Preventing Car Crashes by Driving Safely – A Perspective

For the greater good, drive safely. Prevent car crashes.

Driving is the most dangerous activity that most people do everyday. Yet, safe driving can be the easiest smartest decision made on a daily basis. It can prevent unimagined tragedy. George Carlin said, “Have you ever noticed anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a manic?” Egocentric driving puts lives at risk.

All things considered, what are the worst driving habits? Texting while driving – it causes 1.6 million collisions each year, Speeding – a pedestrian struck by a car traveling at 30 mph is twice as likely to die as someone struck by a car traveling at 25 miles per hour. Impaired Driving – 30% of all traffic accidents involve impaired drivers. Other dangerous behaviors include: Cutting Off Cars which can trigger road rage, Accelerating on a Yellow Light, Failing to signal, Driving when Fatigued, Tailgating, Not Using A Seatbelt and Rubber necking just to mention a few.  See: https://www.wawanesa.com/us/blog/21-bad-driving-habits-you-need-to-break .

Bottom line: there’s ample opportunity for damage, trauma, chaos and death. Last week, I noticed a grown man steering an electric skateboard in the right lane, one of two lanes, at 9 am on an always busy interstate. Bad driving habits by one or more people may have easily ended this man’s life. Be a careful driver.

Overreaction? No, I’ve been involved in a head-on collision. My seven-year-old son sat in the middle of the back seat strapped-in at the time. The wintry rainy day and a slick 2-lane country road put me on alert. As my Expedition crept along, I noticed a driver in a white late model Kia subcompact on a side street. She waited until she didn’t. She inched up closer to the stop sign. She braked hard. Then, she raced onto the road.

Oh my God! Her car is in my lane of travel. I can’t brake hard. I glance right and left. Options? Spin into the deep, water-filled, under construction ditch on the right? Land nose down into that space, now curtained by an orange netting. Who knows what’s underneath? How do I save us? What’s to my left?  A mailbox. Aim for the mailbox. Boom! Scre…ech! I blink. I dare to look. The white car is … buried in my grill. I hold my breath. I wait for her car door to open.

I write about this nightmare in my recently completed 3^rd novel. In Plenty, my second novel, an accident occurs that stands as a cautionary tale about sudden cataclysmic events than can occur in mere seconds leaving onlookers distraught and bewildered. Writing fiction with meaning has become a mantra for me. I share experiences. The accident detailed in Plenty can save lives. The moral: fast reactions may be not always be the quick fix.

Plenty – Bestselling Award-Winning Novel

One can only hope that other drivers on the road make safety a priority. Yet, even then, weather can shatter windshields and shatter lives. But your chances of survival increase by being present, driving slower and being a careful driver.

Especially, at this time of year, many people aren’t aware horse trailers may become part of the scenery on your daily drive. Horse show season begins now. Horse owners ship Thoroughbred mares for breeding. Please be courteous and patient with haulers and their living precious cargo.

By the way, stopping distances are longer when hauling horses. It takes a loaded semi 175 yards to come to a complete stop – that’s almost 2 football fields in length. In my opinion, everyone who wants to possess a Drivers’ License should initially, at age 16, have to haul heavy cargo as part of the testing process. Yes, it’s possible on country spaces to learn or test. It changes perspective. It makes an indelible impression. Literally, there’s a daylight and dark difference.

And if a hauling test becomes a mandate at some point, how can someone find an opportunity? Perhaps, a FFA instructor has a suggestion or a friend can help. Maybe, Department of Public Safety should require a computer simulation hauling test.

Furthermore, to haul safely, defensive driving becomes all-important. Watch out for the people who think it’s okay to pull out in front of a slow-moving trailer or pass with a razor thin margin. Ugh! It can be lethal. Maybe a mother rushes her kid to ball practice, maybe a teen travels to meet a friend, or perhaps, a father races to a business appointment. Texting or chatting on a cell phone can quickly become explosive life-changing event.  Silence a cell phone or turn it off while driving. Self-discipline can make a world of difference. Respect the lives of others. Respect the families of others.

So, the next time, you honk at that slow-moving horse trailer and pass or honk and brake because it moves at a snail’s pace, know you can cause a catastrophic accident that can change lives forever including those of your family. At the end of the day, remember a driver in a sedan usually has more options than does a hauler. And yes that allows for the fact that weight may slow a semi, but with live animals scrambling and shifting weight and entitled drivers, the management problem becomes more challenging.

Finally, one last tip – it’s never smart to be the first vehicle venturing into a busy intersection or to honk at a rig that suddenly appears in an intersection. People run red lights a lot. Just wait.  A horse trailer passing through an unknown town doesn’t always know about the timing of lights – fast or slow. For a Quick Light intersection, give that rig a pass because 175 yards is more than anyone wants to think about especially when being dragged along by a semi. And slamming on the brakes with a live load can be a wrecking ball to all involved.

Above all, put it in perspective. Bigger problems exist than those caused by the inconvenience of being patient being late and being a careful driver. Remember: for a passenger car traveling at 70 mph, it takes 348 feet, 117 yards – more than a football field, to stop. See https://www.automotive-fleet.com/driver-care/239402/driver-care-know-your-stopping-distance for more tips.

Safe happy travels!