Winter driving by Katie Brown
Driving Safety is the theme of this week’s National Safety Month. Cell phones, safety belt use, impaired driving, and aggressive driving are safety tips when driving.
As a child we did not have safety belts in our cars. I remember sleeping with my older sister in our pajamas in the back of our station wagon on long family trips. We never thought of not being safe. We had good parents who cared for us, but safety belts had not come into our lives yet.
We’d giggle under the blankets and fall asleep. Along came safety belts and my own children were lawfully strapped in for trips from their day of birth. Times change and lives have been saved with safety belts.
Entertaining our children on trips before televisions and games meant paper dolls for the girls, coloring, and singing songs. We’d pack snacks and new toys from the dime store to keep them occupied. Our children never slept much in the car, so my husband would drive while I would play with the children. The big question was, “When will we get there?” just like it was when I was a child, and we still had fun in the car together.
One time when I was little we had an accident on an icy highway late at night while coming home from visiting my grandparents. Dad did the best he could to control the car when it hit the ice. I was in the backseat and kept saying aloud over and over “God is Love” that I learned in the Christian Science Sunday School.
The driver of a large semi-trailer coming straight towards us managed to swerve to miss us as we zig zagged back and forth hitting the guard rails on a bridge, and finally Dad was able to stop it. The driver stopped to help us. The car was totaled, but no one had a scratch. I’ll always remember how grateful we were that God had protected our family from harm.
So add prayers to the save driving tips given by the National Safety Council!
