Did you ever have a brain freeze?

You know, like when you know that you know the answer to something or you intuitively know that something is wrong or is going to happen but you go ahead and complete the action anyway and then second guess yourself for not following your gut?

Here is one I think we can all readily relate to that will illustrate my point. Read More >>

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Sean Kilcarr, senior editor at FleetOwner. Sean has a blog, “Trucks at Work” where he discusses issues concerning the commercial trucking industry.

People say I’m passionate about safety on our roads. Well, they never met Sean! It’s nice to find someone else who feels the way I do about saving lives by reducing risky driving. (I’m also happy to hear, Sean, that your brother is healing from his fall.)

I’m sure many people will feel the way Sean did about Driving Me Crazy when they start reading it, but I also hope people feel compelled to read it. Compelled to read it because they know it’s the first step in making a difference. Whether it’s how they drive, how their fleet drives or how their family drives. We all share the road together and we all must be aware – and vigilant – of  everyone around us. And the stupid things they do.

As Sean ended his blog, I’ll end mine: Crashes kill a lot of people. If we can put a man on the moon, and if we can explore space on a regular basis, we can solve this crisis. This is a deadly, serious business. But until we, as a society, accept the seriousness of this problem and are willing to take steps to address it, the dying won’t stop.

Now that Driving Me Crazy has been out for a couple weeks, it’s nice to know that people are reading it and understanding its need.

A recent comment on Amazon pulls it all together: “The argument here is that driver safety can be managed and not just left to chance.” This reader gets it! With so much death and destruction on our raods, it’s imperative that we take control by managing the drivers’s behavior.

It’s not about the vehicle. It’s not about the roads. It’s the drivers who make a difference. By helping them drive better, we reduce the mayhem and the resultant crashes and collisions.

I read, with interest, the recent article, “Best Life-Saving Car Safety Features” by Jacqueline Mitchell, recently featured on Forbes.com.

Driving safely remains one of the last best untapped frontiers for humanity in making a difference in the tens of thousands of needless deaths and literally millions of injuries will have a more positive impact than curing most diseases or ending all wars! The costs are staggering in dollars, but even more so in the emotional cost to those of us left behind.

All of these vehicle-centric safety enhancements reduce our chances of actually dying on our roads, but it is the human operating the vehicle that makes the difference as to these safety assists in the first place.

These so-called accidents are avoidable if we monitor driver behavior and not just trust that we will all do the right thing every time because we are licensed and we know better.

It turns out that President and Nancy Reagan were right after all, but in the wrong war.

We must absolutely say no to bad driving behavior, and yest we trust; but verify.

We get what we inspect, not what we expect.

If you don’t think so, watch how highway behavior changes drastically when a police car enters and then exits a particular road.

The time is now to go to war.

Yesterday, I was interviewed by San Diego’s local CBS affiliate for a story on risky driving. You can see the story and watch the newsclip here. I felt good about the story as it continues to increase awareness for this new industry we are building - using driver risk management to change behavior and save lives. What intrigured me was that while the story was running, the caption under it was “Drivecam Proves That A Lot Of Drivers Really Stink.” You’ll also find that’s the title of the story on the affiliate’s page.

It’s funny that after all these years, I never said it this way! It’s definitely succinct. And, it gets to the heart of the matter. But, I never stated it so bluntly As we know from watching how people drive, habits are hard to break. I’m so used to saying ”risky driving behavior” that it may take me awhile to change to “drivers really stink.”

And, athough many of them do, the more I think about it, the more I think I’ll stick with just saying that people exhibit risky driving behaviors. Unfortunately, no matter how I say it, people still do it. Every day.

I recently read an article in the Victorville Daily Press that caused quite a few comments. I was surprised at how vehement people feel about privacy vs. safety. My daughter was killed in an accident exactly 23 years ago the day this article appeared. There is no way I can tell you the pain and emptiness that comes from failing as a parent to have protected your child’s very existence, and I truly hope none of you ever have to experience that. The goal of the camera is not spying at all; I also happen to find that intrusive and over-reaching. The goal is prevention. All behavior is patterned and repeatable and if you see your driver doing something that invades 12 seconds of their privacy but is a teachable moment to break a bad habit that will someday kill them, then the tradeoff is a no-brainer.

