Walking To Your Car Can Be Deadly

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Ray LaHood is a man with a mission: No distracted driving! No texting. No calling. How about no arguing with the SO?

He’s now talking to the carmakers, says Reuters. Will he take your car electronics away?

He’s no dummy. “The government, which owns a third of General Motors Co and 10 percent of Chrysler following their federally supported bankruptcies,” says Reuters, “is mindful of heavy handed action against industry that might impact business and jobs.”

So instead of ordering them to turn the gizmos off, LaHood hit them up for money. According to Reuters, he “suggested” companies could sponsor public service or other advertisements on distracted driving. I’m sure they’ll jump to it to get LaHood of their backs.

Here is another mission for LaHood: It can get downright deadly to get to the car. “While the media regularly trumpets the dangers of driving on ice and snow, many people get injured by slipping and falling,” says NBC station KJRH.

“Walking on ice is tricky at best, even for people who live in areas that see a lot of ice and snow. Injuries from falls can be extremely serious, and even potentially deadly. Safety experts say it’s not uncommon to see many more injuries from falls than from auto accidents after a winter storm.”

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Anchke Anchke on Jan 21, 2011

    LaHood consistently delivers his safety message in a way that makes him sound like a meddlesome nanny sent by the government to encumber the citizenry with help. He needs to frame his message in terms of attainable benefits. It's too bad people slip and fall on ice. I don't think the remedy falls to a federal suitster. PSAs won't gain any more traction than the 55 mph speed limit. Examp: My state of CT has a law against cell phone use by drivers, has augmented the law with PSAs and sometimes enforces the law with fines. Result: nada. It's official dithering that people feel entitled to ignore.

  • John Horner John Horner on Jan 21, 2011

    Our man in China complaining about the excessive involvement of the US government in the lives of individuals. The funny thing is, he can't complain about anything the Chinese government does without his internet access getting shut down, or worse.

    • FleetofWheel FleetofWheel on Jan 21, 2011

      Even questioning authority in general goes against the grain of the 'must respect our dear leaders' tenet of the PRC. But you're right in that it is wonderful we can challenge, chide and even mock Bush, LaHood, et al with our only concern being to present a good persuasive case to our fellow citizens and not worry a whit about a knock on the door.

  • Herb Herb on Jan 21, 2011

    @John Horner; So, what do we learn from your post? If a Westerner is living in China doing business there without rebelling against the Chinese government he automatically looses his right to criticize professional busybodies in the US or elsewhere? Interesting approach to the topic of freedom of opinion. BTW: You don't need any gadgets to drive distracted, not even a radio, not even a car (ask ancient Romans). The idiocy of today is to believe that the risk (and thrill) of live can be minimized by a maximum of (how ever stupid) regulations. This won't end well. The concept of "accident" is completely lost now, as lawyers and other useless members of society don't like it, because nobody could be blamed (Wikipedia: "Experts in the field ... avoid use of the term 'accident' to describe events that cause injury in an attempt to highlight the predictable and preventable nature of most injuries").

  • Wayne Conrad Wayne Conrad on Jan 21, 2011

    One way to stop distracted drivers... if you get in an accident and it causes a death and it was caused due to distracted driving, license gone forever. But they'd never go that far. Really though, why do people think they can concentrate on moving a vehicle and typing or talking on a phone at the same time? No matter how you slice it and how good you think you are at doing both, one of them is failing you and I can guarantee it isn't the typing/talking.

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