distracted
Lauren Beaudry
My name is Lauren and I live in the South Jersey Area. On April 15, 2012 a young teen from the Washington TWP area was killed from a distracted driver. This young teen’s name was Nikki Kellenyi. Nikki was sitting in the back seat of the vehicle when the driver of the car failed to stop or yield at the intersection they were crossing. The passenger of the car was ejected from the car and suffered brain trauma. Nikki was stuck in the back and had to get pulled out with assistance. Nikki died of internal injuries. She was a senior at high school who loved life and never was able to finish her senior year or graduate or attend her prom. I hope this message was emphasize that this can happen every day and people need to keep their eyes on the wheel at all times. Nikki’s death was 100% preventable. Now her family has to live with this pain for the rest of their lives. Please spread the word.
admin
Lauren,
Thank you for sharing this story with our site. No matter how tragic and sad a story is, it is always important to inform the public of these types of stories so it can help them realize just how terrible of an epidermic distracted driving has become.
Bill Bennett
Whenever I hear about a death or injury caused by texting, applying make-up, eating, I ask myself if the Wheel Watcher could have prevented it. The answer is always “YES”. Soft approaches ,like pledges promises, texting bans and cell phone shut-offs have failed. This problem is so embedded in our culture that it will require hardware to prevent it. A rigid steering wheel cover with sensors is locked onto the steering wheel. Over a preset speed (20MPH) a driver can remove a hand from the wheel for a limited time(7secs.) To have a sip of coffee, shift,scratch,change music ,heat etc. If the hand is not returned to the wheel , a buzzer will sound. To shut off the buzzer they return the hand (you cannot just tap for more time)This prevents distracting activities AND promotes driving with two hands more often. A person that drives with two hands is a better driver physically and mentally. I don’t know why this is true, I just know it is. As of March 26, 2013 Wheel Watcher has an issued patent #8405496 . I can now bring this product to the streets. Get where you are going-then text like crazy! Bill Bennett
Kiernan Hopkins
Bill,
I personally think that this maybe a little extreme but I do agree with you that something more then pledges and promises needs to be done. I do not know what I am looking for but maybe something in between. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and idea.