Slow Down, It Just May Save A Life!
“Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.”
Simon & Garfunkel
I have seen too many cars speeding down the road lately, and I’m not talking about the highway. I’m talking about downtown where the speed limit is supposed to be 25mph. The other day a child ran out into the road and a speeding car had to slam on its brakes, squealing to a stop. The driver and child both had looks of horror on their faces. It was much too close for comfort.
How quickly an accident can turn into a nightmare. When I was eight years old, my younger cousin was playing ball on the school playground. The ball got away from him and rolled out into the street. You can probably guess what happened next. He ran after the ball and was hit by a speeding car. No, he wasn’t killed, but he did spend the next 22 years in a coma until he finally died. I remember going with my Mother to my cousin’s house where a group of women would come daily to exercise my cousin’s arms, legs, fingers, and toes. There was the optimistic hope that he would come out of the coma and resume life.
This gave me an early respect for the road and speeding cars. It was drilled into me over and over that the faster you drive, the less time you have to react to anything unexpected.
According to the laws of physics, the higher the speed at impact, the more energy must be absorbed. In a car accident, hard metal, soft flesh and brittle bone would be doing all the absorbing. If you did get into an accident while speeding, you would be lucky if it were only you that was hurt. If you hit a pedestrian, child or even a family pet, you would have to live the rest of your life with someone else’s death on your conscience.
Think about it this way: If your car hits a pedestrian when you are traveling at 20mph you have a 1 in 20 chance of killing them. But, if your car hits a pedestrian when you are traveling at 30 mph you have a 50 percent chance of killing them. This increases to 90 percent if the vehicle is traveling at 40 mph.
Out of the blue, something unexpected could happen while you are driving a car. And while you may be a conscientious driver, there are a lot of other folks driving around who aren’t. Too many people use car time to catch up on their phone calls. They drink and eat on the road while reading the paper, brushing their hair, playing with their CD player and arguing with one of the passengers.
Think about how you drive and stop in next time for a few defensive driving tips