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PAY ATTENTION AND REALIZE DRIVING IS A BIG RESPONSIBILITYJul 24 '00 Write an essay on this topic.I have always considered myself a pretty good driver, but what is a good driver? Good question right? A couple of months ago I wrote a review on how to drive and lighted a few flames because I mentioned that older people needed to quit blaming everything on the younger drivers. Well about a week later I was almost killed by a younger driver. First I'll tell you the story then I'll tell you what I think you need to do to be a good defensive driver. This 16 years old girl was coming to a stop light and we(me and my sister) were coming through the caution light. Out in the country we don't have a lot of stop lights. Well she decides to turn in front of us and we were no farther than 200 feet from the caution light. Keep in mind that this is a 55 mile per hour road. My sister was driving and she has somewhat slow reactions to things like this, well I pulled her leg up to catch her attention and we ALMOST crashed into the girl. I don't think I would have been so angry but for one we had my sisters 6 year old son and besides that when we blew the horn she flipped us off. Now #1 my patience runs thin with ignorance so we followed the girl. Poor baby called her daddy and went to his work. We still followed her all the way to his work across town. I got out and went off. Needless to say they called the security people on me and were going to arrest me. I pushed her a little. So I talked to her dad and explained what had happened. She was so scared she wouldn't even get out of the car. We talked and I asked him to go talk to her. I explained to her that she was 16 and had already crashed one car and was well on her way to two. She argued and fussed that she didn't do anything but as I talked to her I sensed that maybe a little of it may be sinking in but I don't know how much. She apologized and I told her Dad that I wasn't trying to be mean, but I was only trying to show her what could have happened. #1 she almost killed us and # 2 she flipped us off. Like I told her, the first thing I do when I make a mistake on the road is try to apologize as fast as I can. Enough of my story, now I will tell you some tips to driving defensively. You don't need to crash into people, but you have to let them know that you own as much of the road as they do. People will try to intimidate you if they think they can. A lot of the major highways around here can be scary at times but you have to go with the flow. Some people don't like to speed but when your on the highway the best thing to do is go with the flow. If you go slower or sometimes the actual speed you can put yourself in danger. One of our major highways around here where 85 and 40 meet is actually called "Death Valley". The speed is 55 but most people go 65 or 70 and if you don't keep up you could easily get run over. I know that sounds crazy but sometimes going the speed when traffic is going a lot faster can put you in danger. Cell phones and Cigarettes Now I smoke so I'm not fussing at anyone. When you are in dangerous traffic or on the highway it's not a good idea to lite up a cigarette or make a call. They have proven that a lot of accidents have been caused from these two things. Obviously your lack of attention has a lot to do with it right, so wait until traffic is not so bad. How hard is that? The point is always be alert and respect other cars. No one single person owns any part of the road and we all have the same right to it.  |
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