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Women often spend a lot of time driving their children to and from school, extracurricular activities like sports, and family activities.

Because they spend so much time on the road with such precious cargo, women often choose vehicles based on their safety rating and other perceived safety features. Yet new vehicle ratings reveal that safety information had been skewed for men, and that women and children may actually be at greater risk of serious injury from car accidents than previously thought.

Starting with 2011 models, the federal government began using a smaller “female” crash-test dummy for some safety tests, instead of the standard, average-sized “male” dummy. The result has been a lower safety rating for many vehicles – as much as two stars – to reflect the increased risk of serious injury for smaller passengers, such as women and children.

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If you’re driving and you get a text from a friend, you may want to ROFL, but you’ll have to say “TTYL” instead to ensure that you aren’t saying “SMH” because you’ve been in an accident.

Distracted driving – including talking on a cell phone or texting – can lead to accidents that cause serious injury or even death.

According to research from Monash University, drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into serious car accidents.

The National Highways Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 16 percent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving, and 20 percent of crashes with injuries involved distracted driving.

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and officials are trying to get the word out that talking on the cell phone or trying to text while driving poses a significant risk to safety, both to yourself and to other drivers.

Many companies and local governments have already taken steps to regulate distracted driving.

State Cell Phone Laws

Nine states prohibit all drivers from using hand-held cell phones while driving. No state bans all cell phone use (hand-held and hands-free) by all drivers. However, 36 states ban text messaging for all drivers.

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