August 25, 2025 • 23 mins
Car accidents are the leading cause of death for kids, teens, and young adults — but so many are preventable. In this episode, I sit down with my dad, pediatrician Dr. Andrew Matthew (and the safest driver I know!), to talk about what parents and teens can do to stay safe on the road.
Using information from this recent article:
Motor Vehicle Crash Prevention, New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 393, Issue 5 (July 31 2025)
We discuss:
- Why car accidents are the #1 cause of death for ages 5–29
- How texting while driving raises your crash risk 23-fold
- Practical tips for teaching teens to drive safely
- The truth about speeding, tailgating, and road rage
- When technology helps — and when it hurts
- Smart ways to talk to kids about car safety
If you’ve got a new driver at home, carpool often, or just want to be more mindful behind the wheel, this episode is full of practical, potentially life-saving tips.
Your Child is Normal is the trusted podcast for parents, pediatricians, and child health experts who want smart, nuanced conversations about raising healthy, resilient kids. Hosted by Dr. Jessica Hochman — a board-certified practicing pediatrician — the show combines evidence-based medicine, expert interviews, and real-world parenting advice to help listeners navigate everything from sleep struggles to mental health, nutrition, screen time, and more.
Follow Dr Jessica Hochman:
Instagram: @AskDrJessica and Tiktok @askdrjessica
YouTube channel: Ask Dr Jessica
If you are interested in placing an ad on Your Child Is Normal click here or fill out our interest form.
-For a plant-based, USDA Organic certified vitamin supplement, check out : Llama Naturals Vitamin and use discount code: DRJESSICA20
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
Hello listeners. This is Dr Jessica Hochman. I'm
(00:02):
excited to share that I am nowbooking sponsorships for your
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(00:31):
Hi everyone, and welcome back toyour child. Is normal. I'm your
host. Dr Jessica Hochman, somany of you may not know this,
but I actually work as apediatrician with my dad, and
he's been practicing pediatricsmy entire life. And as you can
imagine, growing up with apediatrician for a dad, safety
was a big theme in our house. Sofrom car seats to bike helmets
to dog bites, I heard about itall. Now as a pediatrician
(00:53):
myself, I completely understandwhy, because we see firsthand
how accidents affect families,and we want to do everything we
can to help prevent them. Sorecently, my dad handed me an
article to read from the NewEngland Journal of Medicine
called motor vehicle crashprevention, published July 31
2025 and one statistic reallystopped me in my tracks. Car
accidents are the number onecause of death for kids, teens
(01:15):
and young adults, ages five to29 and the article also
highlights that many of thesetragedies are preventable. So in
this episode, my dad and I talkabout practical evidence based
tips to keep kids and all of ussafer on the road, we cover
everything from texting anddistracted driving to speeding
teen drivers seat belts and howtechnology has changed the way
we drive. My hope is that thisconversation inspires all of us
(01:38):
to be more mindful behind thewheel, because a few simple
changes make a big difference,not just for our families, but
for everyone on the road. Andbefore we get started, if you're
enjoying this podcast, pleaseconsider leaving a five star
review wherever it is. Youlisten to podcasts, good reviews
encourage others to listen,which really helps the podcast
to keep growing. And thank youto all of you for being here
today and for listening. I knowyour time is valuable. And now
(02:01):
onto a conversation with one ofmy all time favorite human
beings, my dad. Dr AndrewMatthew, and we're going to talk
about car accident prevention.
Welcome to your child is normal.
Thank you for having me ontoday. Dr Hochman, I've been
looking forward to having you ontoday, and I asked you to come
on as a guest, because we worktogether. Correct, we work
together as pediatricians.
(02:24):
Correct, do you know how longit's been 1414, years this week?
Oh, yeah. Well, been a good run.
Hopefully it continues for manymore years. So my dad, he likes
to make sure that I stay on topof my pediatric reading. And
last week, he came into myoffice and he dropped off a
really interesting article aboutfatalities and car crashes. And
(02:44):
I thought, why don't we talkabout this on the podcast?
Because I think it's a reallyimportant subject. Yes, it is.
In fact, the article emphasizedthat approximately 43,000 people
died in 2021 from car accidents.
What made it more important of apediatric discussion is the fact
(03:04):
that between the age of five and29 that's the most common cause
for people to die, and so thatincludes as many people in the
age range that we take care of.
Wow. So I thought this would begood to talk about, because I
don't want to scare people, butat the same time, when it comes
to fatalities and car accidents,I do think that many of these
(03:25):
accidents can be preventable, ofcourse, not all accidents, but I
do think there's things that wecan do to make those numbers
improve. I totally agree, by theway. I want to emphasize that,
if I may, tell people how todrive better, it's not like I've
been the perfect driver. Justabout a week or two before my
own driver's license test, I wascounting railroad cars while I
(03:45):
was driving, my dad was sittingnext to me, and I bumped the car
in front of me. So that was mylast collision. Was very
embarrassing of my threedaughters, my older one was once
in a car accident where she waspregnant and got hit from behind
and had to be taken by ambulanceto the hospital. My middle
(04:08):
daughter once decided to changelanes, going left against the
traffic versus going right. Whenshe realized it was difficult,
she went right withoutsignaling, and then she got hit
by a car on the right, and myyoungest daughter, while driving
once received a text message,she looked at her cell phone and
then bumped the Mercedes infront of her. So it's not like
(04:30):
we've all been perfect. I didn'tmention my wife, but she's been
in a few too, as well. And youmentioned your only car accident
was when as a couple weeksbefore I was 16 years of age, it
was very embarrassing when Ibumped the car in front of me,
but that's really impressive,because you've been driving for
a while and you haven't had anyaccidents since that time. Yes,
(04:51):
and I think I've also beenlucky. I'm not perfect, but
sometimes you're just glad theother person.
