When my daughter was 8 years old she wanted to join the Girl Scouts. There was no one available to lead the group. I happily volunteered. The girls loved to earn badges, which required frequent excursions; that is, a lot of driving. The girls knew it would take them anywhere, however, there was a caveat. No talking in the car!
I drove a fully equipped Cartier Lincoln Town Car with all available buttons and gadgets. There were many dinners and business meetings on the agenda for those days. A business colleague was driving my daughter, her friend, and me back from such a dinner when Rachael and her friend started yelling and laughing, making conversation impossible. Without warning, my partner turned to look at the girls as he said, we are having a very important top-secret meeting and you need to stop talking right now or I will be forced to press this eject button, his hand hovering over one of the many controls on the dashboard. The girls immediately fell silent.
On the next field trip, some girls, new to my car and rules, were getting pretty rowdy. My daughter said, you have to stop talking right now or my mom will be forced to push the eject button of James Bond pointing to “the button”. One of the girls laughed and said you can’t do that, when Rachael’s friend chimed in and said, oh yeah, I’ve been in this car before and I saw it! From that day on all the girls were always calm in my car.
I have never been involved in any type of car accident due to three (3) things: driving with one eye looking in the rearview mirror, one hand on the horn, and of course not talking, listening to the radio, or other distractions while driving. Have you driven anywhere today without meeting a car crossing the lane only to see a driver on a cell phone? Or a driver who speeds up, changes lanes, and continues to rage behind the wheel? My favorite is the rude driver who zips past everyone in the long line of traffic merging into the left lane while going right and “dive bombs” in front of any car where there is even a few inches of space. The distance some drivers will go just to pass a car is insane. My car horn has literally saved my life a hundred times. As a speeding driver approached and was about to rear-end my car at 70, I honked to secure the attention of the surrounding drivers, including the speed demon. Instead of getting angry or losing control, I focus on what the drivers around me are doing and anticipate what they might do next. Drivers change lanes to pass other cars without signaling, run stop signs, and apparently believe that a yellow light means hurry up, don’t slow down, and prepare to stop. It’s amazing how many people believe that driving rules are for other people and don’t apply to them.
My approach was drastic in teaching my daughter the importance of paying full attention to driving when behind the wheel of a car; however, it had the impact I wanted. To this day, my daughter has not been involved in any type of car accident. She has been driving for several years and yes, she does it with complete peace of mind.
There is nothing you can do about the careless or reckless driving of others on the road. It’s your responsibility to drive like your life depends on it, because it does!