Are We There Yet?

This morning on the way to the gym, I was almost T-boned by some jerk running a red light at probably 60 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour zone. Worse than that, this is the SECOND time THIS WEEK I have almost been hit by someone running a red light in addition to the idiot that tried to change lanes into my lane when he was only halfway past my car. All near-miss accidents with both of my kids in the car and less than a mile from my home. Which shouldn't be a surprise since we've all heard the statistic that almost a quarter of accidents happen within a mile of home.

Appropriate car seat safety has always been a pet peeve of mine, but it is not a user friendly obsession. Months before Cade was born, Aaron spent an entire afternoon in the driveway installing infant seat bases in each car, only to get to the fire station car seat check and have the inspector shred his work. Another non-surprise since she told us that 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly. Further, she instructed us to come back once the baby was born so she could ensure proper shoulder strap/breastplate placement. A college degree in engineering is no match for a car seat.

Because we know that we are both such poor installers, for the first three years of Cade's life, EVERY TIME we moved car seats or added a baby, we took both cars to the fire station to have the installation checked. There is a reason there was a 3 month wait to get your car seat checked - The Fox Family was hogging all the appointments.

And then came preschool. All of the sudden there were carpools and pickups of extra children and other moms picking up my kids and for the sake of convenience, my hard line approach to installation fell by the wayside. I would think to myself, "They're just going across the street - what could happen?" Until this week and my 3 near misses right here in the neighborhood, which has given me pause on who transports my children and how. And how responsibly I transport other people's children.

Today, as I crossed myself and said a little prayer of thanks for the third time in a week, I vowed to do these four things:
-Look left and right every time I head into an intersection instead of letting the stoplights put me on autopilot.
-Take my van over to the fire station for a car seat checkup - it's been almost a year since the last one and we've moved seats several times.
-STAY OFF THE CELL PHONE. It is scary when you arrive somewhere and realize that you don't remember anything about your journey to the place. In my mind, hands-free sets are worthless because it's not my hands that cause me to be distracted while I'm chatting on the phone and driving - it's my brain. Therefore, until they invent a brain-free phone, I'm staying off of mine.
-Slow down. My husband is forever making fun of me for my lead foot accelerating and braking style. Which I defend by saying that I have so much to do that I am always in a hurry. But that doesn't make sense. Speeding doesn't get me there faster and where am I going, anyway, that's so important? When I leave 10 minutes earlier than I think I need to, I am a MUCH better driver.

My experiences this week remind me of the age-old parenting adage issued to teenagers - "It's not you I don't trust - it's the other guys on the road!". I have realized the true meaning of that in recent days. And it has definitely made me realize the weight of my responsibility to be fully present and aware of what is going on on the road, whether my kids are toddlers in their car seats or teenagers behind the driver's seats.


NOTE: The Governor's Office of Highway Safety provides a listing of car seat check stations in Atlanta at http://www.gahighwaysafety.org/atlantafire.html If you're outside the city of Atlanta, check with your local fire station, hospital, BabiesRUs or even some car dealerships. You can also check out this site at http://www.carseat.org/