Welcome to the Tweet Trends podcast. Hey, Evette, what's trending today? Hey, I'm Evette, hey girl! And you are tuned in to Tweet Trends.
It's the quickest way to find out what's trending today. I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but August is National Traffic Awareness Month. So let's get started. Yes, August is National Traffic Awareness Month, and you may be asking yourself, well, what's the purpose?
Why do we need that? Well, something needs to draw our attention to the fact that traffic safety awareness is a must. That's for everyone, not just people driving. Everyone needs to be aware that traffic safety is pretty serious, you know?
I had an aunt who she did not want to fly for love nor money, but guess what? It was more likely for her to die in a car accident or get hurt in a car accident than it was for her to be in an airplane accident. It's just the numbers. Why is that you say?
Well, because we ride in cars way more often than what we do in airplanes and trains and buses. So therefore, when you think about the fact that you put yourself in these vehicles on a regular basis, you put your loved ones, your babies, your grandparents in these cars, we all need to be aware that there are rules out there, guys, and there's a reason that there's rules, so that nobody gets hurt. And the crazy thing to me is the fact that if we follow the rules, granted it's not going to work every single time. But if we follow the rules, the majority of the traffic issues out there go away.
Okay, so here's a tale of three drivers, maybe four. If you follow my social media at all, then you know that I just recently came back from a trip out to the West Coast. I was visiting my brother and my niece, and I got to spend a tremendous amount of time with my niece, and I absolutely loved it. However, let me tell you this.
When I got back on that plane, I had to cash out for some money so that she can fix the whole in the floorboard of her car. Because I was playing the role of drivers ed teacher over in the passenger side. Yes, I pretended that I had a brake pedal over there, and I was stomping on it every two seconds, because I honestly felt like I was on Toad's wild ride. It was absolutely crazy.
And let me say this too, my niece, she is grown. She is a grown a woman. So there is not a whole lot that I can scold her about, but you know, to have the conversation nonetheless, and be like, sweetheart, I love you. I love seeing you.
I love, love, love hanging out with you. And I would love to do this all again the next time I come out here to the West Coast, but I need you to be here. So in order for that, I need you to be more mindful when you're driving and not just be all over the place all willy nilly. You know, there were times that she was changing from lane to lane to lane, and I was concerned because although she knew what she was doing in her vehicle, she didn't know what the person in front of her was doing in their vehicle.
So to look back to check a lane to move over, and you're moving at a high rate of speed, and there's a considerable amount of cars on the road. On top of that, I felt like that was a very good possibility that she could end up in a car accident. And I say she, then we could end up in a car accident. And on top of that, if she felt comfortable driving the way that she was with me in the car, then it goes to say that when nobody is in a car with her, she feels that comfortable and maybe even a little bit more.
Now let's move on to the next driver. The next driver is my brother, her father, and the apple don't far too far from the tree. That's all I got to say. He had us sliding all over in a car as well.
And I get it when you live in a city where there's a lot of people and a lot of traffic, then people tend to drive differently than what they would in a country where there's fewer drivers and less traffic. So this whole whipping in and out, lane to lane, all that stuff. Yeah, I get it. I understand you're trying to get from point A to point B.
My thing is we can do it safer and more effectively, you know. And so I actually ended up driving a bit while I was out there. And in my mind, at first I was a little intimidated because I was like, you know what, if everybody out here drives like the two of them, I'm in trouble because they are definitely going to be blowing past me. And there were cars that did.
And it didn't bother me, not one bit because I knew I was following the rules. I was driving the speed limit. I was being safe. Now I wasn't.
I was signaling and all that other good stuff. So it's not like I was changing lanes without notice because that would be the other issue. If you're changing lanes and you're not giving notice and you got people zipping in and out of traffic, that's a quick way to get rear ended. So those are my two drivers.
The third one would be my mother. I love my mom. She's been in a number of car accidents though. She has been, she's had her fair share.
Now if you ask her, I don't think she would admit that any of them were her fault. There was always somebody else doing the wrong thing. But my mom is getting up in age. So it very well could be one of those situations where she's not keeping up with the rest of the traffic.
