Driving Safely to your Destination, Buddy Driving Coaching and Validation, Being Willing to Be Driven to stay in the game

This post is one I put on a thread about driving disasters and concerns in the Northwest Corner Chatter. There are about a dozen people pondering this question, so likely it's a common problem all over the country. We are a small, rather friendly and reasonable population, but not so much all are in that mode..especially on the road.  Another tip about passing...ideally Don't Do It if there's no real need..if you are only going a short distance (a few miles more for instance. ) At least a few people have passed me then reached their destination a few seconds sooner or maybe a full minute or so, but sometimes almost running into oncoming traffic or broadsiding a car in the process. We need to think Big Picture with our Big Person Panties On

Here's my latest post: First I want to suggest however that everyone with kids get a stuffed animal or doll  to place in the car seat when the child is not in the car. When you put the child in the car, place the doll or stuffed animal in the front of the car. Make a habit of texting someone, even yourself, but ideally a partner that You have Taken the Child Out of the Car Seat, right after you do so, and report where the child is (daycare, Grandma's, a friend's etc, school...)

That could help keep more parents or drivers on the ball and avoid tragedies such as what has claimed over 2 dozen kids so far in this country from being left in a hot car, whether by mistake or on purpose..The other parent could call the person in charge and get a phone call validation from someone who sees the child that they are there in a timely manner (or have that person call or text when the child arrives.) Without validation, the program, and if needed, the police could be contacted. Now back to driving safely guidelines...

How about making a Voluntary Checklist and have one or more other people 'vouch for another' as sober and safe (emotionally, reasonable, and informed about laws and safe driving practices..that would be a few questions. )

Then there would be the actual driving 'ride along' that would be at least a half hour and maybe a couple others of an hour (on the highway, in a city etc...a half hour or more in each, including one at night and one in the early morning (rush hour traffic, etc.)

People could have an awareness of 'ongoing education and driving assessments from people who have made the grade by competent others (so that may involve some doing initially but could catch on nicely.)

Making being accountable and safe cool shared guidelines, the 'wild cards' will be more readily identified. We could likely keep a list and take reasonable precautions (letting parents or other family know of concerns, neighbors and local people be informed and so on. )

People who are driving unsafely likely can be identified readily and a new service of 'reports made' could be handled by a business or volunteer letting social workers and elder agencies, if not medical people be informed about. If the person gets a ticket that's made public (or is accessible.)

This is not to crunch down on a sense of freedom and privacy, just a healthy dose of helping one another 'choose to be more reasonable, make plans to travel in timely ways with more of a time window and space cushion on the highway to avoid people 'running into people they are tailgating or not giving plenty of room to, especially at high speeds.' 

It takes 80 feet to come to a complete stop if going 60mph (I learned that in physics in high school. Some may think those numbers are reversed (taking 60 feet to stop at 80 mph..but not only is that not right, no one should be doing 80 but then may be called a 'little old lady.' How might the person have gotten 'Old'..oh, they didn't speed and made it into their golden years in one piece.

As much as one or more people driving fast or recklessly can create the 'need for others to also keep up to avoid an accident', the concerted efforts to Slow Down and Drive Safely and Sanely needs to gain momentum. In terms of 'being ready to stop' that means being Able and Willing to Slam on the Brakes, since if one needs to stop quickly that could be a split second warning (the car in front of you stopping quickly, a child or other person running into the road and so on.

Bus drivers are taught Not to swerve for an animal entering their path however...because that could cause an accident. We need to be clear 'what to do or not do' if an animal is in a car's pathway on the road. A deer likely will not turn to go back to the spot it leaps from, so if you see one bound in front of you, turn a bit toward where it left the ground....Not an easy thing to do necessarily, but with practice (with other safety tips) could catch on.