I've been wanting to write about this for awhile -- if I had, I suppose I would look prescient. (For those of you who don't read the Bulletin, it appears that the young 16 year old cyclist was killed by a motorist who may have been texting...)
It seems to me that there is a common denominator in many of the traffic accidents I've been reading about in the paper. That combined with what I see myself every day on the roads.
What I am seeing is a whole lot of tail-gating. Worse, it seems like no one is paying attention to the cell phone law. And I just don't know what to say to the people who actually text!
I had someone zoom up on my the other day who's back end was smashed in. She could barely keep her car on the road, and I saw her wrenching the steering wheel to the right. Not exactly road safe.
So her back end was smashed in, how does that compute with tail-gating? Because the less room you leave for yourself to stop, the less room the person behind you has to stop.
Keeping an adequate distance helps not only you from smashing into the guy in front of you, but helps keep the guy behind you smashing into you. Get it?
Thing is, I'm NOT a slow driver. The tail-gating doesn't seem to have any relation to how fast I'm going. They just drive up on the back of whoever is in front of them, apparently.
Time it sometime. Pick a landmark on the side of the road and see how much longer it takes to get to a particular point in the road. It's milliseconds.
Everytime I read about a multiple car accident, I have to believe there was some inadequate distances involved. I think if properly space, cars are less likely to pile up on each other.
Linda came home on Sunday with a harrowing story of a giant truck who almost ran her off the road on the way to church in Redmond. He was talking on a cell phone.
Meanwhile, the other day I was approaching an intersection and I saw a guy in a huge pickup pull out right in front of me. I had an extra ten feet to slow down. Thing it, he didn't EVEN LOOK in my direction. I mean, he stopped at the stop sign, but he might as well not bothered because he didn't EVEN LOOK.
Over and over again, I see erratic driving behavior, and find out the driver is talking on the cell phone.
I know nothing I can say will change anything. I know this is a throw away post and that I'm saying the obvious. All I can do is continue to drive defensively, continue to provide as much space as possible between me and others. Try to avoid what I see as erratic driving from others.
But I sure wish the cops would enforce this tail-gating and cell-phone ban. And throw the book at ANYONE who texts. That's just crazy.
It seems to me that there is a common denominator in many of the traffic accidents I've been reading about in the paper. That combined with what I see myself every day on the roads.
What I am seeing is a whole lot of tail-gating. Worse, it seems like no one is paying attention to the cell phone law. And I just don't know what to say to the people who actually text!
I had someone zoom up on my the other day who's back end was smashed in. She could barely keep her car on the road, and I saw her wrenching the steering wheel to the right. Not exactly road safe.
So her back end was smashed in, how does that compute with tail-gating? Because the less room you leave for yourself to stop, the less room the person behind you has to stop.
Keeping an adequate distance helps not only you from smashing into the guy in front of you, but helps keep the guy behind you smashing into you. Get it?
Thing is, I'm NOT a slow driver. The tail-gating doesn't seem to have any relation to how fast I'm going. They just drive up on the back of whoever is in front of them, apparently.
Time it sometime. Pick a landmark on the side of the road and see how much longer it takes to get to a particular point in the road. It's milliseconds.
Everytime I read about a multiple car accident, I have to believe there was some inadequate distances involved. I think if properly space, cars are less likely to pile up on each other.
Linda came home on Sunday with a harrowing story of a giant truck who almost ran her off the road on the way to church in Redmond. He was talking on a cell phone.
Meanwhile, the other day I was approaching an intersection and I saw a guy in a huge pickup pull out right in front of me. I had an extra ten feet to slow down. Thing it, he didn't EVEN LOOK in my direction. I mean, he stopped at the stop sign, but he might as well not bothered because he didn't EVEN LOOK.
Over and over again, I see erratic driving behavior, and find out the driver is talking on the cell phone.
I know nothing I can say will change anything. I know this is a throw away post and that I'm saying the obvious. All I can do is continue to drive defensively, continue to provide as much space as possible between me and others. Try to avoid what I see as erratic driving from others.
But I sure wish the cops would enforce this tail-gating and cell-phone ban. And throw the book at ANYONE who texts. That's just crazy.