Looking back gives me better hindsight
I try to be a good person each day. I want to be a good husband, a good father, a good employee and of course, a good driver. Sometimes it’s difficult to do all those things. Emotions are a big part of our decision making abilities. They clog our abilities from making proper, safe decisions to illogical decisions. How many times have you looked back on something and wish you did something differently?
I’m sure the driver of this car wasn’t thinking as well as they could of. While I was getting gas one day, it heard a constant beeping sound. When I looked around, I noticed this car door open and no one around near the gas pumps. I just happened to glance at the kiosk where you have to pay for the fuel and saw someone walk in coming from the direction of that car. Why on earth would someone leave their keys inside the ignition with the door wide open in a public place? Where they trying to get their vehicle stolen?
The little child state of mind and the parent state of mind in me wanted to lock the door and close it on the driver. I wanted to teach them a lesson, but I didn’t. I kept the adult state of mind in me to make proper decisions. What was I going to say to them when they walked back? Should I just mind my own business? I didn’t really want an altercation at the gas station from a total stranger, but he was at risk of having either his vehicle stolen or at least some of the contents taken from it if they did it again.
A couple of years ago, I knew someone who stopped at a gas station to empty out some garbage. He stopped and secured his vehicle, left the vehicle running and got out to walk to the garbage container. The ten feet or so that he had to walk away from the vehicle was enough to have someone else jump into the vehicle and take off with it. Who would have thought that the short distance that he had to walk away from the vehicle was enough for someone to get into the vehicle and steal it? How shocked would you be if this happened to you?
As a driving instructor for Young Drivers of Canada, we try to have the students make logical decisions. We teach them to think of the consequences of their future actions before they do them. We ask them to think…what if? In regards to the keys, we always ask them to take the keys out of their vehicle before leaving it so they won’t mistakenly lock the door when they leave. If they do lock the keys in their vehicle, that’s where the membership of the auto club comes in handy. But what if someone stole the car because the keys were left inside? Most insurance companies would give you a difficult time if you tried to claim this as a vehicle theft.
Back to the latest driver at the gas station. When he walked back to the car, I kept staring at him and his vehicle so he would at least wonder why I was staring. He then spoke up to me and said “I guess I shouldn’t have left my keys in the vehicle, huh?” I answered him with a solid “Never!” He laughed and continued to pump his gas. I assumed he went to the kiosk to prepay for the fuel he was getting. Regardless, that’s not a good reason to leave your vehicle ready for the taking.