When I was a kid the big distraction was sitting too close to your girlfriend on the bench front seat without a seatbelt. Now the number of distractions seems to increase every year. We’re not supposed to talk on the phone, text, eat, or apply makeup while we drive, and now an interesting article in the NY Times discussed the dangers of driving with our unrestrained pets. Really, you’d think driving required attention or something. As my kids would text – jk (just kidding) As usual the NY Times in Sara Parker-Pope’s column has an interesting read on the subject of driving with your pet.
Although driving while text messaging or talking on the phone is getting a lot of attention, pets can also be a common source of driver distraction. Exact statistics on pet distraction are difficult to come by — most surveys list unrestrained cats and dogs inside the car as one of many “internal distractions” along with grabbing loose items on the seat or swatting an insect. But nearly 90 percent of pet owners say they travel with their pets. And one survey from Nationwide Mutual Insurance found that 8 percent of drivers admit to driving with a pet on their lap.
The worry isn’t just about an unrestrained animal contributing to unsafe driving or an accident. During a crash, a flying dog or cat represents a serious hazard to everyone in the car. The pet advocacy group Bark Buckle UP notes that in a 35-mile-per-hour accident, an unrestrained 60-pound dog would carry the force of a 2,700-pound projectile. Unrestrained dogs and cats can impede rescue workers in more serious accidents, and they also are more likely to be harmed or even thrown from a vehicle in minor fender benders. Read more
I’m going to plan to post a weekend link to an interesting health care article available on-line each week. This week is a like to an article by one of my favorite reporters, Tara Parker-Pope, who writes in last Sunday’s New York Times about the health benefits of marriage and the past and current research on this topic. It turns out that there has been a great deal of research, and the findings are interesting. For those of you who don’t get or read the NY Times, you can read her article in full on line at:
Imagine a treatment that could build bones, strengthen the immune system and lower the risks of illnesses like diabetes, heart and kidney disease, high blood pressure and cancer.
Some research suggests that such a wonder treatment already exists. It’s vitamin D,
“Don’t worry, be happy.” I am probably aging myself by remembering this 1980’s hit by Bobby McFerran. Maybe a better title for this article might be Don’t’ worry, just do your best and be as happy as you can. Anyway, I just read a very nice article by Tara Parker-Pope in the NY Times and pretty much agree with her that many of us feel like healthy living is a competitive sport. It’s not; just being pretty good is not bad. Her article ends with the quote from a book by Drs. Love and Domar called “Live a Little! Breaking the Rules Won’t Break Your Health” (Crown) “The point of this is to use your common sense, and if you feel good, then you’re fine,” she said. “The goal is not to get to heaven and say, ‘I’m perfect.’ It’s to use your body, have some fun and to live a little.” She also talks about the slippery slope that this creates, don’t let this be a license to just make no effort, and get fat and lazy. Rather relax, enjoy life, and do the best you can while living a life worth living.” So do the best you can to manage your lipid type, prevent diabetes, and lose weight, but don’t worry yourself to death.
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