A Video Blessing

The success of the Marker Memories...video has been quite overwhelming.

Robert Jakobsen won an individual award from AEGIS and a Crystal Reel award from the Florida Motion Picture & Television Association. I received two awards each from AEGIS and Telly, for producing and scriptwriting. He and I and Judge Carmine M. Bravo were recognized by the United Safety Council.

We are appreciative and thankful, but we are also humbled by the positive responses from viewers who have shared their sad stories of losing loved ones in traffic crashes.

Most gratifying of all is knowing we have touched people's hearts and have positively influenced so many drivers (us included) to change their driving behavior, to become more aware on the road, to slow down, not use cell phones or do the many other things that distract drivers.

During presentations, it is sobering to learn how many of those present have lost a relative or close friend in a traffic crash. Those who died may have been at fault, as in the video's first interview, or may have been an innocent victim, as in the video's second interview. Regardless, lives were altered, forever, leaving spouses, children, relatives, friends and co-workers behind.

It seems so senseless.

Yes, deaths on our roads occur, but are almost always the result (in my opinion) of someone driving while stupid. Rarely do we hear of a crash resulting from a vehicle having a broken axle, a blown engine or having a tire fall off.

Too frequently, what we do hear is of drivers losing control because of excessive speed, driving while impaired, being distracted (such as the 16-year-old boy who caused the crash detailed in the video's second interview), tailgating, and on and on.

Driving while stupid.

Is there a cure?

Please drive safely.