A letter from a Rider's Family

Below is an email that we received from a family whose mother used the transportation services provided by Ride Connection. Thank you Diane for letting us share this.

James - we just met at the Portland Nursery fund raiser and after hearing what an important contribution Ride Connection provided my family, you asked me to e-mail you with my quote you can use. "Ride Connection was a Godsend for our family."

Somehow that does not seem nearly enough of an endorsement. I trust I will not bore you with additional information, but there is a very personal story that accompanies that quote. I located information about Ride Connection from an agency providing information to people such as our family searching for assistance and alternatives for my elderly mother. (It no longer exists.) Mom lived with us when she began to decline until we were forced to have her cared for in a facility providing 24-hour care. I was still working.

My mother had multiple problems, multiple appointments and kidney dialysis three times each week. My employer was incredibly flexible, but still, it was impossible for us to cover all the appointments and maintain employment. Our lives turned into constant coordination with no relief.

When the elderly are as ill as my mother, their daily lives center around their healthcare and providers. It becomes their social life and my mother was a very social person. After utilizing Ride Connection for several weeks, we noticed my mother concerned about her clothes, her hair, her perfume. On Ride Connection days of course. Because we utilized Ride Connection several times a week, mom developed a relationship with her regular drivers. They became her social life and instead of having a "down" day for a medical appointment or procedure, she looked forward to who might be driving her to/from. Those volunteers provided my mother with discussions outside of her medical world. There are many things in this world we cannot place a monetary value on and the ability to provide an elderly person with a sense of dignity, pride, something to look forward to, and yes, a little excitement as well - Ride Connection did this for my mother.

Something this simple gave my mother more joy than all of the social workers, ombudsmen, nurses, physicians, or any staff person.

Dianne

Oregonian editorial calls for "massive therapeutic intervention" in pedestrian safety

It has not been a banner year for pedestrians in Oregon. As of Tuesday, 55 Oregon pedestrians have been killed. That is an 86% increase since last year! An editorial published in Wednesday's Oregonian discusses these facts and pointedly reminds us that we are ALL pedestrians at some point in our day.

I spend at least 20 minutes of every defensive driving class going over pedestrian issues. When you leave my class you know that there is a crosswalk at every intersection, even if it is not marked by painted lines (for a good reminder of that, see the second video below); but what difference does that knowledge make if you let distractions take your focus away from safe driving, or if you don't vigilantly remind yourself to not only look for pedestrians, but to see them?

(Here's a good example of "inattentional blindness" or the "looked but didn't see" phenomenon)



Here is the link to the video.

The editorial reminds us that pedestrians have responsibility as well. Look at the coat hanging on the back of your chair. What color is it? Black? Dark blue? Isn't it kind of counter-intuitive to wear dark outerwear as we go into the darkest part of the year? Tom Vanderbilt, in his fascinating book Traffic: Why we Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says About Us), says this:

"Studies have shown that pedestrians think drivers can see them up to twice as far away as drivers do. According to one expert, if we were to drive at night in a way that ensured we could see every potential hazard in time to stop---what is legally called the 'assured clear distance'---we would have to drive 20 miles per hour."

Of course we all have responsibilities to share the road. However, when you are the one who is hurtling a deadly weapon down the street at 35 miles per hour or more, you have the greater responsibility to ensure you are doing everything you can to protect vulnerable road users. Remind yourself that you can't see what you're not looking for, and then consciously ask yourself over and over if there are any pedestrians (or cyclists) around.

(By the way, here's a crosswalk reminder, in case it's been a while since you brushed up: )