Faster, better…

Posts Tagged ‘Driving’

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. Maryland is doing its part by using the traffic alert signs above I-95 to highlight the issue. Kudos to the Maryland DOT!

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Apparently in Maryland it was legal, until February 20 of this year, to change lanes without signaling. It all makes sense now. Everyone drives like they are omnipotent NASCAR racers. Even police don’t signal. Well Maryland is finally out of the dark ages realizing what a rolling multi-ton pile of metal can do to the human body–many deaths later. It is now illegal to change lanes without signaling. This should be one more tool in a police officer’s fight against aggressive drivers. Three violations in a row are required for reckless aggressive driving citations and one of those in the state of California has always been failure to signal when changing lanes.

I’m happy that this little over sight was corrected. Now it will, unfortunately, take generations to bring Maryland drivers up to par with the safer states. Are there safer states? Post for another time.

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Driving to live. I keep these three words in mind when I get in my car to travel. These three words govern my driving behavior and are the reason I drive defensively. These three words are the reasons aggressive drivers may find themselves within a few feet of my rear bumper for long stretches of narrow highway or find themselves in a line of traffic behind me, all of us traveling at a safe speed.

Unsafe drivers are road killers. I want to live so I drive safely and only take safe opportunities to pull over for the road killers or maintain my lawful driving until I can safely let the road killers pass. I call it the PORK maneuver.

Driving to live means that I plan not to find myself in a crash caused by the negligent driver behind or in front of me. It means that I am aware of my surroundings and my options to stay safe and stay alive on the road. It means that I do not react in an unsafe way to the actions of unsafe and/or aggressive drivers; but drive according to the rules.

Drivers that drive to live:

1. Obey the speed laws.
2. Stop for stop signs, obey traffic lights, and other road signs.
3. Remain a safe distance behind the traffic in front of them.
4. Drive safely at at speeds based on the weather and road conditions.
5. Signal for lane changes and turns. Plan merges and lane changes well in advance,
6. Never cut off other drivers.
7. Never use a vehicle to rush to an appointment.
8. Drive defensively, watching out for the irresponsible or negligent behavior of others.
9. Know their surroundings and can anticipate driving conditions ahead.
10. Drive to arrive – alive. Drive to let others live including other drivers, pedestrians, and animals.

When everyone drives to live pedestrians and bicyclists are safer, wild life and pets are safer, as well as other drivers. The risk of injury, death, and property damage is dramatically reduced for everyone. Our police, fire and medical responders can focus on other serious matters besides collisions caused by irresponsible behaviors. When we are smarter about driving we and our communities are better for it.

Drive to live. Take a personal inventory of what you would lose if you died, you were gravely injured, or your unsafe driving caused serious injury to others. Do you really want to drive and die or drive and injure? No, you really want to drive and live. Then do it. Drive and live.