Your Car Speaks Volumes

Whether or not people want to admit it, the type of car that they drive says a lot about who they are as a person. For instance, why is almost expected nowadays for a middle-aged man to either own, want to own or actively seek to own a small sports car?  Any woman would tell you that it’s because they are having a “mid-life crisis”.

Does the gentleman who cruises around with the top down on his Ferrari really want to drive the speed limit, or is he just waiting for the coast to be clear before he can floor it?  What about the people who own the Hummers?  Did they purchase the vehicle because they wanted to be prepared for the next outback adventure in the suburbs, or are they trying to flash around how much money they have in the bank.  It seems like every car owner has an agenda. What is your opinion?

Each year, thousands of people are killed or seriously injured in vehicular accidents.  When all parties involved in a car accident are able to walk away without a scratch, only then does it become something to laugh at.  The thing that we, as drivers, need to be more vigilant of is our attention to the roadways as well as our surroundings while we are driving.  While not every car accident is preventable, most are.

Turn off your cell phone.  Give children something to keep them occupied while you are driving so that your focus can remain where it should be: on getting you to your destination safely.  Too many times, we are too relaxed behind the wheel.  When we are relaxed, our guard is down, which means that we are more vulnerable to becoming involved in a vehicular accident.

Take a look at the following images of some of the accidents people have been in and judge for yourself whether they are funny or not.

It’s a sad fact that we should even have to rely on a police presence to get others to follow the rules of the roadways. I think that sometimes people forget that driving is a privilege, not a right. Instead, we now have way too many distractions in our vehicles as well as too many things to do to pay attention to what’s going on around us.

Some of the common driving violations that I see & that we need to be more aware of include the following:

• Driving in the rain without your windshield wipers on
• Failing to signal before changing lanes
• Changing lanes at an intersection (extremely dangerous)
• Talking on a cell phone that isn’t hands-free
• Not wearing a seatbelt
• Following too closely

What others can you think of?

Besides the obvious annoyances comes the fact that parking lots have become something of a criminal hotbed.  Jrrobertssecurity.com describes, in detail, the crime proliferation in Wal-Mart parking lots.  An article from their website quotes a Wal-Mart vp of loss prevention as saying:

Three years ago management conducted a survey that looked at crime statistics for a one year period on Wal-Mart properties. The survey showed that 80% of crimes at Wal-Mart were occurring in the parking lot.

Also, in the same article, a criminal is interviewed revealing that:

“Like if I was driving and I was falling asleep, we would pull over. It was sort of like I knew that was a place that we could make money breaking into cars.“

“In fact, you slept the night and the next morning broke into a truck parked right next to you?”

“Yeah.“

“So, Wal-Mart is a 24 hour opportunity?”

“Yeah. We didn’t want to go nowhere where there was security.“

Just something else to think about when you turn the key off.

Use Your Mirrors… Yes, the mirrors are there for a purpose. Be aware of what’s going on around you. Think about it – very useful when you’re changing lanes, slowing down, about to make turns. For all you know, there’s some guy behind you about to run right into you. Don’t just depend on your peripheral vision. It’s not as good as you think and it has blind spots. There’s another reason to use your mirror: you don’t need to turn around completely and lose all sight of what’s going on in front of your car.

Don’t Rubberneck… Yes, we understand the irresistible urge that people have to revel in other people’s misfortune, and the sight of blood and carnage on the road is especially appealing, but really, don’t you get enough of it on TV? You rubberneckers *cause* traffic.

Don’t Litter… If you throw trash or flick your cigarette butts out your window, you’re no better than that trash or cigarette butt. Nuff said. By the way, do you realize that a lit cigarette flying out of a window at night on the freeway towards you looks like a little fireball?

Distractions… This is for those would-be multitaskers. Yeah, you know who you are. You’re the ones reading the paper/maps, talking on the cell phone, fixing your makeup, shaving, eating. Again, no way in hell are you good enough to drive and do something else well. You’re just going to half-a** both jobs. So suck up the fact that you have to focus on driving and do the other things some other time.

Let’s take time to reflect that driving need not be a hassle. I know that you are reading this list and thinking: “I may do these things, but no one else will.” Though you may consider yourself the Job of the roads, doing no wrong and being taken to pieces by all-comers. Just remember that you are always allowed to feel smug because of your good driving…no one can take that away from you.

The Passing Lane is for Passing… The leftmost lane is NOT for camping out and cruising. Get out of it. And to those of you that get all the way over to the left lane the second you get on the highway, resist the urge.

Signal, Blink, Indicate, Hand Signals, Something… That’s why the auto manufacturer put the lever sticking out of your steering column. No, it’s not obvious when you’re going to change lanes, or make a turn. One minute you’re doing the speed limit, the next minute you’re hitting the brakes and we don’t see any dogs or cats in front of you. Turn signals – know ‘em, use ‘em, love ‘em.

Get Off the Cell Phone… You already suck at driving. Talking on the cell phone only makes it worse. Talking on the cell phone impairs your ability as much as having a few drinks. Believe it – the scientific studies have been done. Get a headset, and for Pete’s sake, don’t use your cell phone in your car as a way to cure your boredom; get some audio tapes instead and learn something for a change.

Look forward to tomorrow’s exciting conclusion in Pt.II.

The increasing cost of gas at the pump is causing all of us to cringe. It almost seems counterproductive to fill up my car with gas. Think about it. To fill up my vehicle twice a week sucks up a significant chunk of my paycheck. So, in essence, it’s like I drive to work so that I can earn a paycheck to fill up my vehicle so that I can continue to drive to work. Confused yet?

Like many other people who can’t really afford to get rid of their gas guzzling vehicles and downsize, I have tried everything imaginable. I now drive the speed limit (something I never thought I’d do). I make sure that I leave plenty of room between myself and other vehicles (so that I don’t have to apply my brakes too much). I pretty much avoid driving anywhere that isn’t necessary, which means no more spontaneous trips to the beach or to the mountains. Even trips to see family have to be planned out in detail.

When will it end? There are many people- millions I’m sure- who are stuck in the same situation. Gas prices have affected families to the point where they are now relying more and more on vehicle transportation services to ship their vehicles to wherever they have to go just so that they can save a few bucks. No more road trips with mom and dad! Now, in the past, I wouldn’t have dared to complain about the 33 mile round-trip drive to work, but when it’s costing me almost $100 a week just to get to work, the numbers are showing that I’m only breaking even (if that!). Wanna’ vent about your car or vehicle experience? We’d love to hear it!