What I learned this week: Stats that matter

Like most bloggers, I spend an inordinate amount of time considering the stats related to Grandma's Briefs — how many comments, unique visitors, page views, followers, friends, so on and so forth. Such stats matter greatly to me as a blogger.

This week I learned all kinds of other stats that matter greatly to me as a grandmother, mother, wife, daughter — someone with too much to lose to not take notice, not be concerned, not share with others what I've learned.

Here is just a smidgen of wide-ranging and crucial stats I gleaned from the Lifesavers 2013 National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities, in hopes that you, too, will take notice, be concerned and share with others:

• In the United States, we drive, as a whole, 3 trillion miles per year.

• 35,000 people die because of car crashes each year. (It's the leading cause of accidental death.)

• You're four times more likely to crash when using a cell phone while driving, whether hands-free phone or not.

• Twenty-five percent of all crashes involve cell phones (talking or texting).

• There's a 23 times greater crash risk when texting while driving.

• There were 2.3 trillion text messages sent in 2011.

• Forty-nine percent of adults text while driving.

• Seventy-seven percent of teens report they have seen their parents text and drive.

• Forty-three percent of teens admit to texting while driving.

• Seventy-five percent of teen fatal crashes do not involve alcohol. 

• A sudden stop at 30 miles per hour could cause the same crushing force on a child's brain and body as a fall from a three-story building (which is why buckling up kids is so important).

• Most children need to use a booster seat until age 10-12 for maximum protection and improved comfort in the car.

• Each year, 325,000 Americans are injured in drunk driving crashes (one every two minutes), and drunk driving kills 10,000 Americans each year.

• One in five 16-year-old drivers experience a collision in their first year of driving.

• Seniors are outliving their ability to drive safely by an average 7 to 10 years, depending on gender.

• Car crashes are the leading cause of death for ages 5 to 24.

• With the exception of teenagers, seniors have the highest crash death rate per mile driven, due to age-related fragility.

• In crashes caused by vehicle maintenance factors, 90 percent can be attributed to improperly inflated tires.

Yes, the stats are frightening. But all of that — plus a whole lot more — is what I learned this week.

Disclosure: My attendance at the Lifesavers Conference was fully sponsored by Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center.

photo: stock.xchng

Today's question:

What did you learn this week?

Picture this: A life less ordinary

Whew! I experienced such a whirlwind of a weekend and flurry of info at the Lifesavers Conference, in enjoyable and spectacular ways.

Much of the "spectacular" can be attributed to the grand accommodations and the seemingly endless fine dining — both such a contrast to my ordinary days and ways.

As I've yet to wrap my head around all the info I plan to share with you from the conference, today I'm sharing glimpses of what I had the privilege of sampling, courtesy of the Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center:

Stay tuned: Food for thought soon to come. I promise!

Today's question:

What do you love most about staying in a hotel?

Lifesavers, llamas, and the GRAND Social

Happy Monday!

I'm having a lovely time at the Lifesavers Conference, learning lots and getting to know some fellow bloggers. Today is the official Day Two, which means tomorrow I (already!) head home.

Speaking of heading home, I'm interested to see if the outset of my return trip will be punctuated in a manner similar to what I saw when Jim took me to the airport  to depart for the conference.

This is what I saw:

Yes, that's a llama. As I mentioned on Facebook, it's a llama sans pajamas, but a llama — in a van — nonetheless.

Yes, things have gotten a little wacky in Colorado of late. But a llama in a van? That's a new one for me, I assure you. I'll keep ya posted on unusual sites I see on my return trip home.

Thank you for visiting today and for joining this week's GRAND Social! Cheers to llamas and to socializing!

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog specifically about grandparenting, but you must be a grandparent who blogs.

• To link up, copy the direct URL to the specific post — new or old — that you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue "Click here to enter" text below and follow the directions to add your post and graphic to the list.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, please, and none you have promoted on a previous GRAND Social linky. And no contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites, please.

• Adding a mention at the bottom of your linked posts, such as This post has been linked to the GRAND Social linky, is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button anywhere on your page using the following code:

<a href="/" target="_blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky is open for new posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.

• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. Bloggers who link up would be honored to have one and all — bloggers and readers — visit, read and, if so moved, comment, even if just a "Hey, stopping by from the GRAND Social."

• Looking for another grandparent linky? Be sure to visit Connie's Grandparent's Say It Saturday Link Party each Saturday.

Thank you for participating in the GRAND Social!