Safe2Drive Blog

Over 112,000 people are currently on the national transplant waiting list. About 59% of the waiting list consists of ethnic minorities. National Minority Donor Awareness Week raises awareness for the need of more organ, eye, and tissue donors, especially among communities of color. While organs aren’t matched according to race or ethnicity, blood and tissue types are more likely to be compatible among members of the same race or ethnicity. Therefore, it is critical that minority donors are found.

Organ and tissue donation can be an uncomfortable subject filled with a lot of fear and apprehension. As such, there are some myths or incorrect information surrounding the subject. Let’s set the record straight. We want you to have all the facts when making a decision as important as choosing (or not choosing) to become a donor.

Choosing to be a donor doesn’t affect your own health and well-being.

In other words, being an organ or tissue donor will not affect the medical care you receive in an emergency. Doctors and medical staff will do everything they can to save your life if you are hurt or injured and, oftentimes, they’re not even aware of whether you’re a donor or not while they’re caring for you. Only after your death has been legally declared will the organ procurement organization (OPO) check the registry to see if you’re a donor. Hospitals do not have access to this registry.

Choosing to be a donor doesn’t cost you anything.

Your family will never be charged for any expenses related to donation. Instead, costs for organ removal and the transplant procedure go to the transplant recipient. Families don’t receive payment for the organs and tissues that you donate, either.

You can still have an open-casket funeral if you wish.

Organs and tissues are surgically removed from the body. Your body is not mutilated in the process. Skin donations are taken from the donor’s back and donated bones are replaced with metal rods. Therefore, open-casket funerals and viewings are still viable if you are a donor. No one will be able to see any discernable difference in the donor’s appearance.

Organ donation is consistent with the beliefs of many major religions.

Catholicism, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Greek Orthodox, Islam, Judaism, Lutheran Church, Mormon, Presbyterian, Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, and other religions encourage organ donation as an act of charity and a generous gift. Many other religions, including Buddhism, Pentecostal, Hinduism, Quaker, Mennonite, and Seventh-Day Adventists view organ donation as a personal choice left up to the individual.

Registering to be an organ donor is easy!

There are many ways you can become a donor. In most states, you can register to become a donor when you obtain your driver’s license. You can also sign up online! You can visit Donate Life America’s website and register in a few easy steps.

Donors save lives.

Donating your organs can save up to ten lives. Donating your corneas could give two people sight. Your tissue could help heal 75 people. Only about 60% of adults in the United States are registered as organ donors. That number could be higher. Anyone over the age of 18 can become an organ donor. If you’re younger than age 18 and feel strongly about organ donation, make sure to let your family know your wishes.

No one likes to think about dying, but it’s important to take some time to think about what you want to happen to your body after you pass away. In observance of National Minority Donor Awareness Week, talk to your friends and family about the facts surrounding organ and tissue donation. You could help save lives.

Over 112,000 people are currently on the national transplant waiting list. About 59% of the waiting list consists of ethnic minorities. National Minority Donor Awareness Week raises awareness for the need of more organ, eye, and tissue donors, especially among communities of color. While organs aren’t matched according to race or ethnicity, blood and tissue types are more likely to be compatible among members of the same race or ethnicity. Therefore, it is critical that minority donors are found.

The more time you spend on the road, the more you tend to notice bad drivers. Stop at any intersection and you’re bound to encounter an annoying driver. We understand! Some people, for whatever reason, do not take driving seriously. Ideally, everyone on the road would drive safely and defensively, but that’s just not the case. Here is our list of five driving styles we would love to cancel.

1. The Distracted Driver

It’s honestly mind-blowing that people are still texting and driving in the year 2020. Haven’t there been enough PSAs letting everyone know how dangerous it is to take your attention off the road, even for a few seconds? In 2018, there were 2,841 people killed by distracted driving. That’s unacceptable, yet a two-second search on TikTok will show you hundreds of drivers recording themselves doing something silly while driving. Not only are distracted drivers putting themselves at risk, they’re also putting everyone else on the road in danger.

