Drive Your Own Car

My father taught me to drive when I was about thirteen.  Yeah, I know, it was illegal.  What are you going to do, arrest him?  There were kids younger than I driving mini bikes, snowmobiles, horses and farm equipment on the same roads.  He taught me many valuable lessons, one of which was to "drive your own car."   That is to say, don't necessarily be nice, don't yield your right of way and never wave another vehicle to move when they don't have the right of way.  You can leave a hole but never wave someone on.

The drivers around you have an expectation that you are going to operate your vehicle in an orderly and predictable fashion which maintains the natural flow of traffic.  Any time you yield your right of way, you not only introduce an unknown factor into the mix - the other driver who doesn't have the right of way, but your expected action deviates from the natural flow and another driver who may not be paying attention can get caught off guard resulting in an accident.

My father also taught me to never follow a driver who has damage to the rear end of his vehicle for, chances are he performs erratic and unexpected behaviors which can cause accidents with drivers behind him. 

There is an old joke about an elderly driver who gets pulled over for doing 35 in a 55.  She tells the officer that she has never had an accident in her life but a lot of drivers behind her have.  That joke demonstrates that a driver who is driving in an unexpected fashion can interrupt the natural and expected flow of traffic.

Here is a short video demonstrating the dangers of being nice or, as my father put it, "driving someone elses car."

http://youtu.be/yM0M8Q6ObIo

You can see me driving down the road while there is a line of stopped traffic on my left.  A grey van is looking to get out of a parking lot and the driver of a black SUV decides to be nice and most likely waves him out - not taking into account that I am coming from the other direction.  The driver in the grey van takes the word of the black SUV that it is safe to cut across when, it wasn't.  You can see that she cuts right in front of me.  Luckily I wasn't texting, eating, changing my clothes, putting on make up, talking on the phone or rifling through the glove box as I see so many other drivers do.  Because I was paying attention I was able to brake in time.  You can see that I also began to veer off the road a bit in anticipation of a crash.

Further analysis of the video will reveal that if the black SUV waited, there were not many vehicles behind them and the grey van could have navigated themselves out of the parking lot all by themselves in their own time. 

The lessons here are (1) never tell someone else how to drive their car with a wave for, chances are you can't see what they see and you are only focused on being nice, not the ancillary drivers who don't know what you are doing with someone else's car.   (2) Never take the word of a nice driver that it is safe for you to move because they can only yield their right of way, not that of ancillary drivers. 

If someone waves for you to pull out and another car hits you, whose fault is it?  The guy who hit you?  You for cutting in front of them?  Or the guy who told you it was safe to pull out? 

Nice is different than good.  Be a good driver, not a nice one. 

KIDS ON BIKES (From the whine and complaint department)

Spring is here and soon, all the kids who don't have Xbox, Nintendo, the internet or other assorted electronic-static loading-tendonitis creating devices will be out on the streets riding their bike. 

The law states that cyclists are to ride on the right side of the road which is with traffic.  Most kids and adults alike do not like riding with their back to traffic, however.  They like to see what is coming toward them.  When they do ride on the wrong side of the road, some will pull off onto the shoulder when they see a car coming at them.  Unfortunately, many will exercise their "right of way" and play chicken with the two ton vehicle approaching them. 

The "pedestrian right of way" is a dangerous law.  Many pedestrians and especially children are maimed or killed each year because they are taught as pedestrians they have the right of way over a vehicle.  Whether they do or not, my parents taught me to stop, look and listen.  Then look again, then look as I am crossing.  When it comes to a 4,000 pound hunk of steel barreling toward me and my well-being, I'm gonna let the car go by without challenge and give up my legal right to stare it down.

A woman and her two year old child, in the city of Troy, NY, were recently killed when she exercised her right of way and stepped in front of a moving vehicle at an intersection.  The city is now trying to figure out how to make the intersection more safe and are considering lowering the speed limit.  Nobody is talking about attempting to educate people that the act of dueling with a car is a risky battle which could result in death. The right of way is a right I won't risk my life on, unlike some people.

Anyway, there are two reasons for teaching your kids to ride on the right side.  When a car is coming up behind you, the driver has more control over the situation because he can easily judge your speed and trajectory and, he can safely go around you.  When you are facing him, you are adding a direction and speed that he can't compensate for.  Also, if your kid is facing oncoming traffic, he may see that the car is yielding to the center of the road and the child will most likely remain on the white line. This is very dangerous because now the driver is calculating oncoming traffic and your kid's assertiveness and may try to squeeze between both cyclist and whatever is in the other lane.  The driver certainly doesn't want to risk a head on collision and being unlikely to slow down, he will risk the squeeze.  Again, a child with his back to traffic is most likely to ride on the shoulder and this lemon squeeze situation will not present itself.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The biggest reason to ride on the right side is because when a cyclist is riding on the wrong or left side, because he feels more safe when he can face traffic, a car pulling out of a driveway or side street whose intention is to make a right turn is not looking to the right.  As he is approaching the main street he is concerned with traffic coming from the left.  As your child is approaching from the right, the driver of the vehicle most likely will not see him, especially if the driver of the car is not coming to a complete stop and merely yielding to what is on his left.  Your child, who knows he has the right of way will ride in front of the car while the driver is looking in the opposite direction.  An unhappy union will occur if the driver doesn't turn his head to the right in time to see your little soldier.  If you don't understand this explanation, get on a bike, ride on the left side and pull in front of cars which are turning right.  You'll figure it out real quick.

Of course any driver who runs over your child will be ticketed or arrested for manslaughter, but, take comfort in knowing that your child was exercising their right of way.  Good for them for standing their ground.

You can't take for granted that every driver is conscientious, aware of their complete surroundings or even paying attention.  Teach children to stop, look and listen.  And, never mention that they have the right of way.  What they know, can hurt them.