A View From the Blind Spot. Time to Review Setting Mirrors.

Yup, that's me, and I'm right in the driver's blind spot. So, if I had my side mirrors set the way many drivers do, you wouldn't see me there at all. What you also see in this mirror is my driver's head restraint showing where my seating position would be. When I'm driving, my side mirrors show me what many other driver's side mirrors don't: the stuff in the traditional blind spots. Traditional mirror setting tends to give drivers a similar view out all three primary mirrors. They see the area behind the car.

I just finished my coursework for certifying as a drivers ed instructor in Michigan. We also just held a CarFit clinic for seniors nearby. In both of these programs we instruct drivers how to set their mirrors according to the BGE method. BGE stands for blind spot & glare elimination. Now elimination is a bit of an overstatement. The traditional blind spots and night-time glare are greatly reduced using this method. However, it in no way is a replacement for frequent scanning and continued head checks. Bikes, pedestrians, motorcycles and others will still tend to get lost in the blind spot even when mirrors are set this way.

So, you want to give it a try? It's simple.

- Sit in the driver's seat.

- Position both of the side mirrors so that they reflect out away from the car as far as they go.

- Lean your head against the driver's side window.

- Adjust that side mirror back until you just start to view the side of your vehicle.

- Lean you head to the middle of the vehicle.

- Adjust the mirror on the passenger side back until you just start to view the side of your vehicle.

That's it. Now, it's going to seem pretty strange at first because your side mirrors will no longer show you the view you've seen in them for the last 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 + years. Try it, though. Have a friend walk into the spot beside your car that was formally missed by that mirror. You probably picked up 2 - 6 feet or more of extra viewing.

As I said, it's by no means a replacement for the physical head check, but gives a great boost to your mirror scans and extra warnings. Some drivers love it and others hate it. The drivers ed kids don't know any different and so they just think that's the way it's done (unless their parents "retrain" them).

Be safe.

Hot, Sweaty and Smiling. West Michigan’s Newest Child Passenger Safety Advocates

This child passenger safety thing is amazing. I just spent another couple of weeks helping instruct a new crop of freshly certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians in Holland, and we did that during the hottest soupiest weeks of the summer. We all loved it.

Now, the final day (day four) of Child Passenger Safety Technician training ends with four hours spent actually doing inspections and educating parents. That means spending the afternoon in the back seats of hot vehicles, reading vehicle manuals, educating parents, wrestling with stubborn vehicle belt systems, wrestling with stubborn, tired and fussy children, redoing paperwork we’ve messed up on, washing hands and cleaning up everything when done.

That’s all the stuff that the group you see in the above photo just finished doing, and, just like all of the rest of the classes I’ve been involved with, they loved it. They loved the chance to practice what they just learned, but what they really loved was the chance to educate parents and see children leaving the event safer than they arrived. Yup, the parents and kids were just as hot and uncomfortable as the technicians, but many of them expressed sincere appreciation for the services that they had just received. So, what’s not to love about that, eh?

And so, what would the new technicians like you to think about if they were speaking to you through this blog? They’d probably ask you to keep your littlest ones seated rear facing for a couple of years (or until they reach the rear facing limits of the seat they’re using), tighten the harnesses holding the precious cargo in place (since they probably haven't been tightened since winter) and use booster seats until junior is at least 4 foot 9.

Be safe.

A 1st for Motorcycle Safety in Michigan

So, I've already asked you nicely to watch out for me when I'm riding the highway transportation system on the two wheels of my Goldwing. And, I thank you for doing so. Every day that I spend on my motorcycle means that the next day I am extreeeeeeeeemely careful as a traditional four-wheel driver. I watch for EVERYTHING. Shoot, that's the way that we should be driving all of the time, but, spending a day feeling so incredibly vulnerable, really reminds me how dangerous this driving thing actually is.

Now, for the first time ever, our friends at the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning and SMARTER, the Skilled Motorcyclist Association-Responsible Trained & Educated Riders, are teaming up to co-sponsor the Ride Smart 2010 Motorcyclist Safety Conference. This safety conference for motorcyclists will be held Saturday, September 11, 2010 at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

The popularity of motorcycling has risen, and along with it has come a rise in crashes, injuries and fatalities. In fact, motorcycles have accounted for one of the few increases in Michigan traffic fatalities during the past few years. September's conference will feature nationally known motorcyclist safety experts and provide workshops with information and riding techniques that participants can immediately implement to protect themselves and their passengers. Oh sure, there are door prizes, collector patches, food and networking opportunities as well, but that safety thing should be enough. Registration is only $30 - $45 and details can be found at http://smartermotorcyclesafety.eventbrite.com

Traffic safety advocates like myself are always conflicted about our interest in two-wheeling coexisting with our knowledge of the true dangers surrounding this mode of transportation. The only way that I can rationalize my own involvement in it is by working hard to promote safe operation, good sense and the use of every safety feature available to me. That includes increased education right along with the helmet and protective clothing. This new Michigan conference should be an excellent opportunity to augment that education. Why not give it a try.

By the way- if you're a motorcycle safety advocate, I suggest checking out the resources available from our friends at SMARTER. Find them at www.smarter-usa.org

Be safe.

