The Way We drive

What does it take for people to look before they change lanes? I had an experience two years ago that changed the way I saw changing lanes. It wasn’t a major accident, and I can’t say that I spent months in the hospital because I didn’t. I didn’t end up getting hurt but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard on me mentally. I even had to go to work right after that. I was on my way to work when someone in a truck wasn’t looking when they changed lanes to turn left and they side swiped my car. They didn’t stop to make sure I was okay, they just left. I haven’t seen this truck since that day. If he had looked before he changed lanes just once. Then I wouldn’t be scared, still to this day, of turning left. Worried that I will get hit, worried that I will do something wrong. Even the smallest crashes are very traumatizing. So what of the big crashes? How traumatizing are those? Is it too hard to ask people to wear a seat belt, or look before changing lanes. You would think that something as small as those simple actions wouldn’t be forgotten but they are. I know someone who constantly, like all the time will tell me that they forgot to put their seatbelt on. They don’t even drive yet. Things like that are forgotten all the time. It’s like a second nature to you almost. You just do it and it happens. Almost like getting up in the morning. If the person was driving, would they be considered irresponsible or just forgetful. Would they just be told that they need to put a seat belt back on? I think it’s past time that we recognize that we need to be more careful when we are driving. Especially around the holidays. It seems that people drive recklessly just to get somewhere. You would think that around this time of year you would want to be more careful. I have had more than one close call this week let alone this past month. Will it only get worse? When things become second nature to you it seems as though you forget to do them. Turn signals, being safe in a parking lot. I had a kid in my senior class a few weeks before graduation die from reckless driving. How heartbreaking it was for the whole family, for the people that knew him, for our school. Knowing that we lost a senior mere weeks before graduation. Can a bad habit such as these be changed? Why don’t people change after the first time they make a mistake. All this could be changed by keeping the habits you learn in drivers ed. At the time it seems so stupid to learn about semis, or looking in all your mirrors or staying two seconds away from a car at all times. Can these simple actions that could be forgotten in a matter of seconds change your life? Yes. There have been many times where I felt like I shouldn’t speed up, or I felt like I should watch the car next to me. Just the other day I had this feeling. The feeling that the car that was waiting to turn left was going to turn in front of me. I immediately was watching them and slowed down and had I not then I could have very easily been seriously injured. As the holidays come up we need to be more aware of the people around us, the new drivers, the old drivers, the people who slow down and speed up on the freeway, the people who can’t stay in one lane. By watching those people you could very easily save your life or other peoples lives. All it takes is following a simple thing that was learned in drivers ed so many years ago. People think that since they’ve been driving for 20 years they know all the rules of the road and truth be told, personal opinion of course. Those people are the most dangerous. They know all the rules of the road, they don’t use their turn signal, they just expect people to know what they want to do when they don’t. On the other hand new drivers are way excited that they can finally drive. It seems that no matter what one does you cannot escape those people who think they know everything about everything. We all could relook at they way we drive.