Distraction and the real price for it

Watch this video before you read this post- WATCH HERE

Welcome to Harmony on the Highways. A note to our followers and new visitors, Harmony will now only post bi-monthly. We are sorry for any problems this may cause if you are a must have it follower.


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.

If your gonna be distracted, make it musical

Ok, we concede, you people are just not going to put down the cell phones, make-up, laptop, food or whatever it is your doing instead of driving. So, we at Harmony are offering a suggestion, try going back to the good ole car stereo. Yes, that thing with the knobs and dial inserted in your dash. Well, maybe yours is more sophisticated and has a touch screen or talks to you or maybe you just use yours as an ipod auxiliary to vent your tunes through, however you use it use it! Now that you are reacquainted with your dashboard functions we want to know what you are shaking your booty, headbangin', or groovin' to while you are driving. All of which are dangerous to do while driving. (Hey, we are a safe driving promoting company, so we have to point out the dangers)

VH1 has released a list of the ALL-TIME GREATEST DRIVING SONGS, so we will share that with you here:

To put it simply: you're still in the horse and buggy days if your car isn't tricked out with a decent enough stereo to blast your favorite tunes. Whether speeding cross-country, or bopping to Piggly Wiggly for a loaf of bread, the front seat is a much more fun place with music in the air.

Here's a list of VH1's favorite driving tunes, the ones that Rachel Perry and NASCAR kingpin Kevin Harvick's used for inspiration during their recent adventure together.

1. STEPPENWOLF - "Born To Be Wild"
Some say it works best when fishtailing on a long stretch of empty road. There’s something about gunning the engine as John Kay growls that he’s up for "whatever comes our way."

2. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - "Born to Run"
It's the romance of Bruce’s nothing-left-to-lose lyrics that makes you want to jump behind the wheel, but as those guitars and saxophones pound away, just the cheap thrill of hitting the gas is a valuable rock 'n' roll statement by itself.

3. AC/DC - "Highway To Hell"
Angus and the guys are only interested in forward motion. Pointing themselves toward that flaming cul de sac ("No stop signs/no speed limit," the singer gleefully shouts), they drag you right along with them.

4. SAMMY HAGAR - "I Can’t Drive 55"
Some people have no use for brakes, and as the big beat of Hagar’s highway anthem builds and builds and builds, his defiance of the speed limit becomes more and more appealing. Go ahead and write him up, copper, he don’t care.

5. JOHN MELLENCAMP - "R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A."
The singer’s salute to '60s radio was built around a refrain that celebrates Motown, the Brill Building and all the pimple-faced rockers in every American garage band. When you shout along, you’re usually pounding the dashboard.

6. VAN HALEN - "Panama"
More than a few car stereos have been fried blasting this baby, the most sublime union of Eddie Van Halen’s whammy-bar hydraulics and David Lee Roth’s high-test raunch.

7. PRINCE - "Little Red Corvette"
Prince cruises dangerous curves much too fast, turning the heads with that oh-so-sexy intro, killer chorus and a bass line that pops like thighs off plastic upholstery on a sticky summer day.

8. LENNY KRAVITZ - "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
Here’s Lenny’s most successful attempt at writing the greatest riff of all time. Who cares which way he wants to go? Just stand on the accelerator and pretend not to notice the police sirens.

9. ZZ TOP - "Legs"
The Texas trio’s boogie has often prompted wild types to test the local land speed records - it’s just the nature of the rhythm, the "drive" if you will.

10. SHERYL CROW - "Every Day is a Winding Road"
Crow’s back-roads blues riff can make even a quick journey to the supermarket in your Ford Escort sound like the Cannonball Run. The philosophical message is also cleverly signposted.

WOW! that takes you back "in the day". Good to know that this music is holding up.
For an interactive list (Clips and Bios) visit VH1.


Do you agree with this list? We want to know so leave your comments and tell us your favorites. We will let you know what you said in a later post.