Beware The Sign That Doesn't

So, what is it about this sign? We put complete trust in it; trusting our own lives and the lives of everyone that we know and love. We trust it many times a day near home and around the world. Yet, it doesn't make drivers do what it says any more than a sign saying that the speed limit is 25 makes drivers proceed below 30. What's the deal?

Let's analyze it. The intent of the message contained upon this simple, universally recognized, sign seems fairly unambiguous. Stop means, well, stop: all the time. Not stop when it looks like there are other cars, or stop when I see a police officer, or stop when I'm not running late, or stop when I haven't already stopped for 5 other stop signs in the last 5 blocks, or stop when I happen to be off my phone and paying attention, or stop when I think a stop makes sense here, or the other multiple reasons why we may decide that we should actually stop when we see one of these signs.

In our town, stopping at these conflict points can seem quite tedious at times, especially when we're proceeding down a long straight neighborhood street with stop signs placed at each block. Show of hands now. How many of you have failed to completely stop at a stop sign because of that or any of the other reasons above? Yup, me too, as I'm sure most anyone that you'll see driving today has done or is about to do.

So, what can we know about these signs for sure? Well, we know for sure that sometimes drivers will come to a complete stop there and sometimes they won't. We also know for sure that everyone is assuming that everyone else will stop there and so I can trust my life to it.

As we've learned before, then, beware the sign that doesn't. Just because there's a sign is no guarantee of safety. We all need to drive as if the other driver is trusting their lives to us, but isn't showing us the same care.

Be safe.

Beware the Cross Line

It's just a bit before 1:00 in the afternoon on a typical warm summer day near Niles, Michigan (this past week, actually). Two local motorcycle riders are traveling a familiar road near home on a warm but otherwise unremarkable afternoon. Their bikes are separated from their approaching killer by a narrow painted barrier like the one you see in the photo above. This existential barrier was useless when the approaching driver crossed it and killed then both. No, police report that alcohol was not a factor.

What's remarkable about this crash is how unremarkable it's surrounding circumstances appear to be. Among the most common driver safety mantras that we have learned all of our driving lives is the one that says "most crashes happen close to home." After all, that's where we drive. We drive on well known roads during the daylight hours through unremarkable conditions. Separating us and our families from instant elimination or lifelong injury is this imaginary painted barrier measuring about a foot. We travel 30 times that distance in a second at 25 miles per hour. Imagine how quickly we cross the line at 40, 50 and 60.

Driving is a full time job when you are actively engaged in it. It's probably the only full time job you've had where your life depends on being engaged in it fully all the time. Someone who'll be hurtling at you in the opposite lane later today may be taking a break to do something besides driving so you'd better keep a sharp eye on them just in case they cross the line and you need to react. Conversely, you don't want to be that driver that crosses the line and changes the approaching family's life forever.

Be safe.

You Won't See Me- Preventing Traffic Tragedies Begins at Home

Bear Behind

Whenever we're doing a child safety seat inspection event and finish up with a family, before they even start their vehicle we yell out CAR MOVING. This emphatic utterance alerts all others in the area to stop what they're doing, look around for children and keep them far from the moving vehicle's path. Kids are quick, kids are tiny, kids are trusting, kids don't see danger; that's our job as adults.

This is the time of year when parents call me asking about child safety seat inspections because their family will soon set out on a far flung journey in their internal combustion vehicle. They'll be traveling the freeways of the United States (the safest roadways around), and so sometime before this event they'd like to review the safety of their children. Of course, their children are at their greatest peril each day playing in their own driveway and being transported around their own neighborhood.

In 2007, 5,000 kids in the US were injured by the family car right in their own driveway or in a parking lot, and over 200 of those kids were whacked dead. How ridiculous is that? And, how quickly does that event change a family's life forever?

Make the driveway a place for moving cars and do not allow it to be used for play. And, the street, no matter what the speed limit sign says or how many warning signs are in place, is a place for cars and not kids.

Take the time (it won't take long, I promise) to walk around your car and make sure the area is clear of kids, toys, pets, shopping carts and me, no matter where your journey begins.

Remember that the #1 way to injure or kill a child is with a motor vehicle. And, that these injuries and deaths happen right around home. That's where we live, and that's where we drive: every day.

Be Safe.

More New Occupant Protection Advocates for Michigan

Behold a new graduating class of Child Passenger Safety Technicians freshly baked in Lansing last week. I (the guy showing my legs in the front row) had the privilege of spending four days with an excellent group of instructors and an equally excellent group of passionate students.

If you see any of our grads in your neighborhoods, my advice to you is to not call them child seat inspectors. Yes, that's exactly what they showed up thinking that they were going to become last week, but what they really ended up becoming were occupant protection advocates. Ask 'em about the safety of your traveling family and you'll receive kind and thorough education about crash dynamics, the safety features of your vehicle and how to protect everyone that's riding in the family car.

What's it take to prepare a group like this? Simple, all you need is a heap of child seats (a BIG heap), trained and certified instructors, lots of support materials, a variety of cars and a week to navigate through a 460 page curriculum. Most importantly, you need a room full of students that have a passion for occupant protection and a desire to educate families. Fortunately you see just such a group listening to fellow instructor Sgt. Don Morris in this photo.

Want to find one of these advocates to help your family? Go to www.safekids.org and you can search for the technician closest to you. They'll be happy to take your call and make an appointment. I'm honored to have spent the week with them.

Be safe.