Stop Risking My Life When You Drive

Driving is hazardous to your health no matter how you look at it, traveling at speeds faster than we were ever meant to go. Think what people just 100 years ago would say if they saw the cars we have now…Amazing! I am not talking about cars equipped with superchargers, turbochargers and nitro’d out race cars no I am talking about your Honda. For thousands of years humans have gotten by with foot travel known as walking or running only recently have people begun to drive. This mode of transport is brand new in the great scheme of things and still many people don’t take it seriously.

Everyday modern humans do things that would be considered to be magic or the work of a higher power. Imagine how someone would have reacted to your 50” LED TV 200 years ago, they would have called you a witch and burned you for summoning demons. Cars are a device that has been designed to move people from one place to another more quickly than horseback and the car has revolutionized the human race.

There are a few key factors that should be followed when driving a car, the first and certainly not least important is to pay attention. Today on the freeway there was a woman in an Audi driving at 55 – 60 MPH and had her laptop mounted on the steering wheel. This is not only illegal but so stupid it cannot be over exaggerated how dumb and dangerous this is. There is a ban on cell phone use in cars but this just takes the cake for distracted driving, using a laptop while driving…sheesh. Another failure that people make is failing to realize what on-ramps and off-ramps are. These stretches of road are here for accelerating to highway speeds and slowing from them. In other words you can exit the highway without braking in traffic and causing a slowdown.  On ramps, even the ones in Cali with lights on them are meant to give the driver a chance to get to highway speed so they can merge. Too many people ignore this and cause accidents or congestion just because they failed to use the provided facilities correctly. One thing to remember is that roads and highways are government property not yours so follow the rules.

The Deadly Smartphone

You may have just replaced your Wheel Hubs or Bearing Assembly. Maybe you put on new tires, windshield wipers, or new headlights. After all, we’re approaching winter quickly and in many places that means tough driving conditions such as icy roads and darker nights. Even after such maintenance there may still be something compromising your safety while driving, and according to the NTSB, it’s your cell phone.

I’m definitely guilty of having used my cell phone while driving whether it was to answer a call, send a quick text message, or check an incoming email while sitting in traffic. It’s actually kind of hard to avoid with today’s smart phones. They buzz in your pocket every time someone makes a comment on Facebook, every time CNN posts a new story, and at random times throughout the day if you’ve made the mistake of teaching your mom how to text. However, I do agree that as they get more and more sophisticated, they get more and more dangerous to use while driving. The NTSB revealed that at any given moment, about 13.5 MILLION drivers are on hand-held phones. This past year alone about 3,000 people died in the U.S. due to such distractions, and the NTSB is calling for a nationwide ban on using cell phones to any degree while driving. And yes, this includes hands-free devices.

We’ll have to wait and see what this recommendation brings as the NTSB doesn’t actually have the authority to pass the law themselves. Many people think this would be just another way our government is over-abusing their right of control, while others think this is a reasonable measure. Should there be a compromise considering how many people use their phones for directions and other features? What about Pandora! And is talking to someone through a hands-free device any different than talking to someone in your back seat? I guess we will all find out shortly. What do you think?

Use Common Sense on the Roads People!

The streets of america are a rough place...no I am not talking about growing up on the streets, I am talking about driving on them. Yeah maybe you need a new air suspension strut or air suspension compressor but that is not what makes them a rough place. What makes them bad is the other drivers, yes that means YOU and me and everyone else around. Every person has seen the news story when they end with "this horrible crash could have been avoided" but what does that really mean? what can we take away from that statement?

Cars and trucks are basically weapons on wheels, they are 3000+ lbs of unforgiving steel. People tend to forget the responsibility that goes along with driving a vehicle, the government regulates guns and driving for good reason. Sure we have all had that phone call or text come in while sitting in traffic and answered it while driving. There are signs on the road, ads in magazines and spots on TV telling us all not to text and drive. Texting and driving is as dangerous as drinking and driving but most drives just ignore the dangers.

Most phones nowadays have a feature called voice text which will take what you say and translate it to text that can be sent. The feature will also read texts back to you for added safety on the road. Phones are not the only issue when  people are behind the wheel, laziness and ignorance play a huge role in accidents as well. Law enforcement will tell us that speeding is the cause of accidents and in some ways that is true but on average it is not. Accidents are just that accidents cause by mis-judgments of a situation or just not paying attention. "I swear i didn't see him there!" but the truth is you didn't look and this happens all the time. It is time for us all to take responsibility for our actions behind the wheel and make the driving world a safer place to be.