Many of us drive a vehicle, be it a car, truck, SUV, or motorcycle every day to get around the city. Most of us follow the rules of the road and drive the way you were taught to drive. Did you ever watch people driving out on the street and wonder how did that person ever get a driver’s license? Yes, I bet you did because I wonder about that quite a lot every day. How can a person who once had safe driving habits turn into the drivers we see on the roads today? During the past week or so I observed drivers throughout my journeys and wondered how did we get here. You have heard of the term defensive driving before, right? As a new driver, back in the days, I never realized how important that term was. You must watch out for the other driver every time you are out driving. Just a few days ago I was eastbound on West Concordia Avenue driving toward West Fond Du Lac Avenue. I Had the right of way at the next intersection, as the other driver would have a stop sign. When I got to that intersection the other driver, north bound, blew through the intersection going at least fifty miles per hour. I turned hard left at the last minute just avoiding a bad collision. That driver, of course, took off after almost hitting me.
I do not think everyone knows what the turn signals on a vehicle are made for. You are supposed to use these signals to let other people around you know what you are about to do. How about I turn left here? I am now going to change lanes. Have you observed cars weaving in and out of traffic, changing lanes, and not ever using their signals to let other people know? That is what causes many accidents when people do not know what other people are doing. This is where reckless driving and other behaviors come in. Later in the week I was around 60th and Capitol Drive stopped at a red light. The vehicle in the right lane initially stopped but shortly thereafter the vehicle went through the red traffic signal. During this past week I have observed at least five vehicles go through red lights like this. Are people really in that much of a hurry to get where they are going? What gets me is that many of these vehicles only go a few more blocks before pulling over and are at their destination. Many are going to places like gas stations, grocery stores, smoke shops, etc. Do those few seconds of minutes really matter that much? I would say no.
In a perfect world everyone would obey the rules of the road and there would be no reckless driving, plus hardly any accidents. But, of course, this is no perfect world, and you must drive in a defensive manner to make sure you get where you are going safely. I know most of us are doing this every day because if not, there would be accidents all over the place. So please remember that us good, legally driving people, are helping to keep the city streets safe for the most of us. Lock your car doors, put on your seatbelt, and drive at a safe speed, looking out for those folks who are short on time. The life you save, maybe your own.