Caution: New Year ahead, let’s be safe!

We have a new year of driving in front of us, so due care and caution must be observed. Sadly, the tally of over 40,000 annual U.S. highway deaths will begin tonight at midnight for 2006. I need your help spreading the word next year, reminding others that the business of driving is serious. Striving to be a precision driver is not a frivolous endeavor — the life you save may be mine!

I know that the message needs to be promoted, because I still see examples of poor driving at the rate of around one-per-minute out on the highways and byways. Even yesterday I followed an SUV up a lengthy on-ramp at 35 mph — the driver then pulled onto the freeway in front of a vehicle that had to brake to avoid a crash. I wondered what the driver of the SUV was thinking, and then had my answer as I passed — she wasn’t thinking — she was engaged in an important conversation on the cell.

Please, let’s strive to be precision drivers in ‘06 — it doesn’t take much more than taking the task seriously. Get to know your vehicle better, learn the rules of the road, and practice your operational skills — we’ll all be safer that way.

More Peeves

As reader B.S. puts it, “If I had to list my top 10 pet peeves, I’m sure at least 9 of them would concern the way people drive.” Well I’m certainly on that bandwagon, B.S., but all 10 of mine would be driving gripes for sure.

Over the past year, I’ve incorporated a bundle-o-gripes from you into this column’s subject matter. I can identify with all of those, but on this last day of the year, I’ve got to highlight a couple more.

In the “newest and most frequently” occurring miff category is the NASCAR drafting technique which has become a favorite among everyday drivers. This is where the vehicle to my rear follows me at a ludicrously close gap in an apparent attempt to “push” me. This is now a common scenario on roadways with two lanes in the same direction of travel. What really throws me into a state of wonderment is that it happens while I’m exceeding the speed limit, in the passing lane, and progressing past another car. Arterials, freeways, Washington, Idaho, Tennessee or Georgia — the location doesn’t seem to matter, the rudeness is universal. Enjoy the NASCAR races on TV, or even try attending a race — but please don’t duplicate racing maneuvers on the streets.

Then there’s the annoyance of drivers that follow me everywhere I go. Does that ever happen to you? This is not a safety issue, but still a grievance. How can I pick up a random driver in Hillyard, and watch in my rear-view mirror as he mirrors every move I make, turn after turn, stop and start, all the way to 57th and Regal? Maybe it’s the CIA.

Espresso Effect?

I’ve written columns on the subject of aggressive driving and road rage this year — authorities wonder why incidents are on the rise. Well, this is just a query, but couldn’t caffeine be a contributor to impatient and aggressive driving. We all have different intake and tolerance for the stimulant, but the super-success of espresso outlets serving concentrated caffeine from drive-thru windows must have an effect on driving behavior. I could be wrong, but those who grab 3-4 triple-shot lattes per day just might be too jumpy to drive safely, and I doubt if aggressive tendencies diminish with high doses.

Back off Boys

I simply can’t be the only person who thinks that the trucks dispensing liquid de-icer are dispatched too frequently. I wrote a couple of weeks ago that one of the reasons for its use is its lower necessity of reapplication compared to sand.

It occurs to me that daily deluge of the stuff I’ve seen poured on bare (except for the melter) roads over the previous couple of weeks in the City seems excessive. I’m tired of driving on what would otherwise be dry roads, instead mired in the sticky, dirty, slippery, corrosive gunk. Of course I like a clean car.

And this isn’t just on the hills or downtown. I drove east on Sprague from downtown last week through a plethora of puddles freshly squirted from a truck’s nasty nozzles. It was a sunny day, and had been dry for over two weeks. I noticed at Havana that the puddling ended (County begins), but the clingy concoction persisted, as vehicles tracked it over a mile to a point past Fancher. Lanes in the oncoming direction were bone-dry, not having had the daily dumping.

Please, guys, help protect our aquifer, and dispense judiciously.

Thanks

Thanks again for all of the reader support and involvement this year past. Input from you is my favorite thing, and helps keep my finger on your collective pulse.

Let’s all drive better next year.