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4 • BABYLON BEACON, November 25,2010 ...G u e s t E d i t o r i a l : •' ..... Begin this holiday season with the right spirit President Franklin Delano Roosevelt formally es tablished Thanksgiving as the last day in November and Congress followed up two years later by making it a legal holiday, Americans have marked the day as a way o f not only giving thanks but also o f setting the clock on the upcoming holidays season. Thanksgiv ing marks the official beginning of preparations for Christmas, Chanukah and the New York as recog nized by Roosevelt when he placed Thanksgiving at the end of November, thus extending the shopping season in an effort to stimulate the economy. Since then, the blend o f religion and commerce has been both a blessing and a challenge. The holidays certainly do help establish a sound financial basis for America’s economy, and Roosevelt would be proud, but it also makes it a lot tougher for those who strug gle to maintain and hand down to their children the true meaning o f the holidays—love, peace, hope and a common effort to recognize and thank God for his goodness and blessings in our lives. Families struggle, particularly in tough economic times like this, to meet the expectations? o f giving those they love lavish gifts. Marketing arid promo tions, and a society overrun with the value o f “things,” put pressure on families that cant afford to keep up. But the holidays also do a lot to bring families to gether and strengthen the ties that bind them Jft is a time to remember and a time to riihke new memories. It is a time to think back and reflection the fiiture. It is a time to celebrate all they have ini Commorii ; As we approach Thanksgiving arid the “beginning” of the holiday season it would be good and healthy to take a moment with your family to reflect on what is really important. Gifts are vrondeiiul, and they are an important part of what and how we celebrate the holidays. But are the things in live that money can’t buy—the love of family; the warmth of friendship; the joy o f watching children grow up and the recogni tion that we are a people blessed by God. I f you have choose, lavish on your family and loved ones more on the priceless and less on what you pay for at the register. Roosevelt, in talking about children and family, put it this way. “For unflaggirig interest and enjoyment... all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.” The Beacon newspaper invites readers to present their views, ideas and issues. Please submit letters to the editor to us at 65 Deer Park Ave., Babylon NY 11702. Letters should be signed and include a daytime telephone number fo r verification purposes only. We do not accept personal thank you notes, political endorsements or anonymous letters, but will, under some circumstances withhold the name o f a writer upon request. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS -b y Kevin Eastwood .. . ... I'M THANKFUL I STILL H/WE A JOS AND WE HAV/E A ROOF OV/ER OUR HEAPS. I'M THANKFUL I' m X kic TS WITHOUT CARE fN THE / WORLD. ■ f / /// 1 '/ . $ 0 / ■ ip i i ■ i 1 a / // /A % f 1 7/ ' / ! '/ m R ea d e r s V o ic e s : Letters and C o m m e iw ^ ^ p Distracted driving is dangerous driving by David J. Swarts AS we all know, distracted driving has become a very serious problem for our state and our country.. In New York State at least one out of five motor vehicle crashes has distracted driving listed as a contributing factor. In 2009, nearly 5,500 people died in crashes involving a dis tracted« inattentive driver and more than 440,000 were injured' As Commissioner o f the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and Chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, I was honored to be. invited recently to attend U.S. Secretary o f Transportation Ray LaHood’s sec ond Summit on Distracted Driving in Washington, D. C. Also participating at that meeting were leading national transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforce ment agencies, industry representatives, researchers and victims affected by distraction-related crashes. Together we addressed challenges and identified opportunities for national anti-distracted driving efforts. Secretary LaHood refers to distracted driving as a “deadly epidemic” I could not agree more. As part of the Secretary’s Distracted Driving initiative, New York was one of only two states selected to receive a $300,000 Fed eral grant from the U.S. Department o f Transportation to develop a pilot program that targets distracted driving. The pilot project was launched in Syracuse last April BEACON NEWSPAPERS TheBeacon— the paper that works Postig« R aid-Babylon Post O ffice, Babylon, NY 11702 (U S P S 0 3 9 6 -8000) Copyright 1999 CJ PUBLISHERS , INC . “THE PAPER THAT WORKS\ A combination o l newspapers and editions covering Babylon, Lindenhurst, Cofiiague, Massapequa, Amityville, North Babylon, West Babylon, Wyandanch, Deer Park, Dix Hills, Wheatley Heights, West Islip, Brentwood, Brightwaters, Bay Shore, Isllp, East islip, Oakdale, S ayville, E. Patchogue, Patchogue, Bohemia, Holbrook, North Lindenhurst Main Office: 65 Deer Park Ave., Babylon, NY Official Newspaper lo r the Towns o f Babylon & Islip School D istrict • Lindenhurst School D istrict West Babylon School D istrict - Deer Park School D istrict • North Babylon School D istrict - West Islip School D istrict - Coptague School District ■ W yandanch School D istrict DEADLINES FOR THE NEXT EDITION:: ADVERTISING: 3 P.M. FRIDAY EDITORIAL: 3 P.M. THURSDAY PHONE: (631)587-5612 FAX: (631) 587-0198 FOUNDERS EDWARD 0. WOLFE, JANE 0. WOLFE : FUBUSHB». CAROLYN i ALFRED JAMES STAFF OOHNACOHSOLA LYUNOUUATI E-MAIL ADDRESS: aqnewsOicn.com Postm a ster Pleas« retu rn a ll change o f addresses to : «5 D eer P a rt A v e , B abylon N Y U 7 0 1 AS Ism s sent to The Beacon for publication consideration become the property o f The Beacon. Composition R esponsibility: The newspaper wit not be liable for errors appearing in any advertisement beyond the CMt of space occupied by the errdr. Subscription Rates: By M a il in NY S ta te : $25 p e r year $40 fo r 2 years O u t o f S ta te : $35 p er year / $60 fo r 2 years Senior C itizens o ver 65 Take 10% D iscount Paid S ubscriptions are non-tefundable. Copies: 5Of within 6 weeks of publication. Tit for oil others, as available. The Syracuse program, entitled Phone in One Hand. Ticket in the Other, uses a combination o f high visibility enforcement and increased public education to convince motorists to put down their cell phones while driving. For the public education component, a public service an nouncement focusing on the dangers of distracted driv ing was developed that features several different motor ists talking on their cell phones or texting while driving and the crashes that result from their inattention. For the enforcement component, the first 10-day wave in April resulted in 2,300 tickets being issued for either talking on a cell phone or texting while driving. The second wave in July resulted in nearly 2,150 tickets being issued. A third wave of education and enforcement is scheduled for Oc tober with the final wave being conducted next April. In conjunction with the Distracted Driving Summit, the National Highway Traffic Safety Committee released a distracted driving report on results of the Syracuse pro gram thus far. According to that report, since the incep tion of the program, hand held phone use while driving dropped 38 percent and texting while driving decreased 42 percent in Syracuse. We have also taken a number of other steps to reduce the incidents of distracted driving statewide. Last Novem ber a law took effect in New York State that limits the use of portable electronic devices while driving, which in cludes texting while driving. Between January and June of this year more than 152,000 tickets were handed out statewide for talking on a cell phone while driving. In the same time period nearly 1,000 tickets were handed out for texting while driving, which is currently a secondary offense. Combating distracted driving takes the consistent ef forts of our law enforcement partners and targeted public education. We are hopeful that the results of our project in Syracuse, as well as our other efforts, will help lead to a national model for combating the dangers o f distracted driving. But to truly bring about change will require that we all avoid the temptation to use our cell phones or en gage in other distracted behaviors while driving.' The writer is Commissioner, NYS Department o f ' Motor Vehicles and Chair, Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee
