by Brenda Smith

Created on: February 25, 2007   Last Updated: May 17, 2007

Driving etiquette is slowly diminishing. Are our busy lifestyles to blame? It seems everyone's in a hurry to get somewhere. Some of us don't want to be late for work, others want to grab that front row seat at the game. For whatever reason, we're just not paying attention to the road, or the other drivers around us.

As a result of being hurried, we're preoccupied by everything under the sun that we shouldn't be doing while driving. Most of us are guilty of chatting on our cell phones while trying to steer. Some of us didn't grab lunch prior to heading out so now we're shoveling down a fast food sandwich while we drive down the highway. We've all seen those who have changed their clothes, messed with junk in the back seat, or kissed a passenger-all while managing to operate a ton+ vehicle. Not to mention the endless possible things we could do with our hands instead of keeping them on the steering wheel. So how are we supposed to practice good driving etiquette if we have so many other things to do? It seems we have two options: 1)we don't engage in distracting activities while driving and maximize our chances of having a safe trip from 'a' to 'b'; 2)we continue our mindless actions and increase the chance of having an accident, and frequently do have accidents as a result.

Humans are sometimes ignorant in the fact that although we know what consequences lie ahead of our actions, we don't think of them when we should or we seem to think we're invincible from these very consequences. We think, "I won't get into an accident, I'm above the laws of the universe". We somehow get it in our heads that it won't or can't happen to us. We have to realize that our actions as drivers effect other drivers. It might be as simple as going first at a four-way stop, when another driver should have had the right-of-way. Or it could be as bad as cutting someone off and provoking extreme road-rage. It could even get worse, such as causing a massive multi-car pile-up. These things can be the result of poor driving etiquette or just plain not paying attention to the road.

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