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Keeping Children Safe During Winter Drives
As the weather begins to cool down, it’s a good time to prepare your vehicle for the eventual winter wonderland. The approaching holiday season comes with family vacations, parties and visits with relatives, meaning more time driving with your loved ones.
Unfortunately, winter’s slippery conditions put traveling families at a higher risk for traffic accidents. You can follow car seat laws and guidelines to help keep your children safe.
Maryland law states that you must secure children who are under 8-years-old or shorter than 4 feet 9 inches in a safety seat. Following the manufacturer instructions will ensure the seat is installed correctly.
As children grow each year, parents should adjust restraints to fit snugly. You may even need to switch the safety seat with a new one if your child has outgrown the height and weight limit of the current seat.
Driving Hazards During the Fall and How to Avoid Them
With October drawing to a close, you probably have noticed a change in our region. Indeed, leaves are changing, and the air seems cooler, especially in the morning. Also, the days are shorter and this means that we will all have to adjust, since daylight savings time expires this weekend.
With the change in conditions, drivers will have to change their habits as fall driving hazards are markedly different from those in the summer.
This post will highlight a few of them, and what drivers can do to avoid being in a car accident.
Sun glare – For those who have an eastbound morning commute, the low angle of the sun could be a hazard that causes temporary blind spots. Yes, sun shades and sunglasses can provide some relief, but keeping windows free of dust and debris can is essential in avoiding hazards created by morning sun.
Watch for migrating animals – A number of animals migrate during the fall, especially deer who seek a new feeding ground before the winter comes. Migration patterns are known to cross two-lane highways and other major thoroughfares. As such, drivers must be keenly aware of crossing animals in the early morning hours.
3 Essential Steps to Take if You Get Hit by A Car on Your Bicycle
When you ride your bike, you feel alive, accomplished and healthy. Your bicycle is an effective method of transportation and exercise that promotes your health and benefits the environment. Unfortunately, you are probably going to crash in one way or another–or even worse, get hit by a vehicle.
If you get hit by a passenger car or a larger vehicle like a commercial truck or bus, you will suffer more injuries than any driver. Your bike and helmet only offer you so much protection. But how do you react when you get into a biking accident? It is crucial for you to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Here are the steps you should take after you get hit on your bike.
1. Collect contact information
According to a Consumer Reports guide on handling the aftermath of a bike crash, you should gather the following information from any drivers involved:
Resolving Parenting Time Disputes, Revisited
Halloween will be here sooner than you think. If you have become numb from seeing Halloween decorations and costumes since Labor Day, chances are that your children have not. Nevertheless annual night of haunts and delights should be a night to remember for your kids, but it may not be remembered for the right reasons if you and your ex cannot decide on who will take them trick-or-treating.
There are a number of situations where parents may try to stick to their guns and keep a child from spending time with the other parent because of a quirk in their schedule or because Halloween falls on their day for parenting time. While this may be so, holidays are about allowing children to spend time with both parents. With the holiday season upcoming, parents should get used to this theme.
In the meantime, this post provides three ways parents can resolve Halloween parenting time disputes.
Mediation – For the uninitiated, this where a third party neutral listens to both parties and negotiates a compromise that will benefit both parties. There is also a special emphasis on tailoring a solution that works in the child’s best interests; so there is no exact “winner” or “loser” in mediation.
Conversations to Have During Teen Driver Safety Week
For parents, the first time a child borrows his or her car is arguably one of the most stressful day of their lives. Not only do they have difficulty understanding how time has gone by so quickly since their kids were just in kindergarten, but they are also nervous about how their kids will handle their new world behind the wheel.
Having a new driver can be especially worrisome given that teenage drivers represent the highest risk group of people to be involved in fatal accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
As such, Teen Driver Safety Week is a national safety initiative where parents and teens have pointed conversations about safety behind the wheel.
Communication between teens and parents is important because parents are the primary influence on children’s behavior (regardless of how they appear not to listen to you at times). By having conversations about safe driving habits early and often, this can establish the proper foundation for driving safely when they are on their own.
