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People exercise for the sake of improving their health. Most people who jog endeavor to ensure their health by doing things such as: getting checked out by a doctor before starting an exercise program, wearing reflective clothing and being sure to stay properly hydrated. Jogging on the side of the road is not safe. Therefore it contradicts the purpose of exercising.

This is not just my opinion - it is a fact that is born out by accident statistics. For example in the last 4 weeks in my small community, there have been 3 deaths and 1 major injury. The woman who was injured remains hospitalized. To be fair, there are often other factors that contribute to the accidents. For example, drivers may be on cell phones and not notice joggers until its too late. Also, inclement weather could affect a driver's ability to stop a car on a slippery road.

While certainly a jogger cannot control the weather or the attentiveness of a driver, a jogger can certainly take measures to be out of harm's way. While a car may veer slightly while driving on the road due to the driver talking on the cell phone, it is much less lightly to drive up on a sidewalk or into a grassy area. Also, curbs and grass can slow down an out of control vehicle - lessening the impact on an unsuspecting jogger.

There are a million different scenarios of where, when and why a driver may have a collision with a jogger. The majority of these instances are out of the jogger's realm of control - except for one thing. The key thing is that the jogger has a choice of whether to be in the road with the cars or not. In a contest between the fragile body of a jogger and a car, the jogger is always going to loose.

I do not say this just as a person making observations from my armchair. A year ago, a close friend of mine was recently walking to the post office from her house. She was walking on sidewalks the entire time. While crossing the street in the crosswalk with other pedestrians and joggers, a car approached. Rather than stopping for those who were in the crosswalk, the car veered to the left to avoid a jogger who was jogging in the street on the right. My friend was hit in the side and her arm was severed from her body. She is permanently disabled due to the carelessness of both that driver and the runner. The driver of the vehicle has not been able to drive since; she now suffers from panic attacks at the thought of driving and injuring someone. She has since lost her job and house. So my friend and the driver will deal with the devastating effects of this accident for the rest of their lives. But, the jogger continued her day - running in her ipod bubble, oblivious to the chaos she left in her wake.

Learn more about this author, Julie Pierce.
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