Looks up for you as well.
Absolutely, it's definitely acollective societal effort to
make sure we're all drivingsafely. But I have to tell you,
you might get the title in mylife of the safest driver I've
ever met, which is why, afterreading that article, I thought
(05:13):
you'd be the perfect guest tohave. Thank you very much. But
again, I want to emphasize thatI'm careful. I make sure I'm not
on medication when I'm driving,such as alcohol, and I make sure
that I'm wide awake. If I feelsleepy, I'll open up the window.
I don't put on the music tooloudly. I definitely don't text.
(05:34):
That's a bad one. So let's talkabout this a little bit more,
because the article pointed outthat over 30% of fatalities from
car accidents happen when peoplehave been drinking alcohol. So
to me, that's something thatespecially nowadays, where Uber
is readily available and thereare other options besides
driving that you can avoiddriving under the influence, I
(05:58):
think that's an important thingto think about, absolutely.
First of all, if you're ateenage driver and the police
pull you over, you're mandatedto take the test for alcohol. If
you don't, you can lose yourlicense. If you do, and there is
alcohol, you will have to gobefore the judge and lose your
(06:19):
license. Yeah. So beyond thepossibility of having a fatal
car accident or getting into anaccident, there are other
repercussions. There are otherramifications. Absolutely, yes,
all right, and you're alwaysreally good about that. Well,
again, if I go to dinner with mywife and I have a glass of wine,
my wife drives home. Always,that's an always, it'd be very
embarrassing to be pulled overas a physician, have a blood
(06:42):
alcohol level that's elevatedand then have my license revoked
or be put on probation. I don'twant that. I don't want that
either. Right now, I'm proud tosay that you taught me to be a
driver. Yes, and I'm reallyhoping I have a daughter who's
almost 15 that you're gonnacarry on the tradition and teach
(07:02):
her how to drive. Yes, I'm gonnado my best and try not to yell.
I'm sure you'll you'll do great,and you'll do great. I'll do my
best. You're already hired. Butthe article pointed out that
teenagers, and this might makesense just because teenagers
tend to engage in riskierbehaviors. But I think this is
an important statistic to pointout, that between the age of 16
(07:24):
and 20, they have a three timesfatal crash rate compared to
those that are older than theteenage years. So do you have
any advice for parents that areteaching their kids to drive?
Because that's a pretty alarmingstatistic to me. First of all,
not to tailgate, because whenthe other car in front of you
decides to make a decision, youhave to be ready to counteract
(07:48):
that decision. And as I oftenpoint out in the office to my
patients who are learning todrive, I did have a patient once
who had a step ladder. Come onthe freeway in front of him. He
was going 75and then he swerved at his
girlfriend and he were killed.
(08:09):
So speeding, tailgating or notbeing able to make a quick
decision all contributed to thistragedy. So you're saying some
things are unavoidable, likeobjects on the road, and if you
have more time to react, thebetter off you'll be, yes, wow,
that's a scary story. I tellthat story all the time. When I
(08:31):
discuss with patients how to getout of the car. People who are
driving poorly often suggestthat they tell the person
driving that they feel sick totheir stomach and are going to
throw up, and that generallymakes anybody pull off to the
side of road, and whereupon youcan call your parents and
they'll pick you up and be gladthat you did that, rather than
(08:52):
see you in the hospital. That'sa good idea. So you're saying,
if you're driving with someoneand it feels unsafe, that's a
good out that you can use, rightand use your intuition if
somebody's texting while they'redriving, if the music is on too
loud while they're driving, ifthey're doing a lot of lane
changing, which just makes youunsafe, get out of the car. Why
end up in the hospital? Yeah,absolutely. Okay. So you talked
(09:15):
about not tailgating. Do youhave any rules of thumb, like,
how does somebody know they'refar enough away from the car in
front of them? I think wasmentioned that's like
approximately a three to foursecond delay time. You can use
objects on the road to determinethat. Now, if you're going 60
miles an hour, that's 88 feetper second. Now if you're going
faster than that, that's evenmore feet per second. So if the
(09:36):
faster you go, you need moredistance between you and the car
in front of you to help with thereaction time necessary. Someone
once pointed out to me that ifyou look somewhere else for two
seconds and you're driving 65miles per hour, that's almost
the length of a football field.
The other thing to mention, Iknow we're discussion is on
driving, but earlier in Januaryof 2023 a law was passed in
(09:57):
case.
California regardingpedestrians. So pedestrians are
not killed by other pedestrians.
They're killed by cars or bikes.
And now the new law inCalifornia states that you can
cross not at an intersection, aslong as you do when it's safe.
And as I read the law, it seemedit was very ambiguous, like,
(10:20):
who's to determine what is safe.
So if you're crossing the streetat night, you may determine that
it's safe, but you may not bewearing the proper color
clothing, where a driver may beable to pick you out in time. I
think that's really an importantconsideration, because there are
certain instances wherejaywalking may be beneficial if
you really can see that thereare no cars coming and it looks
really safe, okay, but I do findin Los Angeles, there are a lot
(10:43):
of people that cross, and it'shard to even tell if they're
paying attention, and I alwaysworry that somebody could
accidentally hit the pedestrian.
