Family

Drive It Home: Teen Safety Behind the Wheel

April 3, 2013 by Lisa 1 Comment

The Allstate Foundation and the National Safety Council invited me to “The Drive It Home Show” in Greenville, SC last week to see their presentation on teen safety when driving. Since I’m going to have a teen driver soon, this is something I felt compelled to do. You see, I made it all through high school when one of our classmates was killed in a car accident that could have been prevented. Out of respect for his family, I won’t name names, but even today, I remember what it was like hearing about his death. Two years after I graduated, three of our football players died in a car accidents on the first day of school.

Did you know that about half of all teen drivers will be in a crash before they graduate high school?

In the not-too-distant future, Peanut will be driving. As I let that sink in, I’m also thinking about the grim reality of hormonal, ten-feet-tall-and-bullet-proof teens behind the wheel of a two-ton battering ram. There are so many risks for young drivers today, risks they don’t’ think about and that I am quite thankful to have grown up without.

I don’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer because I remember what it’s like the first time you pull out of the driveway with your newly minted drivers license. The sense of freedom is undeniable. I received my drivers license the day I turned 16. After I drove my Mother home from the DMV and parked in the driveway, she look at me and said “my errand running days are over” and handed me an envelope with cash and a grocery list.

She was setting expectations about responsibilities. I didn’t realize it, but that’s what was happening. If you’re going to drive, you’re going to do things to earn that privilege.

With help from Second City Communications, The Drive it Home Show, provides a funny, interactive night while they educate parents in a free, one-hour program to give them the tools so they can be a better coach for their teen drivers and understand the real hazards on the road – with the ultimate goal of keeping teens safer while driving. Experts are also on-hand to answer your teen driving questions.

The statistics about teen drivers are chilling.

In 2010, about 2,700 teens in the United States aged 16–19 were killed and almost 282,000 were treated and released from emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes.1

Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.

Before they graduate from high school 50% of teens ages 15-19 will be in a car accident. That’s a number we can’t ignore. As parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, godparents, etc., we have to help make a bigger effort to make safer communities by promoting safety and security behind the wheel for our young people.

That comes from us setting examples. Children learn from example and Second City Communications did an excellent job of letting parents know exactly what types of examples are being set for children. Dad was talking about how bad his driving was and enjoying the thrill of speed. Mom was distracted by her mobile phone the entire time and when they took it away, she pulled out her backup phone and then her iPad. Yet, the entire time, their daughter, “Maggie”, was trying to communicate how she needed respect for the judgment she was showing behind the wheel.

The first year of driving is the most dangerous and the #1 killer of teens.

From the beginning of time, there has always been a breakdown in communication during the teen years. It’s a given. Parents and kids generally speak two different languages. Teens feel restrained and over-structured while craving freedom and respect. This leads to a serious breakdown when discussing driving habits and time behind the wheel.

Research shows that inexperience is the No. 1 cause of teen crashes, but 74 percent of parents inaccurately believe that risk-taking is the leading cause.

What can you do as a parent when discussing safety behind the wheel?

1. Educate yourself. There are 900 thousand accidents involving teens every year. The greatest responsibility for teen drivers comes from the parents.

2. Set an example. Don’t use your smartphone, or text in the car. We can’t tell our children not to do these things if we’re guilty of doing the same thing.

3. Spend 30 minutes a week in the car with your teen while they drive. You can see how they are developing as a driver and see what areas need work.

4. Set rules. Rules are love.

5. Don’t trust them to do the right thing.

6. Set expectations. If they can drive, they can honor your wishes.

7. Let them earn freedom and respect. It’s earned.

8. Give them the opportunity to learn. When driving with your teen, point out signs they might miss like that “no turn on red” sign.

9. Limit night driving.

10. Set goals and guidelines to help keep your kids safe.

What else can you do? Among the lifesaving recommendations and resources at driveithome.org:

Practice specific skills together and provide teens with feedback in the following critical areas:
Scanning the road ahead to recognize and respond to hazards.
Controlling speed, stopping, turning and following distance.
Judging the gap between vehicles in traffic – such as when exiting parking lots and making left-hand turns.
Managing the highest driving risks, such as nighttime driving and with young passengers in the car.
Drive at least 3o minutes each week with a newly licensed teen.

