Safety on the Roads

I live in Maryland. Over the past week I have heard of an officer of the Howard County Police Department and a State Police officer being involved in accidents while performing their duty.

In the case of Officer Scott Wheeler, he was struck and killed by a vehicle performing his duty doing in what’s called a ‘Step Out’ traffic stop. While this can be a dangerous procedure, it is an efficient way to catch speeders.  Apparently the driver in this case did not see him.

It seems to have become common a common practice to drive while not paying attention to the primary purpose of driving.  People are being distracted by a number of things while they drive including talking on the cellphone, changing the station on the radio, eating and drinking or simply daydreaming.

With the increase of cars on the highways, isn’t it time to stop the distractions.  Some like a screaming child in the back seat may still occur until you can find a place to stop to address the problem.  But if you finish the meal before you start the drive or hold the cell phone conversation after you stop, these distractions won’t happen.

We all need to be as safe as possible as we can when driving.  Accidents do happen, but many won’t happen if the distractions aren’t there. Who knows the life you save may be a friend, a relative or even your own.

Be safe.