Traveling this Thanksgiving

Let's be honest.  Thanksgiving, although it is the holiday for giving thanks, brings much stress that we could all use less of.

You pack the kids up, you grab the dish you prepared and you hit the road.  Earlier I wrote about how Thanksgiving is the deadliest of holidays in respect to car accidents.  If you missed it you can read it HERE.  

I want to talk about what you can do to avoid car accidents whether it is on Thanksgiving or any day.

Seat belts, Seat belts, Seat belts.  The best offense is a good defense.  When looking at the statistics for deaths on Thanksgiving not all of them are caused by the driver who is killed.  The other drivers on the road always have been and always will be one of the most non-controllable dangerous aspects of driving.  Buckle up!!

Distracted Drivers.  Keep your eyes on the road.  Here is another non-controllable aspect of other drivers BUT you can control whether you are distracted.  Put your cell phones down, don't play with the radio and pay attention!

Aggressive Driving.  Stress.  This will cause many things.  Running late and speeding, spending the day with family, "Are we there yet" from the kids every five minutes.  All these things will tend to cause a person to drive aggressively.  This is another thing you can control while you drive but pay attention to other drivers!

We cannot control everything but what we can control is WHAT WE DO!  

Buckle up
Pay Attention
Drive safe and within the speed limit
DON'T drink and drive

Remember this holiday is to reflect what we are thankful for.  

• Be thankful that you have family you can spend this day with.
• Be thankful that you can share a meal with family as some go hungry.
• Be thankful that you have a vehicle to travel in.
• Be thankful that you do not have to work.
• Be thankful you have a job.

No matter what you are thankful for....please drive safe and pay attention.  Your life, the life of a loved one or the life of a stranger depends on YOU!!

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When you don't watch for motorcycles people can die

This week is being dedicated to motorcycle safety as we are currently in Sturgis week 2012. 






Let me explain to those of you who do not understand motorcycles.....just because they can go faster, maneuver easier does not mean they can avoid YOU if you don't see them.  They are trusting each and every person driving four plus wheels to be paying attention to what is around you.  Honestly, when you are driving you should always be doing this anyway...but those on bikes are trusting YOU with THEIR lives.

I have written about distracted drivers and how quickly it can go from bad to worse.  Take that text you send to tell your friend you are five minutes away.....going 55 miles per hour you will travel the length of a football field. 

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation in 2010 1 in 5 traffic fatalities were motorcyclists.  I know there are arguements that these numbers are high because Colorado does not have mandatory helmet laws.  There are pros and cons about this law but that is not what I want to focus on....I want to focus on if you are watching for motorcycles and you are paying attention YOUR actions will not cause an accident.  Those of us who ride motorcycles take a higher risk of injury because we are on two wheels, we have less protection than you do in your vehicles and it is harder to see us IF YOU AREN'T paying attention and looking over your shoulder when you change lanes.  (This should be common practice no matter what.)


Yes, more often than not, motorcycle accidents happen to the "less experienced" riders than the one's who have been riding forever BUT we all started out as inexperienced drivers at one time or another no matter what we drove and no matter if they have only one year experience or 40 years experience riding a motorcyle their lives are precious to someone and no one should be hurt or lose their lives because of a distracted driver....no matter what they drive.
Watch this video on how quickly an accident can happen when you aren't watching for motorcycles.

If each person who gets behind the wheel of a car, truck, semi and, yes even a motorcycle pay attention to their surroundings we can all be safer.

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History of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

 Harley on a Harley

It's that time of year again.  Excitement, motorcycles, food, vendors, alcohol, games and LOTS of fans.  It is very important that you always look for motorcycles on the road but with the upcoming Sturgis Rally right around the corner there will be MANY MORE bikes on the road so please always look for motorcycles....because everyone that rides a bike is precious to someone.

We all know what Sturgis Motorcycle Rally IS but do you know when and why it started?

It's held in Sturgis, South Dakota and it is always the first full week of August...so this year, 2012 it begins Monday, August 6th and ends Sunday, August 12th...but most people start showing up the Sunday before.

The very first Rally was founded on August 14, 1938 and was founded by the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club (who still currently own and operate the tracks, hillclimb and field areas).  The first rally lasted only two days and focused on racing and stunts.

The Sturgis Rally has been held EVERY YEAR since 1938 except during WWII.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally will have an attendance of 500,000+ each year.  The new "breed" of riders are often found "trailering" their motorcycles to Sturgis (many make this a family event) and camp in RV's in the campground.  There used to be a patch that said they "attended" Sturgis and the year the attended but with many people that trailer their bikes there is now new patches that say "I Rode Mine to Sturgis" with the year.

