Brace Yourself! Caramel Can Be Dangerous

It’s the time of year for caramel corn and caramel-coated apples. Tasty treats, but they remind me of a mishap I once had with the chewy confection.

Starting when I was 9 Mom took me on regular trips to Dr. Bowlin, the orthodontist in Keokuk, Iowa. First I had four teeth pulled, one on each corner of my mouth. When I was 11, the four permanent teeth were pulled. Then I had to wear metal braces until age 16 to straighten and move the remaining teeth back together.

The drive to Keokuk took about an hour, and since they on a different time part of the year, we would often leave home at the same time we were supposed to arrive for my appointments. For years we made the trip once a month on Saturday.

The night after returning from one such trip, I got some of those small cubes of caramel. Big mistake. As I was chewing on one of them, the wire sprung loose from my upper braces on one side and stuck into my cheek. It was Saturday night, so I had to deal with the problem for a week until Mom could take me back to get it fixed.

I learned my lesson. No more caramel, chewing gum or anything else that could threaten to spring my braces.

After seven years of dealing with having eight teeth pulled, having the wires painfully tightened each month, having to put tiny rubber bands on prongs to pull my teeth together and, finally, having to wear a retainer for a year, I was finally done. And I was so grateful to have nice straight teeth.

Mom had always told me that by starting early, I’d appreciate being finished by the time I cared about it. She was right. It was even worth going through the caramel episode.

Protect Your Kids on Halloween

Halloween Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org

More children are struck by cars on Halloween than any other night of the year.

Two-thirds (2/3) of all highway fatalities at Halloween are alcohol-related. Don't even think about getting behind the wheel if you're impaired.

While excited trick-or-treaters may forget the rules of the road and be oblivious to the hazards, we as motorists must be uber vigilant. Be especially careful between 4 and 8 p.m., when most severe vehicle/young pedestrian collisions happen. Approximately 85% of deaths among young pedestrians occurred at non-intersection locations (indicating children are most likely to dart and dash from mid-block into the street).

Review all appropriate pedestrian and traffic safety rules with your children.
Look both ways before crossing the street. (Ideally, you should look right, left, and then right again.)
- Only cross at street corners, stoplights or crosswalks.
- Never cross against a green (or yellow) light.
- Make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of a stopped car and wait for them to wave you on.
- Stick to the sidewalk between houses. If there are no sidewalks, walk on the far edge of the road facing traffic.
- Do not cross yards and lawns where unseen objects or the uneven terrain can present tripping hazards and never walk near lit candles or luminaries.
- Brighten them up. Fasten reflective tape to their costumes and treat bags to make sure they are visible. Give them flashlights with fresh batteries and glow sticks, to help them see and so drivers/others can see them.
- Trick-or-treat in a group if someone older cannot go with you.

Review traffic safety rules for drivers:
- All motorists need to be especially alert and cautious when driving on Halloween because of the increased number of pedestrians walking the streets.
- Watch for children darting out from between parked cars and into the street. Kids can cross the street anywhere, and most young pedestrian deaths happen at spots other than intersections.
- Watch for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs. Yield to all pedestrians.
- Be extra alert when pulling in and out of driveways.
- Do not assume children can see you or are paying attention. You need to take that responsibility.
- At twilight and later in the evening, watch for children in dark clothing.
- Don't use a cell phone while driving through neighborhoods. A single distraction could lead to a tragedy.
- Discourage teens from driving on Halloween. There are too many hazards and distractions for inexperienced drivers.
- Stay well below the posted speed limit. Drive slowly, and don't pass stopped vehicles. The driver might be dropping off children.
- Always use your turn signals. And if you have to pull over to drop off or pick up your kids, turn on your hazard lights.

Today, technology saves your car battery—tomorrow, it could save your child

My op-ed for TIME Inc., published July 29, 2014

If Cars Can Monitor Left-On Headlights and Rear Obstructions, 
They Should Be Able To Save Trapped Kids’ Lives

Susan Pepperdine

Today, technology saves your car battery—tomorrow, it could save your child

Thursday is National Heatstroke Prevention Day, so here is a little fact for your awareness: In the past 20 years more than 670 U.S. children have died of heatstroke in hot cars. To date this year KidsAndCars.org has recorded 18 such fatalities, including the death last week of a 10-month-old girl in Wichita, Kansas, who was unknowingly left in a vehicle on a 90-degree day.

