Distracted driving more dangerous than speeding.

I've known this for years, but after an extensive year long study, reserchers came to the same conclusion that I came to on my own from personal experience and observations. An ABC News article titled "Study: Distraction Behind Most Car Crashes" stated that "Distracted drivers were involved in nearly eight out of 10 collisions or near-crashes, says a study released Thursday by the government." It mentioned that "Data from police reports had estimated that driver inattention was a factor in about 25 percent of crashes.", which doesn't surprise me because of what happened after the last time I was rearended. I had stopped behind another vehicle at a red light, and about five seconds later, I was hit from behind by a compact car driven by a young lady. When the State Trooper showed up to do the paperwork, she said that the driver must have been going too fast, because otherwise she would have been able to stop in time. I am pretty certain that she wasn't paying adequate attention to the road ahead of her, and I didn't see any evidence of excessive speed. Without examining the accident scene, the Trooper made the assumption that the driver was speeding, which is probably the result of constant bombardment of propaganda that claims that speeding kills and heavy brainwashing in school and the police academy. The study was conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The NHTSA's report stated that "Driving-related inattention to the forward roadway was actually shown to be safer than normal, baseline driving (odds ratio of 0.45). This was not surprising as drivers who arechecking their rear-view mirrors are generally alert and engaging in environmental scanning behavior." "An eyeglance directed at a rear-view mirror is a safety-enhancing activity in the larger context of driving while eyeglances at objects inside the vehicle are not safetyenhancing. It is important to remember that scanning the driving environment is an activity that enhances safety as long as it is systematic and the drivers’ eyes return to the forward view in under 2 seconds." An interesting finding was that drivers who were driving between 0 and 40 mph were much more likely to get into an accident than the ones who were driving at higher speeds, and loss of control due to excessive speed was a factor in only 8% of accidents, according to the Results of the 100-Car Field Experiment. So remember folks, pay attention to the road, because the average person is about ten times more likely to get into an accident when driving while distracted than when speeding.

The night I met Dr. Mike Adams

Last night I went to Dr Mike Adams’ speaking engagement in the MUB at UNH-Durham. Although most of the attendees were civil and friendly, some of the attendees were somewhat hostile, but fortunately nonviolent. When I took out my video camera, the girl sitting next to me asked me why I was taking pictures, as if there was something wrong with that. Dr. Mike Adams’ spoke about some of the outrageous unconstitutional policies of some campuses and ways that he and his allies were able to get those policies changed through peaceful and often funny methods. He encouraged students to help others whose constitutionally guaranteed rights are violated, even if they don’t agree with the opinions of those people. After he finished speaking, there was a question and answer time, where people were allowed to ask him questions. Some of his detractors made futile attempts to defame him and make silly political statements that defied logic. They focused primarily on the fact that he opposed speech codes, but their arguments were irrelevant to the topic at hand. Some students wrongfully implied that because he was a heterosexual Christian white male who opposed speech codes that prohibit “hate speech”, that he must be in favor of slavery and the beating of homosexuals. I could feel the hate coming from these students as they were using an old left wing tactic of using smear and slander when they are losing an argument. Some implied that because some white males were/are evil that all white males must be evil and need to be told what they can and can’t say in order to prevent rapes and assaults against minorities. That is absurd. Years before I moved to NH, I was attacked and robbed by some young black men. If I used the same reasoning that was used last night by some of the students, I would hold a grudge against all black men, but being more sensible than some of the students who spoke up, I know that it was only the men who perpetrated the act who deserve any blame or punishment for that act. Unlike some of the left wing extremists who were there to try to discredit the speaker, I do not judge people based on their race, gender, or sexual orientation, or the acts of someone else who shares their race, gender, or sexual orientation, but on the content of their character, and the way that they treat others. If we are to be a free nation where Americans can live in peace, we need to work toward ending the oppression of our constitutional rights and the divisiveness that the Democrat party and their allies who have infiltrated the Republican party (RINOs) have been perpetrating for years now. Without freedom, we will not have peace, as freedom begets peace.