How Would You Drive If Your Child Was Crossing the Street in Front of You?

Network blog Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25 is promoting a campaign they call “driven by love.” The idea is that driving carefully — remaining focused and sober, driving an appropriate speed — is a loving way to drive.

It’s a powerful concept, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard it articulated quite this way:

Imagine these scenarios behind the wheel…

…you are approaching your home as your young child runs out the door to meet you. How would you drive?

…you approach a stop sign and see your child also approaching that same intersection riding their bike (with a helmet on, of course). How would you drive?

…you are driving down a road in your town knowing that your child is headed the opposite direction as a passenger in the car of a friend. How would you drive?

…you are driving behind your spouse’s car which also carries your children. How would you drive?

…your 16 year-old is out on the road at the same time you are. How would you drive to protect her or him?

At any time of day, one or more of these scenarios are playing out for families on every roadway in America. Are you driven by love to focus on the only task that matters — to focus solely on safe driving behavior?

Elsewhere on the Network today: Fairfax Advocates for Better Biking reports that Virginia is considering a law that would outlaw passing a car that has stopped at a crosswalk. Better Institutions illustrates how the vast majority of Seattle is zoned exclusively for single-family housing. And ATL Urbanist takes a critical look at Henry Ford’s social legacy in the United States.