Our national advocacy nonprofit works year-round to educate parents and caregivers about these dangers, including a nationwide “Look before you lock” program. But education is not enough when all it takes is a simple change in a daily routine to cause a parent to drive past their childcare center and forget their child in the back seat. Current state laws require putting your baby in a rear-facing child safety seat, which has saved the lives of thousands of children in car crashes. An unintended consequence of this shift is that when out of sight, quiet little unobtrusive passengers can slip out of mind.

How can we prevent this failure of memory? The auto industry obviously recognizes that we’re human and our memories often fail us: our cars are able to warn us if we leave our headlights on, our keys are in the ignition, a door is open, we’re low on fuel, if our seatbelt isn’t buckled… If we can monitor our headlights or gas levels, we should be able to get a signal that a child has been forgotten.

Some of the technology options currently on the market include car seat monitors and alert systems, key fobs connected to car seats that sound a reminder and weight-sensitive mats. One system activates when the driver has opened the back door to strap in the car seat, and then sounds a reminder chime when the driver leaves the vehicle. Mobile apps have hit the market, such as Cars-n-Kids Carseat Monitor, which connects with the carseat via a sensor, or the Amber Alert GPS, which tracks your child in or out of the car.

These after-market systems may be useful reminders to some people, but they have not all been tested, and they are not the failsafe solution we need in every vehicle. Furthermore, a 2012 study on “Evaluation of Reminder Technology” sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and conducted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that a few of these systems were not always reliable.

Safety is something every family deserves. It shouldn’t be optional, like 4WD or leather seats. And it shouldn’t be political. The federal government and automakers along with safety advocates have the ability to solve this problem.

KidsAndCars.org recently launched a petition to push the Obama Administration to authorize the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide funding for research and development of innovative technologies to detect a child left alone in the rear seat of a vehicle, such as infrared breathing sensors (a technology that already exists in certain baby monitors for the home). We also spearheaded an initiative to adopt federal safety standards that require all vehicles to be equipped with trunk release latches to prevent trunk entrapment, safer power window switches to prevent strangulation, and brake transmission shift interlock systems so children cannot inadvertently knock a vehicle into gear. In March, the DOT issued a rule requiring rear visibility systems, such as cameras, as standard equipment on all new passenger vehicles by May 2018.

Today, technology saves your car battery. Tomorrow, it could save your child.
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Susan Pepperdine is the public relations director of KidsAndCars.org, a national nonprofit group dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around motor vehicles.

Ensure right to vote: Letter in June 28 Kansas City Star

The Supreme Court says money is free speech. Surely our votes are free speech too.

There should be no prior restraint on our free speech right to vote. Republicans are erecting unnecessary barriers. For justification, they’ve fabricated the reason that sounds good: preventing voter fraud. The real reason: preventing voting while Democrat.

But it shouldn’t be easier to buy guns than to vote.

In McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission, Chief Justice John Roberts says limiting campaign money unduly burdens “an individual’s right to participate in the public debate through political expression and political association.”

What about the individual’s right to vote?

Roberts argues against restrictions on campaign money without proof of corruption. Potential voters should likewise be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Then there’s venture capitalist Tom Perkins, who proposes that he should have one vote for each dollar earned. (He has $8 billion.) “It should be like a corporation,” he said. “You pay a million dollars in taxes, you get a million votes.”

That would destroy the democratic principle of “one person, one vote.”

Don’t let the GOP and a few billionaires such as Perkins and the Koch brothers take away your free speech right to vote.

