Drive Safe ... Are These Empty Words?

You've just spent the holidays with your family from out of town and they're getting ready to hit the road to return home.  As they start to drive away you wave and say, "Drive safe".  Why do we say these words? Do we say this thinking our words will actually have a positive effect on the way they'll drive on the way home or has this phrase just become the polite thing to say to express our love and concern.

When someone says to us "Drive Safe", do we conscientiously process a plan different from our normal driving patterns in order to drive safer?  I don't think we do.  I think the normal response and/or thought process is to politely wave as if to say thank you for their concern and drive away believing that we already know how to drive safe.

So lets talk about safety.  Over the last 10 years, 392,603 men, women, and children were killed in traffic accidents along with over 3 million injuries (per year).....and that's just in the U.S alone.  Of those traffic injuries and deaths, 16% are attributable to teenage drivers while 84% are attributable to adult drivers.

There are 2 major aspects to safe driving:

1. Skill
2. Behavior

Both are important to safe driving but telling someone to "Drive Safe" is really only addressing the behavior aspect of driving and since most drivers already believe they know how to drive safe, the words basically fall on deaf ears.

Try something new.  When you want your words to have a real impact, address the "skill" side of the equation.  Example:  Hey Uncle Joe, on your way home please don't be in a hurry.  Keep an extra large following distance so you can control the traffic behind you.  Don't drive in other vehicle's blind spots and please don't make lane changes into other vehicle's blind spots that are two lanes over. Also, when you stop to get snacks at the market, make sure the kids know that the little white lights on the back of cars in the parking lot tell them the car is in reverse and getting ready to back up so they should never walk behind those cars. Hey Aunt Mable, I know you're upset that Uncle Joe didn't get you that 5 carat diamond pendant for Christmas but please wait until after you get home to discuss it, I don't want Uncle Joe to be emotionally distracted from his driving.  Apply these SKILLS and you will all get home safe.

Now which method do you think would more effective in preventing accidents?

John

P.S.  If you'd like to know how Uncle Joe can control traffic by keeping an extra large space in front of him, pick up my book, "The Cullington Driving Concepts...Empowering Parents To Teach Crash-Proof Driving" available through this blog.

   

Should Parents Have The Option To Teach Their Own Children To Drive?

Being an expert in the driver training industry, I would have to say "yes" which goes against my own business interests.  In my opinion, the driver training industry (in its present form) is a total disaster. Licensing does not equate to safety as proven by the traffic accident and death statistics.  The assumption that's implied just by receiving a 6-hour completion certificate from a driving school, that the individual is qualified to drive, is a completely false assumption.  Parents should have the choice and at the same time, the difficulty of passing the DMV driving exam should be drastically increased.

Does passing the driving test automatically mean a driver is a "safe driver"?

Are you kidding, absolutely not.  In California, the average behind-the-wheel drive test lasts only about 12 minutes and if the DMV is running behind schedule, I've witnessed a 6 minute drive test.

A licensed driver and a safe driver have different abilities.  To be licensed, an applicant drives around for a few minutes and proves they can mechanically operate the vehicle.  A safe driver has the ability to strategically position their vehicle so as not to involve themselves in accidents.

If licensing was the determining factor to being a safe driver, then why is driving the number one killer of newly licensed drivers?  Why do 80% of new drivers get into a reportable accident within the first 3 years?

A drivers license is false security and should not be relied upon to determine if a driver is a "safe driver".

Is the Driver Education Industry in the U.S. a Failure?

Without a doubt, yes.  Eighty percent (80%) of new drivers will be involved in a reportable accident within the first 3 years of driving .... that's a 20% sucess rate.  In 2004, the California DMV eliminated the requirement for a new driving instructor applicant to take a behind-the-wheel driving exam.  On a daily basis, there are approximately 17,200 traffic accidents which result in approximately 9,500 injuries and 120 deaths just in the U.S. alone.  More people have been killed in auto accidents than all of the combined U.S military casualties from every war since the beginning of our country.

It's broken people.  When a few U.S. soldiers are killed by an IED, it makes national news but when 120 people are killed on a daily basis due to traffic accidents, there's no national outcry.  Have we as a society come to accept these deaths as normal?

Before I get on my soapbox and go after who I think are responsible for this carnage, I would like to hear your ideas.
John