The AllState Foundation recommends teens drive at least 60 hours with a parent before graduating to solo driving. Looking back, I drove much more than 6o hours with my mother. I drove more like 5-10 hours per week for a year and even after all of that, I did some stupid stuff behind the wheel. Peanut has no idea who much driving he’ll be doing with us before he’s allowed in the car solo. I have to make sure he’s as prepared as possible and the only way I’ll know is if I’m driving with him.

Visit driveithome.org to sign up to receive weekly driving practice tips and suggestions via e-mail, and print, discuss and sign a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement.

Additionally, as a part of the program, Drive it Home is coming to cities across the country in a series of shows featuring Second City Communications. The shows take a comedic approach to the topic of teen safe driving and give local parents the chance to win a free Chevy Cruze and gas cards. To get additional information on the dates of the tour, visit www.driveithome.org.

Resources:

Fact Sheet from the AllState Foundation

Connect with Drive it Home on Facebook

Connect with them on Twitter

Funding for Drive it Home was provided by; the National Safety Council, The Allstate Foundation, General Motors Foundation, AT&T Foundation, Toyota Foundation.

About The Allstate Foundation
Established in 1952, The Allstate Foundation is an independent, charitable organization made possible by subsidiaries of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL). Through partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the country, The Allstate Foundation brings the relationships, reputation and resources of Allstate to support innovative and lasting solutions that enhance people’s well-being and prosperity. With a focus on teen safe driving and building financial independence for domestic violence survivors, The Allstate Foundation also promotes safe and vital communities; tolerance, inclusion, and diversity; and economic empowerment. For more information, visit www.AllstateFoundation.org.

About the National Safety Council
Founded in 1913 and chartered by Congress, the National Safety Council (nsc.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to save lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the road through leadership, research, education and advocacy. NSC advances this mission by partnering with businesses, government agencies, elected officials and the public in areas where we can make the most impact – distracted driving, teen driving, workplace safety and prescription drug overdoses.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Redefining Work and Ourselves

August 15, 2012 by Prof Pinch 2 Comments

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘work?’ Most people think work is something to make fun of or to scorn. Scott Adams turned Dilbert into a household name, synonymous with cubicle farms, endless supplies of bad coffee and mismanagement. The Smiths song “Work Is A Four-Letter Word” even takes it further and treats work as something obscene. I mean, it is literally a four-letter word after all.

Regardless of the economic environment, you’re bound to hear at least one or two stories from family or friends who are unhappy with their job. But in this current economic environment, there seems to be a lot of questions being asked on the value of work. It’s not that work isn’t important, but is it everything in a person’s life? Should it be?

Obviously, the answer is no. But consider this from Alexis Madrigal:

The upper middle class (i.e. the NYT reader) is WORKING MORE HOURS and having to stay more connected TO WORK than ever before. This is a problem with the way we approach labor, not our devices. Our devices enabled employers to make their employees work 24/7, but it is our strange American political and cultural systems that have allowed them to do so.

So while the notion we need to put our devices down is a good one, as Madrigal points out, we would probably put them down if we felt like we could.

The problem is, our society puts a lot of value in things and busyness. We’ve been taught to fill up our lives with activities and possessions. Literally. Scheduling our lives to the microsecond and buying bigger houses to store our ever expanding collection of things was just something that our society did. The saying “E pluribus unum” should have been replaced with “Keeping up with the Joneses” on all of our currency and coins over the past several decades. It was more apt.

Then people realized their homes weren’t worth what they thought. And then the debts started piling up while we started losing our jobs. All of a sudden, debt, which is an abstract construct, became more real than a house. And with it, we started asking ourselves a lot more questions about what’s important in our lives than we have in many, many years. In short, our society was confronted with an identity crisis.

