"A cement mixer collided with a prison van on the Kingston Pass. Motorists are asked to be on the lookout for 16 hardened criminals."
                                              - Ronnie Corbett

Whenever I get behind the wheel of my faithful little car, inevitably my first thoughts are, "Oooh...this great sensation of sitting and moving is SOOO amazingly wonderful!" and then, for a few additional seconds, I marvel at the invention of the car. LOL Well...after all...isn't a car a fabulous invention? doesn't it make your lives a whole lot more convenient? If you're anything like me, at one time in your life, you've most likely said to yourself, "Self, how you would I ever get along WITHOUT this car?" How indeed. They help us get ourselves to work, to school to the movies and to our loved ones houses. and don't forget that great party last week. When we feel the need to see this gorgeous country of ours, many of us choose to do it via our cars.  Well despite the fact that our cars are so fabulous, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2014 car accidents in the United States have taken

32,675 lives. <SIGH>...I am truly very sorry that I had to shatter your lovely image this way, but the horrendous fact of the matter remains that our beloved cars that we have come to rely upon are in actuality violently killing us. 

This article tells us that the number of vehicles in operation worldwide surpassed the 1 billion mark in 2010 for the first time ever! The United States accounts for 239.8 million units which constitutes the largest vehicle population in the world. WOW! now that's an enormous amount of mobile people our there on our roads!!!

You know ever since I created this website my main focus has been geared toward guns. People would say to me, "Well I understand how you feel about guns, but if you are REALLY interested in saving lives, then you would ALSO focus upon the fact that more people are killed by cars than by guns in our society."  So you see guys, I really DO care about saving lives, for now that I have done an extensive research on the subject of cars and how they effect our lives, I feel it is my duty as an advocator of non-violent living to try my UTMOST to address this issue. <SIGH>...the idea of 41,059 lives being lost is sticking in my throat like a pill that just won't go down. 

It is my honest opinion that a 16-year-old person is simply not mature enough to be given the awesome responsibility of being able to drive a motor vehicle. You may be surprised at what I have just stated here, but I would like for you to do me a favor...please take a few moments and give some thought to the following questions if you will...how would you feel about a 16-year-old being called to the draft? being allowed to purchase as much hard liquor as they chose to? and take drugs? and buy a carton of cigarettes ? how about being allowed to marry? being allowed to cast their vote? being allowed to buy a gun? Naturally, I don't know how YOU guys feel about all of this, but in MY opinion, it seems to me that the extra two year wait until the age of 18 years old would really make a world of difference.

On the other end of the spectrum, I further believe that once a person turns 65, due to the natural physical and mental aging process, will all due respect to the sensitive issue of independent living, it should be mandatory that they take a yearly driving test, for the safety of all concerned.

Here is a concept that has always had me wondering...have you ever watched a car race on tv such as let's say the granddaddy of them all, the Indianapolis 500? the cars themselves seem to fly along the track like miniature roket ships albeit traveling on the ground.  What REALLY astounds me is the fact that even though these cars are going at such breakneck speeds, whenever the driver is unfortunate enough to either lose control of the car he is driving or finds himself an unwilling participant in ANOTHER guy's error in judgement, the end result is usually a terribly-looking crash, from which the driver nearly always escapes more or less with minimal injuries.  Now if such a crash were to happen while you or I were driving our cars, we would almost DEFINITELY end up being either horribly maimed for the rest of our lives or never live to see tomorrow.  MY question is aren't WE important enough in the scheme of things to demand that our cars be made just as safe?! hmmm...perhaps we should start writing letters to the appropriate Councilmen/women and last but not least, every single car manufacturer out there). 

Speaking of speed, I have some questions for you to ponder...how would you react if one day you noticed on your local freeway/highway that the new posted speed limit has been lowered to (hold on to your butts) 25 miles per hour? what would you do? how would you feel? would you think it was a joke? would you become angry? or would you laugh yourself silly? Do you seriously believe (like I am beginning to do) that if our speed limits were definitely be lowered to such a low number, that countless human lives would be saved in the process? Something to think about, isn't it? 

