How many times have you had to use one hand to break up a fight in the backseat between your squabbling kids while using the other to maneuver your moving vehicle through traffic?
You aren’t alone.
According to a new study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, such multitasking is a prevalent problem on America’s roadways. In fact, the study is making headlines around the nation because part of its results were not fully disclosed—-namely the stats on kids being a major distraction in moving vehicles (especially if you are breastfeeding one while behind the wheel).
Despite the fact that researchers found cranky kids are a serious and growing threat to drivers, the Center for Auto Safety maintains that the former head of the highway safety agency withheld information to make it appear as though cellphone use by drivers was substantially more dangerous than navigating the nation’s highways with warring kids in the backseat.
The former head of the highway safety agency claims he was urged to withhold the research to avoid upsetting members of Congress, who had warned the agency to stick to its mission of gathering safety data, and not to influence changes.
I agree that motorists using cellphones are a major road hazard, but I also concur with the claim that kids are a distraction to drivers as well.
Why?
Because I drive with a preschooler everyday!
A preschooler who asks me to read a book to her while I am driving. A preschooler, who insists that I remove the cap off her water bottle, while I am trying to get around a convoy of semis. A preschooler who demands that I retrieve her travel-size Etch A Sketch from under the seat while I try to avoid hydroplaning during a torrential downpour. A preschooler, who upon hearing that I won’t stop the car to dig through bags of groceries for her pomegranate lemonade, decides she will undertake the task herself from her carseat. A preschooler, who demands that I do double duty as the car DJ and spin her favorite tunes, while I navigate around icy patches on an unsalted side street in the middle of winter.
Cellphone dangers on the road? Have members of Congress weave through the streets of D.C. with my preschooler in the backseat of their vehicle, and then we can discuss driving distractions.
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