Think defense when taking to the roads

QUESTION: What’s the most important word in driving?

ANSWER: Most of us have shouted “Defense, Defense, Defense!” at a weekend football game when our team needs to hold the line when the opposing team is within 10 yards of a touchdown.

Well, this month I am feeling compelled to shout “Defense!” in regards to safe driving. I have recently been traveling on U.S. Highways for six days, from Minnesota to Florida and back. Being in a F150 Ford truck allowed those of us traveling to clearly see other drivers and we became very aware that nearly all the drivers between the ages of 16 and 35 who passed us were on their cell phones. Many were holding a cell phone and talking. Many were steering with one hand and holding their cell phone in the other hand and texting with a thumb. We even saw drivers driving with their knees while texting.

These drivers were driving at high speeds and were clearly distracted.

During this last month, our Minnesota newspaper headlines have read “February is deadly month on state roads.” In the first 10 days of February, the number of traffic fatalities exceeded the nine people killed during the month of January. State statistics show that distracted driving is involved in one in four fatalities.

The message is that distracted and speeding drivers are not only a danger to themselves, they are a danger to all the other drivers on the road.

We must all be wearing our seatbelts, complying with the speed limit, and being ready to slow down. In fact, I learned a new defensive driving skill during my recent 1,600 mile trip: When you realize you are coming up on a slowing line of traffic, put your blinkers on to alert the car behind you that you are changing speed. Think defense. Talk defense. Drive defensively.

 

SportsPlus

Mower County

Austin Noon Lions kick up a party with 80th anniversary Hootenanny

Mower County

Austin Page Turners make selection for 23rd annual city wide reading event

Business

Kilpatrick selected as CRC’s newest regional business manager

Education

10 tutors needed in Austin to help students with reading, math

Business

KSMQ selected for Public Media Digital Transformation Program

News

A decade of racial justice activism transformed politics, but landmark reforms remain elusive

Mower County

Riverland Theatre Ignites its Season with ‘Carrie: The Musical’

Crime, Courts & Emergencies

Standoff in SE Austin Monday afternoon ends peacefully after 2 1/2 hours

News

A Minnesota woman is accused of turning in a ballot for her dead mother. A routine check caught it

Business

Partnerships highlighted during ceremony for 1st & 3rd Apartments

News

Trump’s Madison Square Garden event features crude and racist insults

Mower County

Photos: Tricks and treats come to downtown Austin

Mower County

Women in Business: For the love of coffee and comics

Mower County

Women in Business: Being a part of a larger family

Mower County

New county health plan part of a spreading move to opening doors

Mower County

Karl’s Legacy: Potach’s eclipse $1M donated to Institute, given key to the city

Mower County

Additional times for absentee voting coming up

Business

The Minnesota Star Tribune launches statewide news partnership

Mower County

In Your Community: Eagles donates to pickleball group

Mower County

In Your Community: Adams church holding annual meal

Mower County

In Your Community: Duplicate Bridge

Mower County

In Your Community: Mower County Senior Center

News

Ron Ely, TV’s ‘Tarzan’ in the 1960s, dies at 86

Austin Bruins

Austin Bruins announce second annual Black and Gold Gala