Drivers

Drivers! Ye gods and little fishes!!

What are they teaching people at driving schools now? Certainly they are not teaching them to drive.

On closer examination they appear to be doing two things: they are, firstly, teaching people how to operate a vehicle. This seems to be the primary aim. This is followed by a secondary objective – teach people how to pass the driving test.

At no point in the curriculum does there seem to be any room for teaching people how to drive.

Driving is, as many of you will know, a skill – an art. Much of it is picked up as you gain experience but the basic tenets can be taught.

Courtesy can be taught.

Sadly, common sense cannot be passed on. This is also a requirement for driving that is ignored.

Those of you who are in control of an enclosed vehicle by which I mean a car, van, truck, lorry, etc., are splendidly isolated from the rest of the herd.

You may have your heater or air conditioning turned on and the radio playing full blast.

In these modern times you may also be ‘phoning someone or, worse, texting.

Everyone knows that using the telephone or texting while driving is a short-cut to death but, as is the way of our ‘instant gratification’ lives, accidents only happen to other people. We, as an individual, are immune from the tragic effects of death and maiming.

We are important. The person in the other vehicle is not. We have absolute right of way and, therefore, precedence over the other vehicle(s).

Using the telephone or texting is a sure-fire way of having an accident.

“Oh, but I do it all the time – I am used to it. There is no problem,” I hear so many people say.

Russian roulette with a car.

Using the telephone is distraction. It is not just dialling that is the problem; talking into the ‘phone is also a major problem. Your mind is not on the road and the other road users, it is in the ‘phone – it is with the person you are talking to on the ‘phone.

Driving is 100% observation and 100% concentration. Should these drop, even marginally, you are now a threat to yourself and others.

It is not just telephones and texting. Tiredness is also, potentially, lethal.

Many people have died taking micro-naps. If you wake up in time you may be able to avoid the lorry that has suddenly appeared in front of you – a lorry that was not there a moment ago.

Many people do not wake up in time and impact the rear of the lorry at great speed causing their head to become detached from their body. This is invariably fatal.

Driving is dangerous.

Taking unnecessary risks with ‘phones and tiredness is unacceptable.

There is no excuse. None. You can pull in. You can use a rest area.

One more thing.

There are some people who believe that they are incredibly clever. They believe that they are a cut above the average person and should be admired.

These are the people who have no clue how to properly use a roundabout, who consider that traffic lights are advisory, drive the wrong way in one way streets to save time and effort and who go to the head of a queue and cut in.

This is, in actual fact, not clever. It is not heroic. It is crass stupidity and, in some cases, can cost lives.

Example:

An accident occurs on a main highway. All three lanes come to a standstill. Up ahead there is a mass of tangled wreckage containing people who are screaming in agony – their limbs torn and bleeding profusely.

These people are on the brink of death and are begging for the rescue services to reach them quickly.

The ambulance will not get there in time to save them. Why? Because some smart people, more intelligent than us lesser people, have decided to use the emergency lane at the side of the road to cut to the front – thereby shortening their journey time. These are the drivers who should be arrested for attempted manslaughter; it is they who have prevented the ambulance from saving lives.

We will not mention motorcyclists. The ignorance of many, the majority I should suggest, motorcyclists knows no bounds. The vast majority view their machine as a toy; they have no comprehension of the skills required to control it or to survive. This is why they die like flies.

Perhaps motorcycling, a beloved hobby of mine for many years, should be saved for another ‘Blog’ another day.

You want to live or you want to die and kill others in doing so? Learn to drive.

Accidents only happen to other people.

Remember: To other people you ARE the other person.