What do I mean? Let’s look at how we view work histories. Who is more employable? A young man who has had to bounce from job to job out of necessity? Or an older man who stayed at one company, made his way to management, but has had five heart attacks in the process? For years, the goal was to try and be the second man, but without the heart attacks.

But chronically overworked employees are prone to higher risks of heart attacks and other health issues. Indeed, presenteeism is now seen as a bigger problem in the workplace than absenteeism. See the paradox? We relish men who are competitive and invulnerable (at least outwardly), yet the toll of “putting that mask on” can be quite high. And as women started working outside of the home more, women started having the same health problems as men.

So what’s the solution? First, the notion of a work week needs to change. If the new nature of work is more about the quality of ideas and quality of execution, it seems our notions of not only how we work but where and how frequently we produce work deliverables needs to change. Sometimes, the best place to come up with the next idea or how to execute that idea isn’t in an office, but on vacation. Or after you return from one. In short, we need to encourage people to get out of the office. But it’s not just about encouraging vacations. It can be about giving people more time to enjoy hobbies and other pursuits that aren’t work-related, but can spark employees to think differently. To think better.

Second, it seems people need to re-envision what a career path is. The old notions of what made a career need to be re-thought. And that young person who has held seven jobs in the past ten years may not be a job hopper or malcontent. They may have been just been trying to do what it took to get by. And who knows? That diverse skill set they built may actually be an asset.

Ultimately, this is about us. Are we going to continue to look to the same old ways of working and the same old notions of work as the way to leave this nation – and ultimately ourselves – forward? Or are we going to take a chance, have some guts and try to do things differently? To do them better? It’s all in our hands what we want our world of work to be.

A Firecracker July 4th Week

July 8, 2011 by Lisa Leave a Comment

It’s been a firecracker July 4th week around here. My family and I have been from one event to another since last Friday. Not to worry, all will be showing up on A Daily Pinch in the next week, but I do believe I’m to the point I’m a little overwhelmed and need a short break.

When you’re a professional blogger, you never really have a day off. I always have my Flip cam and trusty camera on me, as well as a notebook. You never know when you’re going to run across something to share. I’ve also had some female issues and my hormones are way out of whack. As a woman trying to do it all, let’s just say when you get to this point, you feel as if you’re flailing your arms wildly, expecting a big gust of wind to pick you up and help float you along.

Tomorrow, I’m going to sit on the beach and take pictures. Turn my cell phone off and not worry about life for a little while. I need to find some balance and this will be the best way. Surf, sun and sand. My true balancers.

I won’t leave you hanging, but tempt you with what’s coming after my self-imposed hiatus.

Stomp, Chomp and Roll Cookie Contest
Cirque du Soleil was at the NASCAR Hall of Fame this week. Can’t wait to show off the pics of the performance.
Cirque du Soleil’s Alegria coming to Charlotte! I did a sneak preview in Raleigh Wednesday night and can’t wait to share posts, video and images. There might even be some fun giveaways coming!
Jamestown in Charlotte? That’s right. It’s coming to the history museum.

BORN TO BE WILD JOURNEYS INTO DISCOVERY PLACE APRIL 8

April 5, 2011 by Lisa Leave a Comment

If you know me, you will know I love Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC. I’m lucky enough that I can go visit anytime I want and thanks to their fantastic team, I can share this press release with you!

Latest IMAX® Documentary Narrated by Morgan Freeman

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April5, 2011) – Join IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures on a miraculous journey of second chances when Born to be Wild opens on April 8 at Discovery Place‘s The Charlotte Observer IMAX® Dome Theatre. Follow young orphaned elephants and orangutans on the trip of a lifetime, from birth to their rebirth into the wild. This family friendly documentarywill transport moviegoers around the world to the far stretches of Kenya and Borneo and will inspire them to take action and save earth’s precious creatures.

