Alright, people, here's the deal: Driving isn't easy. I get that, I really do. It takes a combination of skills and confidence, as well as keen observation and just a touch of intuition. It's not for everyone. And yet, the majority of us do it on a daily basis. So listen up.
My job aside, I do a lot of driving in general. I live pretty far outside the city centre and my parents live out in the middle of farm country, so most weeks/weekends are full of lengthy drives at all times of the day and in all kinds of weather.
I've seen it all on the road over the years (the good, the bad and the oh-my-god-he-didn't-just-pull-that-move). However, for all the oh-my-god moments I've had, the ones that crop up the most often (and are often the scariest and/or worst) have to do with braking.
Fender-benders happen every day. I usually count at least one to two on my daily drive to work. And from what I've seen on the road, I bet that 90% of those accidents are caused by someone slamming unnecessarily on their brakes.
I can't tell you how many times I've come “this” close to hitting someone because they have a knee-jerk (quite literally) reaction to the traffic ahead and decide to mash their foot on the left pedal instead of gently coming to a stop. While I intended to coast, they decide they need to stop immediately, despite the 10-car-length space between them and the traffic ahead. It's infuriating.
Now, don't think I'm condoning riding the bumper in front of you and braking over and over and over again to keep up to pace with the car in front (that's just as aggravating). No, I'm suggesting we all respect on another on the road, have confidence in ourselves, our cars, and understand the laws of physics and how a car works.
If you keep a reasonable distance between your car and the car ahead, essentially you don't have to touch your brakes (or at least you'll only touch them rarely). Simply by lifting your foot off the throttle, you will slow down. Inertia and all that stuff: it's fascinating, I promise you. And if you drive a stick shift, using the brakes becomes even more rare, as you can downshift your way to a stop.
It's not that I'm against braking all together, just abrupt braking when it's not necessary. I know, I know; sometimes we don't pay attention or things happen suddenly, but that comes back to my first point: Driving isn't easy. And if we all realized this and took it a bit more seriously, maybe there'd be fewer accidents (read: fender-benders) on the road today.
Consider your surroundings, forget the radio, your coffee, your phone and your breakfast and for God's sake don't do your makeup or read the paper even if you are sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. You wouldn't do that if you were climbing a rock face or skiing down Whistler, would you?
Driving is a skill. You study to pass a test to be able to do it, and from the day you get behind the wheel you're learning, improving (hopefully) and gaining more skill sets.
So, why does it seem like we've regressed so much as of late?
My job aside, I do a lot of driving in general. I live pretty far outside the city centre and my parents live out in the middle of farm country, so most weeks/weekends are full of lengthy drives at all times of the day and in all kinds of weather.
I've seen it all on the road over the years (the good, the bad and the oh-my-god-he-didn't-just-pull-that-move). However, for all the oh-my-god moments I've had, the ones that crop up the most often (and are often the scariest and/or worst) have to do with braking.
Fender-benders happen every day. I usually count at least one to two on my daily drive to work. And from what I've seen on the road, I bet that 90% of those accidents are caused by someone slamming unnecessarily on their brakes.
 |
I can't tell you how many times I've come “this” close to hitting someone because they have a knee-jerk (quite literally) reaction to the traffic ahead and decide to mash their foot on the left pedal instead of gently coming to a stop. While I intended to coast, they decide they need to stop immediately, despite the 10-car-length space between them and the traffic ahead. It's infuriating.
Now, don't think I'm condoning riding the bumper in front of you and braking over and over and over again to keep up to pace with the car in front (that's just as aggravating). No, I'm suggesting we all respect on another on the road, have confidence in ourselves, our cars, and understand the laws of physics and how a car works.
If you keep a reasonable distance between your car and the car ahead, essentially you don't have to touch your brakes (or at least you'll only touch them rarely). Simply by lifting your foot off the throttle, you will slow down. Inertia and all that stuff: it's fascinating, I promise you. And if you drive a stick shift, using the brakes becomes even more rare, as you can downshift your way to a stop.
It's not that I'm against braking all together, just abrupt braking when it's not necessary. I know, I know; sometimes we don't pay attention or things happen suddenly, but that comes back to my first point: Driving isn't easy. And if we all realized this and took it a bit more seriously, maybe there'd be fewer accidents (read: fender-benders) on the road today.
Consider your surroundings, forget the radio, your coffee, your phone and your breakfast and for God's sake don't do your makeup or read the paper even if you are sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. You wouldn't do that if you were climbing a rock face or skiing down Whistler, would you?
Driving is a skill. You study to pass a test to be able to do it, and from the day you get behind the wheel you're learning, improving (hopefully) and gaining more skill sets.
So, why does it seem like we've regressed so much as of late?