Glow Sticks--A Lifesaver

A few nights ago I was stopped at a light on a busy 2-lane highway in Colorado. I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw that the driver behind me was stopping. We'd both been stopped for a couple of seconds when a third driver plowed into us.

It was quite the shock! I sat in the car for quite some time trying to determine whether or not I was okay. I decided I was okay then allowed my first aid training to kick in.

Is this scene safe? No. Absolutely not.
I flipped on my 4-way flashers. Is it safe now? Hardly.

I got out of my car and saw cars and trucks barreling towards us at highway speeds. Both of the other drivers were still in their cars. And by now, we also had several bystanders on the side of the road and on the highway itself, comforting the other people involved in the accident.

The situation was getting more dangerous by the second. Worse, the woman who had hit us hadn't even bothered to turn on her 4-way flashers. I asked her to turn them on and she did, but traffic still wasn't slowing down. We were going to get hit again and a lot of people were going to die if we couldn't slow traffic down.

That's when I remembered that I had GLOW STICKS in my first aid kit. I grabbed the bright green sticks and started waving them around. In a flash, traffic slowed to a crawl making our scene as safe as it could be until the police arrived to block traffic.

Had it not been for those GLOW STICKS, someone would have hit us and hit us hard. It wouldn't have mattered if we'd been on the side of the road, either. The force of an impact like that would have sent the cars flying.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that I want you to go out and buy GLOW STICKS and stick them in each of your cars so that if you're involved in an accident you can make your scene safe.

GLOW STICKS are sometimes called 12-Hour Safety Lights. Check out Glowrus.com for more info. You can also find GLOW STICKS at Wal-Mart and sporting goods stores.

And finally, I know you're thinking. Why not use flares? Same reason it's not good to rely on 4-way flashers. People just don't pay attention. Bright green sticks waving in the air at windshield level are far more attention grabbing than a small burst of fire on the ground. Also, with flares there's always some danger of starting a fire, especially on dry, windy nights.