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Better Safe!

There is an Editor's Note in the latest issue of Realtor Magazine that I thought was a little odd. It was all about Realtor Safety Week, September 9th through the 15th. It discusses all the lurking bad guys out there who want to rob, rape or maim or murder us and recites all of those platitudes about how agents cannot be too careful out there.

That is all true. We should use common sense about personal safety - for both ourselves and our clients.

But she forgot something. No mention in this little Editor's Note about Realtors' driving!

Realtors are among the worst drivers on the road - and most of us spend a lot of time behind the wheel. And we are distracted for a lot of that time. Here are just a few of the things I've been known to do while behind the wheel:

Eat a sandwich while tooling down I-95 to a listing appointment
Yap on my cell phone
Exceed the speed limit
Gawk at FSBO signs and try to get the number written on a scrap of paper that I have to find somewhere on the floor of the car
Play with my navigation system, which is an improvement over the old days when I tried to keep one eye on the road and another on my map book
Read a new email that comes in on my Blackberry
Drive along the highway with tears running down my face when my clients lost a bidding war
Get behind the wheel when I might have benefited from a designated driver

And if I were to die in an auto accident caused by my carelessness, it would be more than a little embarassing, being an ex-Nader's Raider and all.

Now, I may be the only agent on earth with bad driving habits. But I sort of doubt it. So during Realtor Safety Week, I suggest the real estate community keep in mind that our chances of being hurt in an automobile accident are probably a lot higher than those of being mugged or murdered by a prospect - unless we do something that really pisses them off.

Posted by Patricia Kennedy on 08/31/2007 01:35 PM

Comments (13)

Safe Driving in the ActiveRain Channel

realtors, safety, driving

Originally posted at: Pat Kennedy - Your Washington, DC Real Estate Connection: Better Safe!

13 Comments on Better Safe!

AUG

2007

No offense but you are person I am behind honking at. I only talk on the phone when it's with a friend or loved on and it's a mindless conversation. I will admit I cannot do 2 things at once well. So I put my concentration on driving which leaves conversation pretty mindless, but there are so many out there who talk on their phones, weave in their lanes worse then drunks, go under the speed limit and have no clue what is going on to the sides or behind them and refuse to get out of the fast lane, but have a mile of traffic behind them. Oh Im sorry I think I just ranted haha.

Good post Patricia. I consider speed the biggest problem. I believe most of the above could be done as long as the driver is driving at a reasonable speed.

Patricia- You have made a very good point. I recently said the same thing to my husband. There are statistic out there that Realtors have been hurt & killed on the job - but I agree that the numbers are probably far high that one of us will die in a car accident then be killed at an open house (although it could happen, so we must alway be careful).

Speed is not an issue when people remember what lanes are for, the left lane was never intended to be driven it, it's for passing. A lot of times it's those driving slow or not paying attention to the road that are the initial cause of the accident. If you dont want to go the speed limit or above, it's not your job to keep people where you think they should be, move over. Driving a car is for driving, not for all of the above things regardless of your speed. Very bad accidents can happen at a slow rate of speed.

We are one of the very few countries with speed limits or low speed limits yet we have more deaths from car accidents then any other country. Speed is not issue.

So you're the one! I am sure you are a nice person, but OMG! Thank goodness I don't live in DC - you'd make me crazy.

I wish they would make navigation systems so that the driver cannot see the screen while driving. I'd really love it if you wouldn't talk on your cell phone while driving. I'd be estatic if you could avoid reading email on your blackberry while driving. And I can't even fathom how you could be writing down phone numbers while driving. Could you find a place to pull over for a minute to do those things?

I almost got wiped out yesterday by a driver who was on her cell phone AND putting on mascara at the same time. First she was doing 50 in a 65, then she speed up, then she started to exit and at the last minute she yanked her little Honda across two lanes and nearly slammed into me. Scarred the beejesus out of me!

If you are on the road all by yoursef, then fine, go do whatever you want to yourself. But please remember, most of the time you are not the only one out there!

OK - I'm ranting - it might have to do with the fact that I am partially disabled due to a distracted driver.

Sorry, Heather, but speed is definitely an issue, and lots of folks forget (or even deny, in some cases) that the "fast lane" has the same speed limit as the other lanes, and you are no more authorized to go over the speed limit there than in the other lanes. The speed limit is the same for them as much as for anyone else, no matter how well they think they drive. Do I speed? Yep, I do, on occasion. But do I pretend that I'm not doing something wrong and it's perfectly all right for me to speed and it's all those people that are going the limit that are the real problem No, I don't. Do I try to keep people who insist on speeding as their God-given right behind me? Nope, I pull over (when possible to do safely - it isn't always) and let them zoom on by, figuring they'll pick off the cops for me. ;-)

FWIW, the safest drivers I've ever ridden with were professional race car drivers, who, in the 1960's, insisted everyone wear a seatbelt (when most cars didn't have them), signaled every lane change, kept safe distances, and never, ever, EVER went over the speed limit on the road they shared with others.

That being said, yes, all those other things are definitely hazardous. A bluetooth helps. A GPS (set BEFORE driving off, and in voice mode) helps a lot. The main thing is to pay attention to what you're doing. I'm going to try to pay closer attention to what I'm doing in the car - thanks for the post, Patricia.

Now, Heather! You have the nerve to honk at me while I'm crying my eyes out doing 45 in the fast lane and you're gabbing mindlessly on your cell phone?

And Patti Ann, I'm not the worst driver and have had only one accident in my life (everyone involved was wearing seat belts and noone was hurt - and I wasn't even distracted - big semi was illegally parked, blocking my view of a red light. He got the ticket). And, yes, I can certainly get that you might be more sensitive to bad driving than the rest of us. You actually make my point that vehicular safety should have been mentioned in the Realtor Magazine piece.

Lenn, you're right about speed. I tend to slow down (and use an ear piece) when the phone rings.

And Tricia, I agree about the speed limit is the same in all lanes - and an FYI - my old boyfriend who raced showroom stock on weekends, told me that was why the speed traps are almost always aimed at the fast lane drivers. I loved his car - it was a Mazda RX7 with a roll bar you had to crawl over to get in (welcome to Monaco, Grace!) and an X shaped over the head seat belt - on both the driver and passenger side!.

Thanks to all of you for your comments!

Very good advice. As you know, I blog about car safety, especially with teenagers, but we, and I am among them, are at risk for the very reasons you have pointed out. Thanks for the reminder. Stay safe over the holiday weekend.

Here's my problem. I'm a trained pilot. So I think I can do 4 things at once. (Ever tried to fly a plane. Makes driving a car simple. Adjust mixture. Climb. Adjust throttle. Talk to ATC. Follow instructions. After take-off checklist. Where am I going?)

Though I've never caused or almost caused and accident that I'm aware of on the road I'm cognizant of the fact that I should just chill and drive.

My mentor stated that her broker made her turn in her magnetic car signs because she was flipping people off and cutting people off! LOL I couldn't believe she told me that, but she at least admitted it. Great idea and post, thanks!

Lexa Montierth

Lexa, I'm hesitant to flip people off while driving - I might wind up in their living room at a listing appointment or contract presentation and they might remember me! And they'd be more likely to recognize your colleague with magnetic car signs!

And Chris! The airways in Kansas are probably less hairy than I-270 between Bethesda and Gaithersburg!

Everyone is fore warned when they see my car. My license plate says it all...DNGERUS! Really! My clients seem to get a kick out of it. So if you see my cruising around the beltway give a wave.

I remember when 270 was four lanes, 2 on each side with that stuff called grass in the middle. Makes me seem like an old timer, I guess.

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