“It’s just a few drinks…I’m ok to drive.” How many times have you heard that from family members or friends? When it comes to drinking and driving, staying safe is about something deeper than confidence in your ability to drive under the influence. It’s about making responsible choices – and that starts with being sober and clear-headed behind the wheel.
Every parent dreams of seeing their children grow up safe and healthy. And parents have an enormous ability to educate them on avoiding danger by teaching skills like looking both ways before crossing the street and buckling up in every seat. But a critical safety seed that’s often not planted is burying the cell phone while driving. Done early, it can sprout a family expectation of a mindset to help grow our kids into safe adult drivers.
On the birthday of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, we recall one of his most famous lines. His monster Gollum said of the Ring, “It is mine, I tell you. My own. My precious,” and his protection of it extended his life far beyond usual limits. In the natural world, protecting our most precious – family and friends whose lives we treasure – can be accomplished with the simple act of ensuring that everyone in our vehicle wears a seatbelt.
Many of us were in elementary school when we heard the Caped Crusader spin on “Jingle Bells.” This holiday parody has been around for decades, and its silly and rebellious charm gets passed down from one generation to the next annually. This year, we’re adding a new twist on “Robin laid an egg.” It’s a substitution that should also be passed down to the new generations in our family and practiced every day of the year: when you are driving, put the phone away.
In a few days, Santa Claus is coming to town. Traffic could be heavy heading down from the North Pole on Christmas Eve. So, be ready to make room for his sleigh because ‘he knows if you’ve been merging…he knows who’s in your lane…he knows if you’ve been sig-nal-ing, so be good for goodness sake!’
After a long, warm autumn, it’s rain, snow, wind, and freezing temperatures that are dominating recent weather patterns with a few small events to practice our winter operations and driving skills.
As Iowa braces for its first major winter weather event this weekend, our goal at the Iowa Department of Transportation is to keep the roads as clear and drivable as possible for you, and to use our expertise and industry partnerships to provide the information you need to make smarter, safer travel decisions this winter.
At the holidays, there’s magic and merriment in the air, and corny jokes too. But when it comes to traffic safety this time of year, making sure our travels are bright is no laughing matter. Turning on your headlights isn’t only about seeing your way over the valley and through the woods, but also ensuring that drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians can see you.
In the humorous Christmas song, “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer,” she’s a bit tipsy from enjoying too much eggnog on Christmas Eve. So, it’s easy to understand how Grandma could have stumbled into the path of Santa’s sleigh on her way home. As the story unfolds, it’s discovered that hoofprints found at the scene the next morning suggest she was the victim of a distracted sleigh driver. And now we know the real cause of the hit and run: Rudolph was texting and flying.
We’ve pushed back from our Thanksgiving tables and awakened to Black Friday – the day known as the official start of the Christmas shopping season. You can almost hear the “cha-ching” of cash registers on the busiest and most chaotic deal day of the year. Unfortunately, the Thanksgiving holiday period is also known for something that’s far less jolly. Nearly one-third of all traffic fatalities during this holiday week involve impaired drivers according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
We’ve all lived this driving experience: you’re cruising along and up ahead you spot a stalled vehicle on the shoulder. Maybe the emergency hazards are on, but maybe not. You have precious seconds to assess the situation and take action. What do you do? You should slow down or move over as soon as safely possible. Crowding a stalled or working vehicle, or failing to let other drivers change lanes, can create the perfect storm for collisions.