So it's interesting that thatlaw passed. It makes me wonder
if it's a good law, yes,especially a lot of people who
are crossing the street havetheir cell phone in their hand
and maybe either talking orwhatever, but they're not paying
(11:04):
attention to the road. Okay, soyou talked about tailgating, you
talked about speeding, which thearticle pointed out that a lot
of accidents are related tospeeding. But I personally think
a big problem that we're nowdealing with more than ever is
texting. I think texting makespeople very, very distracted
when they're driving. I feellike it's getting worse and
(11:24):
worse as time goes on, peoplewill text if they glance around
the road and see no highwaypatrol or police officers
nearby. They feel that they canget away with it, but you run
the risk that while you'retexting, you may not necessarily
get involved with the law, butyou may get into an accident,
and then you will get involvedwith the law. You're such a safe
(11:46):
driver. Do you ever feel temptedto check your phone? Or how do
you prevent yourself fromchecking your phone? I put it
aside. I listen to the radio,any news that I can listen to in
the radio, likesports or music, traffic reports
I can use from the dials on theradio in my car. I don't need to
text and talk to people. If theydo call me, I will talk to them.
(12:07):
But again, it's important for meto focus on the road, and I
won't be able to give them asbest my best attention. You
know, I have to say there's alot of times where I'll call
you, I'll call you or mom on thephone, and if you're driving, I
know I have to hang up thephone. You don't like to talk on
the phone while you're driving,I don't You're so disciplined
when driving. It's reallyadmirable, because I know you're
(12:27):
safe. It makes me feel happythat you're so safe. Well, as an
older person, I don't want tospend a lot of my time in rehab.
I want to enjoy my life so thatI want to drive safely and get
out of the car safely. I'm gladyou think like that. And just to
share, I found an interestingstatistic that texting while
driving increases your crashrisk by 23 fold. And there's a
statistic about teens. 39% ofhigh school students reported
(12:52):
texting or emailing whiledriving in the past month,
that's according to the CDC, sotexting is a serious risk for
the teenage youth and all of us,I think what the parents could
do request their kids do whatthey do at rock concerts, put
the cell phone in a bag and zipit up while they're driving so
you lose that temptation. Ithink that's a really good idea,
(13:14):
because it is really, reallytempting. I think the truth of
the matter is, I believe everytext can wait. There is no text
out there that is worth the riskof getting in a car accident,
but that temptation is verystrong for people. People like
to respond right away becausethey think it might be truly
interesting, as you said. Butagain, it can wait. It can wait.
Another thing about driving anddistractibility is sometimes,
(13:37):
and I did have one patient thatI can recall who had road rage
and sped up after the person whocaused him difficulty, and the
other individual took a photowith their phone of the license
plate, reported it to thepolice,
(14:01):
and this patient lost hislicense and had to go before the
judge for road rage. So it'simportant to keep your cool if
somebody does something that youdo not like, and learn to forget
about it and just stay away fromthat individual. I do think it's
a skill to not let it affectyou, like let's say somebody
honks at you, for example, a lotof people are tempted to honk
back or get upset back, butbest, I think, just to think
(14:24):
maybe they had a hard day. Whoknows what's going on in their
life, and just forget about itand move on. As you said, it's
important to learn how to moveon with a lot of things, but
definitely when you're driving atwo ton car. Okay, so other
things that you've taught me tobe safe, you're very careful
around blind spots. Yes, andyou're very careful when it
comes to changing lanes. You'realways cautioning me to change
(14:46):
lanes ahead of time. Yes. Imean, I often see, I'm sure
everybody who's been a driverseen somebody go from the fast
lane all the way to the exitlane, like in three sections.
They're just sliding across allthe lanes. To me, that's
dangerous drive.
Driving, and they could easilyhit a motorcycle or hit a car in
front of them. And so if I knowI'm gonna be getting off in a
(15:07):
couple miles, I'm alreadythinking about it. So my
understanding of the freewaysystem in our community is
really good, so I know how muchtime I need to get over and I
like to position myself so I'mnot doing at the last minute. I
think that's really smart. Mydad is very, very good when it
comes to the LA freeway system.
In fact, one of his good friendshas nicknamed him the freeway
savant. Yes, and I laugh atthat, but it's probably true.
(15:28):
But again, the freeway is canhave a lot of accidents,
although in the article, it's alot of accidents can also occur
at intersections, and one of mydaughters was in a car accident
where she went through a yellowand she met up with a girl who
did not have a driver's licensein the intersection, and so my
(15:48):
daughter's car was totaled, andthe other girl's car was
totaled. The police said thatthe other girl was at fault
because she didn't have adriver's license while she was
driving, but I told my daughterat that point, don't go through
any more yellow lights. Break atthe intersection and wait. You
know, it's funny. You mentionedthis story because my daughter,
(16:10):
who's almost 15, she caught merunning a yellow light not that
long ago, and she told me not todo it anymore. And she learned
from you, she quoted you sayinggrandpa Andy said not to drive
through yellow lights. You canget in a car accident, and you
must have, I wonder if you hadtold her that story, I might
have anyways, ever since shetold me that, I've been really
careful not to go through anyyellows. That's correct, because
(16:31):
you're going to be her example,absolutely. And you mentioned
looking over your shoulder,oftentimes a motorcycle will
come out of nowhere right on myside. It's important to see
them, because if you bump themotorcycle, he and the
motorcycle will go flying, andyou're going to inflict major
damage on that individual and ontheir property. So I tell my
daughter, because I'm trying toget her thinking about driving
(16:53):
and driving safely, I tell herto think about three things when
changing a lane. I tell her, youwant to use your blinker First,
give it more time than youthink, so that people can
predict what you're going to do.
Look over your shoulder soyou're checking your blind spot,
and then carefully change lanesAbsolutely you don't want to,
like do it at the last second,because even though you're
moving into, let's say, from thethird lane to the second lane,
(17:14):
there could be somebody from thefirst lane moving into the
second lane, and you can meet upin the middle. So you want to be
careful that you don't meet upwith that other person changing
lanes towards you. Now I'mcurious, because there's been so
much change with technology whenit comes to driving, and you
started driving before there wastechnology advancements, do you
feel like it's made peoplebetter drivers? Why and why not?
