There have been a ton of changes since the “olden days” when I started driving … most of the advances in technology are great ones but they seem to make the more irresponsible drivers even more so.

I admit, when I had my first daughter 28 years ago car seats were not even a requirement, they were, instead, a luxury that few parents had. My daughter was not even two months old when the back of my car was hit by a semi on the highway, thankfully traffic was jammed and its engine had just died and it was rolling when it hit my car, but the impact moved my engine 10″ AND flipped my daughter, in her “punkin seat”, as they were called back then, over the seat belt where it had been strapped in and she and seat ended up in the floor.

I refused to drive again until I could get her a car seat, and with them being a new luxury item, the price was steep, BUT totally worth the investment. I did, however, unknowingly, take more chances – the statistics were not yet in on how this or that was safe or not. She never rode in a car without her car seat until she outgrew it at almost SIX, as she was so tiny, BUT, for most of that time I had it backwards, as it was supposed to be, in the FRONT SEAT!

It gets worse, not only had I driven down the highway and reached for a dropped bottle or pacifier, but when her brother was born right after she turned six, she got moved to the middle of the backseat and her brother took her place in the front passenger seat. Looking back now, I am ashamed to admit, I was known to drive down the highway while FIXING him a bottle with the powder and water mix formula, yet I was one of the most careful and responsible, practically smothering parents in every other way.

By the time my youngest daughter, now 17 was born, cars came with warnings on the passenger visor to not have car seats in the front. Sadly, infant deaths gave the heads-up for this advice.

Fast forward a few years to when we got cell phones. Am I really the only person in the world that pulled over to use one? If I had a call coming in, I would pull over at the first available parking space if on the street or first safe shoulder on the highway. Then, of course, within a year or so, I knew I was “qualified” to drive and talk as long as I was just answering the phone or hitting one number on speed dial – right? No, no, no, that was yet another STUPID and irresponsible thing I was doing that not only could have endangered me and my passengers but anyone else on the road! DUH!

Now we have the kids and their “texting” and yes, I agree with them that they have much more experience AT texting than most adults I know AND once they get the hang of it, rarely even LOOK at their teeny tiny keyboards, BUT, statistics are sadly showing that this is probably the worst driving hazard of all time, even worse than when I was a kid and we could hang all over the car and out the windows and flip from back seat to front seat, etc. as long as we did not distract or disturb the driver.

My teenager told me how stupid the law against texting while driving is for teens since they are always texting and SO EXPERIENCED and it should just be a law for us old fogies. Sadly, we have lost three teens that I know about in our small town in a year or so who were ALL in fatal accidents while “expertly” texting. To her and others I say, “Yes, it seems to you to be another stupid law like wearing your seat belts, BUT there are very good reasons for those laws and the worst thing is that they all come FROM terrible, sad, life stealing statistics.”

My friend from both Twitter and Facebook, Donna L. Johnson shared this video with her Facebook friends, aptly named: Distracted driving kills. Buckle Up & Put it Down! and you are invited to see it here. Hopefully my ramblings can help just one person be a bit more responsible while he or she is driving!