 I recently wrote a book on mindful defensive driving and the purpose of the book of course is to save lives. I was a paralegal for the state of California for around ten years and I eventually retired from an appointed position with the Department of Motor Vehicles as a hearing officer. What happens anytime, it was primarily an administrative law judge in respect to a person's driving privilege. So what we dealt with are people called NUTS, N-O-T-S, it's an acronym that stands for negligent operators treatment program. If we get too many points against our driving privilege, which is in a certain period of time, we can lose our license for six months and replace them with a probation. So people would come in to me and they would tell me their story and I was able to set aside the six months and just put them on probation so that I had some options available. Because a lot of times people, they received citations, we found that maybe they're going through a divorce or they were sick, something was going on in their life and they started receiving more citations because driving is an attitude and when something's going on with our life, that experience, our experience can be reflected in their driving. And so if a person came in and said, gee, I was going, had some hard times and things were okay now, maybe that would give weight to just put them on probation and sustain the six months suspension. So we dealt with that and sensitive issues like folks that are coming down with dementia, older people, very sensitive issues and how to handle that. I would never say, well, you can't drive anymore. I would always ask people, say, well, I'm going to ask you not to drive for a while. But they would know most of the time they couldn't pass the test. And so very sensitive issues like that really have to be fair and impartial in this position. And a vehicular manslaughter. So issues like this, anything pertaining to the driving privilege, that's what I would hear. And it was a great position and I think we make a difference, you know, trying to get the bad drivers off the road, the good drivers on the road. And I feel very honored and privileged to retire from that position. And I'm grateful that they gave me that opportunity. And but what got me into teaching was more or less a unique experience. I'd like to share that with you if I could. I was driving across the Bay Bridge going to San Francisco, Oakland, San Francisco. And the flow of traffic was around, I don't know, 60, 63 miles an hour. So I was going with the flow of traffic, but the speed limits, 50 miles an hour. So I suddenly noticed some red lights in my rear view mirror. And so I pulled over next to Treasure Island and the officer, California Highway Patrolman, he got a vehicle and he came up to the car and I looked him in the eye and I said, why me? Because I was going along with everybody else. And he looked at me and said, well, why not? And so we both laughed as he was writing up a ticket. He said, I want you to go to traffic school. So I did. I attended traffic school and while I was there I was very impressed by the instructor because they really cared about saving lives. It wasn't just about the money, it was about saving lives. So after the class I went up to the instructor and said, gee, I wouldn't mind doing this part time. They said, well submit a resume. So I did and that's commenced by teaching experience and teaching traffic school. And that was in 1984, or 1984. So what did I learn from that experience? Well, I learned, can you go faster than the posted B limit? Well, you can, but we subject ourselves to getting a ticket, if we do, and that's what happened to me. So I learned from my experience, say things that's what we all do. So I've been teaching now for about 30 years. I've taught behind the wheel driving and I have several years of doing that. I'm not doing that anymore. And I teach for an organization in the Bay Area now and continue to teach a couple of classes a month in defensive driving. And I've discovered that in my personal opinion, about 80% of the people that drive really don't know defensive driving. They think they do, but they actually don't. I think after years of teaching, I realized that the key element in defensive driving is really being mindful, being aware of everything around us. When I teach, I always ask students, do you think that being aware, being mindful of the things around us are important? Of course, they say yes. Another question I pose is, have you ever gone from point A to point B and you get to your destination and you don't remember anything along the way? And most people will say yes, that's happened to me several times. Well, the reason why we don't remember is because we're not present. We're not in reality. We're not in here and now. We're thinking of the future. We're thinking of the past. We're thinking about where we're going to have for dinner tonight. We're going on vacation next year, the argument we had with that Mabel in the last family meeting. So we're thinking about all these different things when we're driving and we are. Well, then, when who's doing the driving? Is it an automatic pilot? Well, I believe it is and my book explains that, that it is on what they call route behavior, it's ROTE, route behavior. In other