Instead…
Growing up in our society has made me aware that we’ve got a lot of choices. We can decide where to live, where to work, what to eat and what to wear. Sometimes, there seems to be too many choices in our lives that it’s difficult to make a solid choice. Have you experienced too many choices where you can’t decide what to do? Have you had his feeling while driving?
I was recently on a freeway with very little traffic and keeping to the right lane. I like that lane when traffic is light because it allows the passing lane to be kept open, plus I get to use the shoulder in case of an emergency. While I was driving along, a faster moving vehicle came up behind me and started to tailgate me. Why? Instead of tailgating me, he had a couple of lanes to go around me. Finally he did, but why would he wait so long to use the passing lane?
On the way to my office the other day I witnessed a driver cut off another driver so they could make a left turn. The interesting part of that was the driver they had cut off was the last vehicle in a line of traffic. Why didn’t they wait for the last driver to pass before entering the left turning lane? Instead of risking a collision by cutting of another driver, they could have waited a few additional seconds to let the driver pass them before changing lanes. That would have reduced the risk and allowed everyone to drive in a safe manner.
Since I work in the downtown core of the city, I see a lot of pedestrians walking around. From time to time I also have to drive through the bus core of the city. That can be very difficult when there are so many pedestrians. I also become a pedestrian while walking from the parking lot to my office; which is around ten minutes each way. I have to be very careful before I step off the curb because drivers will try to make the turn just before I get there. Why can’t they wait for those few seconds before turning? What ever happened to giving pedestrians the right of way? Instead of risking a pedestrian’s life, wait those few seconds until they have completely crossed your path before proceeding. This will help both them and you travel safely through crosswalks intersections.
I watch drivers weave in and out of traffic as I go to my office each day. It’s obvious to me that they’re most likely late for work. Do you think they’re observant enough when they’re racing through the city to notice the actions of other drivers, the road signs or traffic signals? Instead of weaving throughout traffic, why not leave home sooner so you won’t take chances because you’re late. The aggressive driving style normally gets you into trouble and may affect innocent drivers and pedestrians. Take your time and drive safely.
So, instead of driving aggressively, think about the choices you have and think about the risks your driving is causing other road users. After all, you do have the opportunity to make good choices.
We teach behavior modification based driver safety (www.driversafetyresources.com if you are interested) and I agree with the post in it’s entirety.
We define aggressive driving as putting your needs ahead of the safety and needs of other drivers and pedestrians. You can readily see that all of the examples the writer cites fall into our definition of aggressive driving.
There is a tendency in our societies (both Canadian and US) to teach and reteach violators or truck drivers how to drive safely. The fact is that most bad drivers already know HOW to drive safely, they simply CHOOSE not to (as the writer points out) by driving distracted on their phones, or driving impaired, or speeding or tailgating, etc.
Make the choice to be a safer driver
Thank you for the comment Jim. I agree that most people choose to drive agressively and without concern for their actions. We need to work together to educate the popualtion of drivers and make our roads safer.
Scott (The Safe Driver)