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Chicago Experiences a Significant Increase in Pedestrian Deaths Since July 1st

August 9, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

With this summer’s introduction of e-scooters to the streets of Chicago, much of our coverage and interest has revolved around how the City plans to not only curb traffic incidents arising from scooter users’ inability to follow the makeshift laws that have been established throughout the Summer, but the overall affects such riders have on pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars that are navigating the streets alongside them. Thrown to the wayside among this news cycle has been the fact that Chicago has actually experienced a large increase in the number of pedestrian deaths since the beginning of July. As previously reported by Streets Blog Chicago, the Chicago Department of Transportation had acknowledged that pedestrian deaths as of June 2019 had actually seen a 40% decrease year over year. Unfortunately, July proved to be much more dangerous for pedestrians in the city.

According to Block Club Chicago, “between Jan. 1 and July 31, 23 pedestrians were killed in the city. Six of those deaths occurred in July, the deadliest month for Chicago pedestrians since April 2018, when eight pedestrians were killed.” Making these numbers even more problematic is the fact that many safety experts throughout the community believe the issue to be a growing number of vehicles on the road. Unfortunately, the Department of Transportation has also found that one-third of the 23 pedestrian deaths in 2019 occurred in a marked crosswalk. As we have seen time and again, distracted driving remains a likely factor in these types of deaths. And why is that? For starters, our lives revolve around technology that we believe to be easily accessible at any moment. As we are walking down the street, we can video call our friends and family members and simultaneously multitask with the abundant number of apps we have on our phones. It is pretty easy to understand how we become so desensitized to taking our eyes off the road and letting our surroundings take a backseat to what we are really focused on. But that’s not an excuse and it should remain that way as the technology we use in our everyday lives becomes more advanced.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has an entire section on their website pertaining to this topic and we certainly recommend that all drivers become familiar with it. For instance, they state that “sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.” In addition, distracted driving, such as texting, has truly proved to be incredibly dangerous with 3,166 people being killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2017. All this goes to say that it just really is not worth it, and the ramifications of such driving pose far greater risks than missing a text or call from someone.

Drivers Are Not the Only Issue

While it may be easy to point fingers at the driver in situations such as these, the reality is that pedestrians may be just as negligent as the drivers themselves. As one-third of the 23 pedestrian deaths in Chicago have taken place in marked crosswalks, it is very likely that several of those instances included a pedestrian who was walking across a crosswalk while looking down at their phone or with it up to their ear. The issue with our lives revolving around these devices is not that they take our attention away from just the road, but our surroundings entirely. As we have previously written, many states have started invoking laws that ban cell phone use in crosswalks. The danger such actions pose is far too high and unnecessary just as they are for drivers. With that being said, the issue may be two-fold; however, we all know that individuals in marked crosswalks have the right of way and we should not be experiencing this issue in 2019. As a society, we have had years to adjust and understand the ramifications of these devices. It’s upon us now to make certain that drivers understand their actions and pedestrians do all they can to be safe. As Chicago has clearly had a far better year than previously regarding deaths, all it takes is a bad day and series of unfortunate circumstances for these accidents to take place. Unfortunately, whenever we see such accidents occurring where they shouldn’t, it makes the alarm bells sound and we must acknowledge that something is wrong. As Chicago becomes more populated and the number of drivers on the road increases, it will become more dangerous, but it really does not have to be that way. Distracted driving does not have to be a thing because we control these devices. We should be doing everything we can to curb it.

Should I Use My Mobile Phone Less?

June 21, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

When is the last time that you left your house without taking your mobile phone? Can you remember the last walk you took without checking your social media feed? You have a device that allows you to work, watch shows, conduct financial transactions, keep in touch with out-of-town family, shop, and broadcast your thoughts instantaneously from nearly anywhere, and it fits in your pocket. Mobile phones have obviously revolutionized the world. You just don’t have to physically go to as many places anymore to get things done. I can’t remember the last time I actually had to go to the bank to complete a check deposit. I can do that from my kitchen. 

Residents of developing countries have also seen benefits from mobile phones becoming ubiquitous. Even basic phones that only have call and text features and no internet access can operate as mobile money transfer devices. This means you don’t have to carry cash or even a credit card to conduct business anymore, leading to more economic development around the world. 

There are clearly a lot of positives to having access to mobile phones. Yet, I’m old enough to remember a time when I had to leave the house to find my friends. In fact, whole generations of people lived their lives without smartphone apps or social media and the world kept on spinning. But, as we all know, for every yin there’s a yang. 

