Ever since my accident in January I have made a conscious effort to be a safer driver. You know, actually stopping at that four way stop that no one else is at, moving over one lane when I see someone stopped on the road, being aware of my speed, and keeping a closer eye on the cars around be and anticipating their actions.
There are so many distractions we have these days to take us away from the fact that we are driving machines that can kill. Text messaging, cell phone calls, tvs, screaming children begging for that toy they dropped, changing the song on the radio/ipod, and sometimes getting lost in the scenery. All too often we are in a hurry trying to make it home/ to work on our commute.
And we can't forget the people with road rage. I've been on the receiving end of this very scary rage, and it's not pretty. A few weeks before my accident, early on a sunday morning hubs and I were getting little bear from my parents. On the way back home I was in the drivers seat and moving to the left to get onto the highway. At the stop light before turning left a man in a truck was furious that I "didn't let him over" before we got to the light (I had never even seen the truck. I absolutely did not keep him from getting into the lane on purpose). He.Was.Irate. A series of events lead him to getting out of his truck threatening me. Insane.
5,474
is the number of people killed in 2011 alone from distracted driving (according to NHTSA.gov), while another 500,000 were seriously injured.
You will never be able to prevent all distractions while you are driving, we know this. However we need to do what we can individually to make our roads safer. Gone are the days that everyone has sufficient (if any) insurance, so it's just as important to be a defensive driver. So I ask you to slow down, be aware of your speed, put the cell phone away, give the driver in front of you enough space, and simply pay attention.
