Troubled Road...

Today I was on the road for a reasonable amount of time and what I see never ceases to amaze me. It was a short 5 hour cruise but you would be amazed how much you can see in that period of time. I'm not sure if we (as a general population) were ever fantastic drivers but I do know that we did not have the amount of distractions we have now, which in turn do make us worse drivers. Let me explain just a few of the distractions I saw today. I saw people on the phone, which isn't surprising because you can't drive a mile in any direction on any main road without seeing someone on a non hands free phone. I saw people eating which also isn't surprising because we have fast food "restaurants" off of every exit on the interstates. I saw people playing with radios because we all have to have something to distract us from driving while we drive because its boring if nothing is on (I'm guilty of this just as everyone else so I'm not judging). And I saw people looking at everything outside their cars but the road. This includes people looking at finder benders, other people broke down on the side of the highway, weather in the distance, and anything else that is flashy. Now I'm not 100% sure but I'm willing to bet most of the incidents I saw where directly related to these distractions. Just to name a few I saw 4 lanes of traffic blocked by 4 different cars going the exact same speed. I saw one car cut another off by lane changing with nothing in front of them to change lanes for. I saw three cars in two lanes of traffic because someone didn't merge when a lane ended. And I saw someone miss their exit...then realize it last minute and barely make it. This was all in a 5 hour trip..on one major interstate. I didn't know what I was going to write about this week until I was on the road. I'm not sure where the disconnect in this process is but something is wrong with the way we drive. Is it the advertisements that line our highways and streets? Is it the convenience of our "can't live without items" such as cell phones, satellite radio, drive through food, mini car tv's, books on cd or tape, or any of the other things we do while driving? Is it the fact that it takes only a few days of "class" and "practice" when you are 15 to be able to drive these medal machines? Or is it just that we don't have enough law enforcement actually enforcing laws? I don't know what it is. I think it's a combination of all of them. Everything that you can think of as a possible distraction is a distraction. We are all guilty. We all do it and most of the time without second thought. Answer that phone call...surf the radio stations...grab that food to go because we don't have time...ignore the laws of the highway. People don't realize the dangers or the responsibilities that come with driving. I know I didn't at 15 when I started driving. All I wanted was to drive. But at 15 I had way less to worry about. No cell phones, no satellite radio (I was lucky to catch 5 stations) only a small handful of fast food joints and I didn't have money for that anyway and there were less cars on the road and WAY less police cruising them. Now it seems like the new drivers are raised with these distractions and they see them as normal, but what they don't see them as are distractions. It's very difficult for someone to see it as dangerous when they have grown up watching everyone do the very thing they are now doing. It's a very painful process of monkey see monkey do. So ladies and gents I ask you to read this and take into consideration that even when people aren't watching, someone is. Our children see us answer that call or eat that burger or surf the radio over and over, or go a little over the speed limit. They see these as normal things mom and dad do and when it's time for them to start driving they too will pick up the same habits. Do you think your little Johnny or Suzy (just generic names there ;) are good enough drivers to be doing those things? I doubt it too! So my advice is to be aware. Be aware of what you do while driving and inform young drivers of the dangers of distractions. Watch out for other drivers and be cautious because you never know when something may go terribly wrong. I saw so many things on the road today it made me think of the things I do and over all it just made me more aware of what I should be doing....paying attention to the road. Stay safe out there, be watchful, do the right thing. Safe driving folks!
B