The Lonely Rider

This was no accident and nor is any collision on our roadways. It’s time people start calling things what they really are. This was a ‘crash’ or a ‘collision’. Not an accident. What’s the difference you ask? An ‘Accident’ is something that is unavoidable and unforeseen. Collisions or crashes ARE predictable and therefore avoidable

When we go out on our roads, there is always a chance of being involved in a crash. Lets face it…it happens several times a day. Although…if they happen everyday, they are predictable. So how do you avoid them? Well for starters pay attention to your surroundings and road conditions. By keeping a careful watch on the vehicles around you, you are more able to spot certain behaviours that may lead to trouble. It only takes one person to not pay attention to create the conditions for a collision. However, it only takes one person who is paying attention to recognise those developing conditions and avoid them entirely. It’s a simple thing called ‘Situational Awareness’ but it’s something that is sorely lacking on our roads – especially among car drivers. The most attentive road users are motorcyclists and professional truck drivers. Both know full well that they must be well aware of everything going on around them and plan well ahead while navigating our dangerous roadways…

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Enough!
Courtesy of Sharon DeVellis of the Yummy Mummy Club
July 05, 2010

I’m so beyond pissed off right now I can’t stand it. While putting on make up this morning while watching Breakfast Television, I listened as Kevin Frankish reported about how a father died in front of his two kids, ages 7 and 11, last night.

Was it a long weekend freak accident? Did he have a heart attack?

No. He was killed from a head-on collision by a driver who was going the wrong way on a major highway. The car is virtually unrecognizable with the front passenger seat pretty much obliterated.

The dad, the one sitting in the now gone front passenger seat, was killed instantly. The mom who was driving was airlifted to a hospital and is in critical condition.

The two kids are unhurt.

But not really. They aren’t fucking unhurt. They lost their father. Their mother is in a hospital and will hopefully recuperate but will have who knows how many months or years to get back to where she was.

The family? That’ll never get back to where it was, will it? Because I can tell you from experience, this crash will be the turning point in their lives. From this point forward, life for them will be known as before the crash and after the crash.

“Alcohol is being investigated as a factor in the collision.”

And this is where I say What The Fuck? And yes, I’m using f-bomb. If you’re offended, then walk away from the computer. But I earned the right to use What the fuck when two years ago a drunk driver smashed head-on into our family on a Sunday afternoon as we driving to my in-laws house to celebrate Mother’s Day. I earned it when I had to calm my screaming, bleeding child sitting by the side of the road waiting for police and paramedics to arrive. I earned it when I had to hold both my kids beside me on the ambulance ride to the hospital and when I had to see the drunk driver being admitted AHEAD OF US and he was so drunk he couldn’t even tell the nurse his name.

I earned it when I chose to stay sitting with my son in my lap and didn’t get up to beat the shit out of him at that very moment.

I earned it when I had to give my child drunk driving magic every single night before bed in order for him to be able to sleep and when I went to court to read our impact statement in front of a full courtroom, only to have the man who changed our family forever not look me in the eye once, not even when I held up pictures of my sons so he could see who he hurt.

I earned it when I listened as the judge revoked his license for 15 months and gave him a fine to pay and he walked away with his wife to go home to his young child. The one who didn’t need therapy from being in a head-on collision.

So I say What The Fuck.

Because I earned it.

And now this family has earned it and they don’t deserve it.

How many people have to die or be injured in drunk driving collisions before we smarten the hell up and get stricter laws?

Editor’s Notes:
Sharon’s rant touches close to home for me as a dear friend of mine sits in hospital beside her sisters bed as she lays there clinically brain dead. The plug is being pulled tomorrow. At the same time her mum lays in another hospital bed clinging to life. It’s still unsure what the outcome will be for her. It was a drunk driver who caused this tragic crash a few weeks ago.

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Seriously Drivers…what the hell is wrong with you??

What makes your need to shave a few minutes of time off your commute worth endangering the lives of those around you? You have no respect for other drivers, you sure as hell don’t have any respect or regard for motorcycles, and in fact loath them even though that motorcyclist riding near you has done NOTHING to you personally…actually, you have no respect for yourselves or your own life either.

You talk on your cell phones, eat, shave and even paint your damn toe-nails while driving. You pay more attention to everything else but the task of driving! What the hell is wrong with you? Driving is the most dangerous thing you do every day and you don’t give a damn. You don’t take it seriously and take it for granted.

