a Plea

This photo is of the radar system on my truck. This radar can "see" more than 150 feet in front of my truck in almost any kind of weather. It's primary job is to know what speed I am going and know what speed the object is going in front of me. From there is assess impact time. I have three lights on my dash. Green is proper following distance. Yellow is I am approaching an object faster than it's moving. Red - the system automatically applies the brakes. Along with this I have multiple black boxes that record everything that truck is doing in real time. Engine, transmission, the multiple cameras, audio, braking pressure and... However none of this is foolproof... You still have to - and will always have to use that grey thing between the ears...

Yesterday a driver spilled his coffee while driving
Yesterday that driver worried about the spill than the road ahead
Yesterday that driver drove through a red light
Yesterday that driver T-boned a car

Today that driver no longer works at the company
Today the person in that car is clinging to life in the Intensive Care Unit
All over a spilled cup of coffee 

In the last three months there has been 8 major truck wrecks  (none from where I work) shutting down Interstate 5 in Tacoma for many hours in both directions each time. Speed was a factor in all of them. Although it took awhile to go through the legal process, they finally lowered the speed limit from 60 mph to 50 mph. In the FIRST major crackdown on speeding and in just the FIRST hour...

22 vehicles were stopped for speeding
19 were given a speeding citation
18 of those citations were for 20 MPH PLUS over the speed limit.

There is never an excuse to tailgate
There is never an excuse to exceed the speed limit
There is never an.....

a Plea to please just slow down
a Plea to pay attention while driving
a plea to.....

If not for yourself, for family, friends and the innocent