(17:36):
Well, I like the idea, forexample, when you put your
indicator on that there's alittle light flashing in the
side view mirrors that there's acar nearby. I also noticed that
when I'm starting to changelane, there's a little force
which kind of protects me frommoving into that lane because
there's a car nearby. So thoseare all good things to have. The
(17:56):
GPS is good as well, because ifI know that I'm going to get off
the freeway in so many miles, orif there's police activity, or
there's that accident in frontof me, I can be aware of it. I
think it's also important,besides the technologies, that
you look ahead instead of just acar in front of you, because
sometimes you can see a bunch ofred lights in the freeways ahead
of you, and you know it's timeto slow down, because everybody
(18:16):
else is slowing down.
Absolutely. That's good advice,not just looking straight in
front of you, looking further inthe distance, correct? Now, what
about and I guess my questionis, you know, I think about it
in two ways. I think there'sgood technological advancements
that have been helpful, but Ialso think that people tend to
over rely on GPS. My husband,for example, he's not from Los
Angeles. He didn't grow upknowing the freeways on his own,
(18:36):
and he really relies on GPS. AndI do think it's helpful to also
understand the big picture whereyou're going ahead of time
without over relying on our onour GPS systems. I like going to
downtown Los Angeles to eitherconcerts or games. I know how to
get on the freeway to come backhome, because it's a little
complicated by downtown LA youjust have to remember that every
(18:57):
time so you have nowhere to geton the freeway and how to get
home. So the GPS may direct youone way, but may put you in
communities or areas that you'renot familiar with and make you
feel uncomfortable. I think youjust have to remember it
yourself. That's good advice.
You're definitely my role modelwhen it comes to understanding
and knowing the La La freeways.
Thank you. Do you have anythoughts when it comes to seat
(19:18):
belts? I know the rules havebecome stricter as time has gone
on. Do you think that's been abenefit for society? A lot of
car companies have simulatedroad crashes with dummies, and
they can check on the force. Soif you're not wearing a safety
belt, you're going to hit thedashboard in front of you, or
you're going to fly out thewindow, and if your body hits
the pavement, it's not going towin, it's going to lose. So it's
(19:42):
important to wear a safety belt.
Now, there's also the airbags,which can protect you as well.
All these safety fixtures, Ithink, are essential to help
protect your body in theunfortunate situation that you
do get in a car accident, yeah,and I actually like that. The.
Car will beep at you until youput your seatbelt on, and that's
(20:02):
a good a good safety addition.
Nobody's perfect. Everybody mayforget because they're occupied
with something else when theystart their car. So now question
for you, do you as a driver,have any pet peeves that you
notice other drivers doing thatwe haven't talked about yet?
Well, we talked abouttailgating. I don't like getting
cut off, but again, I don't trynot to have road rage as a
result of that, so I just haveto let it happen and just back
(20:24):
off away from a poor driver. Sopet peeve would be tailgating,
not that I do it, but I look atmy rear view mirror and I see
people tailgating me, and Idon't appreciate it, but I just
have to be careful of thatperson. What about for parents
that may be teaching theirteenager how to drive soon? Do
(20:44):
you have any advice for teenagedrivers? Specifically, I think a
lot of time on the road withyour child would be essential,
and you have to take them indifferent situations. I took you
Decker Canyon. That was a bigmistake on my part, it was,
like, terrible, but we gotthrough it, and I did not teach
my younger two daughters to overDecker. Hey, wait, describe for
(21:06):
everybody listening, what isDecker Canyon like? Oh, man,
it's very curvy. It's, it's bad.
It's like, insane. It's not,it's not something, yeah, I
think you've ever been on DeckerCanyon since that time. Oh, it's
uphill, tight, twisted turns.
It's hard to see what's aroundthe corner from you, but I like
your motivation behind it. Youwanted to make sure I was the
best driver I could be. Youwanted to give me all the
(21:28):
experience possible before I wason my own. Absolutely I don't
want to visit you in thehospital. I want you to come
home, even to this day, my wifeand I are very happy when you
guys drive and come back homesafely. I'd say another piece of
advice for teenage drivers is tomake sure that they're not out
too late. The later you're onthe road, you put your self at
risk of being around other riskydrivers. Well, that's an
(21:48):
interesting point, because thebars and restaurants will stop
serving alcohol around one inthe morning, so oftentimes after
midnight, all those peoplewho've been drinking a lot in
the restaurants and bars are nowon the road, and those people,
you have a substantial alcohollevel or load in their system. I
have to think about my curfewfor my kids, but there will be
(22:08):
one fair enough. I'm happy withthat. So this has been great. I
really appreciated thisconversation. I think, you know,
I have to say for us aspediatricians, we see a lot of
illness, but a lot of the sadderstories that we deal with have
to do with car accidents. Yes, Ijust thought it would be helpful
for people listening. Maybethere's something that we said
(22:29):
that may make you think twiceabout texting. May make you
consider doing something that'sa little bit safer than maybe
you were previously doing. Andso that was my motivation behind
having this conversation.
Pediatricians emphasizepreventive care, so nutrition is
preventive, exercise,immunizations, but also safety
(22:51):
prevention. And then we startedoff the conversation stating
that car accidents are thenumber one safety problem. I can
spout all day long aboutrattlesnake bite or spider
bites, but that's not going tocause mortality. It's more
likely to be a car accident.
It's true. We talk a lot aboutsafety as pediatricians, and
there's a lot that I don't worryabout as a mom as much as other
(23:12):
moms that I meet, but somethingthat I do honestly worry about
is car safety. So so thank youfor bringing that article to me.
