Every driver
thinks the dangers on the road start with other drivers. In many
cases, the ‘other driver’ is you! We don’t even realize what
poor behaviors we have while behind the wheel. The natural habits we
are victim to do not seem unsafe because we don’t know any other
way. Many of which were learned at a very early age. Often-times
drivers ed is parent taught by a parent who also has poor
driving behaviors. Maybe our parents failed to correct small natural
actions that do not seem to be very impactful, but driving is a skill
that goes against our natural actions. The skills needed to drive
defensive and safely must be learned.

As humans, there
are many natural behaviors that are detrimental to driving safely.
The key to driving safe is to maintain space around your vehicle, but
we naturally follow too closely. In and of ourselves, we are not
capable of traveling 70 miles per hour. Our natural traveling speed
is that of walking. Therefore, our natural following distance is much
closer than it should be when flying down the interstate. We must
intentionally consider the distance required to stop a vehicle when
traveling at highway speeds. We must maintain hundreds of feet; the
further the better! If we maintain proper space, we have adequate
time to make decisions should something happen in front of us.

Space is not just
important in front of us, we must also consider what is on either
side. If we keep the proper space in front to make decisions, we need
to make sure there is somewhere to go. The bottom line is to not
travel in packs! Stay in the space between the packs and always be
aware of how to maneuver around incidents that occur on the road in
front of us.

I would be remiss
to discuss safe driving and not mention the very real threat of
impaired driving and electronic devices. These distractions present
threats unlike any other. Just as buzzed driving is drunk driving, a
quick glance at a phone is distracted driving. Neither have a place
in a vehicle. A story that impacted me recently was one in which a
woman was making a Facebook post while traveling 70+ mph on the
highway outside my hometown. She failed to see an SUV making a
left-hand turn. The impact left a mother of 3 critically injured and
killed both her young daughters who she just picked up from school.
Social media addiction is an epidemic. The temptation of keeping a
phone within arm’s reach of an addict is the same as leaving a
bottle of beer in the cup holder of an alcoholic. A 2 second decision
can have lifelong impacts on everyone involved.

Remove
distractions. Increase space in front and around your vehicle. Remain
alert to what’s going on around you! When you’re driving, focus
on driving. Nothing else matters in that moment besides getting there
safe.