If your vehicles could talk, what would they say?
Remember when we were kids we would talk to our toys? We even pretended they were talking to us. Maybe a few of you actually heard them talk? We used our imaginations a lot back then, but what if objects could actually talk to us; perhaps like our vehicles. What do you think they would say?
As I head to work each day I see how drivers tailgate and use their vehicle to protect the space around them. They speed up to block other drivers from changing lanes. What if their vehicle could talk? I think they might say to the driver; “Can you not use my body to block other drivers from changing lanes. I could get dented and then I’ll have to go to that nasty body shop and get my body banged out again. I’ll also have to hear you complain about how much it would cost you. Thanks”
We see how dirty many vehicles are. Their windows and lights are often covered in mud or grime, which reduces the chance of other drivers seeing their communication devices telling us of their intentions and it also reduces the visibility of the driver. The conversation between the driver and the vehicle might go like this; “Would it kill you to wash me? I do take pride in my appearance, but you never wash me. If you won’t do it yourself, at least take me to one of those full serve car washes. I promise I would make you look good too. Thanks”.
As many people know, tailgating is one of my pet peeves as it can injure innocent people and damage the vehicle in the result of a crash from sudden braking. The tailgating driver has very little reaction time if the driver they’re following brakes suddenly without knowing the tailgater is behind them. I think the conversation might go something like this; “You know you’re not going to get to your destination any sooner by driving so close to the bumper of the vehicle ahead of us. You can only go as fast as the traffic in our lane and not any faster than the driver ahead of us. Why don’t you back off a bit so you’ll have time to see brake lights up the road and give you time to stop if the driver ahead of us applies their brakes? Thanks.”
I’m pretty certain we see aggressive drivers each time we drive. I often see drivers accelerating quickly from the fresh green light, weave in and out of traffic and brake late for lights that have been red for quite a few seconds. Perhaps the conversation between vehicle and driver would sound like this; “I really think you need to relax. All of this aggressive driving is hurting my tire tread. Accelerating quickly makes my wheels spin and wears down my tread. Would you also brake a little sooner? Your late braking is wearing down my brakes and that kind of hurts. Thanks”.
So the next time you’re driving, listen to what your vehicle is saying. It could make your driving safer and also help your vehicle last longer and be healthier. And by the way, I’m pretty certain our vehicles don’t talk to us even though we may talk to them. That is unless your vehicle is Herbie.