The 25th anniversary Don’t Mess with Texas litterbag, which just came out, will feature a new design designed by McKinney resident Jenifer Oslter. Texans across the state submitted original art for the chance for their design to appear on the special-edition litterbags as part of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Don’t Mess with Texas Design A Litterbag contest.

You can find more information about this anti-littering campaign at dontmesswithtexas.org. This is a fantastic website with some good information and tools to educate the masses about litter control on our highways and roads. With Spring approaching and our beautiful, world famous wildflowers about to (or as we Texans say “fixin’ to”) blanket these scenic routes, now is the time to be more conscientious about keeping things cleaned up and clear of litter.

Last Spring I was taking a trip to Corsicana. It was March, and the Bluebonnets were breathtaking. A popular tradition in Texas is for families to take pictures of their children in the wildflowers. If you travel any major roads in Texas in March, you will see cars pulled over on the shoulder of the freeway with moms taking pictures of their babies. Yes, taking pictures with huge, loud tractor trailers huffing by. Not to mention, what is hidden in the tall grass. Rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, fire ants, sand burs, poison ivy, you name it. It doesn’t seem safe, really. I took pictures of my baby in the Bluebonnets at the lake on a blanket. It seemed safer. But, then, I do recall hollowing out a pumpkin and shoving her in it when she was just a few days old. I also put the top of the pumpkin on her head, likely on her soft spot. I hear that CPS (Child Protective Services) will babysit … for free … for years!

So, last Spring, on my trip to Corsicana, I was enjoying the scenery when I noticed that someone had taken a picture of their baby in the Bluebonnets on the side of the freeway and rolled up a disposable diaper into a ball and just left it there. The plastic on a diaper is very thin, but its certainly not biodegradable. It would likely be there forever. So, I went back and took a picture of it. I thought I’d send the picture to the people at dontmesswithtexas.org and they would probably think it was a good advertising photo for their website. I had a friend “tag” the photo. So it says “Don’t Mess With Texas … It’s Your Doody.” I hope they use it.

On the website, it mentions that the only three things you can litter with, legally, in Texas is ice, water and chicken feathers. I always thought that something biodegradable, such as a banana peel or apple core was legal to litter with. But, alas, the problem is that animals have such a keen sense of smell, they may go onto the road to check it out as a potential meal and get hit by a car. Apparently some people will actually swerve to avoid hitting a fluffy animal and injure or kill themselves. Mostly women, I believe, because we have feelings. And, cigarette butts seem to be the biggest hazard of all, and the most littered with. According to the website, since 2005, cigarette butt trash has increased by a whopping 42%. Perhaps with the new electric cigarettes, those numbers will decrease. Or, maybe not. I purchased an e-cigarette for my sister, trying to help her to quit smoking. I asked her how it was working out for her. She said she forgot it was an e-cigarette and flicked it out the window of the car.

Until next week….

Daun Thompson
Writer / Comedienne / Artist

Real Texans Don’t Litter – Comedy Defensive Driving

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So I had no choice but to do what I did; I squeezed my way to his left, jerked the wheel to the right and ran his silly butt off the road!  No, just kidding but that is what I imagined in my head.

When entering the freeway, merge with the flow of traffic.  This means you speed up (I know a lot of you don’t have a problem with that 😉 and adjust your speed accordingly.  Together we can make the freeway a better place for everyone.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.  I would love to hear from you!  Join us next week when we talk about…..I can’t say, it’s a surprise!

Take care-

Danny Keaton

The post Getting on the freeway appeared first on Comedy Defensive Driving®.

Yes, there are some eighty and even ninety year olds who are good drivers and there are teenage drivers who don’t text message while driving; they probably had it taken away by their parents as punishment.  On average, which of the two do you think would be most likely to cause a ten car pile up on the freeway?

Let’s compare the two age groups in question: 16-20 and the 65+

According to the National Highway Traffic Administration in 2007, the driver involvement rates for fatal crashes per 100,000 of the population showed the 16-20 year age group as the second highest out of all the age groups with 21-24 being the highest.   Young drivers tend to take more chances and are less experienced behind the wheel.  The 65+ age group had the fewest fatalities; yes, with time comes wisdom, for some anyway.  So next time you see a Hummer full of high school cheerleaders or a Cadillac full of Bingo ladies, beware of the other drivers, you should drive as though you are the only sane one out there.

Let me know what you think and next week we will have round two:  the male driver vs. the female driver, who will win?

Take care-

Danny Keaton

The post Welcome to the Main Event, The Old Driver vs. The Young Driver! appeared first on Comedy Defensive Driving®.

Now, I’m no angel, in the past I’ve done all these distractions while driving, I’ve switched an iPod, Cd’s, cassettes and yes, even an 8 track because I wanted to listen to Van Halen instead of The Eagles.  But since I’ve been teaching defensive driving, I have become enlighten to just how bad these distractions really are.  I’m sure every driver has multi-tasked at least once in their driving years, but with all these distractions like cell phones, GPS screens, even DVD players, this is becoming more and more dangerous, not only to you but everybody else sharing the road with you.

It seems like some people multitask and wear it like a badge of honor, like somehow they are more productive than those who just focus on doing one thing at a time.  Distractions are becoming the leading cause of motor vehicle collisions around the country.  This has become a nationwide epidemic!  If you must talk on the phone pull over to a safe area, if you have to dig through your CD case, do it at the red light, but pay attention to when the light changes and put away the crossword puzzle.  If you are caught reading a book, doing a crossword or writing poetry while driving, you should be sentenced to highway clean up, forced to take a driving safety course and write 100 sentences; “I WILL NOT BE A STUPID DRIVER”.  Ok, maybe the driving safety course would be too cruel and unusual.

Talk to you next week.

Take care-

Danny Keaton

www.myspace.com/comicdemexican

The post Multitasking ourselves to death appeared first on Comedy Defensive Driving®.