Handling Emotional Issues and Work After Divorce
It may go without saying, but a divorce can be an emotionally traumatic experience for women and men alike. More than just the common blues that come with the end of a relationship, there may be a need take time off from work to deal with psychological issues that may arise
In these situations, it is important to know that you may be allowed to use Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) time to deal with personal issues. This is especially important if you are leaving an abusive relationship and you need time to heal from emotional injuries as well as physical ones.
Since FMLA time is unpaid (as it is designed to hold a job open), you may also be able to use disability insurance to cover your time away from work. Before allowing time off, your employer may require you to bring a recommendation from your physician explaining that you need time off, and how long you will be away.
There may be some trepidation about letting people at work know why you are away. After all, having emotional issues is not exactly a popular topic in the office, and you may be afraid of what your superiors (and colleagues) may think of you. However, if emotional issues prevent you from being productive, pride and fear should be set aside.
Three Helpful Halloween Safety Tips for Pedestrians
Halloween night is arguably the ultimate holiday for candy lovers and makeup artists. After all, kids of all ages will take part in dressing in costumes, while little ones will be walking their neighborhoods to go trick-or-treating. Festivities on Halloween night bring their own set of dangers, however. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of pedestrian accidents tends to go up on October 31. Because of this, it is important for pedestrians to be particularly vigilant.
This post will highlight a few helpful tips so that people can have a safe and scary Halloween.
Make sure drivers can see you – With daylight savings time coming to an end, a number of trick-or-treaters are likely to be out after sunset. Since pedestrians are harder to see at night, it is prudent to have glow sticks or bright costumes that have reflective strips. Even small LED lights on the costume can be helpful. Regardless of how you proceed, making sure drivers can see you is important.
Ways to Make Your Divorce Stress Free
If you are thinking about divorce, but are unsure of when and how to go about it, chances are that you have already received pieces of advice from friends and family. The recommendations may range from the practical to the ridiculous, and they may leave you more confused, or angry, with what to do.
Whatever the advice you are given, chances are they are based on one person’s personal experiences, so what you are given may not be the best given your circumstances. However, there are some helpful things that can apply regardless of your situation.
Be a grown-up – In the midst of a divorce, adults have a tendency to result to middle school bickering and taunting. Even more destructive, they may play games over assets and may resort to using children as pawns to get what they want. It is important to remember that you and your soon-to-be ex are both adults, and the court will expect you to act like one.
Things to Consider About Divorce and Domestic Violence
If you are a victim of domestic violence, one of the most challenging decisions you may ever have to face is divorcing your spouse. Many people who have suffered at the hands of their partners are often afraid to leave them. The trauma of everything endured can make the divorce process more stressful and devastating than it should be.
As a resident of Maryland, you have the option of filing for a no-fault and fault grounds divorce. Since your situation has a history of violence, it may be beneficial for you to file for a fault grounds divorce because there is no waiting period.
To qualify for a faults grounds separation because of domestic violence, you must prove your soon-to-be-ex-spouse exposed you and your kids to harm and endangered your lives and health and created unsafe living conditions. Take some time to consider the following actions you can take to protect yourself and loved ones from further domestic violence abuse and trauma during and after your divorce:
How Alcohol Use Can Lead to Car Accidents
All too often, people do not weight the effects of alcohol consumption before deciding to drink and drive. As dangerous as the behavior can be, many do not believe each glass of beer, wine and alcohol they consume affects their driving behaviors.
Alcohol causes impairment. The level of impairment generally varies from person to person. It dulls the senses, decreases awareness and slows down thought processes and reflexes. Anyone who drinks alcohol should consider the following actions they can take to avoid crashing and hurting themselves, friends and other motorists.
Impairment Often Starts with The First Sip
It may seem as if high levels of alcohol consumption lead to catastrophic car accidents. But the reality is, even small amounts of alcohol can affect drivers so much that they do not recognize they are not in a condition to operate a vehicle. Many people assume that it is okay to drive while buzzed, but that buzzed feeling is enough to increase the number of driving errors they make.
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