If you on an elevator with me, I'm gonna fart..gotta spread the love. If I hold it in, my tubes are gonna explode, and I can't have that.

Well. I hope if I ever live to smell that day - I hopes its the kind that requires an underwear change. Cuz, after I'm done gagging - I'll need a good laugh!

Eurpeans practice strict lane discipline. Americans don't...we use the whole road. I try to move over for fast traffic, if only for my own safety (get out of the way of assholes). But asshole drivers ("I'll cut you off") who get angry over every little slowdown are dangerous and should let someone else drive. Or do a little simple math and calculate how much earlier you will arrive if you drive like an idiot vs driving the speed limit.....it's usually not a huge amount of time.

In Illinois, it's illegal to block up the passing lane, no matter what your speed or the speed (illegal) of the overtaking vehicle. The theory is that accidents are more often caused by differences in speed and frustration, rather than speed itself. Probably valid, although I don't see much change in driver behavior since the law was instituted.

In Oregon, driving the speed limit is considered reckless and aggressive...strolling down the highway is a beautiful term and gets it absolutely right. However, that said, Oregon drivers will get on your ass, in the left lane or the right lane, on dry roads or roads awash in a driving mix of ice and rain. They have no idea what merging is, or allowing several car lengths to be able, you know, to stop if something happens. Maybe the physics is different here and they can indeed stop instantaneously.
Completely different from Alabama where everyone is doing 65 by the time they've backed out of the driveway.

WHY DON'T YOU JUST SLOW DOWN TO THE LEGAL SPEED LIMIT ?

WHY THE HELL SHOULD WE GET OUT OF THE WAY BECAUSE YOU WANT TO SPEED ?

GET A CLUE LADY............

All I was saying is that I do encounter people in L.A. who tailgate me when I am in the fast lane doing 70. They do 90 by whipping in and out of traffic. They seem to think that the line of cars doing 70 in the fast lane has a duty to get out of their way because they want to do 90. When we don't, they tailgate us.

I take great pleasure in slowing down 10-15 mph with these jerks on my tail. Nothing frustrates them more.

However, I understand Rosemary's frustration. I do get irritated myself at people who drive too slowly in the fast lane. I have been known to pass them (safely) and release my foot from the accelerator until I am crawling at the minimum speed. They usually figure it out and move out of the lane. Mission accomplished and no lives endangered.

Of course, it is usually best to just let it go.

geez...what is it with the caps lock key and venomous posts?

If someone tailgates me, then I feel justified in slowing down about ten miles per hour. Now if I'm doing 77 in the left lane, and someone comes up behind me at a couple car lengths and holds there, then I would try to be courteous to them and get out of the way.

You need to define your terms more. I've ridden with a guy who did 80-90, I guess, in driving rain, and he spent the whole trip getting insanely close to people's bumpers with great amounts of spray dumped on his windshield, and forcing people out of his way.

Whatta jerk. Unfortunately, my social situation at that moment did not permit me to bless him out for being a tyrant and a menace.

I've driven in Chicago and Alabama. Chicagoans seemed courteous which surprised me. Atlantans terrifyingly expect absolute competence of everyone in rush hour traffic with less than car lenghts between cars doing seventy and the road is completely full. One mistake and you could easily have a twenty car crash.

Alabama, well, they are bad, at least in Huntsville. My Texan wife talks about 'Alabama left-hand turns' from the center lane, and there's a lot of speed and general wildness. And then once in a while, there seems like a Day for Maniacs is declared and you're lucky to get home in one piece.

I remember one trip north. We had one small incident in Michigan that stands out because it was the only bit of somewhat bad driving I saw. It would have been completely forgettable in Huntsville.
And the good driving kept up, until some invible line about halfway across Tennessee, and suddenly bad driving reappeared.

Keep safe,
Tadeusz

Catch:

I have a clue. You are an ass. Reading comprehension must have been an option at your school. I stated VERY FUCKING CLEARLY that this isn't about going fast. It is about driver etiquette.

Here's another clue. If I want to drive at the max speed limit of 70, I should be able too. I don't need some dork deciding to hog the road and drive the minimum of 45 in the left. Slower traffic stays to the right. Everyone knows that.
I'm sure that the bus you ride on does it properly...

The 'string' subject suggests that the real matter is courtesy while driving highways.

Question: Isn't it the more courteous thing to do for the illegal, speeder, complainer to slow down to legal speed limits rather than complain with the 'get the hell out of my way' complaint
directed to all the other legal drivers ?

More seriously, I witnessed the death of three innocent persons who were side-swiped by a reckless over the speed limit driver who just
happened to shove the other vehicle in the opposite direction lane of traffic.

Courtesy would suggest following the law. That would be the safest methodology.

Actually Catch 22 did get it right.

Patrick is right about Illinois. Just this year they passed a law making it illegal to "cruise" in the left lane if you are not passing and are blocking the traffic behind you. It was a former policeman that wrote the law and got it passed. All the Chicago legislators going home from Springfield got tired of the left lane hogs who slow down when someone is following them trying to pass. Now they call the state police and have the person ticketed or suggest the Dept of Revenue look at their tax returns.

Thank you Trigger and Patrick!

So there. e and Catch - you got it WRONG.

I swear idiots like Catch do it on purpose. That's why it's not unusual for them to have "Asshat" scratched into their drivers side door.

Quote: "GET OVER. If you can. If you can't it will be obvious to the person behind you. So relax."

Pardon the question, but WHAT PLANET do YOU drive on?

NOTHING is "obvious" to the person behind you, if they are an arse.

I've driven with 3 cars stacked in front of me and 5 to the right -- with an a**hole behind me who apparently thinks I have a James Bond car that can leap tall buildings and defy all laws of physics to "get out of his way."

This driver is usually in a psychologically-telling red pick up with the name "Ram."

'Nuf said.

"When you drive on a freeway or an expressway the left lane is called the passing lane. You use it to pass. You don't have to pass if you're going really fast. Oh, and I do mean really fast.

My friends, please note, 70mph IS NOT really fast. Okay?

If someone is tailgaiting you in the left - you're going too slow. Don't get huffy. Don't get indignant.

GET THE FUCK OVER! That is the rule."

Response:

A. The left lane ain't always the passing lane.

B. 70 mph is really, really fast. People die
going 70, even though it may be legal.

C. There is no reason on planet earth to
tailgate unless you're law enforcement.

D. "GET THE FUCK OVER! That is the rule."

Whose rule is that ?

E. Truth ain't venomous; its just truth.

You are responding in this thread with quotes from a rant post. It was a RANT. I was RANTING!!!!
I quite CLEARLY stated that I was venting/ranting/frustrated. That IS WHY I REWROTE IT.

Christ, almighty! What does it take to get that through to people?

Here is how I deal with tailgaters: I piss on them.

Just my $0.02:

I fully agree with Rosemary - don't use the left lane unless you're passing someone.

I also think speed limits exist for a reason, and if it says 70, you shouldn't be going faster than 75 unless your wife is in labor or something. The thing with highways is that they're not just your playground - you may *think* that you're competent enough to judge whether you're going too fast or not, but no one is infallible and when you make a mistake, I might have to pay for it. With my life or the life of a loved one. What if some drunk retard cuts you off too fast and you don't have time to react? Would you think then that it might have been a good idea to be going about 15-20 mph slower?

Even worse, though, are the wannabe vigilantes who think that cutting off that Lamborghini going 180 is a form of community service. They should be rounded up and shot.

A. The left lane ain't always the passing lane.
B. 70 mph is really, really fast. People die
going 70, even though it may be legal.
C. There is no reason on planet earth to
tailgate unless you're law enforcement.
D. "GET THE FUCK OVER! That is the rule."
Whose rule is that ?
E. Truth ain't venomous; its just truth.
-----------------------------------------

A. Yes, in most states it is. What state do you live in where that isn't the case?

B. People die on the toilet too. So?

C. Well, it wouldn't much help law enforcement if some dork four cars up was setting the pace at SLOW. Otherwise, I agree that tailgating is bad. That still doesn't take away from the bad manners of lane hogging.

D. That is the courteous driver rule. Most of us that learned to drive in places other than Sears, know it.

E. Truth is relative as politics shows us. You can relay the "truth" with honey or venom. Truthfulness doesn't make anything less venomous.

Reply:

Safe driving requires two things, and two things
only:

1. Don't hit anyone.
2. Don't let anyone hit you.

And, I would add one more:

3. Don't cause anything that would cause another
driver to do any of the first two.

There is more. Se next post.

You should never tailgate idiots that are blocking the passing lane when it's dark out. Your high beams are much more affective when you have a few car lengths of seperation.

I am for SAFE driving, I don't want anyone hurt ever on the roads. I think that can be achieved via education and application. The USA personal auto injury is in the "thousands" per year.

And I think the folks at Dean's World know that also.

There is a difference in the term 'passing' lane.

If one drives a two lane (boulevard type) road in
Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, then the outer
left lane is the 'passing lane'. But that isn't true where I live in California when I drive the freeway. Its 3 or 4 lanes, maybe five. The folks in the left lane are not generally going 45, but are usually going 65-75. When a tailgater flashes their lights or honks their horn, I ain't about to move over because they are going
75 to 85 or 90. That's my point. Drive safe, keep quiet, stay cool.

None of my entries are intended to flame anyone.

Drive safe please..especially during the holidays.

Geoffrey:

Did you miss the memo? It's not always the passing lane. It's the lane where law abiding citizens with their Sears approved driver's licenses cruise and enjoy the scenery.

Okay, E.

Please note that I live in Michigan. And when you agree with someone that was trying to flame me - I feel flamed by you as well.

Ahhh. Well e is for "safe" driving, yet he isn't about to move over because someone wants to pass him. Talk about your contradictory statements.

Huh. So safety and courtesy are a matter of someone else getting the hell out of your way so you can get to the store thirty seconds faster? It all now makes perfect sense! It isn't the speeders who 'need' to pass you when you're going a 'slow' 75 that pose a safety risk, it isn't the light-flashers and finger flippers that are discourteous... No, no, of course not, it's everyone else!

No wonder the roads are rapidly becoming demolition derbies.

Myria

I've been driving for more than 30 years and things now are as bad as they've ever been. A great many people on the road seem to approach driving with a massive sense of entitlement.

Drving is not a right.

And if you flip your highbeams at me, I will slow down, stop, and file my nails before I get out of your pushy, arrogant speeding way.

Y'all have a nice day, now :)

Oh no, I never claimed I was in the right at all. I just said INTENTIONALLY slowing down and blocking the passing lane is a hazard also. Don't preach safety, then do something unsafe.

I further said if you don't want to be cut off, keyed, high beamed, or mooned while I'm on the road, then speed up or move over. I don't sugar coat the depths of my assholish behavior

In Virginia, you are required to vacate the left lane when a car traveling at a higher rate of speed (yes, even in excess of the speed limit) approaches behind you. So, to be precise, it is not "get the fuck over, it's the rule", rather, "get the fuck over, it's the law".

BTW, at times other than rush hour gridlock, you can't safely drive 70 mph in any lane of I-95. I set my speed control at 74, and people blow by me on both sides (I am a middle of the road kinda guy).

Thank you, John.

Ya know I've always enjoyed driving in Virginia. Now I know why.

Always enjoy a driving rant, and comments, because opinions on the subject will probably be more diverse than on almost any other subject. Most people (including myself) are relatively blind to their own driving bad habits while being laser-focused on the bad habits of others.

I am conflicted on this issue. After having significant experience in driving in almost 2/3 of the country (including California, Washington, Colorado, Missouri, and Virginia) as well as several foreign lands (such as Italy [Sicily], France, England, Cyprus, UAE, and Oman), I think you can make an argument for moving out of the way and not moving out of the way. As with most things, it depends on the situation.

In Southern California, most freeways are at least 4 lanes, and I've been on some 7+ lane monstrosities. In these instances, I don't want people to get out of the way most of the time, because I can do it better than they can. If I'm coming up on someone and I can easily move left or right to pass, I don't want them moving on me. One of the worst experiences is swiftly approaching someone from behind, starting to move in the other lane to pass, and having the person in front move into the same lane. Ever do the two-lane shuffle, where both of you dance back and forth between the two lanes while the distance quickly reduces? Very nerve racking, to say the least.

Now, of course, the problem is reduced if you slow down, but we all know that there are plenty of very slow drivers out there who happily scatter themselves through the various lanes. You need to be careful, but there's a limit.

The fewer lanes there are, the more important it is to use the left lanes for passing. But try that if you're moving in the top 10% speed-wise and you start to feel like a ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth between the slow and fast lanes. It's much worse in situations where there's a lot of traffic getting on the freeway, in which case I prefer the center lane, where I can go left or right around people.

My experience in Europe is that while there is more "respect" for the passing lane as a passing lane than in the US, it's not that significant and gets less so as the traffic gets heavier. Sicilians, for example, will generally get over when someone overtakes them, but it also involves a lot of headlight flashing which most Americans would consider rude. Moreover, the really fast drivers never get over and can be on your ass in the blink of an eye, with no real opportunity for you to get out of the way. They will tailgate till you get over, sometimes using the shoulders as passing lanes (hell, sometimes they straddle the line between lanes and pass between cars).

But all-in-all, I would agree with Rosemary that for the most part it's better to move to the right when possible (or at least stay out of the far left lane except when passing or if moving near light-speed).

ps - Rosemary, your comment on Virginia drivers scares me. The rest of the state might be OK, but the Beltwayans are the worst drivers in the US and I would rather be stuck in the worst LA traffic jam than experience the fun of the Beltway at rush hour day after day again.

You know that's funny. After I typed that comment, I said the same thing to Dean but I added except for the D.C. area. The Beltway is a horror I cannot describe politely.

When I'm in the left lane passing at a few mph over the speed limit, and Joe or Jane Jerk comes blasting up behind me doing 90 and rides on my bumper, I turn my signal on, indicating my intent to get over as soon as I can. Sometimes it helps. Sometimes JJ waits until there is a distance of his/her car plus 3 inches between my rear bumper and the front bumper of the car I'm passing, and cuts off the vehicle being passed. This is especially interesting when the passee is an 18-wheeler.

Part of me wishes JJ would cut it short and end up under the 18-wheeler. No likely significant damage to truck or driver, and JJ gets a Darwin award for improving the gene pool by removing him/herself from it.

Years ago, I pulled a Chicago driving manuever in the Bay area once and scared the hell out of the natives. Didn't mean to. It was quick, thoughtless, etc... but in the aftermath, I realized how conditioned I had become.

I've driven around the country quite a bit. Density + cars = the hell with the rules. Same thing goes with humans on foot. Small house + lots of people = strife. Happiness too, but everything seems more intense.

Sept 12, 2001 was a day to remember on the road. Weird isn't it? We all know why, but it manifested its effect on the road here in Chicago. I don't know about other places in the country, but here everyone was so polite, cordial, considerate and dazed, yet alert.
About one month later everyone just got nastier. Anyway -nothing is exactly the same anymore, but angry is, well...

I've also driven all over Europe. Love that left lane protocol. It's nice not to have to fight to move forward. That's not to say they're much more civil. The penalties for being incivil tend to be much worse. My God, jaywalking is a crime in Germany.
Something else I noticed: The signs tell you what you CAN do as opposed to here where the signs tell you what you CAN'T do. It really makes a big difference in the psyche.

Now - can we get the people on the escalators to stand to the right?

I went to Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend. 320 miles round trip. I was alone. My average speed was 81 on freeways, the entire way. I was pretty damn courteous while I was driving. Why is it that your average speed demon can be courteous, and your average law abiding 70MPH'er be an ass?

I'm returning to Grand Rapids this evening with my wife and daughter for a week. My average travel speed will probably be 72. Still technically illegal, but alot less speed than when I was alone. I'll still be a courteous driver, because thats the way I am.

Just don't try to pass me on the right, only then will I be an ass.

Jerry:

Drive safe. See you there tomorrow!

Another thing I would say to those who avocate not pulling over and allowing people to pass.

You don't know why someone is trying to pass you. You are assuming it is just because they want to drive fast, or they are jerks or whatever. In many cases that assumption may be true, however, my father ran into several of you when rushing my sister to the hospital. You lack of courtesy and general smugness that you know better how to keep others safe put her life seriously in danger.

She had eaten a mushroom while hiking, that we recognized from the parts in her had to be deadly. We did manage to get her to the hospital in time to get her stomach pumped, but it did require some risky driving getting around people who could have made the whole situation safer by not assuming they knew better.

Rosemary-

That will teach you for ranting online. People just don't want a visit from me on the road and my handy dandy Jaws of Life. To paraphrase Hill Street Blues...Lets drive careful out there.

Just wanted to point out that California vehicle code does require one to move to the right to let somebody pass:

21753. Except when passing on the right is permitted, the driver of an overtaken vehicle shall safely move to the right-hand side of the highway in favor of the overtaking vehicle after an audible signal or a momentary flash of headlights by the overtaking vehicle, and shall not increase the speed of his or her vehicle until completely passed by the overtaking vehicle. This section does not require the driver of an overtaken vehicle to drive on the shoulder of the highway in order to allow the overtaking vehicle to pass.

And also to point out that while you may not like people honking or flashing their lights at you, they are indeed legitimate means of signalling.

If it helps, if you are on the leftmost lane on the freeway and somebody flips their high beams, they are not telling you to "get the hell out of the way," they are merely politely requesting that you be kind enough to move over and allow them to continue on their journey at the speed which they deem appropriate for their situation.

Not everyone who's trying to pass someone else on the road is passing illegally, or unsafely, or because they'd rather be doing 80 instead of only 70.

I myself generally keep to near the posted speed limit— well, okay, if I'm on an open two-lane highway out here in the rural Midwest, I may be doing 61 or 62 instead of 55— and if I find myself behind someone who's holding to a cruise-control 55, I have no problem with that. I'll stay back a safe distance behind them, I'll hold to 55 myself, and I'll be in no hurry to pass.

For that matter, I have no problem if I find myself behind someone who's poking along at 50, or 45, or 40, or 35, or even (tractors on the highway are common around here) 15 miles an hour— if, once we come to an open stretch where I can safely and legally pass them, they'll let me by. I'm quite content to putter along a safe distance behind them for miles on end, if only I can get by once we come to a passing zone with no oncoming traffic.

My problem is with those who putter along well under the speed limit on a two-lane highway, and then when we come to a passing zone where I can safely and legally pass them, they take my attempt to pass as an invitation to a dragrace. It's often not the testosterone types who do this, either.

The worst case I ever encountered was a little old grandma who was creeping down the highway, mile after mile, at 48 or 49 miles an hour. I stayed a safe distance back from her, and when at last we came to a passing zone, an open straightaway with not another vehicle in sight, I put on my signal and started to pass. Imagine my surprise when she started accelerating— I thought, I'm going to have to go faster to get past her— and before I knew it, I was just holding even with her at 75 miles an hour.

Yes, after driving at 48 or 49 for miles on end, she sped up to 75 once I tried (safely, legally, and courteously) to pass her! That was one of the most blogosphere-like driving experiences I've ever had.

It's just fortunate that I haven't a road-rage bone in my body.

Paul,

Sometimes we have to remember that murder is still illegal in the United States even under the conditions you just described.

I must say that Texas drivers are extremely courteous. On many state roads there is a rather large shoulder that slower cars almost always pull to the side when a faster driver approaches. On my drive to San Antonio, I never had to tailgate as the slower drivers indeed pull over. Of course, people in the south are 10X more polite and courteous than NMFs (northern mother f%$kers). Nuff said. Even Sharon would have to agree with me on that.

I too have suffered the frustration of being stuck behind a left-lane bandit.

Regardless of what the posted speed limit may be, most people will drive at a speed at which they feel comfortable. In fact, it used to be that highway engineers used the 85th percentile rule for setting speed limits - the speed that at least 85 percent of the cars were traveling was the set as the speed limit (usually set to the nearest 5 mph). The other 15 percent either drove well below this speed or well above it.

In any case, as has been stated here in one form or another, speed, in and of itself is usually not a caustive factor in accidents. It is the disparity in speed that causes accidents. I remember my dad telling me about the time he was pulled over in Texas near Houston. He knew he was speeding (about 80!) and thought he was going to get a ticket. But the police officer asked him why he wasn't keeping up with traffic and asked that he do so, regardless of the speed limit because it was far safer. It appears that everyone else was driving closer to 90-95.

And yet again, I'm getting off-topic...

In general, it is merely courtesy to move out of the left lane when someone is overtaking. Sometimes that 'courtesy' is codified in law, but still it's the polite and courteous thing to do. It isn't up to you, me, or any other civilian to enforce the speed limit. If someone really wants to drive far faster than the rest of the traffic,let 'em.

Now let me bring up a problem that can occur - the wolf pack. That's when the car(s) in the two or three traffic lanes are all traveling at roughly the same speed. Traffic starts to pile up behind them. Now, rather than having traffic well separated, it's all bunched up. All it takes is for one person to do something stupid or get distracted or have a blowout and now you've got a multiple car accident. Of course the drivers creating the wolf pack usually escape unharmed.

Of course, all of us believe we are above average drivers. The problem is that we aren't. (I think I can safely say that I am - I raced sports cars for almost 15 years and taught high performance driving for about half that amount of time. The one thing I always remembered and always taught - pay attention and drive!! Everything else is secondary and unimportant.)

Far too often I see people driving out on the limited access superhighways that just don't belong there. They aren't capable of driving at highway speeds with any sort of competance due to poor reflexes, poor eye-hand coordination, deficient eyesight, poor attention span, or too damn much "multi-tasking", i.e. talking on the cell phone while trying to follow the directions from their GPS navigator while sipping coffee and trying to talk to one of their passengers all at the same time. They have little situational awareness (which might be one reason they don't move over when being overtaken - they don't even know you're there!)

And if they still won't move over, I find that a couple of slugs from my Sig P228 into the trunk or rear hatch of their vehicle gets their attention......

At least one other poster mentioned it but it bears repeating that there are really two completely different situations to discuss. (1) Empty, rural, or otherwise relatively light-trafficked e.g. two-lane highways - for which your Driving Rule is correct, of course. (2) 3-, 4-, 5- etc lane freeways in heavy traffic, for which it makes no sense.

It makes no sense whatsoever to people driving on the latter to mindlessly tell them that the left lane is "The Passing Lane" and they need to move to the right anytime someone tailgates them. This completely ignores the situation drivers like me find ourselves in in case (2), which is that the freeway is essentially full - NOBODY is going as fast as he'd like - and the left lane is for all intents a "going slightly faster than those to the right" lane. Don't tell me I have to move over just cuz someone is tailgating me: it's ridiculous. The only effect is that we'll switch places and I'll be looking at his license plate for the next 30 minutes rather than the other way around. Why should I go out of my way for that? And why is the person behind me so obsessed with the extra 1.5 seconds of driving time that will supposedly save him?

Tailgating is always dangerous, but it's particularly obnoxious in such traffic. In traffic, if there appears to be space in front of me, that's just cuz I'm leaving that space for safety. Certain drivers interpret that as a sign that they NEED TO BE IN FRONT OF ME AND OCCUPY THAT SPACE which is asinine and immature. The solution is to discipline them - discourage and suppress their NEED TO BE IN FRONT impulse - rather than to go out of my way indulging it.

And in fact, too many lane-changers is one cause of traffic, because it is a kind of "friction" between lanes which slows everyone down. Some people NEED to change lanes but others just WANT to. In the interest of throughput, not everyone in the latter category ought to be indulged; there ought to be a pressure against doing so. But following your advice, you'd have every single tailgater cause a ripple effect of lane-changes to the right, and back, to let him pass, all the way down the freeway. The result would be slower, and less safe overall.

You fail to acknowledge that these are situations when a wannabe-passer and tailgater should be discouraged. I always laugh when I'm in traffic and I see one of these zealous types zoom up behind me (I'm going with flow of traffic on the left, say, 60 mph) and then he impatiently tries to leapfrog-leapfrog-leapfrog (sometimes going 2 or 3 lanes over), passing car after car on the right, whizzing in and out, cutting people off, accelerating and then slamming on brakes, for mile after mile, only to see that when he exits the freeway 10 miles and 10 minutes later, he's still behind me. Wasted gas and brakes, decreased safety, added stress, and slowed down overall traffic flow, and for what? He saves no time at all.

Sometimes people need to just pick a damn lane and stay there, at a safe distance behind the car in front of them, driving with the flow of traffic. And there are times when people who are not satisfied with this need to have a social pressure applied to them to conform.

Oh man, where I live there's only one 4-lane and nobody's on it. At least, not enough to sweat this stuff. I don't even know waht you guys are are talking about.
Nitronora
Colorado USA

Tim, I'll back you up on Texas driving courtesy, it blew me away (I learned to drive in California).

Hey, America, Wake up!

Approximately 50,000 people die on the nation's highways each year. Most die in what people erroneously call "accidents". These accidents seldom are caused by simple mechanical failure beyond anyone's control. They are usually the result of drunken, reckless, negligent or incompetent driving.

I feel a bit out of place feeling compelled to even make these comments, because they should be self-evident to anyone who gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. People should be driving like their very lives depend on doing it right...
because it does.

Just stop and imagine how many 50,000 people are.
Your local professional sports stadia would be packed by a crowd this size. And this many fatalities each and every year. We lost this many in about ten years in VietNam.

It's always someone else that has the fatal accident. Guess what...that someone else is you..to someone else.

I learned these lessons years ago, sometime after I got old enough to distrust my own invulnerability.

All the proper things to do have been repeatedly detailed above, so I won't burden you with repetition.

I just ask everyone to always remember that you are the captain of a potential unguided missle that can take out both of us, and more, with just one moment of anger, inattention, selfishness and unconcern (often mixed with a little ethanol). Amen.