drive, if you are old enough to want to drive, you are old enough to be aware of the real and serious risks one places yourself in every time you get behind the wheel."
And one more caution from Mother R: As a guy, Mr. Hughes may not be aware of this, but as the daughter, wife and mother of guys, I am, so let me be clear. You guys who are saying to yourselves that this doesn't apply to you because they were girls and that would NEVER happen to you (you know who you are) are wrong, so you can just get over that little delusion right now. And you can stop protesting, because you know I'm right.
In short, just don't do it! Period. And frankly, I'd lay off the cell phone chatting too. Enough said. I'm off to teach my driver safety class now and trusting you all to have a nice safe day, on and off the road.
