Distraction and the real price for it

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Now on to the post. Earlier this week the local news in our area brought a tragic story to air.(see video) Below is a part of the story as it read on the news stations website.

GLADEWATER, TX (KLTV) - A horrible wreck on Highway 271 took the life of four-year-old Jonathan King, Jr. Jonathan's family says it was all an accident - that the grandmother, who was driving, was looking back to tell the kids something, when she hit a culvert and lost control. According to DPS, none of the kids were wearing seat belts.....Jonathan's sister Kaila is recovering at Children's Hospital in Dallas. She and the other kids are expected to recover but some will have to undergo surgeries.....DPS is still investigating the crash and, at this time, no charges have been filed.

Posted below are excerpts from the follow up story from the website.

Family members describe the injuries that their young children are still having to deal with after Wednesday's wreck. "Kaila's through with surgery, she's home," said Robin Wright, the children's aunt. "Chloe has to have nose surgery, but they can't do it until the swelling goes down some more." Another of the children has an arm and a leg in casts. And the family knows how bad it could have been.
"The rest of the kids are intact," said Randy Bell, the children's great uncle. "And we hate that we lost that little boy...but we could have lost all of them."
DPS has reported that the children were not wearing seat belts. But the family says that's not the case. "She would never take those babies anywhere, and think that they may be hurt," Wright said. "So two of the bigger ones would always sit on the outsides of the seat towards the door. Then two smaller ones beside them. Each two would share a seat belt, and then the lap belt in the middle, the biggest one would sit there."

This story truly is tragic and we at Harmony send our prayers to this family. However, the truly sad thing about this event is that it was very preventable. Read the story excerpts again and this time write down the things that stand out to you that seem to be not quite right. Immediately, as a former traffic investigator, I notice that grandma had too many children in that vehicle. Meaning that there were not enough restraints for the number of occupants. Also, the size and age of the children warranted use of a minimum of a booster seat (per State law) and maybe even full child safety seats. The biggest stand out is that the driver took her focus off the task of driving. I know, we as parents, all do similar things when dealing with children in our vehicles but the proper thing to do is to pull over in a safe place and deal with the issue. One other mistake, that may have been made, was placing two children in one restraint. This is a bad practice, due the fact that restraints are made specifically for one individual and many have weight restrictions to guarantee proper function.

Harmony does not know the complete details of this event and we are only commenting on what has been released by the media. Again, we use these types of stories to improve our curriculum and to help keep the motoring public aware.

Harmony is deeply regretful at the loss of life and injury as a result of these types of incidents. We hope we can enlighten other drivers to take notice of the bad habits we fall victim to as a result of our daily routines. Complacency is no excuse for forgetting "how to drive", for losing focus or not respecting the other driver.

Please, when traveling with children, keep their best interest at the forefront of your driving task. Injury or death to your own child due to your own negligence is hardly something that heals.

Thanks for reading and remember, children are our future...Please protect them.

Not your grandma's golf cart anymore.

Neighborhood electric vehicles, or NEVs, were born more than a decade ago in Sun Belt retirement communities.... As increasing numbers of seniors plied the streets in golf carts, the federal government stepped in to regulate the vehicles in 1998, imposing minimal safety standards. Mandating a speed of no more than 25 m.p.h., the law added requirements for seat belts, brake lights, headlights, mirrors, turn signals and windshields.

Now, with the current economy and the push for alternative fuel vehicles, these NEVs are becoming more the norm in many neighborhoods across the country. Nearly all states permit low-speed vehicles, with a range of restrictions....With prices ranging from about $8,000 for a basic model to $20,000 for some custom-built models, the market share for neighborhood electric vehicles may be limited.

“The concept is good,” said Ron Cogan, president and founder of the Green Car Institute, a California-based non-profit promoting electric, hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles. “The challenge is they’ve never been inexpensive.” Safety is another concern as the vehicles venture out onto roads and go bumper to bumper with SUVs and trucks. “These are vehicles that don’t have to meet basic federal safety standards that regular vehicles have to meet, and they are low-speed, lightweight vehicles that are mixing it up on the road with vehicles that are much heavier,” said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “The potential for disaster is there, but we haven’t seen a lot of crashes yet.”

Operating for pennies per mile, limited to 25 m.p.h. and restricted to local roads, the battery-powered buggies are quietly generating buzz. Powered by six 8-volt batteries, the vehicle has a range of 40 miles and can be fully recharged within four hours by plugging an extension cord into any outlet. Some manufacturers hope to begin marketing these vehicles in December. A growing field of manufacturers, led by Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), a Chrysler-owned company based in North Dakota, are taking it seriously. Most golf carts have a top speed of less than 15 m.p.h., so these require souping up. That opens the door to large manufacturers and custom builders to create a fleet of street-worthy low-speed vehicles.



Harmony is pleased to give its endorsement to these eco friendly "autos" but cautions the motoring public to be aware that these smaller, lighter, golf cart type "autos" are sharing the road with the normal sized vehicles. Drivers should be informed that these vehicles will be most prevalent in smaller communities such as retirement, resort, gated and vacation types. If you wish to become a driver of an NEV, check out everything thoroughly before you purchase one. You will need to know your local laws, community regulations and proper traffic laws regarding the use of NEVs. If you find this, the way to go, to contribute to the environment here's some things we found out about that:

On May 8, 2009 Scott McCredie writing in the NW Autos section of the Seattle Times at - noted that George Robertson, a Beacon Hill architect and Zenn NEV owner claims that "the 80 percent reduction in his carbon footprint over using a gasoline-powered car is worth the reduced safety." The 50 cents' worth of electricity that it costs to recharge his batteries comes mostly from hydroelectric power, a relatively clean source of energy. When Robertson bought his car in 2008 for about $18,000 (other models can be had for as low as $10,000) he was surprised that the car fulfills roughly 90 percent of his and his wife's driving needs.

In an August 7, 2009 press release at-GEM motorcars claimed that to date, GEM cars have been driven more than 350 million emission-free miles, and have saved more than 16 million gallons of gasoline. They also have prevented more than 180 tons of ozone-producing pollutants from reaching the air.

An August 20, 2009 release by GEM at – noted that all GEM battery-electric vehicle models have been certified to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the Qualified Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit, part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Credit amounts are as follows:
* $3,751 for the GEM e2, GEM e4, GEM e6 (12-volt battery system), GEM eS, and GEM eL
* $5,002 for the GEM e6 (8-volt battery system) and GEM eL XD.

A driver who logs 12,000 miles a year in a typical neighborhood electric vehicle will save nearly $970 over a 23 m.p.g. car filling up at the current average of $2.60 a gallon. Last summer, when average gas prices peaked at $4.11 a gallon, the annual savings would have been more than $1,650, according to the GEM Web site.

So, from fairway to highway, the golf cart is finding itself being "re-born" and offering a solution to the Governments stricter vehicle MPG requirements. Remember, these vehicles still have room for improvement when it comes to safety. We can be sure that the Government will quickly address this as these low-speed vehicles make their mark on this planet.

To learn more about these souped-up buggies and to see the complete stories we mentioned in this post follow these links:

NEVs, low-speed cars dubbed "neighborhood electric vehicles" get ready for life in the fast lane.

Chicago Tribune

Gator Moto Utility Vehicles and More, LLC

Thanks for reading and don't forget to pick up some bread on your way home from the golf course.