Have Fun and Be Safe on Halloween!

Halloween is a wonderful holiday for children and adults. Don't forget to be extra careful when driving during the weekend before Halloween and on Halloween night.  There are usually lots of parties in neighborhoods for children and adults and gatherings on college campuses this time of year.  Costumes often consist of dark colored clothing that make it difficult for drivers to see trick or treaters or party goers!  Don't become part of an accident.  Drive safely and slowly in areas where trick or treaters may be travelling.  If you are travelling with children, make sure they are wearing reflective clothing, reflectors on their shoes and trick or treat bags.  Trick or Treaters need to be easliy seen by car drivers.  Unfortunately, Halloween parties can mean drinking and driving and that is not a good combination!   Be extra careful as you travel on the road during the Halloween weekend for children, teens, and extra mindful of adults who are behind the wheel who may have had too much to drink.  Clark & Smith Law Firm says be safe on Halloween and have fun.

Be Careful it is Back to School Time

School is back in session and the yellow buses and the carpool drivers are back on the road!  We all need to remember SAFETY FIRST while driving. There are likely new drivers on the road headed to high school and we must be aware that these drivers are not as experienced as others.  These inexperienced drivers are often in a hurry to get to school.  They might be texting or talking on their phones, or listening to music and not paying attention.  If you have a teen driver, now is an especially good time to remind them about additional traffic since schools are back in session.   It only takes a second for a child to dart out from a bus, a person to reach down on the floor board to grab a cell phone, or look away to change a radio station and all of a sudden there is an auto accident.  Be a defensive driver and focus on the road and the cars around you.   The Georgia Assembly passed a bill in June of 2010 “to prohibit persons 18 years of age or younger from using wireless telecommunications devices for sending or receiving text messages while operating a motor vehicle.”  The following link provides all the details of the Bill:

http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/search/sb360.htm

Please enforce this law with your teen driver to protect him/her and other people on the road.

Additionally, please be careful with passengers in your own vehicle.  A new Georgia Law was put in place on July 1, 2011 that requires all "children under the age of 8 to be properly restrained in an appropriate child passenger safety seat or booster seat."  Make sure you are following the most current Georgia State Laws to protect yourself, your passengers and other drivers.  No one wants to be part of a serious accident "SAFETY FIRST" and be careful on our roads as school is back in session.