It’s The DEADLIEST Time of the Year!

So here we are Memorial Day… and all I keep hearing from those I know are, “Can you believe the summer is here already?” Quite frankly it felt like summer was here all winter, but this weekend means that it’s time to open the pool, power wash the deck, freshen up the flower beds, and maybe just relax! Those of you who know me and have been reading this column for years already know that my fig tree was unwrapped at Easter, so that’s one less chore that I need to do before hitting the lounge chair on the deck! However, besides this weekend being the unofficial commencement of the summer of 2012, Memorial Day brings with it a plethora of issues that can not only wreak havoc upon this thing of ours, but may also cause a tremendous amount of grief and suffering for many families throughout the land. With prom, graduation and summer almost upon us, Memorial Day to Labor Day are considered the “100 deadliest days” for U.S. teen drivers on the road. According to a UPI report, Patricia Jacobs who is the president of AT&T in New England said that their company has joined forces with local law enforcement and elected officials to bring awareness, through presentations in high schools, of the dangers of distracted driving. “While we are proud of the work we’ve put into spreading the word to teens about the dangers of texting and driving, more remains to be done,” Ms. Jacobs said in a statement. “As our new study indicates, while teens know that texting and driving is dangerous, far too many of them admit that they are still doing it anyway.”

AT&T’s survey found that while 97 percent of teens know texting while driving is dangerous, 43 percent admit sending a text while driving and 75 percent say the practice is common among their friends. The survey found teenagers feel pressure to respond quickly to text messages…and adults are setting a poor example by texting while driving.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has also said that in a survey of 6,000 people within the United States alone, their results revealed that 90% of those surveyed considered texting while driving unsafe. However, only 1/3 of those who responded from within the 18-20 age bracket said that they would say something about it to the multitasking driver, such as asking them to stop text messaging while driving. The main reason for this is because those drivers who are texting are most likely within this same age group.

The DOT goes on to say that it is initiating a public relations campaign to encourage passengers to remind their friends to keep their eyes and minds on the road. “Distracted driving is an epidemic on our roadways, and these new findings show that our youngest drivers are particularly at risk,” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a written statement. “We are encouraging young people across America to speak up if the driver in their car is distracted.” The DOT campaign will include a contest for the public to design a distracteddriving logo that will be available for use on Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels. Displaying the logo on messages will act as a reminder to the recipients who happen to be behind the wheel that they should be watching the road, not a smart phone.

According to UPI, per a poll taken by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the volume of texting among teens has risen from 50 texts a day in 2009 to 60 texts a day this year, while the frequency of teens’ telephone voice calls has fallen drastically. Among the teens surveyed, 63 percent said they exchange text messages every day with people in their lives, surpassing phone calling by cell phone by 39 percent; face-to-face socializing outside of school by 35 percent; social network site messaging by 29 percent; instant messaging by 22 percent; talking on landlines by 19 percent, and e-mailing by 6 percent. The survey continues to say that more and more teenagers have smartphones, with 23 percent of all those within the ages of 12-17 saying they have a smartphone. Smartphone ownership is the highest among older teens: 31 percent of those ages 14-17 have a smartphone, compared to just 8 percent of youth ages 12-13. The poll was conducted by telephone with a sample of 799 teens ages 12 to 17 years old and their parents living in the continental United States. The margin of error was 4.8 percentage points.

BTW (by the way), TWD (texting while driving) isn’t the only form of electronic distraction on our roads today. There are those using global positioning devices, iPods, and even the car radio which now with Sirius we have hundreds of channels to choose from, causing a distraction while we’re searching between Lady Gaga, One Direction, Frank Sinatra or the New York City traffic and weather. In addition, not only do we have to be aware of drivers of cars, there are other distracted “travelers” on our roads that we may not be immediately mindful of. For instance, Illinois lawmakers are posing a piece of legislation that would ban texting while biking. The Illinois House Transportation Committee voted in favor of a bill that prohibits bikers from texting while in motion, the St. Louis (Mo.) Post- Dispatch reported a couple of months ago. The bill, proposed by state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, (D-Chicago), allows bicyclists to use hands-free devices while biking and text when the bike is stopped and pulled to the side of the road. Opposition to the legislation came from state Rep. Michael Unes, (R-East Peoria), who questioned whether the ban would be difficult to enforce and stop cyclists from using other devices such as global positioning satellite systems. Stay tuned as I will have more on this story, and I will follow up to see if other states follow suit…BRB!

Another nemesis of our industry is also upon us, so please don’t forget that June 1st is the beginning of hurricane season, which runs through November 30th, and already we are beginning to see circular motion storms brewing in the southeast and along the Mexican borders. According to a report by the National Weather Service, NOAA, (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is predicting a near-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins. In the Central Pacific region they predict an “at or below-normal” hurricane season. Typically, the season average is 12 named storms, according to NOAA forecasters, but with this August marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, the category-5 hurricane that devastated South Florida, causing more than 26 billion dollars in damage, The National Weather Service’s Chris Vaccaro says Andrew’s lesson is, “Be ready. Hurricane Andrew was the first storm in a very late-starting season that only produced 6 storms.” Robert Dietrick, also with NOAA, said that a near-normal season is likely, with a total of 9 to 15 named storms. He also feels that one to three of these storms are likely to form into major hurricanes within the category 3, 4 or 5 range.

Now although this most recent prediction indicates less major storm activity than in recent years, according to NOAA forecasters “…expect to see a continuation of overall conditions associated with the high-activity era that began in 1995.” Judy Curry, who chairs the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech University, said this increased activity in the Atlantic could last another decade. “We have been lucky in the last few years because a lot of the biggest storms have simply fizzled out in the open ocean without striking land.” Ms. Curry also said that we should expect to see continued high activity in the North Indian Ocean, where that tropical storm season begins in September, and this area is especially vulnerable. “One of the problems is that in this part of the world you don’t get very good tropical cyclone warnings…you get maybe two days,” she said. That short amount of time was certainly not nearly enough time to warn and save the more than 100,000 people who perished in tropical cyclone Nargis, which passed over Burma in 2008.

Whether it pertains to being aware of distracted drivers or a hurricane rolling up the coast, my recommendation is what I learned in the Cub Scouts years ago, and that is to “Be prepared”, (or was it in high school…no, that’s another story)! Until next time be safe out there, and I will TTYL! Ciao for now!