I don’t want to sound bombastic. However, when it comes to driving and being on the road, I am generally a whole lot patient simply because I don’t carry the responsibility of their risks on my shoulder. Who knows there is a baby on board, an elderly (with generally impaired reflexes) driving the car, a lady not as adroit and smart as a general driver or just the clumsiness of technology that you cannot brake adequately in time?
I have also noted that, zooming on road helps you save only 2-4 minutes of your time. If you plan and start early, you never have to vroom on the road and increase the risk (for yourself and others). Another titbit I share with my son, that if you are driving by the rule, you reduce the incidence of accident by half. The other half are still caused by others. That is the reason we should all be driving safe and not one person alone.
However, let us own up our part of responsible driving –
- Driving fast only saves 2-3 minutes on a 30-40 minutes commute
- Starting 4 minutes ahead is truly not difficult
- Despite, if you are late, you won’t miss much
- Don’t install (police) detecting radars, getting a ticket (citation) changes our behavior. It is not a criminal offense
- Of course, no drinking and driving
- No texting while driving
We all need to practice ‘No Texting While Driving’. That isn’t’ a tall order? Sometimes, it feels as though we are asking youngsters to follow abstinence or a businessmen (and few doctors), to be puerile in their ethical practices.
Not sure if my behavior has changed anything but I have noted one thing, it made a difference to me. Being late just matters as much as being on time. I haven’t seen missing much other than being anal to be on time. It does provide me a sense of satisfaction that I am living in a macrocosm where others deserve equal respect.
I received an interesting note on What’s Up. Below is the verbatim.
A car ahead was moving like a turtle and not giving me way in spite of my continuous honking! I was on brink of losing my cool when I noticed the small sticker on the car’s rear!
“Physically challenged; please be patient.”
And that changed everything!! I immediately went calm & slowed down!! In fact I got a little protective of the car & the driver!!! I reached work a few minutes late, but it was ok! And then it struck me. Would I have been patient if there was no sticker? Why do we need stickers to be patient with people!? Will we be more patient & kind with others if people had labels pasted on their foreheads?
Labels like —
“Lost my job”
“Fighting cancer”
“Going through a bad divorce”
“Suffering Emotional abuse”
“Lost a loved one”
“Feeling worthless”
“Financially broken”….. And more like these…
Do we need sticker for the invisible ones?
Everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about. The least we can do is be patient & kind! Let us respect the invisible labels!
Please share, it’s a matter of awareness. Somewhere, someone may find this game changer and it may change his/her driving and impact an unknown precious life, may be prevent a family from losing their beloved one.
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