The sub-text here is that morons roam our roads (online blog entry).

By Tracey Spicer - The Daily Telegraph.http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/the-sub-text-here-is-that-morons-roam-our-roads/story-e6frezz0-1226236113363

IT was a performance worthy of a Guinness World Record.
Barrelling along Sydney Rd, Fairlight, the truck driver was texting on one mobile phone while speaking on another, steering the rig with his knees.
I hit the horn and indicated -- in no uncertain terms -- he should stop before he killed someone.
Still clutching the phones he slowly and deliberately raised his middle finger.
If only he'd read the sad story of 21-year-old Sarah Page -- a serial texter from New Zealand.
"It's fine, Mum, I do it all the time!" she'd protest.
Until she wrapped her car around a pole in 2009.
Sarah suffered massive brain injuries.
Her family turned off her life support.
The police returned her belongings, including a mobile phone.

There was a message in the drafts folder.
"I'm on my way to Napier," it read.
The time was 3.59pm, seconds before she crashed.
Her sister Sam said the tragedy has taught her a valuable lesson.
"It only takes a split second while you take your eyes off the road for tragedy to occur, and sending a text is just not worth it," she wrote in a heartbreaking blog.
In 2007 around 45,000 Australians crashed while using mobile phones -- 145,000 had a near miss.
Using a mobile phone increases the risk of an accident four-fold.
Your eyes are off the road for up to six seconds each time you look down to text.
And yet we keep doing it.
A survey in Victoria has found 70 per cent of motorists aged 18-25 admit to texting while driving.
Around one in five said they surfed the net while driving.
I had no idea about the extent of the problem until hubby got a new work car, the Hyundai iLoad.
From that height you see it all: The businessman tapping away on the iPad hidden in his lap; the middle-aged mum sending an email with her two precious kids in the back; the Gen Y who treats it like an extension of his arm.
So what are our state governments doing about it? Four-fifths of f . . . all.
Sure, there's a hefty $265 fine and the loss of three demerit points.
Last financial year, more than 50,000 NSW drivers paid a whopping $13 million in mobile phone fines.
But it's not changing our behaviour. And it's the same the world over.
In the US, some 3000 people were killed last year by so-called "distracted drivers". In one incident in Missouri a 19-year-old truck driver sent or received 11 text messages in as many minutes before causing a highway catastrophe which killed two people and injured 38.
This prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to urge all US states to ban using electronic devices while driving.
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called it "an epidemic".
In Utah, texting drivers face three months jail and a $US750 fine. Arkansas bans all mobile phone use for drivers between 18 and 20.
In Japan, you can't use a phone in your car, full stop.
This was being considered by Australia's transport ministers in last year's draft national road safety report, which found even hands-free devices dramatically increase the risk of crashing.
Talking on the phone can slow your response time by 35 per cent, indeed, to that of a driver with a blood alcohol reading of 0.08.
"In my view it is as dangerous as speed and drink driving," said Superintendent Max Mitchell, acting Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Police Traffic Services Branch.
NSW police supported the idea of a ban.
Mark Stevenson, an epidemiologist who studies driving distractions, called for more drastic measures: "Vehicles could be manufactured with in-built blockers so drivers cannot receive phone reception when the car is turned on."
Such devices already exist.
But no one seems to have the guts to effect change.
We need to acknowledge that this is the new drink-driving menace.
Therefore, we should tackle it in the same way with a combination of hard-hitting TV campaigns and tough penalties.
A shocking advertisement on the dangers of texting while driving was shown at high schools in the UK two years ago. It was bought by the American Automobile Association to air after 9pm, because it was so graphic.
Why not bring it here?
Why not double, even triple, the fine?
And why doesn't mobile phone use cop the same double demerit points as other offences over the holiday period?
I believe we should turn the texting drivers into social pariahs.
The problem is, we all think we won't get caught.
Like the truck driver on Sydney Rd, we give the middle finger to those trying to curb our freedom.
Let's hope that it doesn't take the death of a loved one for us to realise the error of our ways.

Speaker the devil.

 Is there any button in the world more dangerous than the one marked "speaker phone"? Sure, George Dubya had access to a big red one that would have allowed him to wage apocalyptic nuclear war, but if you seriously think the staff of his real-life West Wing would have told him where it was, what it does or even how to push a button, you're as dim as he is.

 Frankly, danger lurks beneath every button on your mobile phone once you've gone beyond a sensible number of beers. The only people in this world who haven't sent a drunken text message and regretted it the next day are those who don't know how to send text messages at all. Or those people who don't drink.

 But the speaker phone is a real killer application. The tale of that fabled prankster Lote Tuqiri (now a rugby league player over here in Australia, and if you don't know what rugby league is Google it) amusing his teammates, and Peter Hewat in particular, by putting Wallaby selector Michael O'Connor on loudspeaker reminded me of a disaster I witnessed a few years back.

 It was the evening of a girl's night out and a girl friend of mine, who'd attended, was regaling us with tales of what her brother had gotten up to with a stripper the week before at a bucks party. Good, clean fun, obviously.

 So, my girl friend puts a call through to said brother and immediately fronts him with a question about his behaviour, which is followed by a brief but stony silence and then an apoplectic outburst from his girlfriend, who was sitting next to him while he drove, along the lines of: "You (expletive deleted). What (expletive deleted) stripper? You told me there weren't any (expletives deleted) strippers there. You're (really loud expletive deleted) dead." Being a responsible motorist, he'd answered the phone and put it on speaker. Bad move. Really bad move.

