Are you "possibly distracted"?

We all know people who are distracted drivers, but it isn't us. We all like to think that it is everyone else causing problems on the road, but if we are honest about it, we are all part of the distracted driving problem.

"Back in the day", people really only had their radio or passengers for distractions. Sure, once in a while, you would see some idiot reading the paper or a woman putting on makeup while driving down the road, but for the most part, potential distraction other than the ones we made for ourselves, were few. In today's technology filled world, it is very easy to be distracted. Today, we have IPods, GPS, digital stereos equipped with video screens, cell phones, texting, email, voice mail, portable internet, Facebook and twitter, just to name a few of the potentially hundreds of technology distractions along with passengers, whether in conversation or putting up with their use of technology. Where does that leave us, as drivers? Let's just say that we are all "possibly distracted".

How safe are we when we are "possibly distracted"? Not? Not very? Somewhere in between? 

What can be done to "un-distract" us? to be honest, I do not have all of the answers, but I do have one answer that can save lives and help prevent cars from running into the back of trucks. Truck drivers....Use your brake lights! Every truck has brake lights and the driver is required to check those brake lights before heading out on the road. So, what is the problem? Simply this: Truck drivers do not use their brake pedals when slowing down, which means that they do not USE their brake lights.

Now, I understand that asking truck drivers to step on the brake pedal when they slow down is not likely to happen. Stepping on that pedal increases wear and tear on expensive brake parts, resulting in less money in their pockets and less time on the road, having brake parts replaced. There is a solution to this problem. Slow-N-Tell illuminates brake lights on trucks based on rate of deceleration, not just stepping on the brake pedal.

It's like this...
Old way - Step on brake pedal, truck slows down, brake lights illuminate. Downshift, truck slows down, no brake lights. Jake brake, truck slows down, no brake lights.
Slow-N-Tell way - Step on brake pedal, truck slows down, brake lights illuminate. Downshift, truck slows down, brake lights illuminate. Jake brake, truck slows down, brake lights illuminate.

Now, which way is safer? Help "un-distract" the drivers behind you. You have brake lights, please use them. We can make it easy.