Welcome to summer, American style, a season of hot dogs, vacations, crowded highways, beach outings, highway construction, lazy days, overcrowded air terminals, outdoor concerts, steamy traffic jams, balmy nights, bugs, barbecue, and road rage.
With Americans on the move, jamming parking lots and roadways, it seems as if everybody’s on holiday–except emergency personnel. When we all are romping, rollicking and rolling in the sunshine, those people are working overtime.
So, with a tip of the editorial visor to those dedicated souls, this column is devoted to ways and means of reducing their workload.
The automobile is the last realm of virtual independence, the only place where an individual seems in charge of his or her destiny. This sense of control is the major portion of the automobile mystique. But control is a misnomer; fewer than 1 in 1,000 drivers had genuine driver education.
Oh, you had what passes for driver’s ed–parallel parking and a driver’s test largely built around that. One must wonder why driver’s ed spends so much time on parallel parking; when last did you hear of a parallel parking fatality? But plenty die in skids? Did your driver’s ed course put you on a skid pad? Did anybody explain throttle steer or braking? Not likely, unless you paid for an advanced course usually offered at race tracks.
Face it, if you have been driving for 20 years that’s not necessarily the same as 20 years of experience; it’s more likely one year’s experience repeated 20 times.
OK, you are accomplished at steering a car on an interstate and making a left turn without hitting anything. Assume everybody else on the road isn’t. Give them some extra room.
– Observe the speed limit–the posted limit if the road is lightly traveled, the limit everyone is driving if the road is crowded. Do not attempt to drive faster than the herd; do not attempt to enforce the limit on everybody else if the herd is five or 10 miles over the limit. Go with the flow. If you can’t hack it, park or let someone else take the wheel.
– Anticipate. Look ahead– waaaaay ahead, not just at the car in front of you. Approaching a toll booth, select a lane early, then stay with it.
– Make no sudden moves. If you are trapped and about to miss an exit, miss it. Don’t take a chance on hitting something dodging across traffic.
– If you get cut off, smile. Good humor is infectious; spread it. Maybe the guy is a jerk. If you try to get even, you’ve just doubled the number of jerks on that stretch of highway.
– Don’t fight for the right-of-way. It’s the only thing you don’t own that you can legally give away. Empower yourself; let people know it’s OK to go ahead of you. A couple of car lengths more or less won’t make a lot of difference in your time of arrival.
– Don’t drive tired. Pull over and rest; a few minutes can work wonders for alertness. On a long trip, stop frequently–every hour or two–and walk around to get the blood circulating.
– Wear seat belts–and make the children buckle up no matter how much they whine. Seat belts save lives and medical bills.
– Fussing children are a distraction; bring stuff to keep them occupied. To settle childish disputes, pull off the road and let them know no one’s going anywhere until the deportment improves. Above all, stay calm.
– Be patient. That elderly tourist in front of you may be doing the best he or she can. Tailgating only improves the chances for an accident.
– Don’t drink and drive. Alcohol does not make you witty, charming and a better driver. In sufficient quantity, it makes you a drooling idiot. In modest amounts, it substitutes euphoria for good judgment. And even a little on your breath after the accident can cost you dearly.
– Check your car, especially the cooling system, brakes and tires, before the trip. If you are pulling a trailer, check the trailer tires, too. And observe the speed rating for trailer tires. Just because your sport-utility vehicle can haul 8,000 pounds at 65, doesn’t mean the itty-bitties under the boat can handle that speed.
– If you are stopped by a police officer, lower the window, place your hands on top of the wheel in full view and be polite. Don’t make up stories, don’t try to impress him or her. They’ve heard it before.
In sum, buckle up, smarten up, lighten up.
