SAFETY
ON
THE
ROADS:
ALL ABOUT SHARING THE GESTURE
BY BARRY ALTLAND
N
early every driver has experienced it. At first, it
appears as a phantom shadow in the rear-view
mirror. Then suddenly, the shadow transforms into a
blur of shiny, painted metal flying past at breakneck
speed. The heartbeat quickens. The throat gets dry. The speeder’s
appearance is startling. The hands tremble and palms sweat as
they work so hard to maintain a grip on the steering wheel.
Face it. Some drivers are just wired that way. Driving on the roads
is a competition to them. Allowing a car to pass them is a sign of
weakness. How can they possibly lose this race today?
Other drivers are in a genuine hurry. Life’s responsibilities
mounted in the process of getting out the door, landing the driver
a few minutes behind schedule. If their calculations are correct,
they can make up the lost time by speeding past other cars on the
road. Those other drivers will understand. They have been there,
too.
Our hard-wired personalities. Time pressures. The circumstances
of the day. All are contributors to behaviors on the roads that
make it a treacherous place. In the comfort of our own driver’s
seat, we rarely ponder that our lives could dramatically change in
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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APRIL 2015
an instant. Life’s situations can quickly turn kind, mild-mannered
people into crazy-eyed loons when behind the wheel. The media
has tagged the phenomenon road rage. Rage on the road. What
to do?
The first thing a driver must accept is that they are not going to
be able to change their fellow drivers. There is no joystick that
controls the choices of others on the road. They are going to
be who they are and do what they are going to do. Step one is
embracing that truth.
So, if we forfeit the governance of the other vehicles, what is
in our control? As a driver, what we choose to do is where our
focus needs to be. Look within. Examine the choices made in our
driver’s seat, and the potential impact our own decisions have on
our fellow drivers.
One common scenario comes to mind . . . when traffic merges into
fewer lanes. Most cars dutifully follow the protocol of dropping in
behind other vehicles to form a cohesive line that continues to
creep forward. Suddenly, the opportunistic driver who used the
berm to pass a number of slower-moving cars rolls up next to the
obedient cadence of vehicles.