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Please read all news stories that I have written as there is valuable information about my programs. Today however I wanted to share with you the editorial that I had printed in the KC Star on 11/9 under the "As I See It," opinion. I hope you enjoy and would value any feedback.

As I See It
‘Annoying’ traffic laws protect lives
By Joe RheaSpecial to The Star
On Oct. 25, Mardelle Busch wrote that traffic officers should issue warrants and stop giving tickets to “law-abiding citizens.” That’s nonsense.
More than 45,000 people a year die from car crashes. Most of those crashes result from some form of violation or inattentive driving.
We take for granted every single day why we have traffic laws, and most of us abuse them on a consistent basis. Just because you don’t get caught for speeding every time, doesn’t mean you’re not “breaking the law.”
Let me tell you why we have those “traffic laws.” More people under the age of 33 die in car crashes than any other cause of death. In a car crash, you are more likely to suffer a catastrophic spinal cord injury or brain injury , both of which are incurable. And remember this, you just don’t die in a car crash, you are killed violently!
We throw around the word accident way to often when we refer to car crashes. Accident implies unpreventable events. Most car crashes are preventable. In Missouri the three main causes of car crashes are 1) inattention, 2) speeding and 3) drinking and driving. None of these causes are accidents. Just because you didn’t mean to, doesn’t mean it constitutes as an accident. Almost all car crashes are preventable and are caused by a driver doing something wrong.
As the lead speaker for the Think First Foundation of Kansas City, a brain and spinal cord injury prevention foundation, I have met more than enough individuals who have survived car crashes and are now left a with permanent reminder of why there are traffic laws.
They are left to sit in their wheelchairs for life, wishing that they would have followed the traffic laws or wishing that the other driver would have done the same.
Traffic laws are laws for very good reasons. Unfortunately we all break them at times, and that is why we need traffic officers to do their job — to write those annoying but needed tickets, so that maybe a life is saved that day. Possibly it could be yours or mine.
Joe Rhea is the lead speaker for the Think First Foundation. He lives in Raytown.






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