 The brother, called back a few minutes later to tell off his sister (my girl friend), and told her that he was now on the way to hospital to have his testicles removed from his throat. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I am actually old enough to remember a time before mobile phones.

 What I can't remember is how we ever lived without them. Please, do tell me if you've had, or heard of, similarly horrible speaker-phone shockers.

My last blog entry for 2011: my 2012 reasons for being more resolute.

 From now on I refuse to write resolutions. New Year’s ones, that is. Every year I make ‘em. And then every year I break ‘em. No midweek drinking tips into, “Gee, my best friend’s coming over for dinner so it’d be rude not to open a bottle of beer. Might just have a glass so they don’t feel like an alcoholic. OK maybe make that two glasses.”   Cutting back on chocolate melts into, “Just one square won’t hurt. Oooh, it’s dark chocolate that means I can have two. It’s good for you right? Look, there’s a little bit hanging off the end. I can’t leave it looking messy.”
 And bulking up my once-a-week gym workout collapses into “Hmm, I feel I’m coming down with something. Better not go to the gym. That’d definitely make it worse. Running’s bad for the knees too, you know.” (But having said that, my mum’s comment yesterday afternoon that, “Your arms are wobbly. And your tummy. And your legs. The only bit that’s not wobbly is your back!” makes me want to have entire body liposuction!!!)
 So I thought, this year, I would write resolutions for everyone else. Here goes:
Kyle Sandilands (a radio shock-jock): This man is the real Christmas turkey. His resolution should be to put his brain into gear before operating the dangerous machinery otherwise known as his mouth.
Shane Warne (a cricket player): What happened to the real Warnie? He’s been replaced by some weird Ken Doll. The King of Spin is too thin! Next year, he should resolve to release his inner bogan (sort of like a redneck, or a hick).
Kim Kardashian (no comment!!): Probably a good idea not to marry anyone in 2012. Or, if she does, might be handy if she actually loves him. It’s also advisable to keep one’s promises. And remember to put clothes on before going out of the house.
Kevin Rudd (former Australian Prime Minister): Be bold, Tintin. Like the nerdy boy hero, the Kevinator has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. May he have the resolve to snatch back his favourite toy.
Tony Abbott (another politician – enough said!): Buy an Oxford Dictionay, Tony, so you can learn words other than “No”.
Julia Gillard (current Prime Minister – no comment here either): Buy Ita’s book on manners. It’s not nice to stab people in the back and then to ignore them.
Karl Stefanovic (morning T.V show host): Next year it might be wise to avoid anything involving liquids, specifically Bass Strait and alcohol. Nuff said.

 And if you’re struggling with resolutions this weekend, how about this one: “I will no longer waste my time reliving the past; I will instead worry about the future”. Have a happy New Year!

Happiness: How to make it happen.

 My neighbour's dog Libby has this absurd little ritual when she wants attention. She jumps on their bed and starts spinning in circles, growling and barking like a possessed puppy until they join her on the side of the bed and unite in her madness. Satisfied that they are laughing at her silliness she settles for a pat in bliss. They in turn have a little gladness in their hearts that they adopted this hilarious little pooch who reminds them to stop taking themselves so seriously and act a little stupid when no one is watching. This to me is happiness.
 What is happiness to you? I’m asking because apparently the world is seriously lacking in happy hormones, the day-to-day grind is getting us down and depression is fast becoming an epidemic. In fact some research has shown evidence that in 2020 depression will outweigh cancer and diabetes as Australia’s biggest killer.
 According to Wikipedia, 3 things define happiness: 50% is gene related, 10-15% is socio-economic and 40% is based on our actions and choices to make us happy. So you don’t find happiness, you make happiness – and with 50% of the choice already made up for us, we have to grab the other 50% and squeeze it till the juice runs dry. Like they say, if you get lemons make lemonade and as much as you possibly can.
 Bindi Irwin was quoted back in July of 2009 on what makes her happy – she said she looked to her now-six-year-old brother for inspiration. Now before you assume that eating dirt and sticking rocks up her nose makes her happy, she said he takes one day at a time and doesn’t worry about the future.
 Now he can’t even spell future yet, let alone know the meaning of the word, but if we all lived a little more like Bob Irwin, life would be a little less stressful. Susan Welch, a Brisbane-based happiness coach, believes too many of us are worrying about what we will and won’t have in the future, who we will and won’t be spending time with and what we will and won’t be doing.
 Instead she believes we should look around at what we have right now and be grateful and appreciate what we are doing and whom we are spending time with. We should even be thankful for our troubles because they are helping to build our character.
 She also recommends spending more time helping others, especially those less fortunate than us, taking time to look each other in the eye and really connect and care for those around us and, above all, remember to take time to laugh, for at least 15 minutes a day. Seems simple enough, but ask yourself, have you done anything like that lately? I know I haven’t.
 In our quest for happiness and fulfilment, we often forget to relish the moments in between. As someone wise once said, the journey is as important as the destination and effort is as important as success. So take some time today and be grateful for the desk you’re sitting at. Do something nice and get your workmates their morning coffee. Read those funny emails and have a good chuckle. Let someone merge in the traffic and enjoy the grateful wave. Give the stranger in front of you in the grocery line a compliment and call someone you love and tell him or her how you feel.
 Write a list about what’s good in your life and carry it in your pocket to remind you that life is good right now. Because ultimately, happiness should be defined as your name not turning up in the obituary column.