The problem with phones is that nowadays, they can do so many things that as long as the battery holds a charge, a person could easily spend their entire day looking at a screen without realizing just how many hours have passed with them doing so. Cell phone addiction is now a real thing. Smart phones have been around for a little over a decade and researchers have been studying the impact they have been having on us for about as many years. One study published back in January of 2015 posed that some people feel so connected to their phones that when they find themselves in a situation when they can’t look at their screens, like a work meeting, they get anxiety due to phone separation. This leads to people spending too much time looking at their phones, which creates a vast assortment of unexpected consequences. 

Time is a resource that is definitely not renewable. One of the consequences of evolutionary biology is that people need time to rest. We’ve all felt tired and we know how it feels when we don’t get enough sleep. Apart from a lack of sleep, too much time on your smartphone can lead to additional adverse health effects. But you don’t need a study to figure out that reading your news feed at night instead of going to sleep can reduce your concentration and your ability to function properly the next day. 

For most of Americans, one task we can’t avoid in the morning is driving somewhere. Whether it’s to work, school or otherwise, over 80% of Adults in the United States would say they get behind the wheel frequently, and a lot fewer than that say they enjoy it. Hopefully it isn’t because they’re too tired to drive. 

When you’re tired – you’re groggy and irritable. Add the stress of rush hour traffic to the mix and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. A study that looked at the effects of sleep deprivation on people working in the transportation industry found that not sleeping enough produces motor skill performance equivalent to what happens when a person consumes enough alcohol to exceed legal intoxicated driving limits.

Fatigued driving can be as bad as drunk driving. Yet, how often have you heard about someone being pulled over for driving while tired? This is a problem that requires attention from all aspects of society – government and private. Putting our phones away at night is a good first step, but that is easier said than done. With smartphones being so addictive, it’s tough to figure out how to motivate ourselves to use them less.

I’ve come up with a few tricks that have worked for me. Of course, everybody’s different and tactics that help one person find success may not be as effective for someone else.  Therefore, you may go through some trial and error before you find what’s best for you. Nevertheless, here’s what I’ve done:

  1. Put the phone away earlier – Supposing I want to wake up at 6 a.m. the next day. In order to get a full 8 hours of sleep, I probably have to go to bed by around 9:30. Before I allow myself to succumb to the temptation of scrolling through posts that can easily take me down a rabbit hole that will make an hour disappear before I know it, I put the phone away much sooner. In fact, I put the phone in another room altogether at least an hour before I plan to go to bed. That way my mind is already easing into the mode of not reaching in my pocket every few minutes to check the sports scores. 
  2. Track your screen time – If you can think of it, there’s an app for that. Get yourself a screen time tracker. This feature is already built into the iPhone and there’s probably something similar on other devices. Knowing how much time you actually spend looking at your phone can help you figure out ways to bring that number down. Also, you can set limits. You can set these applications to warn you when you’ve spent more time on social media than you would like. Monitor yourself at first to see what your actual habits are, and then modify your activity based on that. 
  3. Take walks – Or, find a way to get more active if you can. I know that exercise helps me get to sleep quicker. When I’ve had a long day at work, exercise is often the last thing I want to do. But I know that once I get started, I will feel better. Once my workout is over, my mind is calmer, and I know it will be easier for me to turn off my thoughts and drift off to sleep. If I just can’t motivate myself to do a full gym routine, I can take a walk if the weather is nice. Combining fresh air with increased blood circulation from walking usually makes me feel better and, if it’s close enough to bedtime, I’m ready to fall asleep as soon as I get back from my evening constitutional. 
  4. Turn the notifications off – You may have heard social media or smartphones referred to as slot machines. This means the way phone applications are structured is similar to a slot machine in that it is designed to make you want to stay with it for a long time and keep coming back for more. The notifications on your social media apps trigger a dopamine response so you feel good when your phone tells you someone liked or commented on your posts. You can limit the urge to keep checking your post for new reactions by turning off push notifications and checking to see what happened on Facebook while you were away rather than letting it tell you every single time somebody presses like on a picture of that great sandwich you made.
  5. Read a book – I mean an actual book and not an e-book or an audio book. Reading before bed is extremely calming for me. I know if I grab a novel and read for a few minutes when I lie down at night, I will be ready to doze off before I know it. Now, it’s true that some books are page turners that make you want to keep reading, but if I make a habit of opening a book before bedtime on a regular basis, my body will start getting used to falling asleep at the same time. That’s when I get my optimum rest. 