2. The Driver Who Doesn’t Know How to Use Their Turn Signal

Look, contrary to popular belief, turn signals aren’t optional! How many times have you had to slam on your brakes to avoid a collision with a driver who didn’t bother using their turn signal? Too many. And seriously, turn signals are so easy to use! It’s not like it’s a labor-intensive device. You just flip it on a few hundred feet before you want to turn, and then you’re less likely to be involved in a collision!

3. The Speeding Driver

Interestingly, some people think that driving 80 miles per hour when the speed limit is 55 miles per hour is perfectly reasonable. Sure, it can be annoying to have to stick to the speed limit when you’re in a hurry, or when the road is open and inviting in front of you, but those limits exist for a reason. It only takes a split second for things to go horribly wrong, even if you’ve been speeding for years without incident.

4. The Driver Who Won’t Let You Merge

This is just frustrating, especially during rush hour on the highway. Traffic flows more smoothly when we allow for zipper merging, but there’s always someone who refuses to let anyone merge in front of them. Wouldn’t you want someone to let you merge? Treat other roadway users how you want to be treated!

5. The Aggressive Driver

Have you ever seen someone just lose it in the middle of traffic? Blasting the horn and making angry hand gestures at everyone around them? It’s sad, and it’s also scary, because drivers who cannot control their emotions can escalate to aggressive drivers, which can cause a serious collision. To these drivers, we say: please take a deep breath and pull over if you need to, until you are calm enough to drive again.

And there we have it! The five driving styles we would love to cancel. Did we miss any? Let us know on Facebook! If you want to make sure your driving style isn’t annoying everyone around you, take one of our fun online defensive driving courses! Visit our website to see which courses we offer in your state!

The more time you spend on the road, the more you tend to notice bad drivers. Stop at any intersection and you’re bound to encounter an annoying driver. We understand! Some people, for whatever reason, do not take driving seriously. Ideally, everyone on the road would drive safely and defensively, but that’s just not the case. Here is our list of five driving styles we would love to cancel.

Each July is Cell Phone Courtesy Month! These days, most of us have cell phones. It’s common for even young children to have one! Cell phones help us stay connected and are useful in all sorts of situations, from giving us directions when we’re lost to keeping us company when we’re bored. With all the advantages of cell phones, there are disadvantages as well. Sometimes we inconvenience others when we use our phones. Using a cell phone in certain situations can even put us in danger. A little courtesy goes a long way, so we’ve compiled a list of five tips for Cell Phone Courtesy Month.

1. Silence your cell phone in public.

Have you ever been working at the library or in a coffee shop, only to be interrupted by the person next to you, whose phone rings constantly and loudly? It’s super distracting and can get annoying quickly. Even vibrate mode can be loud sometimes. When you’re going out in public, try to silence your cell phone so as to not disturb others. It’s also nice to keep your phone silent whenever you’re spending time with someone. Of course, if you need to keep the sound on for emergencies, that’s understandable.

2. Avoid taking calls using speaker phone.

There seems to be someone in every grocery store or waiting room who has their conversation on speaker phone for everyone to hear. Try to avoid this if you can! Step away if you need to, and turn the volume down as low as possible. Any time you take a phone call in public, be mindful of those around you. Voices carry!

3. Don’t walk and text.

Pedestrians have a tendency to be in their own little world when they’re using their cell phones. Just because you’re on a sidewalk doesn’t mean that you can check out from your surroundings. Step off to the side to send your texts.

4. Take a moment to read your writing before hitting "Send."

Typos are common when communicating via cell phone. Usually people will understand what you mean, but sometimes autocorrect completely changes the meaning of a message, which could potentially make the recipient uncomfortable. Taking a moment to read what you’ve written before hitting send can help! Make sure you’re sending your message to the correct person. Many of us have sent a text or email to the wrong person, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Don’t send something you’ll regret because you’re in a rush. Slow down and think about whether or not you want to send what you’ve written, and only send it once you’re sure.