Narrated by Academy-Award® winner Morgan Freeman, Born to be Wild is an inspiring story of love, dedication and the remarkable bond between humans and animals. This film documents orphaned orangutans and elephants and the extraordinary people who rescue and raise them—saving endangered species one life at a time. Stunningly captured in IMAX, Born to be Wildis a heartwarming adventure transporting moviegoers into the lush rainforests of Borneo with world-renowned primatologist Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas, and across the rugged Kenyan savannah with celebrated elephant authority Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick, as they and their teams rescue, rehabilitate and return these incredible animals back to the wild.

“Spending so much time among the orphaned elephants and orangutans in this film was a life changing experience,” said Producer/Writer Drew Fellman. “And IMAX makes it possible to share that wonder with the audience in a very profound way that takes us directly into the lives and struggles of these amazing animals.”

Born to be Wild is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX Filmed Entertainment. Directed by David Lickley and written and produced by Drew Fellman, the behind the scenes team includes supervising line producer Diane Roberts, associate producer Jill Ferguson, director of photography David Douglas and editor Beth Spiegel. Music is composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. Born to be Wild will open April 8, 2011 exclusively in IMAX theatres.

The film has been rated G and has a run time of 40 minutes. For showtimes, visit discoveryplace.org.

After taking an IMAX journey into the rainforest, moviegoers have the chance to experience a real slice of rainforest habitat, similar to what is seen in the film, in Discovery Place’s World Alive exhibition.  Celebrating the Earth’s biodiversity, the rainforest habitat features live species of frogs, lizards, stingrays, palms and epiphytes among other plant and animals species.  Visitors can view the rainforest at the ground level or can traverse a swinging bridge that overlooks the tropical landscape.  Access to the World Alivehabitats are included with admission to Discovery Place, which is separate from IMAX admission.

Managing the Family Finances

January 20, 2011 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Thank you to TurboTax for sponsoring my writing about household finances. Learn more about how TurboTax can help you find every tax deduction you deserve. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

When I think about our family and how we manage our finances, well it’s all messed up. I married a man with a degree in economics whose job is in finance. He lives and breathes the stock market, credit default swaps, and practically everything about the economy. Yet, the household budget? It’s like I’m speaking Martian to the man because the time periods and due dates for when bills are due seem like some foreign language to him. I might as well tell him I was sent from a faraway planet to blow up planet Earth because he’s either cowering in a corner or falling asleep. On the sofa.

Boy how times change. You’d assume that with his background that this would be more of a shared responsibility. But alas, it isn’t. To him it’s not “strategic enough” or as he says, “it lacks big pictureness.” I pretty much have total control over that aspect of our lives and balancing the money coming in with the money going out can be a challenge, especially when your primary breadwinner’s first thought isn’t “Do we have enough for something like that?” but “What do you mean we don’t have enough for that?” Sure, we have automated ways to transfer money here for this, automatic payments set up for that and routine contributions for 401(K)s. But I think that’s part of the issue. Like the scouts from NBC that wanted to give Kenny Bania a TV show because they liked stuff “you don’t have to think about,” my husband has things he doesn’t like to think about. Indeed, he would’ve watched Kenny Bania’s show. I’m convinced.

So how will we manage this going forward? Will he continue to defer the responsibility to me? Will he want to take a more active role? I don’t know, but whatever he decides I have one rule: I’d better not see Kramer come crashing through my living room with Newman chasing him, hallucinating about Kramer as a turkey.

Drive It Home: Teen Safety Behind the Wheel

Did you know that about half of all teen drivers will be in a crash before they graduate high school?

The first year of driving is the most dangerous and the #1 killer of teens.

What can you do as a parent when discussing safety behind the wheel?

What else can you do? Among the lifesaving recommendations and resources at driveithome.org:

Like this:

Redefining Work and Ourselves

Like this:

A Firecracker July 4th Week

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BORN TO BE WILD JOURNEYS INTO DISCOVERY PLACE APRIL 8

Like this:

Managing the Family Finances

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Connect

Family

Did you know that about half of all teen drivers will be in a crash before they graduate high school?

The first year of driving is the most dangerous and the #1 killer of teens.

What can you do as a parent when discussing safety behind the wheel?

What else can you do? Among the lifesaving recommendations and resources at driveithome.org:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

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