Mobile Phones Can Be Painful

It is too hot here in Utah this summer but I still got on my bike and headed out for a morning ride today. I started the ride in the heat and it only got hotter. I looked forward to completing my ride but towards the end I came across an auto/pedestrian accident that lengthened my time in the sun. Guess who wins an an auto vs. pedestrian accident? If you said, "Nobody," you are correct. Fortunately the pedestrian was not hurt severely but did get taken away in an ambulance.

I arrived just after the accident happened and took it upon myself to direct traffic around the poor woman lying in the street. She had the young driver of the car next to her on the phone with emergency medical services, also known as 911. The poor driver was crying and explaining how the accident happened. While directing traffic I tried to help the other two people that stopped and were performing first aid while we waited for the paramedics to arrive.

So what happened? Why did a young girl getting off the freeway run into another woman walking across a crosswalk? I did not witness the accident and can only share what I heard at the scene and can surmise based on where the car stopped and the victim lay. Having seen my fair share of bicycle accidents, the pedestrian was not hit very hard. The driver came off the freeway and was slowing down as she came to the intersection. She was distracted by her phone and didn't see the pedestrian in the crosswalk until it was too late. She immediately stopped and got out of her car to help the injured person. That was mistake number 1 and the biggie.

There was a second mistake made by the pedestrian crossing the street. She was also on her phone and missed noticing that a car was coming down the road. Her mistake was significantly less important when finding fault for the accident but one that could have saved her some significant pain. Had she been paying careful attention to the cars on the road she might have been able to jump out of the way.

Please understand that I don't fault the pedestrian for getting hit. She was in a crosswalk and had the right of way regardless of if she was on her phone or not. My only point is that paying more attention to her surroundings could have kept her from receiving a minor face laceration, a bruised hip, and a concussion this morning.

Mobile phones are one of the greatest inventions of our time. We are all instantly contactable and can use them to remain more productive than we would be without them. Unfortunately they require our attention and sometimes that can be unhealthy. Fortunately in this morning's accident, nobody was seriously injured and the only severe consequence is that someone's insurance will go up.

In Case of Emergency (ICE)

My most recent post has me thinking about emergency contacts and how I have them listed in my phone. I attended an emergency training meeting a few years back and one of the first things they had us do was create an ICE contact in our phones. It stands for In Case of Emergency and first responders are trained to look for that contact to use in case there is an accident and they find your phone.

If you don't have that contact in your phone, you should stop what you are doing and add it. Don't worry, I'll wait. It does not need to be a new contact. It can be one already in your phone. This small piece of information may be the critical piece of information that gets you proper and immediate help if something ever goes wrong.

Winter Driving

I don't know how I managed to stumble across the video on YouTube showing some of the worst 2012 truck accidents caught on video. Once I started watching though, I couldn't stop. You only need to watch about half of the video as the second half is full of repeats. The first accident on the video shows how important it is to pay attention while driving in winter conditions. One lapse in judgement can send your car sliding out of control and into oncoming traffic.

When I am in California during the week, I don't really have to worry too much about winter driving as there is never any snow or ice on the road. Tonight it is supposed to get down below freezing, but anyone who drives in the snow knows that a couple of hours below freezing is not likely to create treacherous conditions. No, I have to worry about winter driving on weekends when I am back in Utah.

Last week I managed to contract an ear infection. I was glad to get on a plane Friday evening and have the weekend to recuperate. I thought about forcing myself to ski for a few runs on Saturday, but I just wasn't up to it. Instead I stayed in bed all day and watched the Ice Road Truckers marathon with seven episodes all in a row. If you think it is tough keeping a car on an icy road, try doing it in an large truck with 80,000 pounds of cargo.

As winter driving will be with us for the next few months, I thought I would gather some links to sites with a few suggestions:

Caltrans Winter Driving Tips
AAA Winter Driving Tips
The Weather Channel Winter Driving Tips

My motivation for passing these along are purely for selfish reasons. I know how to drive in the snow. I don't want someone else running into me and pushing me into a head-on collision with a large long-haul trucker. That would really ruin my day.