A van driver ran a stop sign at 7 AM where children were waiting for a school bus. The van was struck by a pickup truck with such force that the van was knocked onto the sidewalk where the children were standing. The van struck two children injuring them both.
A witness was so enraged at this van’s driver that he began beating the driver with a pipe. I say good for him for inflicting punishment on this van driver that the court system does not have the balls to.
I am not an advocate of this type of violence but the frustration that this guy showed that drove him to this violence is felt nationwide at the carelessness of our fellow drivers.
There are several things wrong with this picture, every one of them are preventable and should be paid a hell of a lot more attention than what we do.
Drive the speed limit. These speeds are posted with safety in mind., not to punish you for being late.
Obey stop signs. Where is the confusion here? You see the sign. Stop!! Look around for anything and everything before proceeding.
Pay attention!! You cannot predict anything! You don’t know when someone or something is going appear in your path. Now, because you are speeding you have complicated matters because there is an even less of a chance of stopping in time. Do not divert your attention to anything that takes your mind off of the road. Things outside of your control happen way too fast when you are watching and anticipating, you cut down your response time even more by not watching.
When children are around, slow down!!! You cannot predict what they are going to do. What does it matter if you are late, or what does it matter that you piss off the guy behind you for driving slower than they want to. You could actually save a life by slowing down. Which is more important to you?
Drive defensively!! We first heard this advice before we ever started driving and again when we first picked up a drivers manual. For most people it is probably the only time they ever picked one up. why do people have to be so damned aggressive on the road? Forget the car commercials that tell you how fast your car can go. Safety and arriving alive is the only thing that matters.
Never, never, never be in a hurry behind the wheel of any automobile!! You really do not save time by driving faster. There are always traffic lights and there is always traffic to slow you down. They all want to get to where they are going and you are only compounding the problem of driving safely by being an object they have to focus on due to your carelessness. You are not in a race with anyone.
Every one of these things I have mentioned here are just plain good common sense and yet every one of them becomes secondary when most people get behind the wheel. Why???
Why are we so convinced that nothing is ever going to happen to us? We see it on the news every day that someone was involved in a car accident. Do you suppose they thought nothing was every going to happen to them? Do you think the victim of that car crash was convinced that since they are such good drivers they will never be in an accident?
Not enough attention is being focused on drivers habits. These vehicles are not toys. Yet too many people are too careless behind the wheel. They think they don’t have to obey traffic laws. Too many people use their vehicles to intimidate others to get out of their way. Too many people change their demeanor once they get behind the wheel. They think they are invulnerable and that everyone else is in their way.
Why is there such a shortage of common sense?
We are all intelligent enough to know that we cannot predict what someone else is going to do yet I have seen a driver speed up when someone in front of them is going to turn with the anticipation that by the time they get there that vehicle will be already turned and out of the way.
We make foolish assumptions like this all the time. Why??
I’ll bet when this guy got into his van this morning, being involved in an accident was the farthest thing from his mind. He obviously choose to think about something else besides the most dangerous activity he was to be involved in that day, that being driving a vehicle.
Yes, it is the most dangerous thing we do everyday. Safety should be the first thing we think about. We are stepping into a vehicle weighing anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds that can easily kill and we think it will never happen to me. We allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security in the fact that since I know I won’t be the cause of an accident then it cannot possibly happen to me.
Fools who choose to impair themselves and then get behind the wheel are on the road daily. This is a proven fact. You have to watch out for them. People do foolish, careless things all the time, you have to watch out for them.
Driving is not a sport. It can be dangerous and you never know when your full attention will be required to prevent an accident, so give it, 100%, all the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment