Take My Keys - Please!


by Lisa Koosis - Date: 2007-01-25 - Word Count: 403 Share This!

On Friday nights, I visit my parents. It's perhaps a 40-minute car ride, most of it on major thoroughfares. Last week, I was cut off three times on the road, twice by people talking on cell phones and once by someone who was apparently in a huge hurry to get somewhere. What's worse is that this is a fairly regular occurrence.

It makes me wonder: when did driving a car stop being a responsibility? People driving cars can kill people. They kill other drivers, they kill cyclists, they kill children, pets, and wildlife. Yet, many people still consider their cars to be akin to adult-sized toys, or, at the very least, they just don't consider them at all.

In the past two weeks, I've seen a man driving while drinking a bottle of beer, and a woman putting on lipstick while driving at least 65 in a 55 mile per hour zone. I've seen a bus tailgate cars, and then lay on the horn when he was as close as he could get. I've seen that same bus playing weaving-through-traffic games with an SUV who seemed to think it was great fun. And, of course, I've seen easily a dozen people on their cell phones -- some running red lights, some drifting carelessly between lanes, some having to jam on their brakes when they realize they haven't been paying any attention to the driver in front of them. Let's not forget the aggressive drivers that make obscene gestures at you if you hesitate a second too long at a green light, or the drunk drivers that weave from lane to lane.

These days, people are in their cars more than ever, and of course we all want our rides to be as pleasurable as possible. There's nothing wrong with that as long as we remember that a car is a piece of machinery -- a potentially lethal piece of machinery and should be taken seriously.

Many view driving as a game. Whoever has the best car, and whoever gets there the fastest wins. Personally, it makes me want to turn over my keys and teleport wherever I have to go -- at least when we get the technology to do so.

But I think my late grandmother put it the best when she said, "What are you in such a rush for -- to get to heaven?"

If you are, that's your prerogative. Just please don't take the rest of us with you.


Related Tags: cars, cell phones, driving, driving safety, automobiles, opinion, drunk drivers

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