And we should always, always, always be paying attention to what's going on around us as we drive and always, always, always thinking about what the smartest defensive move is at this moment and then five minutes later what the new smartest defensive move is when different high-risk moment presents itself.
It's not completely true that there are no pure accidents, or that you will be able to stay out of trouble if you drive defensively all the time. Sometimes, crashes just happen no matter what you do.
But you can greatly lower the odds of being in a crash if you do drive defensively all the time and are constantly thinking of ways to get out of the risky moments you encounter.
Beyond all that, we have to remain rational about the risks of operating an automobile. As long as we drive around in 1500 or more kilograms of steel and metal and glass at any speed at all -- any speed at all, it must be repeated -- and regardless of the vehicle's safety equipment, then people are going to get hurt and people are going to die.
This is a simply a condition of the human constitution, and we'll all be better off when we stop relying too much on the efforts of safety experts to save us from that truth and take more responsibility for how we drive.
To reach Alex Law, write to alexcams@aol.com.