Distracted driving

affects all

Source: Nicole Peritore, UK program coordinator for

Health Education through Extension Leadership and

Distraction.gov

We live in a world with information readily available at our fingertips 24/7. While this is a great convenience, it can be dangerous if you are behind the wheel.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, at any given second in the United States, an estimated 660,000 people are driving while using a cell phone or manipulating an electronic device. In 2012, over 3,000 people died and around 420,000 more were injured in automobile accidents involving a distracted driver.

Distracted driving includes any action that takes your eyes off the road. While distracted driving includes everything from cell phone use to grooming, texting is considered the most dangerous act by far. When a person is texting, it requires visual, manual and cognitive attention.

In Kentucky, it is against the law for drivers to text while behind the wheel. The state has also banned all cell phone use for novice drivers and bus drivers.

Even if you’re not responding or composing a text, reading one can be just as dangerous. It takes the average person five seconds to read a text message. During that five seconds, if the person is driving 55 miles per hour, they could drive the length of a football field without paying attention to the road and traffic around them.

The best way to prevent distracted driving is not to do it and encourage your family members and friends to limit their cell phone usage while they are driving. If you are tempted, turn your cell phone off when you get in the driver’s seat or put it in a compartment in your vehicle that you can’t reach.

If you are a parent of a beginning driver, remind them that if a police officer finds them texting or talking while behind the wheel, it could delay them getting their license or cause their license to be suspended.

For more information on family safety topics, contact the Clinton County Cooperative Extension Service.

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin.

Thrill of the grill

Summer marks the time to move our cooking from the kitchen to the backyard grill. Using the grill can be a fun way to add sizzle to your cooking experiences especially when you practice grilling fruits and vegetables in addition to meats.

The Thrill of the Grill class offered at the Clinton County Extension Office on Wednesday, July 2nd at both 11:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. provides tips about the best cuts of meat for the outdoor grill, recipes for grilling with fruits and vegetables, and discusses the importance of keeping our food safe throughout the grilling experience.

Techniques will be demonstrated and samples will be provided. The class is free, but preregistration is required.

For more information or to register, contact the Clinton County Extension Office at 387-5404.