Drivers are the problem with driving.

If an airliner crashed everyday killing 100+ people the temptation to hop on a plane might melt away, however, our trust in ourselves and our cars is unparalleled.  Every year over 40, 000 people die in car accidents (that's 110 a day) and the more studies that are done the more it becomes an obvious truth, the drivers are the reasons for the glaring majority of the deaths.  We drive our cars with faith and ego and little, if any, prudence or respect.

There is no other activity so pervasive through our society that easily risks so many lives everyday, and we are more in-tune with perpetuating that practice than we are to our own safety, and life.  Doubt that assertion?  Why is there even one drunk driving accident... ever?  We tackle the daily grind of our commute with repetitive accuracy and then assert that we're fully aware behind the wheel.  Why then are accidents more prevalent between the hours of 5pm and 7pm than any other time during the day?  The results don't show that it's just the natural time for us to die, nor does it show that cars become less able to do their jobs at that time of day.  We kill more people with our cars during 5pm to 7pm at night because we're TOO busy to drive!  We speed to get home, we text that we're coming home, and many idiots (sorry you're just seriously retarded if you still drive under the influence) are driving home from happy hour. 

The guidelines for safe driving are easy, obvious, and well known but rarely if ever do people follow all of these simple rules, all of the time.  That last bit is the key. So here are the guidelines for those just finding out for the first time:

• Don't speed.
• Wear a seat belt at all times.
• Pay attention to the road.

 Let's look at these three (3) simple easy rules and see where drivers go wrong.

(NOTE: these are not in order of importance, they are all important and forgetting any one is just stupid)

Don't Speed.

Maintaining speed is a balancing act. Thirty percent (30%) of all fatal traffic accidents occur when someone speeds, so what is "speeding" and how do you know when you are doing it?  The proper speed on ANY given road during IDEAL conditions is the speed limit.  This IS NOT a guideline.  When inclement weather hits, you adjust your speed (slower) to accommodate.  The fastest you should be going in any lane is the speed limit.  Whoever tells you that there is a "fast lane" where you can go higher than the posted speed limit is retarded and steering your driving ability with their ego... that won't buy you much when someone is dead.  There is NO need to discuss drunk driving and speeding.  If you are driving a car drunk you already fail at life and deserve everything you get.  If you drink and drive stop reading here, you are already too dumb and too egocentric to fathom the rest.


Wear seat belts at ALL times.

Does this even need to be expounded upon?  Get in the car, put on the seat belt, do the rest, take off the seat belt and get out of the car when finished.  If you drive without a seat belt you are adding a great threat to your life and limb even at what most would consider "safe speeds".  Seat belts help you through an impact lessening most of the force...and it still hurts like hell!  Without a seat belt you are just asking for more bodily damage at lower speeds.

Pay attention to the road

This, now more than ever before, is a griping truth.  You use 3 senses to full capacity while driving (sight, hearing, touch), by not using all 3 of these to their potential on the act of driving, while driving you are not respecting the fact that your inattention can take someone's life.  I would ask you then, "If you could save one life of someone you loved, just by being attentive and responsible, would you do it?"  The resounding answer would be "Yes, of course."  However, we still have people everyday applying make-up, texting or talking on cell phones, fuddling with the GPS, eating a meal, and allowing every other distraction to get in the way.  Turn the phone off, put the burger down, and respect my life and your own.

How come these three easy, basic, simple things get put to the side everyday by millions of drivers and result in thousands of fatalities a year?  How come we continue to make these basic mistakes accounting for more death and tragedy each year than global wars?  Personal responsibility.  It is YOUR job to drive the car to the best of your ability and you can't do that if your first argument out of the gate was "... but look at the other guy!"  Lead by example and know that at least you are being safe.  The commute home is not a "race to the finish line" it's a dance with every other driver out there and if everyone knows the 3 easy steps there will be a lot less bumping into each other at the expense of our lives.