I read, with interest, some recent postings on Clark Howard’s website titled, “Auto Insurers Happy to Cover Teenagers – with Caveats.”

As the CEO of DriveCam and the father of six children (one of whom died in an accident, though not an auto accident), I have personally experienced the tragedy of losing a child. I will tell you that you don’t want to watch your child killed in an auto accident, you want to prevent them from being killed. Clark – and his family – are very lucky that his daughter did not lose her life in her two collisions. I’d like to answer some questions concerning DriveCam that have been posted to the site. Some insurance companies (like American Family Insurance) are giving this technology to parents free of charge, so they have the opportunity to coach their teen before the crash occurs. And, parents only see what their teen does when something abrupt or risky with the vehicle occurs. When this happens, the teen loses 12 seconds of privacy in their life, which become the teachable moment to correct potentially lethal habit patterns before it becomes too late. What’s 12 seconds of knowing compared to a lifetime of grieving? Perhaps Clark’s 19 year old daughter may have avoided the two collisions (and totaling the car) if she had had the opportunity to be coached before they happened. 

The following is a brief interview with Bruce Moeller – a rare opportunity to get to know the man behind the message.

Thanks for spending a few minutes with us, Bruce. Why are you so passionate about road safety?
BM: Because 43,000 people died last year – needlessly. And that’s only in the U.S. That number is 1.2 million worldwide! What people need to realize is that there are no accidents. Every crash, collision and incident is predictable and preventable. These “accidents” do not need to occur.

What causes these “accidents”?
BM: Everyone thinks they’re immortal and that it will happen to the other guy.  Also, because we’re lucky. When we drive and take risks, whether we’re cutting corners, rushing or multi-tasking without ever having received a ticket or bent a fender, we are subtly reinforcing the notion that we can behave in this irresponsible manner. Each time we get away with it, we become more confident, bold and aggressive. This is all fine and well until our luck runs out. And, as the statistics prove, our luck does run out. For 465 of us each and every day.

Why did you write Driving Me Crazy?
BM: Because I had to. Seeing the death and destruction that occurs everyday compels me to stop it. I needed to let as many people as possible know what’s going on, why it’s happening and how we can make our roads safer. What’s interesting is that as I began writing the book and relaying my stories to friends and colleagues, I quickly became aware that although each of our lives are different, our stories are similar, and we all share the same passion.

How can people get involved?
BM: By sharing their stories on DrivingMeCrazyStories.com. It’s here where we can begin to create a community of people who share the same passion and vision – to make our roads safer. They can become involved in their communities and in their jobs. By simply talking to people, listening to their stories and sharing their own, they’ll become more aware of what’s going on and raise the awareness level of risky driving, what causes it and how it can be stopped.

I agree. I just hope it starts before one of our readers becomes one of the statistics. Thanks for your time.

My wife, baby boy, brother-in-law and I embarked on a road trip from Phoenix to Lake Tahoe and back in a 1993 Toyota Previa mini van.

It’s a long trip (over 750 miles) during which you traverse many hundreds of miles of pretty straight boring road. Making it even more interesting are big rigs passing you in the opposite direction at such velocity that the mini van would shake and practically blow off of the road.

On the trip back from Lake Tahoe, I decided that I wanted to make it as comfortable and roomy as possible, so I strapped the cooler and the baby stroller onto the roof rack.

Well my wife liked that stroller way more than she liked my peace and contentment or her brother’s ability to have the maximum room inside the van to stretch out and relax. She was incredulous that I would do something as stupid as to strap those items onto the roof rack and she drilled me on that subject the entire trip. All 750 miles. Read More >>

One of my colleagues told me of a funny incident that happened to him the other day while he was out getting the mail with his toddler properly secured in the car seat in the back.

He stopped at the mail boxes, which are concentrated near, but not directly in front of, his house.

It was a chilly day so he had the heat on in the car. He simply stopped in front of the mail boxes and left the car running so as not to interrupt the flow of warmth to his young child.

Somehow, either he or his toddler hit the door lock button and, you guessed it … he was suddenly standing on the outside looking in at his toddler locked in his running car. Read More >>