Thank you for talking about itwith the audience, and I hope
someday you'll come back on thepodcast if I'm invited, sure.
Thank you so thanks for coming.
This is my dad, Dr AndrewMatthew, the best driver I know,
the best pediatrician, the bestdad. And feel really, really
(23:35):
lucky to work with you. You'revery kind. Thank you very much.
Thank you for listening, and Ihope you enjoyed this week's
episode of your child is normal.
Also, if you could take a momentand leave a five star review,
wherever it is you listen topodcasts, I would greatly
appreciate it. It really makes adifference to help this podcast
grow. You can also follow me onInstagram at ask dr, Jessica.
Hello listeners. This is Dr Jessica Hochman. I'm
(00:02):
excited to share that I am nowbooking sponsorships for your
child as normal for this fall.
If you have a product, serviceor a message that you think our
listeners would benefit from,whether it's for parents, kids,
healthcare or family life ingeneral, this could be a great
opportunity. You can finddetails on how to sponsor by
checking the show notes. Justclick the link that says how to
sponsor an episode, and I'll letyou know for a good match and
get back to you.
(00:31):
Hi everyone, and welcome back toyour child. Is normal. I'm your
host. Dr Jessica Hochman, somany of you may not know this,
but I actually work as apediatrician with my dad, and
he's been practicing pediatricsmy entire life. And as you can
imagine, growing up with apediatrician for a dad, safety
was a big theme in our house. Sofrom car seats to bike helmets
to dog bites, I heard about itall. Now as a pediatrician
(00:53):
myself, I completely understandwhy, because we see firsthand
how accidents affect families,and we want to do everything we
can to help prevent them. Sorecently, my dad handed me an
article to read from the NewEngland Journal of Medicine
called motor vehicle crashprevention, published July 31
2025 and one statistic reallystopped me in my tracks. Car
accidents are the number onecause of death for kids, teens
(01:15):
and young adults, ages five to29 and the article also
highlights that many of thesetragedies are preventable. So in
this episode, my dad and I talkabout practical evidence based
tips to keep kids and all of ussafer on the road, we cover
everything from texting anddistracted driving to speeding
teen drivers seat belts and howtechnology has changed the way
we drive. My hope is that thisconversation inspires all of us
(01:38):
to be more mindful behind thewheel, because a few simple
changes make a big difference,not just for our families, but
for everyone on the road. Andbefore we get started, if you're
enjoying this podcast, pleaseconsider leaving a five star
review wherever it is. Youlisten to podcasts, good reviews
encourage others to listen,which really helps the podcast
to keep growing. And thank youto all of you for being here
today and for listening. I knowyour time is valuable. And now
(02:01):
onto a conversation with one ofmy all time favorite human
beings, my dad. Dr AndrewMatthew, and we're going to talk
about car accident prevention.
Welcome to your child is normal.
Thank you for having me ontoday. Dr Hochman, I've been
looking forward to having you ontoday, and I asked you to come
on as a guest, because we worktogether. Correct, we work
together as pediatricians.
(02:24):
Correct, do you know how longit's been 1414, years this week?
Oh, yeah. Well, been a good run.
Hopefully it continues for manymore years. So my dad, he likes
to make sure that I stay on topof my pediatric reading. And
last week, he came into myoffice and he dropped off a
really interesting article aboutfatalities and car crashes. And
(02:44):
I thought, why don't we talkabout this on the podcast?
Because I think it's a reallyimportant subject. Yes, it is.
In fact, the article emphasizedthat approximately 43,000 people
died in 2021 from car accidents.
What made it more important of apediatric discussion is the fact
(03:04):
that between the age of five and29 that's the most common cause
for people to die, and so thatincludes as many people in the
age range that we take care of.
Wow. So I thought this would begood to talk about, because I
don't want to scare people, butat the same time, when it comes
to fatalities and car accidents,I do think that many of these
(03:25):
accidents can be preventable, ofcourse, not all accidents, but I
do think there's things that wecan do to make those numbers
improve. I totally agree, by theway. I want to emphasize that,
if I may, tell people how todrive better, it's not like I've
been the perfect driver. Justabout a week or two before my
own driver's license test, I wascounting railroad cars while I
(03:45):
was driving, my dad was sittingnext to me, and I bumped the car
in front of me. So that was mylast collision. Was very
embarrassing of my threedaughters, my older one was once
in a car accident where she waspregnant and got hit from behind
and had to be taken by ambulanceto the hospital. My middle
(04:08):
daughter once decided to changelanes, going left against the
traffic versus going right. Whenshe realized it was difficult,
she went right withoutsignaling, and then she got hit
by a car on the right, and myyoungest daughter, while driving
once received a text message,she looked at her cell phone and
then bumped the Mercedes infront of her. So it's not like
(04:30):
we've all been perfect. I didn'tmention my wife, but she's been
in a few too, as well. And youmentioned your only car accident
was when as a couple weeksbefore I was 16 years of age, it
was very embarrassing when Ibumped the car in front of me,
but that's really impressive,because you've been driving for
a while and you haven't had anyaccidents since that time. Yes,
(04:51):
and I think I've also beenlucky. I'm not perfect, but
sometimes you're just glad theother person.
Looks up for you as well.
Absolutely, it's definitely acollective societal effort to
make sure we're all drivingsafely. But I have to tell you,
you might get the title in mylife of the safest driver I've
ever met, which is why, afterreading that article, I thought
(05:13):
you'd be the perfect guest tohave. Thank you very much. But
again, I want to emphasize thatI'm careful. I make sure I'm not
on medication when I'm driving,such as alcohol, and I make sure
that I'm wide awake. If I feelsleepy, I'll open up the window.
I don't put on the music tooloudly. I definitely don't text.
