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Jan. 20, 2005 There is something to be said about people who think before they act. They are what I call sensible and I think that is what everyone should be. In line with this thinking, I have to reiterate something that has been a constant thorn in my side (as well as others). Bad winter drivers. For years people have been harping on how the winter turns people into the worst drivers ever. Have people really learned from this, or have they turned a deaf ear on this nagging? I’m a careful winter driver by practice, took my defensive driver education courses, had lots of practice driving with my husband’s tutoring (he’s one of the best defensive drivers I know), and therefore feel qualified to get angry at people that seem to think they are invincible on the road during winter. Face the facts, you’re not. Even if you are the careful driver, you’re still not invincible. In North America, we have this constant urge to get to places as fast as possible. Reality is that if you speed, take your dangerous weaves through traffic and cut every person off, you’ll only get to your destination maybe 5 minutes faster. That’s it. Is it really worth the trouble in the end? Now picture this: Add a huge dump of snow. Next, add on a helping of constant falling snow. Dangerous drivers, snow; great—the perfect combination. Now you’re asking for a car pile up. What are people thinking? Albeit there are times when you are taking every precaution possible and you still slip and slide; things just happen. That’s another circumstance all together. Those people you really can’t get mad at. But the people who I am talking to are those that don’t care and feel they are the kings of the road. When you have the combination of packed snow and constant falling snow, the speed limit is 80 kilometers (50 miles) an hour; be sensible and drive below the speed limit. Take your time. Drive carefully. Is the rush really worth risking death? I’m sure some of you can come up with incidences where you would say, “Hey, but I’d be dead any way you put it, whether I speed or not.” Well, for those people, I say, “Have a heart and think of the people around you. If you kill them, you’ll be hurting more than just yourself. That’s where I will leave that. All I ask is for people to think before they act. I don’t want to vent. That’s not what this column is about. It’s to say, “Please think before you get behind the wheel on a horrible winter day.” You wouldn’t drink and drive, so why would you not think and drive? Everyone driving around you has a valuable life, so don’t be the cause of ending it. Let me tell you a quick story. On our honeymoon, we drove through a place called Rogers Pass in the middle of the night. Let me set the scene. It’s the end of August, we left late for our honeymoon because everyone wants to spend time with the bride and groom the day after the wedding; and we had yet to pack our belongings. We left Alberta to go through the hills of British Columbia at about 6:30 pm. This meant going through Rogers Pass which is the most dangerous area to drive through especially at night or bad weather. You’re basically climbing a mountain all of the way—if you make the wrong turn, you’re dead. Fall off the mountain is what will happen to you. Now, what happened to us is that it was getting dark, and because of the change in temperatures and elevation between Alberta and British Columbia, we started to get rain. Lots and lots of rain, and believe me, it was near to a rain storm. We were on that mountain at the time this rain started. Well, to make a long story as short as possible, just as we were going through Roger’s Pass, with a few vehicles ahead of us, we heard a huge CRUNCH! And the squeal of metal scraping the pavement. This happened about seven (7) cars ahead of us. What had happened? Well, a driver got frustrated with another slower driver in front of him (this was a two-lane highway), and decided he was invincible. In this bad weather with poor visibility, and lots of curvy turns, he decided to play chicken and go around this driver. I don’t even think that this guy had even checked the road ahead, or thought that there might be a possibility a car may be coming from the other side (again, we had poor visibility). That angry, unthinking driver headed right into an on-coming vehicle, crunched into it, and hit the driver that he was trying to go around. For a good six hours we were stuck six cars behind the accident, waiting as the medics came, the jaws of life, and finally the coroner. At the end of the whole ordeal, all the people died in the accident. All of them. Just because someone thought they were invincible, and wanted to go around a slower, cautious driver. I will never in my life forget that day and each time I am in bad weather I think about this particular accident. This is a second reason why I feel qualified to tell you: think before you drive. With this, I leave you all to think and drive effectively. Till next time. ------------ About the author: Barbara has been writing short stories for the enjoyment of friends and family for years. She has published three books, Collection, Collection II, and Pawn: A Novel. Collection II is currently undergoing publication and will be availabe February 2005 through most internet booksellers. Barbara lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and enjoys writing, reading and tending to her other field: accounting. Website: http://www.authorsden.com/barbaraannamarjanovic Email: blueswan28@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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