Now that Driving Me Crazy has been out for a couple weeks, it’s nice to know that people are reading it and understanding its need.

A recent comment on Amazon pulls it all together: “The argument here is that driver safety can be managed and not just left to chance.” This reader gets it! With so much death and destruction on our raods, it’s imperative that we take control by managing the drivers’s behavior.

It’s not about the vehicle. It’s not about the roads. It’s the drivers who make a difference. By helping them drive better, we reduce the mayhem and the resultant crashes and collisions.

I read, with interest, the recent article, “Best Life-Saving Car Safety Features” by Jacqueline Mitchell, recently featured on Forbes.com.

Driving safely remains one of the last best untapped frontiers for humanity in making a difference in the tens of thousands of needless deaths and literally millions of injuries will have a more positive impact than curing most diseases or ending all wars! The costs are staggering in dollars, but even more so in the emotional cost to those of us left behind.

All of these vehicle-centric safety enhancements reduce our chances of actually dying on our roads, but it is the human operating the vehicle that makes the difference as to these safety assists in the first place.

These so-called accidents are avoidable if we monitor driver behavior and not just trust that we will all do the right thing every time because we are licensed and we know better.

It turns out that President and Nancy Reagan were right after all, but in the wrong war.

We must absolutely say no to bad driving behavior, and yest we trust; but verify.

We get what we inspect, not what we expect.

If you don’t think so, watch how highway behavior changes drastically when a police car enters and then exits a particular road.

The time is now to go to war.

Yesterday, I was interviewed by San Diego’s local CBS affiliate for a story on risky driving. You can see the story and watch the newsclip here. I felt good about the story as it continues to increase awareness for this new industry we are building - using driver risk management to change behavior and save lives. What intrigured me was that while the story was running, the caption under it was “Drivecam Proves That A Lot Of Drivers Really Stink.” You’ll also find that’s the title of the story on the affiliate’s page.

It’s funny that after all these years, I never said it this way! It’s definitely succinct. And, it gets to the heart of the matter. But, I never stated it so bluntly As we know from watching how people drive, habits are hard to break. I’m so used to saying ”risky driving behavior” that it may take me awhile to change to “drivers really stink.”

And, athough many of them do, the more I think about it, the more I think I’ll stick with just saying that people exhibit risky driving behaviors. Unfortunately, no matter how I say it, people still do it. Every day.

I recently read an article in the Victorville Daily Press that caused quite a few comments. I was surprised at how vehement people feel about privacy vs. safety. My daughter was killed in an accident exactly 23 years ago the day this article appeared. There is no way I can tell you the pain and emptiness that comes from failing as a parent to have protected your child’s very existence, and I truly hope none of you ever have to experience that. The goal of the camera is not spying at all; I also happen to find that intrusive and over-reaching. The goal is prevention. All behavior is patterned and repeatable and if you see your driver doing something that invades 12 seconds of their privacy but is a teachable moment to break a bad habit that will someday kill them, then the tradeoff is a no-brainer.