(05:34):
That's a bad one. So let's talkabout this a little bit more,
because the article pointed outthat over 30% of fatalities from
car accidents happen when peoplehave been drinking alcohol. So
to me, that's something thatespecially nowadays, where Uber
is readily available and thereare other options besides
driving that you can avoiddriving under the influence, I
(05:58):
think that's an important thingto think about, absolutely.
First of all, if you're ateenage driver and the police
pull you over, you're mandatedto take the test for alcohol. If
you don't, you can lose yourlicense. If you do, and there is
alcohol, you will have to gobefore the judge and lose your
(06:19):
license. Yeah. So beyond thepossibility of having a fatal
car accident or getting into anaccident, there are other
repercussions. There are otherramifications. Absolutely, yes,
all right, and you're alwaysreally good about that. Well,
again, if I go to dinner with mywife and I have a glass of wine,
my wife drives home. Always,that's an always, it'd be very
embarrassing to be pulled overas a physician, have a blood
(06:42):
alcohol level that's elevatedand then have my license revoked
or be put on probation. I don'twant that. I don't want that
either. Right now, I'm proud tosay that you taught me to be a
driver. Yes, and I'm reallyhoping I have a daughter who's
almost 15 that you're gonnacarry on the tradition and teach
(07:02):
her how to drive. Yes, I'm gonnado my best and try not to yell.
I'm sure you'll you'll do great,and you'll do great. I'll do my
best. You're already hired. Butthe article pointed out that
teenagers, and this might makesense just because teenagers
tend to engage in riskierbehaviors. But I think this is
an important statistic to pointout, that between the age of 16
(07:24):
and 20, they have a three timesfatal crash rate compared to
those that are older than theteenage years. So do you have
any advice for parents that areteaching their kids to drive?
Because that's a pretty alarmingstatistic to me. First of all,
not to tailgate, because whenthe other car in front of you
decides to make a decision, youhave to be ready to counteract
(07:48):
that decision. And as I oftenpoint out in the office to my
patients who are learning todrive, I did have a patient once
who had a step ladder. Come onthe freeway in front of him. He
was going 75and then he swerved at his
girlfriend and he were killed.
(08:09):
So speeding, tailgating or notbeing able to make a quick
decision all contributed to thistragedy. So you're saying some
things are unavoidable, likeobjects on the road, and if you
have more time to react, thebetter off you'll be, yes, wow,
that's a scary story. I tellthat story all the time. When I
(08:31):
discuss with patients how to getout of the car. People who are
driving poorly often suggestthat they tell the person
driving that they feel sick totheir stomach and are going to
throw up, and that generallymakes anybody pull off to the
side of road, and whereupon youcan call your parents and
they'll pick you up and be gladthat you did that, rather than
(08:52):
see you in the hospital. That'sa good idea. So you're saying,
if you're driving with someoneand it feels unsafe, that's a
good out that you can use, rightand use your intuition if
somebody's texting while they'redriving, if the music is on too
loud while they're driving, ifthey're doing a lot of lane
changing, which just makes youunsafe, get out of the car. Why
end up in the hospital? Yeah,absolutely. Okay. So you talked
(09:15):
about not tailgating. Do youhave any rules of thumb, like,
how does somebody know they'refar enough away from the car in
front of them? I think wasmentioned that's like
approximately a three to foursecond delay time. You can use
objects on the road to determinethat. Now, if you're going 60
miles an hour, that's 88 feetper second. Now if you're going
faster than that, that's evenmore feet per second. So if the
(09:36):
faster you go, you need moredistance between you and the car
in front of you to help with thereaction time necessary. Someone
once pointed out to me that ifyou look somewhere else for two
seconds and you're driving 65miles per hour, that's almost
the length of a football field.
The other thing to mention, Iknow we're discussion is on
driving, but earlier in Januaryof 2023 a law was passed in
(09:57):
case.
California regardingpedestrians. So pedestrians are
not killed by other pedestrians.
They're killed by cars or bikes.
And now the new law inCalifornia states that you can
cross not at an intersection, aslong as you do when it's safe.
And as I read the law, it seemedit was very ambiguous, like,
(10:20):
who's to determine what is safe.
So if you're crossing the streetat night, you may determine that
it's safe, but you may not bewearing the proper color
clothing, where a driver may beable to pick you out in time. I
think that's really an importantconsideration, because there are
certain instances wherejaywalking may be beneficial if
you really can see that thereare no cars coming and it looks
really safe, okay, but I do findin Los Angeles, there are a lot
(10:43):
of people that cross, and it'shard to even tell if they're
paying attention, and I alwaysworry that somebody could
accidentally hit the pedestrian.
So it's interesting that thatlaw passed. It makes me wonder
if it's a good law, yes,especially a lot of people who
are crossing the street havetheir cell phone in their hand
and maybe either talking orwhatever, but they're not paying
(11:04):
attention to the road. Okay, soyou talked about tailgating, you
talked about speeding, which thearticle pointed out that a lot
of accidents are related tospeeding. But I personally think
a big problem that we're nowdealing with more than ever is
texting. I think texting makespeople very, very distracted
when they're driving. I feellike it's getting worse and
(11:24):
worse as time goes on, peoplewill text if they glance around
the road and see no highwaypatrol or police officers
nearby. They feel that they canget away with it, but you run
the risk that while you'retexting, you may not necessarily
get involved with the law, butyou may get into an accident,
and then you will get involvedwith the law. You're such a safe
(11:46):
driver. Do you ever feel temptedto check your phone? Or how do
you prevent yourself fromchecking your phone? I put it
aside. I listen to the radio,any news that I can listen to in
the radio, likesports or music, traffic reports
I can use from the dials on theradio in my car. I don't need to
text and talk to people. If theydo call me, I will talk to them.
