Thursday, June 30, 2011

Drivers in the rain

Another note about our vacation. We drove home in the rain and my wife and I were amazed at how many drivers didn't turn their lights on when the visibility was so bad. Not that you couldn't see without your lights on. The problem was that it was harder to see the cars without their lights on. I wish I had a picture to show. I thought about grabbing a picture of cars in the rain from the Internet but it wouldn't mean anything. Besides, all the pictures I could find showed all the cars with their headlights on.

I don't know if the light-less drivers were just lazy or were responding to some misguided idea of saving energy - "turn the lights off when they are not needed." Well, the lights were needed! Surely they saw how hard it was to see cars with no lights because they were in the situation themselves. It seems that the worst drivers were the ones without their lights on, too. Isn't that always the way? It's the double whammy of the bad drivers speeding and getting to you faster than they should and being without their lights making it harder to see them coming. It almost doubles the chance of an accident.

I think a lot of people drive with the idea that everyone else will look out for them. This is similar to the people who talk on their cell phones while driving (don't get me started!). It's all just another case of not really caring about other people. One way of loving your neighbor is helping them when they've gotten in trouble (as in the original story of the Good Samaritan) but another way of loving your neighbor is to help them keep out of trouble in the first place. Surely it's better to not have an accident than to have to stop and help after an accident. At least, that's the way I see it.

1 comment:

Gloria said...

I agree, driving in the rain is hazardous even more by drivers who really don't seem to care and all you're trying to do is to get home safely. I've often shouted in my car for others to turn their lights on, or hang up and drive, as the case may be. They never seem to hear me either.
Have a good 4th of July weekend and stay safe.
Smile today. :)