Precision driving: Driving can kill: take it seriously
There are times when I think that the number of poor drivers is waning — then I go for a drive, and come to my senses. While many take the job of driving seriously, many do not. All it takes for me to be reminded of drivers’ shortcomings is to venture into traffic, or receive accounts from readers.
Please remember that you will need full attention, and all of your driving skills, when an emergency pops up. Precision drivers know their vehicles, know the rules of the road, and apply practiced driving skills. One of those desired skills is distraction avoidance, which aids in accident avoidance.
Much of the time, driving is too uneventful. As a result, drivers become complacent, and often discard their serious approach to the task. When no emergency is present, traffic is light, pedestrians are absent, and the road is straight, one can set the cruise control, and be on his or her merry way without incident. Multi-tasking (or fractional tasking according to a friend, S.H.) sets in and, before long, a driver’s attention is diluted with cell phone texting, makeup application, rubbernecking, or worse.
A Novel Distraction Witnessed
On the subject of “worse,” reader J.J sent me an account of a driver’s actions he witnessed last week — one that is probably more distracting than cell phone use. He wrote, “I was driving east on Sprague just west of Flora when I came upon a Ford pick-up that was varying its speed from 30 to 40 mph in a 35. This pick-up was also using up all of the left lane, sometimes going over the yellow line on the left then going over the white line separating the two lanes. My thought was that this driver is either a DUI or on the phone. This erratic driving went on until when we approached the light at Barker, the light turned red. The driver stopped for the light and I pulled into the left turn lane as I was going to go north on Barker. As I pulled up alongside the pick-up, I noticed the driver was a woman and she was not a DUI, she was READING A BOOK. I have been driving for over 56 years and although I have heard of this I have never experienced it. For some reason I have always thought that brain dead people were not allowed to drive.”
Stopped for a Reason
Thinking can be an aid to accident avoidance. When you encounter stopped vehicles, think about a possible reason for the stop, rather than thinking how to get by them. I have seen drivers anxious to get by me when I’ve stopped for a pedestrian, for example, with near disastrous results.
L.S., of Sandpoint, tells us of a true disaster occurring recently in Bonner County when he wrote, “A long line of cars (I am not sure how many vehicles) were northbound on a two-lane highway and the lead vehicle was going to make a left turn into a side road. A vehicle in the rear of the line was in a hurry and was passing the waiting vehicles and broadsided the turning vehicle, killing the operator.”
Please devote all of your thought to the driving task while in the driver’s seat. If you think you can drive well while performing extraneous tasks, your thinking is as outdated as the push-in oil can spout. Given today’s density of traffic and pedestrians, you need to pay attention during your whole drive to allow for unexpected occurrences.
Helmets for All
In the Jan. 27 column, I suggested that lives would be saved, given crash statistics, if everyone were helmeted while driving our cars. Evidently, C.J. agrees, as he wrote, “Hey Bill, I have been saying we should wear helmets for years. People laugh at me. I think I will at least start wearing my bike helmet when I drive. A car gives you the false sense of safety, therefore taking away caution. Lets face it most kids are bad drivers.”
I won’t group all kids together in the “bad driver” category, C.J., but I believe you are wise beyond your years to think that a tendency for error exists with novice drivers. Youthful drivers can be terrific, with their good eyesight and reflexes. Like drivers both young and old, though, they need to apply full attention and effort to the task. Many young drivers have not had enough “close ones” to get serious yet.
Please remember that danger can show up around any curve — or any straight stretch — or right in you driver’s seat for that matter. Be ready to avoid those dangers.