I am sure that all of us have a friend or family member that rides a motorcycle or bicycle. Each year around 5,000 Americans die in motorcycle crashes and hundreds of thousands more face serious and permanent injuries. For bicycle riders the numbers are lower at around 800 deaths each year, but the number of miles ridden are much lower also. Further, tens of thousands face serious injuries which can affect them the rest of their lives. Some of these crashes are caused by driver error, but increasingly more and more are being caused by distracted driving. I have personally seen several motorcycle and bicycle riders texting while driving. This is not only a bad idea, but it is against the law for motorcycle riders.
What is even more alarming is the dramatic increase of crashes caused by distracted drivers who hit a motorcycle or bicycle. These are preventable tragedies that may impact someone we care about and overall costs our society millions of dollars.
What can you do to help prevent such a tragedy?
April is Distracted Driving Month so what can you do to help prevent a tragedy?
1. Remind your family and friends that April is distracted driving month and encourage them to pay attention to the road, not their phone.
2. Be a good role model for your children, grandchildren and other people who ride in your car. If you think that you really need to read or send a text, pull into a safe spot in a parking lot to do so.
3. Request our cell phone wallets that not only are useful to hold your credit cards, cash, your drivers' license, etc., but will provide you, your family and friends a constant reminder to Prevent a Tragedy- Don’t Drive Distracted. To request your cell phone wallets (up to 10 per household) go to www.QuitDD.com and fill out the Request Your Wallet information on the left of the cell phone wallet image:
Also, please encourage your family and friends to visit www.QuitDD.com and help reduce roadway deaths and injuries in Iowa. If you prefer, you can call our office at 515-661-5542 and tell Marie how many you would like.
If you support QuitDD.com we would appreciate if you would help us spread the word by Clicking on the Facebook link under CONNECT WITH ME, Like our page, and share it with your friends and family.