Parents - save a new driver's life!

In 2005, 5,288 teenagers died in the United States from crash injuries. Such injuries are by far the leading public health problem among people 13-19 years old. In 2004, the latest year for which data are available, 38 percent of all deaths among 16-19 year-olds from all causes were related to motor vehicles. The crash risk among teenage drivers is particularly high during the first months of licensure.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Many parents spend thousands of hours and dollars getting their children to and from sports practices and games including soccer, football, lacrosse, field hockey, volleyball, music lessons, dance lesson, etc., but have no problem turning a newly licensed 16-year old loose with a 1 to 2 ton vehicle after a few hours of questionable classroom and behind the wheel instruction. Parents - hello, wake up!

If you want to reduce the odds that you will receive a call from a hospital or police officer about your newly licensed teen driver being in an auto crash, sign them up for the one-day Decisive Driving course from Car Guys.

Decisive Driving is a one day course offered in the VA, MD, DC area that will teach your new driver how to avoid car crashes, how to control a car during a skid, and how to improve the odds that they will not be one of the new drivers that has a crash.

We recently had a new driver take this course and we saw immediate improvements in driving skills after the course. The best $300 and 1-day we have invested in a long time. Highly recommended.

Picks up where conventional driving programs stop. It teaches skills that can take years to develop by accelerating the learning curve in a safe environment. In one day, we provide drivers with intensive training and hands-on experience that lays the foundation for a lifetime of good driving habits.

Decisive Driving, 301-984-8300

"Deadly teen auto crashes show a pattern," by Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY, March 1, 2005
"Is 16 too young to drive a car?" by Robert Davis, USA TODAY, March 1, 2005
Q&As: Teenagers -- graduated driver licensing - from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Teenager Driving Contract
Adept Driver, producers of TeenSmart

Posted September 25, 2007 10:47 PM · Permalink · Tips · Comments (0) · TrackBacks (0)

Coney Island

Professor Solomon's book, Coney Island, is a "history and profile of the amusement area (which is about to be leveled for condos and such)."

Prof. Solomon's book is available as a free PDF download.

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Posted September 6, 2007 06:57 PM · Permalink · Book and Web Site Reviews · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0)

Two interesting sentences

Today’s human population is descended from twice as many women as men.
. . .
A woman’s husband, and her baby, will love her even if she doesn’t play the trombone.

"Is There Anything Good About Men?" by Roy F. Baumeister, on DenisDutton.com - invited address given at a meeting of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco on August 24, 2007

Hat tip ALD

Posted September 4, 2007 06:07 PM · Permalink · Caught Our Eye · Comments (0) · TrackBack (0)

"Does street food make the best cuisine?"

The hawkers who came to New York had been handpicked by K.F. Seetoh, a Singaporean of Cantonese descent, whose connection to hawker food is similar, on a smaller scale, to the connection the France family has had with stock-car racing; that is, he has managed to recognize a lot of scattered, un-exalted activity as a cultural force and figured out how to merchandise it.

"Three Chopsticks: Does street food make the best cuisine?" by Calvin Trillin, The New Yorker, September 3 & 10, 2007 (abstract only online)