Statistics say there are between 220,000 and 285,000 people with Spinal Cord Injury in the  US . The #1 cause for Spinal Cord Injury is car accident. Car accidents happen each and every day. For a better understanding read the recent  Zorita’s  published book  “Out of the system ”
( www.outofthesystem.com ) and see how vulnerable the human beings are and how our lives can change for ever just in a matter of seconds. And then, if that happens what do we do about it ?

This is very personal for me as my son Joseph is a paraplegic as a result of a car accident 1n 2005. Education and training on safe driving habits is an important part of accident prevention.

Causes of Motor Vehicle Accidents

      • Reckless and negligent driving
      • Driving while intoxicated
      • Inexperienced and irresponsible drivers
      • Inattentiveness to the road and other vehicles (i.e., tuning the radio, talking on a cell phone, or chatting with passengers, etc.)

Ways to Protect Yourself

      • Always wear your seat belt.
      • Properly maintain your vehicle with routine tune-ups.
      • Be aware of road conditions.
      • Avoid driving if your intoxicated, tired, or on medication.
      • Take defensive driving classes.
      • Obey traffic laws and speed limits.

United Spinal Association offers a MotorSafe program. United Spinal Association's MotorSafe program is a nationwide public awareness campaign promoting safe motoring and spinal cord injury prevention. United Spinal also provides consultation to businesses, which covers accessibility and disability etiquette.

Download the United Spinal Disability Etiquette brochure at http://www.unitedspinal.org/pdf/DisabilityEtiquette.pdf.

Jody DeVere
President
AskPatty.com, Inc.