(12:07):
But again, it's important for meto focus on the road, and I
won't be able to give them asbest my best attention. You
know, I have to say there's alot of times where I'll call
you, I'll call you or mom on thephone, and if you're driving, I
know I have to hang up thephone. You don't like to talk on
the phone while you're driving,I don't You're so disciplined
when driving. It's reallyadmirable, because I know you're
(12:27):
safe. It makes me feel happythat you're so safe. Well, as an
older person, I don't want tospend a lot of my time in rehab.
I want to enjoy my life so thatI want to drive safely and get
out of the car safely. I'm gladyou think like that. And just to
share, I found an interestingstatistic that texting while
driving increases your crashrisk by 23 fold. And there's a
statistic about teens. 39% ofhigh school students reported
(12:52):
texting or emailing whiledriving in the past month,
that's according to the CDC, sotexting is a serious risk for
the teenage youth and all of us,I think what the parents could
do request their kids do whatthey do at rock concerts, put
the cell phone in a bag and zipit up while they're driving so
you lose that temptation. Ithink that's a really good idea,
(13:14):
because it is really, reallytempting. I think the truth of
the matter is, I believe everytext can wait. There is no text
out there that is worth the riskof getting in a car accident,
but that temptation is verystrong for people. People like
to respond right away becausethey think it might be truly
interesting, as you said. Butagain, it can wait. It can wait.
Another thing about driving anddistractibility is sometimes,
(13:37):
and I did have one patient thatI can recall who had road rage
and sped up after the person whocaused him difficulty, and the
other individual took a photowith their phone of the license
plate, reported it to thepolice,
(14:01):
and this patient lost hislicense and had to go before the
judge for road rage. So it'simportant to keep your cool if
somebody does something that youdo not like, and learn to forget
about it and just stay away fromthat individual. I do think it's
a skill to not let it affectyou, like let's say somebody
honks at you, for example, a lotof people are tempted to honk
back or get upset back, butbest, I think, just to think
(14:24):
maybe they had a hard day. Whoknows what's going on in their
life, and just forget about itand move on. As you said, it's
important to learn how to moveon with a lot of things, but
definitely when you're driving atwo ton car. Okay, so other
things that you've taught me tobe safe, you're very careful
around blind spots. Yes, andyou're very careful when it
comes to changing lanes. You'realways cautioning me to change
(14:46):
lanes ahead of time. Yes. Imean, I often see, I'm sure
everybody who's been a driverseen somebody go from the fast
lane all the way to the exitlane, like in three sections.
They're just sliding across allthe lanes. To me, that's
dangerous drive.
Driving, and they could easilyhit a motorcycle or hit a car in
front of them. And so if I knowI'm gonna be getting off in a
(15:07):
couple miles, I'm alreadythinking about it. So my
understanding of the freewaysystem in our community is
really good, so I know how muchtime I need to get over and I
like to position myself so I'mnot doing at the last minute. I
think that's really smart. Mydad is very, very good when it
comes to the LA freeway system.
In fact, one of his good friendshas nicknamed him the freeway
savant. Yes, and I laugh atthat, but it's probably true.
(15:28):
But again, the freeway is canhave a lot of accidents,
although in the article, it's alot of accidents can also occur
at intersections, and one of mydaughters was in a car accident
where she went through a yellowand she met up with a girl who
did not have a driver's licensein the intersection, and so my
(15:48):
daughter's car was totaled, andthe other girl's car was
totaled. The police said thatthe other girl was at fault
because she didn't have adriver's license while she was
driving, but I told my daughterat that point, don't go through
any more yellow lights. Break atthe intersection and wait. You
know, it's funny. You mentionedthis story because my daughter,
(16:10):
who's almost 15, she caught merunning a yellow light not that
long ago, and she told me not todo it anymore. And she learned
from you, she quoted you sayinggrandpa Andy said not to drive
through yellow lights. You canget in a car accident, and you
must have, I wonder if you hadtold her that story, I might
have anyways, ever since shetold me that, I've been really
careful not to go through anyyellows. That's correct, because
(16:31):
you're going to be her example,absolutely. And you mentioned
looking over your shoulder,oftentimes a motorcycle will
come out of nowhere right on myside. It's important to see
them, because if you bump themotorcycle, he and the
motorcycle will go flying, andyou're going to inflict major
damage on that individual and ontheir property. So I tell my
daughter, because I'm trying toget her thinking about driving
(16:53):
and driving safely, I tell herto think about three things when
changing a lane. I tell her, youwant to use your blinker First,
give it more time than youthink, so that people can
predict what you're going to do.
Look over your shoulder soyou're checking your blind spot,
and then carefully change lanesAbsolutely you don't want to,
like do it at the last second,because even though you're
moving into, let's say, from thethird lane to the second lane,
(17:14):
there could be somebody from thefirst lane moving into the
second lane, and you can meet upin the middle. So you want to be
careful that you don't meet upwith that other person changing
lanes towards you. Now I'mcurious, because there's been so
much change with technology whenit comes to driving, and you
started driving before there wastechnology advancements, do you
feel like it's made peoplebetter drivers? Why and why not?
(17:36):
Well, I like the idea, forexample, when you put your
indicator on that there's alittle light flashing in the
side view mirrors that there's acar nearby. I also noticed that
when I'm starting to changelane, there's a little force
which kind of protects me frommoving into that lane because
there's a car nearby. So thoseare all good things to have. The
(17:56):
GPS is good as well, because ifI know that I'm going to get off
the freeway in so many miles, orif there's police activity, or
there's that accident in frontof me, I can be aware of it. I
think it's also important,besides the technologies, that
you look ahead instead of just acar in front of you, because
sometimes you can see a bunch ofred lights in the freeways ahead
of you, and you know it's timeto slow down, because everybody
(18:16):
else is slowing down.