All you care about is shaving a few minutes off your drive. Obviously the lives you put at risk means nothing to you. You don’t bother to stop and think about your own life either, or your family, or the families of the people you may injure; husbands, wives, sons and daughters. Human beings for Christ’s sake! Not that you care…you care only for yourself…getting home a few minutes sooner. Maybe you will give a damn when it’s your child who is clinging to life in a hospital bed because someone else was careless or inattentive behind the wheel. You drive around in thousands of pounds of steel like a child playing with daddies gun, without any damn clue or understanding of the possible consequences.

Our roads are suffering from a disease and much like a cancer, that disease is killing us. Call it ignorance…call it complacency…call it not giving a damn. It IS curable though. Through education and training, our roads CAN become safer. Safer roads start with safer drivers…that means YOU!

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Greetings everyone!

It is with great pleasure to announce that my RoadAwareness Campaign now operating as RoadAwareness.org. Road safety issues don’t stop at any border and neither do we!

The Facebook Group name has changed to reflect the new orientation and to make it easier to find us in searches. Please be sure to invite all your friends to check out our website and join our Facebook group as road safety affects us all. Safer roads begin with safer drivers!

We are now coming up on one year of successfully bringing awareness on road safety related issues and we look forward to another exciting year in 2010. In the past year, RoadAwareness has been involved with three notable awareness rallies in Southern Ontario, with attendance ranging from 60 to 200 participants. Each time, we had favourable coverage by the media, public attendance and support of local law enforcement at those events. Newspapers, TV and various online websites & forums, have all covered events associated with us and we hope that they will continue to do so as we spread the message on improving situational awareness when operating a motor vehicle as well as the importance of advanced driver & rider training.

The RoadAwareness Campaign is proud to have been covered by the media several times, not only locally where it began in Southern Ontario but the word is now spreading across North America and the rest of the world. Our website is now being viewed by visitors from around the globe. Here is some of the media coverage we’ve gotten so far:
http://www.roadawareness.org/about-us/media-coverage/

In addition to awareness rallies, RoadAwareness also performed a Distracted Driving Experiment to highlight the dangers of using your cell phone while driving and was successful in showing that hands-free kits are really no safer than using a hand-held phone while talking. In addition, the results of texting while driving were jaw-dropping. All of the participants were far more likely to loose control of their vehicles and hit obstacles…and most did.

RoadAwareness is joining forces with some great partners in 2010. We are also pleased to announce our involvement in Belt Drive Betty’s Awareness Conga to the Wharf Rat Rally in Digby, Nova Scotia. For more information on this rally, please check out and join this group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=291129346434
We hope to assist with arranging various awareness rallies along their route across the country. Stay tuned and join us along the way.

Another notable mention is the establishment of some great working relationships with Young Drivers of Canada and the Traffic Services Division of Toronto Police Services. We continue to solidify these alliances and look forward to working with them further in 2010. Developing new relationships, on an ongoing basis, is a primary focus for us.

Promising discussions with Queensway AUDI are ongoing now that they’ve launched a Teen Driver Development Program, focusing on arming our young drivers with the skills they need to survive our roadways. Moving onward, we are constantly looking for important changes in the industry on a global level. We are also in need of like-minded partners to assist us as we continue to send two simple messages…the importance of advanced driver & rider training and that “There is no excuse for paying anything less than 100 percent attention to the task of driving and to our surroundings.” -Shaun de Jager, Founder

Your continued support of the RoadAwareness Campaign is valuable to us. Drive safe.

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In the real world…these are your pylons. They aren’t made of plastic.

On January 24th, 2010 RoadAwareness.org hosted a Distracted Driving Experiment at Formula Kartways in Brampton, ON. The objective was simple enough…take drivers with various levels of experience and get them to drive while distracted. Each driver was subjected to various exercises including a slalom course, swerve & avoid as well as reaction time tests. At first participants drove without any distractions but later had to perform the same tests while talking on a cell phone (including using hands-free kits) and while texting.

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With the hands-free ban coming into full affect February 1st, RoadAwareness.ca will be performing a practical experiment of how distracted driving affects situational awareness and reflexes. This is an interactive opportunity for media to get on the track and test how much distracted driving really changes their driving ability.

The objective is to highlight that any handheld or cell phone usage (even with the use of a hands-free kit) significantly reduces a driver’s situational awareness and reflexes and greatly increases the chance of being in a collision.

The experiment will be held on January 24th, 2010 in a controlled environment at Formula Kartways located at 79 Bramsteele road in Brampton. While seated behind the wheel of purpose built gokarts, drivers will go through several practical driving tests to gauge their skill, reflexes and awareness, with and without distractions. The experiment will be held from 10am to 1pm and it will take approximately 30 minutes for each person to complete.

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