I hope that some or all of these tactics are helpful. Of course, you may find that you need to do your own thing to get results. There is no going back, smartphones or some version of them are here to stay and when used responsibly they are an excellent tool for promoting a business, finding work, or just keeping in touch with friends and family. But, like anything, overuse can be a problem. Therefore, many of us may want to cut down so that we can get some more rest and take care to drive safe. 

Here’s the Internet Slang Parents Should Know

February 9, 2015 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Texting - Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Texting – Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Let’s start with a question: Do you know what “GNOC” and “IWSN” stand for? How about “CD9”?

“If it makes you feel any better,” writes Kelly Wallace, CNN digital correspondent and editor-at-large covering family-related issues, “I had no clue, and neither did a number of women I asked about it,” proving that even the most involved parents struggle to keep up with today’s increasingly explicit slang.

Wallace recently unveiled a list of 28 acronyms that parents should know, now that texting and social media have become part of the new normal, and kids can’t seem to put down their cell phones.  And this new normal looks more incriminating than parents likely prefer.  According to Wallace, the terms on her list—many of them sexually suggestive—elude even the most cautious adults.  The issue has drawn attention from experts who say graphic short form slang is just one of the many problems plaguing teens and young adults today, as they increasingly rely on mobile devices as primary modes of communicating.

Wallace makes note of typical phrases: “LOL” (Laugh Out Loud) and “LMK” (Let Me Know), for example.  Some not-so-innocent, but common variants among teens include things like “GNOC” (Get Naked on Camera) and “IWSN” (I Want Sex Now). Others like “PIR” (Parent In Room) or “POS” (Parent Over Shoulder) act like secret codes, indicating to would-be texters the appropriate moment to refrain from anything that might get them in trouble.  There’s also “A/S/L” (age/sex/location), used to initiate what is likely to be an inappropriate conversation between strangers.  Less obvious but equally suggestive terms are “1174’” (Party Meeting Place), “53X” (Sex) and the aforementioned “CD9” (Parents Around/Code 9).

Explicit content isn’t limited to just texts. In recent years, popular apps like Snapchat, Vine, and Kik have come under heavy fire for their surreptitious, unregulated nature. Kik, for example, a free texting app, allows text and pictures to be sent without being logged in the phone history, making it easier for kids to communicate with strangers without anyone’s knowledge.

Wallace’s 28 phrases may seem like a generous number, but by the time you finish reading them, it’s easy to imagine several new, equally suggestive acronyms that have already replaced the old ones. If you’re just waking up to the fact that Generation Next is giving you the runaround, it may be time to learn a bit more about what your teen is (or isn’t) saying these days on mobile devices and web-based apps. See Wallace’s complete list below.

Some of the words on the list seem too ridiculous to be so widely used and accepted.  The online world is filled with people pretending to be other people, lying about who they really are.  Word choice can give teens – and supervising parents – an idea of the person who’s on the other side of the chat or texting app.   The lingo is constantly evolving as new phrases and acronyms become widely accepted, so it is understandable that your eyes might catch some abbreviations that you are unfamiliar with.  A quick Google search is sure to help, most likely by sending you to www.urbandictionary.com for more definitions and interpretations.

Even though the way teens communicate is changing, and increasingly hidden from parental view, it is still possible to spot the warning signs that something inappropriate or bad is happening.  Recognizing some of these suggestive phrases is a good start.

28 Phrases You Should Know:

1. IWSN – I want sex now

2. GNOC – Get naked on camera

3. NIFOC – Naked in front of computer

4. PIR – Parent in room

5 CU46 – See you for sex

6. 53X – Sex

7. 9 – Parent watching

8. 99 – Parent gone

9. 1174′ – Party meeting place

10. THOT – That hoe over there

11. CID – Acid (the drug)

12. Broken – Hungover from alcohol

13. 420 – Marijuana

14. POS – Parent over shoulder

15. SUGARPIC – Suggestive or erotic photo

16. KOTL – Kiss on the lips

17. (L)MIRL – Let’s meet in real life

18. PRON – Porn

19. TDTM – Talk dirty to me

20. 8 – Oral sex

21. CD9 – Parents around/Code 9

22. IPN – I’m posting naked

23. LH6 – Let’s have sex

24. WTTP – Want to trade pictures?

25. DOC – Drug of choice

26. TWD – Texting while driving

27. GYPO – Get your pants off

28. KPC– Keeping parents clueless

 Original Source of 28 Phrases: CNN.com

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