She's not driving as fast as everyone else. And therefore there's issues. Not all of them have been that type of issue. One time it was something about being out of light and right away and all this, that and the third.
And like I said, in most cases she is not going to accept the blame for any car accident. But now there was one where she forgot to put the car in part and it rolled into a tree. Didn't hurt anybody. Nothing like that.
She was visiting a friend of hers at a nursing home and they ended up bringing her in to check to see if she was okay because they were thinking, oh my gosh, older lady, she might have had a stroke, she might have fell asleep at the wheel. You know, why would you hit the tree, the old lady? You know, not even bothering to check with her to see she even know she knew. She forgot to put the car in part.
Simple as that. But you can't be so eager and focused on the next step without completing the current step. That's for everybody. That's not just for old people or young people.
That is for everyone. Bottom line though is there's rules for a reason and we need to follow it. Let's talk some numbers real quick. So the World Health Organization says that each year more than one million people become victims of fatal traffic accidents.
Those are the fatal ones. And then as well as that, 20 to 50 million people are injured in traffic related incidents. Now, why is this? Well, globalization has led to many people traveling in vehicles and people being able to afford them.
However, just because you can afford a car does not mean you should be able to drive one. And the fact that somebody gave you a license from a test that you took that said that, hey, I do know the rules. That's the whole reason why we take that test is to say that, yes, I'm competent. I can follow the rules.
I can even maneuver this huge piece of machinery that weighs over a ton. Someone said in a car with you and said, yes, you passed. You get the access to the vehicle. You can now drive one.
But then guess what? As time goes on and people continue to drive, those rules that they held so tight to when they were a new learner, they get lax and things just kind of go by the wayside. And then one day you find yourself speeding everywhere you go. No, that's not necessary because let me tell you, by speeding, you really don't make up that much time unless it's a very far distance that you're traveling.
That's the only way you're going to see those numbers drop down fast. I'm not even fast, but faster than what you would if you're just driving around town. If you're going from your house to work and you have a 20 minute commute, just go ahead and cool your heels and drive regular because you speeding up and down the road is not going to get you to work any faster than what you hoped you would get out the house earlier so that you can get the work earlier. Stop with all this extra stuff.
And then on top of that, stop texting and driving. It's not worth it. The fact that if you are driving your vehicle at whatever speed, think about this. You look away to check your text or to send a text or whatever and you look back up, there could be a car that stopped in front of you.
There could be a multitude of things to happen. Shoot, things happen when you have your eyes on the road. So what makes you think that if you take your eyes off the road that you're going to be any better off? Sure, you may have lucked up and not been an accident up to this point, but that does not guarantee you that for the rest of your life, things are going to work that way for you.
Don't chance it. Why would you? What sense does that make? Is it worth your life or the life of the people that you have riding with you or better yet, the life of the people in the car that you may end up hitting?
Is it really worth it? Alright, well that was today's episode of Tweet Trends. Do me a favor guys. Just follow the freaking rules of the road.
Rolling stops, that's not a thing. The only thing it is is illegal. Don't do it. You're not saving yourself time.
You're not saving yourself money. You're not saving yourself gas. It's not worth it. Just go ahead, stop, check the traffic, and then go.
Do it the way that it's supposed to be done because when you do things the wrong way, you run the risk of putting yourself and other people in danger. And that's, I know you don't want that. None of us want that because the fact is everybody, let me not say everybody, the majority of Americans are just one paycheck away from financial disaster. So imagine you end up in a car accident and you're in the wrong.
Somebody takes you to court. That could be financial ruin to you. Why? Because you were running late and thought that if you were speeding and didn't obey any of the traffic laws that you could get there on time.
No, boo, boo. If you are late, enjoy being late. Just relish in it. You know, bask in it.
Enjoy it. Accept it. You're late. It's going to be okay.
Life will go on. Just plan better next time. Okay. Let me step down off my soapbox now.
I'm going to do that. And I'm going to let you know that I hope you have a great weekend. I plan on it. And I'll see you back here again next week.
But while you are out and about doing what you do this weekend, take a few minutes to share Tweet Trends with a friend. You can send them to Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook. Just look for Hey, that's at H-E-V-E-T-E or just look for the hashtag Tweet Trends. Have a great one.