5. Do not use your phone while driving.

So many people use their cell phone while driving that it may feel easy or even necessary to do. The truth is, cell phones are a distraction, and we need all of our attention to be on the road while driving. Even if you look down at your phone for just a moment, you can never guarantee that it’ll be safe. According to NHTSA, distracted driving killed 2,841 people in 2018. There were even more non-fatal collisions. Any time your attention is off of driving, you’re putting yourself and others at risk.

We’re all guilty of forgetting cell phone courtesy from time to time. Make a conscious effort this month to examine your cell phone habits and see if there’s any room for improvement. If you want to learn more about ways to avoid distracted driving, take one of our online courses! Florida residents can take our Florida Wireless Communications Device Driving Safety Program course to learn all about cell phone laws in Florida and how to avoid distracted driving. We also offer online defensive driving courses in many states. Check out our website to see which courses we offer in your state!

Each July is Cell Phone Courtesy Month! These days, most of us have cell phones. It’s common for even young children to have one! Cell phones help us stay connected and are useful in all sorts of situations, from giving us directions when we’re lost to keeping us company when we’re bored. With all the advantages of cell phones, there are disadvantages as well. Sometimes we inconvenience others when we use our phones. Using a cell phone in certain situations can even put us in danger. A little courtesy goes a long way, so we’ve compiled a list of five tips for Cell Phone Courtesy Month.

Now that it’s officially summer, the weather is heating up. While that’s good news for those who love to swim and sunbathe, the heat also brings a level of danger. If you’ve ever gotten in a car after it has been sitting in the sun, you know that it’s very uncomfortable. After just ten minutes in the sun, a car can heat up by 19 degrees. As adults, sitting in a hot car for a few minutes isn’t ideal, but for young children, it’s downright deadly.

Did you know that on average, every ten days a child dies from heatstroke in a vehicle? The majority of the time, the child’s caregiver forgot the child was in the back seat of the car and exited the vehicle without the child.

Extreme temperatures are more dangerous for children because their bodies aren’t developed enough yet to regulate their body temperature like adults. Their little bodies heat up three to five times faster than an adult’s body. Children have died from heatstroke in a vehicle when the temperature outside was as low as 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Cracking a window isn’t enough to keep a child safe.

Safe Kids has developed a way to help reduce the number of deaths from heatstroke by remembering to ACT:

• Avoid heatstroke-related injury by never leaving a child alone in a car, not even for a minute. Keep your car locked when you’re not using it so that kids don’t climb in by themselves. About 25% of pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths occurred because the child gained access to the vehicle on their own.
• Create reminders to help you remember there’s a child in the car. This can be especially important for someone who doesn’t regularly drive the child around and may easily forget they’re there. Some people keep a stuffed animal in the child’s car seat when it’s empty, and move the stuffed animal to the front as a visual reminder when there’s a child in the seat. You could also put something you need in the back, like your cell phone or wallet, so that when you get out of the car, you’ll have to check the back seat first.
• Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. They will walk you through what to do next. As we mentioned above, when children die from heatstroke in the car, over half of the time it’s because the driver forgot the child was there. It’s not nosey or uncalled for to be concerned about a child left alone in a hot car.

With rising temperatures this summer, it’s important to do everything we can to make sure children are safe. While only 20 states have laws that specifically say it’s illegal to leave a child unattended in a vehicle, it’s not safe in any state for any amount of time. 853 children have died due to heatstroke in a vehicle since 1998. There are countless near-misses. These deaths are preventable.

Now that it’s officially summer, the weather is heating up. While that’s good news for those who love to swim and sunbathe, the heat also brings a level of danger. If you’ve ever gotten in a car after it has been sitting in the sun, you know that it’s very uncomfortable. After just ten minutes in the sun, a car can heat up by 19 degrees. As adults, sitting in a hot car for a few minutes isn’t ideal, but for young children, it’s downright deadly.