Text & Burn

Did you know there's a new game in town... not a virtual game, but a live game played with humans, cars and cell phones... texting and driving... it's not new it's just EPIDEMIC!
Sarcasm aside... A few weeks ago I was the victim.  While driving my son to his tennis lesson, we were waiting at a light, when I looked in my rear view mirror and saw he was coming straight at me... the man was texting while driving, not stopping until he made contact with my car... we humans were physically alright, but the car had about $2,000 in damages and we were hassled for a week with a rental car.
Now a few weeks later brings us to yesterday, when I saw 3 (!) people within a 2 mile distance driving erratically only to find they were also texting.  I managed to avoid them this time... is it me or has distracted driving become a force to be reckoned with in 2011?

Here's my plea to the Moms... we spend so much of our time in the car driving our kids to activities which increases our chances of being a victim... speak out NOW!

Thanksgiving tops the list for the most dangerous time of the year for driving... please be careful and have a great Thanksgiving!

Driving & Texting, Texting and Driving... Watch Out!!!

Yesterday, I was driving home with my 12 year old from his music lesson down a country road behind a teenage driver (girl) with all the tell-tale signs of of one who was texting/reading and driving.  This went on for about 2 miles!!!  I could see the lit screen she was holding up while she was slowly and erratically driving her Mercedes.  When the road became two lanes I pulled into the lane beside her and I could see clearly that she was scrolling and reading info on the small screen.  She looked over at me while I looked at her in disbelief... her face was expressionless as she turned back to her business... as far as I was concerned, it was 'lethal business'!

In this months issue of AAA's Car & Drive Magazine there is a very telling article, "Albany AWOL on Texting" on stalled legislation in Albany regarding texting and driving.  It's already illegal but not as a primary offense which ties the hands of the enforcers...

The statistics are glaring... the NTSA reported that 16% of traffic fatalities in 2009 were due to distracted drivers and of all distractions texting poses the greatest risk..."because it distracts drivers visually, manually and cognitively, creating a trifecta of deadly distractions."

Your NY community needs your support, let them know you want tougher laws to protect us...

Visit  www.capwiz.com/aanys/home to weigh in on this important issue!... when you click the link it only takes about 30 seconds to fill-in-the-blank email those politicians in Albany.

When is a 'K' Just 'OK'?

Lately, in speaking with my friends who have 'texting' age kids, I've noticed a common frustration about miscommunication and interpretation.  Many times It's hard enough to communicate with your kids, especially teens, then try to interpret what they mean in minimal texts!  My girlfriend got a text from her son with instructions to bring something to him today, as they were going to be traveling a lomg distance to see him... there were a couple of ways to interpret what he said, but he wouldn't answer his phone and wouldn't reply to the second text from her trying to clarify the firrst (are you still with me?)... frustrating as all hell!
Also yesterday I texted my 14 year old, who is at a Jazz Camp this summer for 2 weeks ending this weekend, about his High School schedule that I had just received in the mail... I thought he would be excited to know that one of his good friends had a few classes with him and a few of the same teachers... SOoooo, I get this text back...         k       ....... whoopee, now does that mean, ok I got your text... or does that mean, ok, that's fine... or Mom, I don't really care cause it's still summer and I don't really want to think about school right now (which I can hardly blame him, neither do I)!

When you're face to face with someone in conversation you have facial expressions, body language, voice intonation... there are many cues to read from and interpret, but texting and minimal texting it's much tougher to understand.  Don't get me wrong there are many things I like about texting, but mixing teenagers and texting that's a tough one!... and if they want to keep you, their parents, at a distance, it's much easier to do with a text.... besides, THEY DONT ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN YOU CALL THEM, right parents!?

Please comment below and share your frustrations, ideas, or solutions... we'd love to hear.