Now that we have made the suggestion to turn on the tunes, we have to let you know how to do it safely while driving. (Sorry, again we ARE safe driving ambassadors)

1. Keep volume at a level that does not distract you from hearing emergency vehicles, on-coming trains or screeching brakes heading your way! (That one is like the "HOT LIQUID" warning on coffee cups)
2. Keep in mind that not everyone wants to hear your music. Especially if you prefer the foul lyrics of some music. (AND in some cities that can result in an arrest)
3. Do not build/install your stereo without the help of an expert. (Your car catching on fire does not mean your music is "HOT")
4. Do not spend ALL your money on the stereo upgrade (Leave yourself some cash for gas, unless you like to hear your stereo in the driveway)
5. BE CAREFUL shakin' grooving and headbangin'!!!(You could injure yourself or someone else if it is distracting you while driving)

So, go on load up the ipod, buy your favorite bands CD and get out there enjoy yourself, just be mindful your are still driving.

Thanks for reading and think about a book on disc or some other instructional cd while driving. It's a great time to learn something.

Attracted to the Distraction

Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, was home in Peoria a few weeks ago, when he heard about a 17 year old female who was killed when she drove off the road. Not really shocking news, but it was why she had the misfortune that got his attention. "It turns out she was texting while driving. We have all seen the footage of the bus driver who was talking and texting on two phones while driving.....the horrific commuter train crash last year in California involved an operator who was too busy texting to pay attention to what he should have been doing, as a result 25 people were killed and 135 were injured." And then Lahood let it be known what he would do if given the choice. "If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting," he said, "but" he added, "we've learned from our efforts to get people to wear seat belts and to persuade them not to drive drunk, that laws just aren't always enough, often you need to combine education with enforcement to get results."

So, again we are hearing about the distracted driver. Harmony knows this is a "hot button" issue and as laws stiffen and enforcement is stepped up the problem seems to be growing. How does this make you feel while you are driving? Thirty-five percent of auto drivers say they feel less safe than they did five years ago. This according to the second annual 2009 Traffic Safety Culture Index released July 28 by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "Over the past 25 years, motor vehicle crashes have permanently, violently and tragically ended the lives of 1 million Americans, killing more of our children, teens and young adults than any other single cause." Said AAA foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger. "That's one death every 13 minutes."

The following are some key issues from the 2009 Traffic Safety Culture Index:

• When asked about perceived threats to their safety:
o 90% rated people driving after drinking alcohol as a very serious threat to their safety.
o 87% rated drivers text messaging or emailing as a very serious threat.
o 79% rated drivers not paying attention as a very serious threat.
o 70% rated aggressive driving as a very serious threat.
o 58% rated drivers talking on cell phones as a very serious threat.
o 56% rated speeding as a very serious threat.

• When asked how acceptable they considered it to be for a driver to engage in various behaviors while driving, large majorities rated the behaviors as unacceptable, even after having already admitted to doing those things themselves. For example:
o 95% of drivers said that text messaging while driving was completely or
somewhat unacceptable; 18% of those same drivers admitted having read or sent a text message or email while driving in the past month.
o 94% rated running red lights as unacceptable; 26% of those same drivers admitted having run a red light when they could have stopped safely.
o 91% rated tailgating as unacceptable; 24% of those same drivers admitted having tailgated another driver when they could have backed off.
o 95% rated driving 15 mph over the speed limit on a residential street as unacceptable; 21% of those same drivers admitted having done this.
o 71% rated talking on a hand held cell phone while driving as unacceptable, yet 30% of those same drivers reported doing this, and another 27% reported using a hands-free phone, which studies have shown is no safer.
o 63% rated driving 15 mph over the speed limit on a freeway as unacceptable; 28% of those same drivers reported having done this.

Texting while driving is currently banned in 14 states and everyday new legislation is being drawn up to combat the issue. Studies show this is far more dangerous than talking on a phone or driving drunk.

Harmony advocates the regulation on the use of hand held technology as well as strict enforcement. Loss of life IS NOT... lol!

Thanks for reading and remember let your hands do the driving and nothing more.