Pay Attention While You're Driving

[TicketMan4u]

  If I could ask you to do anything it would be to pay attention while you are driving a car. I'm not just talking about texting or talking on a cell phone. I mean lighting a cigarette, adjusting the radio, brushing your hair, talking to a passenger, getting something out of your purse, etc. Anything that takes your full attention away from the road puts your life in danger. Too many times I've been dispatched to the scene of a traffic accident only to find someone had died. Sometimes it was a child. Sometimes more than one. Sometimes I had to go tell the family one of their loved ones had died. I carry those memories with me. Whenever I pass those spots in the road I remember. The visions and images are burned in my brain for eternity. I will never forget. My first wife died in an alcohol related car accident six months after we divorced. The daughter of our union had just turned four years old. After that I married again to a wonderful woman who brought two more daughters into our family. We've been together for nearly thirteen years. My daughters are all old enough to drive now and I worry everytime they leave the house. When my wife is gone I listen for the car to pull back into the driveway. If the phone rings while one of them is away I cringe till I hear their voice and know they are okay. If I could ask you to do anything it would be.....pay attention to what you are doing while you are driving. Please!

[Tomturkey46]

The best post I have read in a long time.  And thoughtful too.  Please, when you drive, pay attention to the road.

                                                   The Turkey

[asz]

AMEN to the one above me. very well put and most moving.  you are a gem ticketman  thanks!


peace  asz

[TicketMan4u]

   I wrote this post two weeks ago to help clear my mind. I kept thinking about this, dreaming about it, worrying about it, so I figured if I wrote about it, it would help get it off my mind.
   Yesterday my cousin's wife was killed in a traffic accident when she was hit head-on by an suv full of teenagers. His 14yo and 7yo sons were seriously injured and thankfully will survive.
   I don't think I was foreseeing this awful tragic event. But it just goes to show you that it can happen to anyone when you least expect it. You or a family member, a neighbor or a stranger, a co-worker or a classmate, anyone.

[asz]

so sad ticketman. and your post does have a extreme point then anyone who drives or rides should always keep in mind.

peace asz

ps: those poor children what a horrible thing to have to go thru

[ritehere]

That was indeed a post from the heart. The senseless losses that occurr from simply not paying attention is true and unjust for sure.
   I had a friend just last year that had just finished restoring a vintage GTO (and it was sweet). In less than a week the car was mangled by a young college kid that was tuning a radio (when they should have been paying attention to the road).
   The college kid was in the hospital for a short while but is ok. However my friend will be permanantly damaged. He seems to sit and stare off into space all the time in a world of his own, cries alot, and doesn't seem to sleep much.
   No he wasn't hurt in the crash, he wasn't even in the car. And no he doesnt do these things cause he misses the car.
   But he sure does miss his dog "joker" that was in the car at the time. This dog he had had for 17 years and was his best friend in the world. And had been a birthday present from his daughter just before she was found strangled in the park near thier home. A victim of a stupid mugging.   

[asz]

life can be a cruel harsh joke. and then, there are the moments when all the crap just disappears.


peace  asz

[knight]

Great advice,it takes a split-second for something to happen.Most people are not really aware of this,unless you been in a bad accident before.

[acesup]

well you know you don't don't have time enough to pay attention on the road when you hit the snooze button twelve times and stay up partying all night ..