words, it's an automatic pilot. So if you remember the person who taught you how to drive, if they taught you defensive driving skills, then you've been very, you're very fortunate because you've incorporated those into your subconscious mind and you drive that way regardless of what you're thinking. But if you learn from professional driving instructor, then that idea has been incorporated into our subconscious mind and we're going to be safer drivers. But the key element is mindfulness is being aware. Well, what happens if you read this book or you go to a defensive driving school or get behind professional driving, professional behind the wheel driving, and you become cognitively aware that you actually aren't incorporating defensive driving techniques, but you want to because you know it's safer, it can save your lives, it can save others. Well, how do we do that? Well, how do we change the habit? And my book addresses that, how do we change the habit? Well, we have to incorporate that new procedure for according to many psychologists, 21 to 30 days, we consciously make an effort to behave in a certain manner for 21 to 30 days to start getting into our subconscious mind and it becomes a brand new habit. Now, how long will that brand new habit stay with us forever? So for a 21, 30 day investment, as I say in the book, as we can become threefold the best drivers in the world, we're also going to protect ourselves and the other guy and we're going to save money too because we're not going to be getting tickets and we're going to be keeping out of accidents and we're going to keep our lives safer and our family safer and the other guy too. So that's what the book is all about. It's about saving lives and the mindfulness is essential and there's little mindfulness exercises in the book and they're very simple, they're not complex, keeping aware of your breath as it goes in and out, maybe the rising and lowering of your stomach, maybe doing it for five minutes a day, any little thing like that that can increase awareness. Another aspect of mindfulness is that, you know, a lot of us will just walk up to our vehicle, we'll hop into the car, turn on the key, we'll take off. Well, you and I as mindful defensive drivers are held to a higher standard. We don't do that. We may fit down and map out our trip, our journey. This is an intelligent way of approaching traffic safety. We use our minds to keep us alive, keep us safe. So we might map out our journey. We go out to the car, look around the car, look in the back of the car, check the tires, look at the windshields. We check things out, get into the vehicle. A lot of times, if I'm busy, I'll take my rear view mirror and just bring it down to my level of my eyes and I'll talk to myself, say, hey, you're in a car now. Get your stuff together, be focused. Your life and the lives of others depend on this. I prime myself for it and I recommend we all do that. Only takes a few seconds, but it can save a life. I would say the reason why I wrote this book is essentially my legacy. It's giving back. And I believe that if people read it and actually apply its principles, the principles of mindful defensive driving, that they can not only save their lives, but they can save others. How far ahead do we look? Well, I'll ask people in class, students in class, how far ahead they look. Some people will say, oh, I look at the vehicle right in front of me. The average is maybe two or three cars ahead. Well, you and I as mindful defensive drivers look as far as we can ahead. Of course, we're glancing around, keeping our eyes moving and scanning, but every few seconds we want to look as far ahead as we can. We're looking in a rear view mirror every five date seconds, not just when we want to and we think it's necessary, but at least every five date seconds, even if we're dead stopped at a stoplight or stop sign, we're looking at the five date seconds. We want to know what's around us when? All the time. Accidents happen, how fast? Like that. So we want to know what's around us all the time and have both those hands on the wheel at all times and really being focused and aware. Now, most of us know this, but it's really, really important to incorporate it and make it a habit. And so that when we're not focused in the present moment, not being in the air now, when we are thinking of the future, the past, then at least we have something to protect us and learning and implementing these defensive driving techniques is essential to our well-being and others' well-being. I think in conclusion, I would say that does everybody going to run out and purchase this book? Probably not. You know, learning about defensive driving and safety issues usually is second hand to a lot of people, not too many people say, I'm going to have a driver's safety party this Friday night. You want to come over? Oh, yeah, count me in. So, but I will say this, is that for people that really sincerely value life and take their responsibility in driving an automobile seriously, then perhaps they will purchase this book. It's not about selling books. It's about saving lives. And if nothing else would be a good gift for somebody, and you may want to read through it yourself, and may learn something, that could save your life. Thank you for listening to me.