Absolutely. That's good advice,not just looking straight in
front of you, looking further inthe distance, correct? Now, what
about and I guess my questionis, you know, I think about it
in two ways. I think there'sgood technological advancements
that have been helpful, but Ialso think that people tend to
over rely on GPS. My husband,for example, he's not from Los
Angeles. He didn't grow upknowing the freeways on his own,
(18:36):
and he really relies on GPS. AndI do think it's helpful to also
understand the big picture whereyou're going ahead of time
without over relying on our onour GPS systems. I like going to
downtown Los Angeles to eitherconcerts or games. I know how to
get on the freeway to come backhome, because it's a little
complicated by downtown LA youjust have to remember that every
(18:57):
time so you have nowhere to geton the freeway and how to get
home. So the GPS may direct youone way, but may put you in
communities or areas that you'renot familiar with and make you
feel uncomfortable. I think youjust have to remember it
yourself. That's good advice.
You're definitely my role modelwhen it comes to understanding
and knowing the La La freeways.
Thank you. Do you have anythoughts when it comes to seat
(19:18):
belts? I know the rules havebecome stricter as time has gone
on. Do you think that's been abenefit for society? A lot of
car companies have simulatedroad crashes with dummies, and
they can check on the force. Soif you're not wearing a safety
belt, you're going to hit thedashboard in front of you, or
you're going to fly out thewindow, and if your body hits
the pavement, it's not going towin, it's going to lose. So it's
(19:42):
important to wear a safety belt.
Now, there's also the airbags,which can protect you as well.
All these safety fixtures, Ithink, are essential to help
protect your body in theunfortunate situation that you
do get in a car accident, yeah,and I actually like that. The.
Car will beep at you until youput your seatbelt on, and that's
(20:02):
a good a good safety addition.
Nobody's perfect. Everybody mayforget because they're occupied
with something else when theystart their car. So now question
for you, do you as a driver,have any pet peeves that you
notice other drivers doing thatwe haven't talked about yet?
Well, we talked abouttailgating. I don't like getting
cut off, but again, I don't trynot to have road rage as a
result of that, so I just haveto let it happen and just back
(20:24):
off away from a poor driver. Sopet peeve would be tailgating,
not that I do it, but I look atmy rear view mirror and I see
people tailgating me, and Idon't appreciate it, but I just
have to be careful of thatperson. What about for parents
that may be teaching theirteenager how to drive soon? Do
(20:44):
you have any advice for teenagedrivers? Specifically, I think a
lot of time on the road withyour child would be essential,
and you have to take them indifferent situations. I took you
Decker Canyon. That was a bigmistake on my part, it was,
like, terrible, but we gotthrough it, and I did not teach
my younger two daughters to overDecker. Hey, wait, describe for
(21:06):
everybody listening, what isDecker Canyon like? Oh, man,
it's very curvy. It's, it's bad.
It's like, insane. It's not,it's not something, yeah, I
think you've ever been on DeckerCanyon since that time. Oh, it's
uphill, tight, twisted turns.
It's hard to see what's aroundthe corner from you, but I like
your motivation behind it. Youwanted to make sure I was the
best driver I could be. Youwanted to give me all the
(21:28):
experience possible before I wason my own. Absolutely I don't
want to visit you in thehospital. I want you to come
home, even to this day, my wifeand I are very happy when you
guys drive and come back homesafely. I'd say another piece of
advice for teenage drivers is tomake sure that they're not out
too late. The later you're onthe road, you put your self at
risk of being around other riskydrivers. Well, that's an
(21:48):
interesting point, because thebars and restaurants will stop
serving alcohol around one inthe morning, so oftentimes after
midnight, all those peoplewho've been drinking a lot in
the restaurants and bars are nowon the road, and those people,
you have a substantial alcohollevel or load in their system. I
have to think about my curfewfor my kids, but there will be
(22:08):
one fair enough. I'm happy withthat. So this has been great. I
really appreciated thisconversation. I think, you know,
I have to say for us aspediatricians, we see a lot of
illness, but a lot of the sadderstories that we deal with have
to do with car accidents. Yes, Ijust thought it would be helpful
for people listening. Maybethere's something that we said
(22:29):
that may make you think twiceabout texting. May make you
consider doing something that'sa little bit safer than maybe
you were previously doing. Andso that was my motivation behind
having this conversation.
Pediatricians emphasizepreventive care, so nutrition is
preventive, exercise,immunizations, but also safety
(22:51):
prevention. And then we startedoff the conversation stating
that car accidents are thenumber one safety problem. I can
spout all day long aboutrattlesnake bite or spider
bites, but that's not going tocause mortality. It's more
likely to be a car accident.
It's true. We talk a lot aboutsafety as pediatricians, and
there's a lot that I don't worryabout as a mom as much as other
(23:12):
moms that I meet, but somethingthat I do honestly worry about
is car safety. So so thank youfor bringing that article to me.
Thank you for talking about itwith the audience, and I hope
someday you'll come back on thepodcast if I'm invited, sure.
Thank you so thanks for coming.
This is my dad, Dr AndrewMatthew, the best driver I know,
the best pediatrician, the bestdad. And feel really, really
(23:35):
lucky to work with you. You'revery kind. Thank you very much.
Thank you for listening, and Ihope you enjoyed this week's
episode of your child is normal.
Also, if you could take a momentand leave a five star review,
wherever it is you listen topodcasts, I would greatly
appreciate it. It really makes adifference to help this podcast
grow. You can also follow me onInstagram at ask dr, Jessica.
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