What Type Of Driver Are You?

I see a lot of different types of vehicles on the road every day.  I have seen everything from mini-cars to big rigs with two trailers attached.  Those happen to be my least favorite vehicles to encounter on the interstate, simply because it always looks like they are having trouble controlling both trailers, especially when the wind is blowing.  By far, though, the funniest car I have ever seen was painted like a package of Skittle, complete with the "taste the rainbow" slogan down the side.  I can't help but wonder what would posses the driver to do that to his vehicle.  I mean, I love peanut butter Twix, but I would never paint my car metallic red and put the Twix logo on the side. Unless they paid me.

Driving every day has also taught me a lot about people.  For instance, people driving wheelchair vans or daycare buses tend to be more careful drivers.  I guess they figure their cargo is too precious to endanger. The drivers I hate the most are women on cell phones and business men who appear to be late for a meeting.  Now, I have been known to drive while talking on my cell phone, but I am never distracted.  My eyes are always on the road and I keep up with the flow of traffic.  A lot of the women I see talking on their phones tend to slow down, which makes for dangerous conditions, especially on the interstate, where I spend most of my day.  The men who appear to be late tend to weave in and out of traffic, traveling way faster than the posted speed limit.  I don't think I need to tell you all the dangers they pose to not only themselves, but the other drivers on the road.

I tend to stay in the middle lane, simply because that is where I feel the safest.  Like I said, my eyes are always on the road, because I have too much waiting for me at home to let another driver cause me to have an accident.

On The Road

 I work for a delivery service. Every day I go to work not knowing what my day is going to be like.  I usually end up driving hundreds of miles a day, and I love it.  We don't do anything like Car Shipping, but I do deliver big air conditioning units that are as big as my van.

When I drive the interstates, I see a lot of different kinds of vehicles.  I used to be afraid of the big rigs, but I'm not anymore.  Most of the drivers are very courteous.  In fact, there have been several who flirt with me from their trucks.  There is one kind of truck that I hate being behind, and those are the Auto Transport trucks.  The way they have the cars stacked on the trailer scares me.  They always look like they are about to fall off.  I'm positive that that is not an actual possibility, and the Car Transport drivers know what they are doing.  

But they still look scary.

There is another thing I hate running into on the road - chicken trucks.  These trucks have hundreds of crates filled with live chickens, and aside from smelling absolutely disgusting, there are always feathers flying off of it.  Trust me, it's horrible being behind one of those trucks.

Hiring A Florida Personal Injury Attorney

Last Monday, I was riding in the car with a couple of friends of mine when we ended up stuck in traffic.  As we inched along the highway we realized that there was an accident in front of us.  When we finally got close enough to see what was going on, my friend pointed out two.  One was laying in the road, and the other was in the grass beside the road.  That was the first time I had ever seen a dead body, and I have to say, I was pretty shaken up.  I am so thankful that by the time we saw them, they were covered up.  I don't know if I could have handled seeing them uncovered.

I think the thing that bothered me most was that they were just laying there, and all the medical people and police were just walking around.  If that was a member of my family, I would want someone to sit with them.  I couldn't handle thinking about them laying there alone, even though they were dead.  Does that make sense?

I thank God every night that my kids and I make it safely through every day.  I know accidents happen,and I worry that if something happened to me or one of the kids that I wouldn't be able to pay the medical bills.  The kids do have medicaid, but I have no health insurance at all.  I would probably end up having to find a Florida personal injury attorney or someone local to help me get some kind of compensation, especially if the accident wasn't my fault.   If it was my fault, well, I would be in big trouble.  I guess it's a good thing that I am a very careful driver.  I just wish that all drivers were as careful as I am.

Hands Free Talking While Driving

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Evie. All opinions are 100% mine.

The other day, on the way to the grocery store, we were almost hit by a woman who was driving while talking on her cell phone.  In our county, it is not against the law like it is in so many other places around the country.  It is scary for me to think of not only all the adults who talk and text while driving, but the fifteen year olds getting their drivers licenses who think they are invincible also doing it.  Ryan asks me all the time why I won't allow him to get his license, or ride with his friends who have theirs, and my answer is simple; cell phones and driving do not mix.  To me, there is no more deadly combination, except drinking and driving.
You don't even want to get me started on that topic.

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Let's get back to the topic of driving and talking on your cell phone.  I am not opposed to the talking so much as the having one hand on your phone and one hand on the wheel.  Hands free options are a reasonable solution, because to me, talking aloud is no different than talking to a passenger.  Or yelling at your kids.  One option for hands free talking is Evie.  This is an app you can download onto your iPhone, and it's really cool because everything "she" does is by voice command.  For instance, you can tell "her" to call a certain number, or even a certain person by name from your contacts, and "she" does all the work for you.  You don't have to try and find and dial the numbers yourself, causing you to remove your eyes from the road.  You can also tell "her" to play you a song or find you directions.  If you are a Facebook addict like most of us are, you can even listen to status updates as you drive.  Pretty cool, right?

As great as this app is, I want everyone to remember how important it is to keep your focus on the road at all times while you are driving.  If you don't your not only endangering your own life, you are endangering mine, too.

Dealing With Disabilities And Transportaion

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.
When I first met my husband, he was not in he best place financially.  He was working as a delivery person, and not making very much money.  When we found out I was pregnant, he decided it was time for a change, so he went to school to become a Certified Nursing Assistant.   After working in a nursing home for a couple of months, a friend of the family recommended him to a church member who was looking for someone to care for her elderly father who just had a stroke.  Junior agreed, and worked for them until it became too hard for the old man to live alone.  During the time he sat with the old man, they did a lot of things together.  They would go out to eat, or just drive around in the country.  One of the most difficult things for Junior to do, though, was getting the old man into and out of the car.  He was in a wheelchair, and Junior would have to lift him into and out of the car.  No wonder he has back problems these days!

The family should have looked into making their vehicle wheelchair accessible.  There were so many things the old man wanted to do, like going to church three times a week, that were impossible for him.  His children were older, and unable to lift him into and out of the car.  I wish I knew then to recommend NMEDA.  

NMEDA stands for National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association.  They educate people about buying products from a NMEDA qualified dealer.  These dealers will come to you, and custom fit your vehicle to your specific needs. This will make it so much easier to transport your loved ones with disabilities.  Make sure that when you choose a dealer, you chose one that is a Quality Assurance Program (QAP) Dealer. 

"The Quality Assurance Program (QAP) is the only nationally recognized accreditation program for the Adaptive Mobility Equipment Industry. It is based on the principle that in order to satisfy customers consistently, companies must have a systematic and documented approach to quality."

 It is easy to find a dealer near you.  Just check out the website and fill in your area code.  When I put mine in, I had several dealers come up.  I hope I never have to use them, but it's nice knowing that if I do, they are there.

Vroom, Vroom

I do not drive. Most of you know this. I have tried to learn in the past, but have always chickened out of taking the driving test for my license. If I was to drive, our car would probably spend more time in a car repair shop than it would on the road. It's not like I took out someones mailbox while trying to kill a spider that was crawling across the glove compartment the last time hubby tried to teach me to drive. Nope. That wasn't me.