WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?

For all we know, driving is a full time job, and we must give it undivided attention. The first thing I tell a cab driver is to concentrate on safe driving and refrain from using his celfon, or I’ll shout stoppppp!!! and help myself out of the car immediately before anything happens.

My colleague will spend the next three months in the hospital, he lost his baby girl, his wife’s right arm was amputated, his two sons were miraculously uninjured, and the driver, who was his best friend, was killed instantly. All these happened so quickly, my friend couldn’t even recall anything at all. What caused the accident? His friend was speeding over the posted limit. Every hour of every day, on every mile of roadway, many drivers are ignoring legal speed limits, racing to tragedies like this one.

Too often there is difference between what we know and what we do. Our attitudes and emotions influence what we do, acting as filters so that our behavior does not always reflect what our rational mind would tell us is the correct action. We don’t do what we know is best for us. We know it is safer to wear seatbelts, but we don’t always do it. We know that following the speed limit is best for everyone on the road, but we don’t always do it. We know we should drive defensively and pass carefully, but we don’t always do it. Why? For some people it’s a feeling of being invulnerable. For others it amounts to feeling helpless. Then there is arrogance. And let us not forget impatience and its associate, anger.

Much too often, however, it takes stronger medicine: an accident involving family members or a close friend—or us. Unfortunately, however, this convincer may come too late. We, or someone we care about, may be seriously injured or even killed during the learning process.