Published: July 02, 2008 06:51 pm            

DeKAY: Nearly dying to drive

We love our cars. R. L. Polk, a German firm — which conducted a global survey, estimates that by 2010, there will be one billion cars on the road. By 2015, there could be 1.2 billion cars on the road worldwide.

America has carried on a love affair with the automobile since 1908, when Henry Ford began mass production of the Model T Ford at his factory in Highland Park, Mich. We have been driving cars and loving them ever since. We give our cars names that conjure dreams of adventure, and manliness, names like Magnum, Mustang and Outback; or names that lift our spirits and make us proud, like Oasis or Odyssey. We also expect them to be high-tech, fully equipped with GPS, cell phone, satellite radio and on-board computers. Americans love plush interiors that boast of Corinthian leather, and wood grained dashes. We romanticize the roads we drive them on ... like Route 66, the Mother Road.

Clearly, we love our cars; we love the independence they give us. Why then can’t we seem to drive ourselves to and from our appointed destinations without losing our tempers?

You’ve done it, and so have I, someone cuts you off on the freeway, turns in front of you, or won’t move over and let you merge. Perhaps it was a teenager driving too fast, or an older person driving too slowly. You hit your breaks, curse under your breath, or out loud and maybe even give them some sign language for good measure.

We have all done it at some time or other; but when does the anger become a danger to us, and to our fellow travelers on the highways and by-ways?

According to AAA, road rage usually refers to extreme acts of aggression, such as physical assault, that occurs as a direct result of a disagreement between drivers.

Recently we experienced a tragic example of road rage in our city. A 39-year-old woman shot and seriously injured a man in what police have described as a road rage incident.

What are we coming to when two grown people are willing to risk one another’s lives over traffic?

Many years ago, I owned a Mustang, not just any Mustang, but a Mach I Mustang. I loved that car. It was fast, and I drove it aggressively. Defensive driving, the lost art of driving in a cooperative, live-and-let-live way was completely lost on me. One fine day, as I was happily flying down the expressway, expertly darting in and out of traffic, being pleased with my driving skills, and knowing that through sheer force of personality, dogged determination, and speed, I would reach my destination at least two minutes faster than anyone else on the road. It escapes me now where I was going, or why I thought speed was such an issue; why I thought other people’s right to drive peacefully and safely around me was unimportant.

This day was to be different, this day I was given a speeding ticket. I opted for traffic school. That first night at traffic school changed my life. I wish I could tell you my instructors name, I can’t. I wish I could give you the exact date, I can’t. I wish I could have my instructor’s advice put on a billboard for the entire city to read.

This is what he said to me that changed the way I drove, then, now, and forever. “Driving is like life ... we have to make room for one another, let other people in, or out. Traffic is a river, when everyone does their part, goes along, and gets along, watching out for the other guy, then no one gets hurt and the ‘river of traffic’ flows without obstruction ... and everyone gets where they are going safely and without delay.”

What happened recently in Jeffersonville should never have happened! People’s lives have been changed, their futures put in jeopardy; and for what? The real tragedy here is that this was avoidable. Once we allow ourselves to become entangled in an argument with another driver, we have already gone too far. An argument between two drivers is like a prize fight without a referee, everybody gets beaten up and nobody wins.

•••

“The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.”

— Proverbs 17:14 Holy Bible



“Thoughts from the Hungry Side of Daybreak” are written by Peggy DeKay, a business and freelance writer. She can be reached at DKcommunications@insightbb.com.

        

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