Thanks to the efforts of many ingenious human beings, we are fortunate enough to have at our disposal numerous methods with which to aid us in driving our vehicles safely. Let's take a look at them together, ok? 

SEATBELTS/CARSEATS: In 1956, Ford automobiles first offered the population the wonderful seat belt. By 1964, all new Amercan cars had seatbelts in the front seats and by 1966, all cars had seatbelts in the rear seats. The National Safety Council's statistics on seatbelts tell us that in 1998, 19 million more Americans buckled them around their waists and to ME, this certainly sounds like there are plenty of people who wish to get themselves as well as their loved ones to their destinations as safely as possible.  In regard to being ticketed for failure to wear a seatbelt, there are those who may complain that their basic human rights are being violated. Well get yourselves ready to be surprised by me once AGAIN, because guess what? I AGREE with you if you are one of the people who think this way, since to MY way of thinking, for an adult age 18 and older, it should be a matter of the individual's own choice.  However, as far as a minor child is concerned, until he/she reaches the age of 18, I entirely support the state-mandated laws that pertain to the use of seat-safety measures.Even NOW, when I think about all of the babies and toddlers that I've seen riding in cars without being safely buckled into a carseat or a seatbelt, I can feel my blood begin to boil in my veins.  

Here is a video regarding seat belts. Some of you may remember this catchy little tune.

AIR BAGS: When I heard that car manufacturers would be offering us the air bag, I said,"YES! this is exactly what a car should have." The The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that air bags have saved over 2600 lives as of October 1997.  However, since there has been documented deathsas a RESULT of car air bag deployment, on November 18, 1997 the NHTSA issued a final rule that allows automakers to offer air bag on-off switches to those who certify that they meet one of the four specific risk categories.  The NHTSA as well as a few OTHER excellent websites have pertinent information for whoever may be interested.

DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS (DRLS): Like many other people, I flashed my OWN car's lights at the very first person that I saw driving during the day with their car's headlights on.  "Your lights are on!" I mouthed excitedly, but the person drove by without shutting them off.  It didn't take TOO long before I began to hear/see the advertisements regarding daytime running lights and I remember thinking to myself, "Oh...so THAT'S why I've been seeing so many people with their lights on lately!"  If you would like to make up your own mind as to whether DRLS really DO make cars safer on the road, please allow me to direct you to The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety since they seem to have a wealth of information relating these particular lights.

Other than these above vehicle safety aids there are several more ways to (as the Floridians would say, "Arrive Alive").  Since we as human beings, possess the glorious right of the freedom of choice in this beautiful country, it is entirely up to each one of us whether we wish to partake in the awesome privilege of getting behind the wheel of a car.  Please bear in mind that as soon as we DO, we automatically become involved in everybody ELSE'S lives, so for YOUR own sakes, the sakes of your loved ones plus all of those people that are here on this planet WITH you, the next time you decide to get behind the wheel of YOUR car, please don't allow yourself to enter into an argument with another driver, make lewd/obscene gestures to another driver or play any kind of "games" with another driver or somebody may get hurt or even lose their life by what has commonly come to be known as "road rage."  Please do not get behind the wheel nor allow anybody that you CARE about get behind the wheel, if there is any question as to the sobriety or state of mind of the driver, for I don't think I have to tell you how dire the consequences could be.  Here is an excellent website about the dangers of road rage.

CELL PHONES: Hopefully someday soon, every single vehicle that we sit behind the wheel of will be equipped with it's own cell phone, which to me is as vitally important as the very wheel ITSELF. To all of you guys who are presently using cell phones in your vehicles, after being informed of the many accidents and/or fatalities that have arisen from the misuse of these wonderful tools, I am now pleading with you to please, PLEASE use your cell phones with the utmost of care, which simply means that before you decide to carry on a conversation or text, do yourself as well as everybody else a favor and pull your vehicle over first, ok? thank you. Several states/cities have already enacted laws that ban the use of speaking on a hand-held cell phone and/or texting while driving, and if you're interested in knowing more about this issue, here is an excellent web site called Don't Text & Drive. Yes, I took the pledge.

Please drive safely...