Whether you trailer your bike, ride your bike or just drive your car it is an event for all.  In the years past it has been known to "get out of hand" and it wasn't really the appropriate place for children but the community stepped in and has calmed the Rally down and now it is a fun environment for everyone.  The "hard" riders will be there the entire week while the "seasonal" riders will show up on the Saturday before it begins to see all the vendors, say they were there and leave before it gets too busy.

Please be safe while driving or riding on the roads.


Zeisler & Associates, Attorney At Law, PC is there if you need them but would hate to meet you because of an accident.  Visit their website for more information

History of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally provided by SturgisRally.com

Texting and Driving

Can anyone really ever say they have NEVER texted while driving....or read a text while driving?  Okay, those who do not have cell phones can say they never have.  Those who do not have text messaging on their cell phones can say they never have...but for the rest of us....we would have to answer that question with "yes." 

My friend and I did an experiment the other day.  I do not recommend it but I went out on a road with no traffic so if I caused a car accident we would have been the only ones hurt.

I marked off a three mile stretch...there were a few curves (not sharp curves) that I was testing my theory on.  When I approached my beginning mark I opened a text message on my phone that said, "You are an idiot for doing this."  Now go back and time yourself on how long it took you to read that phrase.  I took me about 10 seconds to get to the text message app on my phone, three seconds to read it and two seconds to place the phone back down.  In that time I went about 130 yards, crossed the white line seven times and almost missed a small curve.

Now, I tested it with a response to the text message.  My friend texted me at the starting point and opened the text and read "are we really doing this?"  I responded back with "yes."  This time I went over 200 yards, crossed into the OTHER LANE once, crossed the white line 14 times and hit the dirt on the outside of the road three times. 

Okay, no one was hurt...
No one else was on the road...
I only text and drive when it's "safe"...

Here's the thing...texting and driving is only safe when YOU are the only factor.  It reminds me of driving on icy roads...I know how to do it but not everyone on the road does.  What if on one of the times I drove on the dirt on the outside of the road a child riding a bike rode up at that same time?  What if one of the times I crossed the white line a deer ran out in front of my car?  What if the one time I ended up in the other lane a car was waiting at the stop sign and turned right into me? 

The fact is WE NEVER KNOW what other factors are out there waiting to impact our lives.  What other factors are out there that our texting and driving can impact their lives?

The simple TRUTH is JUST DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE.  We lived MANY, MANY, MANY years without the technology of texting and no life will ever change by WAITING until you are stopped to return a text message but many lives WILL CHANGE if you try to beat the odds by texting and driving and causing an accident.  It will change YOUR life if you cause an accident and are charged and convicted of homicide.  Don't let this happen to you or someone you love...watch this video.

What really is a Distracted Driver?

This video is a MUST watch for anyone who drives!
Lets begin with the three types of distractions:

• Manual:  Taking your hands off the wheel
• Visual:  Taking your eyes off the road
• Cognitive:  Taking you mind off driving

18% of Fatalities were directly related to cell phone use.

You are 23 Times more likely to be involved in a crash if you are texting vs a non-distracted driver.

37% of brain activity is REDUCED while driving and using a cell phone.

The types of distractions are:

Texting

Using a cell phone or smartphone

Eating and drinking

Talking to passengers

Grooming

Reading, including maps

Using a navigation system

Watching a video

Adjusting a radio, CD player, or MP3 player

Now we need to re-visit the types of distraction and compare it with texting:

Manual:  you hand(s) are off the wheel to text.

Visual:  it doesn't matter how good you are at texting you will still have to take your eyes off the road to text.

Cognitive:  I have received texts and thought "was any thought put into this text" but lets face it...to write you must think and when doing this you are taking your mind off your driving.

Imagine sitting at a Bronco game...now imagine the length of the football field.  That is how far you drive in the average 4.6 seconds, going 55 miles per hour, it takes to send or receive a text.

Texting and driving is illegal in Colorado.  To find out what the laws in other states are visit Distracted.org.

Let's be honest, cell phones have made our lives easier: we can conduct business between meetings, we can find our children easier, we can schedule our appointments, we can facebook, we can let our family know we are running late...and it can kill us!  Something so simple, something that we NOW KNOW will save lives yet we just don't understand the dangers because "it will never happen to us."  It may not have happened to you...but to the 18% it did happen to it is REAL. 

In 2010 there were 3092 FATALITIES involving distracted drivers....there were 416,000 INJURED because of distracted drivers.  These numbers are REAL....and just because it hasn't happened to you I am sure if you look around you know someone who it has happened to. 

It is right there, the facts are REAL....and it is so simple to fix the problem.

Zeisler & Associates, Attorneys At Law, PC wants everyone to be safe.  Please don't allow distraction to decide your future.

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Information provided by Distracted.gov