Susan Pepperdine

Fairway

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article637107.html#storylink=cpy

Save kids from heatstroke deaths in vehicles – National Heat Awareness Day

Twittercue: This yr 5 children in SC, GA, TX, CA have already died of #heatstroke in hot vehicles. Check backseat. #LookBeforeYouLock  NEWS RELEASE KidsAndCars.org  7532 Wyoming St., Kansas City, MO 64114 Office: 816-216-7085,  www.KidsAndCars.org Contacts: Janette Fennell, 484-278-4641, cell 415-336-9279 or Janette@KidsAndCars.org Amber Rollins, 816-216-7085 or Amber@KidsAndCars.org Susan Pepperdine, 913-262-7414, cell 913-205-5304 or susan@pepperdinepr.com KidsAndCars.org, Ray Ray's Pledge to promote National Heat Awareness Day May 23 Social media campaign warns about dangers to children in hot vehicles May 23, 2014 - Summer hasn't even arrived yet, and already this year five children in four states - South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and California - have died from heatstroke in vehicles. KidsAndCars.org, Ray Ray's Pledge and other child-safety groups are joining forces on Friday, May 23, for a 24-hour social media campaign aimed at raising awareness to prevent child heatstroke deaths in vehicles. The groups will post facts and prevention tips related to child vehicular heatstroke throughout the day, and ask that the public and media outlets join them in support of this national effort. Facebook and Twitter users can find photos and posts to share at the KidsAndCars.org Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/KidsAndCars.org).  Examples of posts and images that will be shared include; 44 children died of #heatstroke in vehicles in 2013. Check backseat, create reminders!  Keep your baby safe! #LookBeforeYouLock Set a policy with daycare to call you IMMEDIATELY if your child doesn't show up. Prevent child #heatstroke in vehicles! #RayRaysPledge Can't find your child? Check inside your vehicle & trunk IMMEDIATELY to prevent #heatstroke. Keep car locked at home.  If you see a child alone in a car, call 911! A car acts like a greenhouse, heating up to lethal temperatures in minutes. Prevent #heatstroke Even the most loving, responsible parents have unknowingly left their child in a vehicle. Prevent #heatstroke! #LookBeforeYouLock       "The worst thing any parent or caregiver can do is think that this could never happen to them or that they are not capable of inadvertently leaving their child behind," says Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, the leading national nonprofit child safety organization working to prevent injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. "This can and does happen to the most loving, responsible and attentive parents," she added. Since the group began tracking data, at least 719 children have died from heatstroke inside vehicles. Last year was one of the worst years in history with a total of 44 children deaths. "We need everyone to understand that these tragedies are not only predictable, they are also very preventable," she said.   Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org Click image to enlarge. Remember the following "Look Before You Lock" BE SAFE tips from KidsAndCars.org:  Back seat - Put something in the back seat so you have to open the back door when leaving the vehicle - cell phone, employee badge, handbag, etc.  Every child should be correctly restrained in the back seat. Stuffed animal - Move it from the car seat to the front seat to remind you when your baby is in the back seat.  Ask your babysitter or childcare provider to call you within 10 minutes if your child hasn't arrived on time.  Focus on driving - Avoid cell phone calls and texting while driving.  Every time you park your vehicle open the back door to make sure no one has been left behind. Through the "Look Before You Lock" educational campaign, the first of its kind, KidsAndCars.org has distributed nearly 500,000 safety education cards to birthing hospitals nationwide. KidsAndCars.org urges everyone to read Pulitzer Prize-winning article, "Fatal Distraction," by the Washington Post journalist, Gene Weingarten  http://ow.ly/ldDwUThis powerful feature is the best article ever written that explains how these heartbreaking and preventable tragedies can happen to anyone. For additional information, statistics and charts specific to child vehicular heat stroke visit http://www.kidsandcars.org/heatstroke.html. ### About KidsAndCars.org: Founded in 1996, KidsAndCars.org is a national nonprofit child safety organization dedicated to preventing injuries and deaths of children in and around vehicles. KidAndCars.org promotes awareness among parents, caregivers and the general public about the dangers to children, including backover and frontover incidents, and heat stroke from being inadvertently left in a vehicle. The organization works to prevent tragedies through data collection, education and public awareness, policy change, product redesign and survivor advocacy.