Many thanks to The Motherhood, energetic advocates for safe driving

It's no secret that I've been blogging a lot about safe driving lately. With motor vehicle crashes being the number one killer of children in this country, our friends at The Motherhood have been thinking a lot about safe driving as well.

From car seats to teen drivers to distracted driving, these moms are working hard to help spread the word on safety.

I first met Cooper and Emily at our Distracted Driving Summit where they were blogging about the conference to their community. Now, these two traveled a long way just to be the eyes and ears of their friends and followers.

But, that wasn't the end of it; the very next day they launched Mom Sends the MSG, a circle within The Motherhood that quickly became its own website.

A key feature on that site that I encourage everyone to visit is the PLEDGE, a place where people can sign their names to a promise to model safe driving behaviors. This is how we do it, folks; this is how we eventually change attitudes about distracted driving.

Now, Mom Sends the MSG has a PSA contest much like the NOYS Drive To Life contest I wrote about last week. It's a great opportunity for moms to put their concern and their creativity to a very good public use.

A wonderful thing about the great sense of community on The Motherhood and Mom Sends the MSG is the helpful spirit of the participants. For example, one of the moms on Mom Sends the MSG blogged about that site on RealSimple.com, a site with a much larger audience. That has created a lot of support for all of our efforts to prevent distracted driving. Spreading the message makes the roadways safer for our kids.

The moms who use The Motherhood as their internet neighborhood are busy women; that's why I'm grateful to The Motherhood for faithfully alerting its readers whenever I am blogging about safe driving.

Look, if want people to drive more safely, parents--whose kids sit and the back and observe their driving behaviors for many years before taking the wheel--are obviously a crucial influence. And the hard work of communities like The Motherhood helps these busy parents raise their awareness of driving safety issues.

This is how long-accepted practices like distracted driving get kicked to the curb.

Comments

[Beth Rosen]

I would love more information on this..I have four teen drivers..thanks for the good work
Beth

[Michael E. Bailey]

This is terrific. It is something that has been needed for a long time. It needs to be a permanent fixture. Only by making sure teenage drivers are well informed of the dangers of driving and using a cell phone will we be able to significantly cut the number of accidents caused by teenagers driving and using phones. Cell phones are nice to have, but the rule should be park the car before you talk. Thank you and best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Medela symphony]

All i have to say is thank you for caring to take the initiative about it.
Nicole

[MedelaSymphony]

Well thought out initiative; because even the cliche "hand on the wheel; not on the phone" may not be enough. One can still be distracted even with both hands on the wheel and result to accident.

Louie Henri

[Mike for Cheap College Textbooks]

driving is a lot of fun for young people. It's always wise to reinforce safety precautions in driving. In the past, i had 2-3 cases of "all-most"/"near" accidents. Worst part was that i was driving a motorcycle, which is far more dangerous and prone to accidents than cars. I learned my lesson from hearing what others had to say. Thanks for this article!

[Nova Organic]

every sunday and monday, we have lots of patients coming in to the ER. Most of them are brought due to vehicular accidents. In relation to this, i've also noticed that more and more bicycle drivers don't wear helmets. This is a good program for the motherhood to send and reinforce that message that we should be careful and alert all the time when driving.

[Visigraph]

i am happy that mothers are advocating for safety and responsible driving. I am always concerned with how my older brother drives his motorcycle. He loves to get fancy at times. Until one time, he and his girlfriend met an accident. They had minor cuts and abrasions. I'm happy that he got his lesson. Driving safely saves life.. :)