Driving: A privledge leading to 30,000 deaths annually
Drivers often show signs of road rage. (CC-BY-NC-SA license/flickr.com/photos/piero/103691782)
Driving is a privilege, something we look forward to in our younger years of life and the cause of over 30,000 deaths a year.
It is a constant battle being on the road trying to survive. Whether you are slamming on your brakes to avoid the person going 50 mph who decided to cut you off without signaling or getting tailgated by some crazy driver with road rage.
There are many types of drivers on the road. People do not take the responsibility of driving very seriously. There are specific rules we are supposed to follow that are implemented to try to ensure everyone’s safety.
However, these rules are often not followed. Some broken rules are considerably more dangerous than others.
The number one cause of automobile deaths is drinking and driving according to statistics found at www.alcoholstats.com. This is possibly the stupidest thing one can do. Getting into your vehicle drunk shows that you do not care for anyone elses safety on the road and you don’t deserve to be behind the wheel of a car. I don’t care what you do to yourself but for other’s safety this shouldn’t happen. Plenty of alternative public methods of transportation are offered to ensure people’s safety and gives an option other than driving home drunk.
People are constantly multitasking while on the road. I drive by people putting on make-up, texting, eating, letting the dog sit on his or her lap and just about anything else you can think of.
Besides that you have to deal with drivers who have road rage, drivers that seem to have left their brains at home and people who are simply too lazy to let everyone know they are switching lanes. It is so easy to hit the turn signal up or down to let everyone else know where you are going. They literally could not have put it in a more convenient spot.
This is actually something that at times can be very frustrating. I find myself cursing people for not using their turn signals quite often. It is not only good to let cars know where you’re going, but also the occasional biker or pedestrian.
When I drive I like to keep my speeds around 70 mph and I pay pretty close attention to the road. I find that this is a good speed to not get pulled over however people are constantly flying by me. Faster drivers will tailgate you, honk at you and give you the finger. This however only causes me to slow down. After the horribly rude driver switches lanes, I pick my speeds back up. This is my style, I like to take some pokes at the beehive and irritate it more.
Again I have no problem with people driving fast. If you are paying attention to the road and are aware of your surrounding cars then driving fast isn’t necessarily dangerous. These drivers will usually be on task and on the lookout for police cars, seeing as though they are prime targets for a ticket.
With all of this being said, every driver is different however with an estimated 200 decisions per mile while driving there may not be many decisions you can afford to miss.
For the most part making good driving decisions and driving as traffic and weather conditions allow can help tremendously with road traffic conditions.