I was watching the news last night (for a change) and I happened to see the accident report on I-270 that happened early Wednesday. A car and a truck were involved in a road rage situation and were exchanging obscene gestures with one another. The driver of the pickup truck veered in front of the car and braked causing the car to swerve, loose control, hit the guardrail and flipped, tossing the driver and the passenger of the car, instantly killing them. Of course, you can get the detail of the accident, the car and the truck on any paper or news website. I am not getting into the details of it.
Seeing this news, I was wondering, what it will take people to understand that driving is a privilege not a right. No one owns the roads and it is for everyone to use it equally. There is no reason for anyone on the road to think that they are important and hence no ‘get out of my way’ attitude, expect for the police cars, fire engines and ambulance with their sirens on. Everyone is in a hurry to get to somewhere in this fast moving world. So, all it takes is starting a few minutes earlier to accommodate for traffic and unforeseen situation and to be on time at your destination.
My dad would always leave early to get to his destination. Some days, I would ask him to drop me off at school. Those days, I was forced to get up early (I am sleepy head – what can I say?) and be ready to share the ride with him. If I was not ready, I would be left behind. I sometimes would argue with him and say ‘what if we are a little late?’ and the look on his face would be enough for me to get me going. If you are desperate or if it is important for you to be on time at some place, make an effort to start early. It is that plain and simple. Driving carefully and reaching to the destination, even if you are little late is OK by me, rather than not reaching the destination at all. It is “Better late than never.”
I am reminded of Calvin and Hobbes comic strip from Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, where Calvin makes a traffic safety poster for school and in it he has the catch phrase “Be careful, or be road kill”. Is that not so true in this situation? It is so aggravating to see drivers chit-chatting on the cell phone rather than paying attention to the road. To add to this some drivers put on make-up or eating or doing everything else besides concentrating on driving. Compounding to this problem is the tail gating situation. It is bad enough to be followed by another car closely, but the drivers who drive slowly should understand that they have the right lane for the very same purpose – to drive slowly.
We have so many advances in technology; another one for the purpose of safe driving won’t hurt right? Future cars should have the ability to record drivers information, route traveled, stretch and time where speed limit were exceeded. This information should be sent to DMV or traffic officials, so corrective measures can be taken. (If anyone is visualizing this theme, keep in mind that this idea is mine and I should get the royalty for this.) Let us just share the road amicably. Road rage is not going to take us to our destination as it has its own destination – road kill!
On a different note - To add to my previous blog on Don Imus’s issue – I still stand by what I said earlier – Firing Imus is over kill. He apologized and is suspended for two weeks. It was just a slip of his tongue. There are a lot of times when we say something in the spur of the moment and want to take it back. People say that he is nationally looked upon and he cannot make such mistakes. We are all people and we are bound to make mistakes. If we don’t make mistakes, then we must be God. But we are not. So, let us just move on!
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