Imagination is the key to a successful achievement
When my daughter was 8 she wanted to join the Girl Scouts. No one was available to lead the group. Happily I volunteered. Girls loved earning badges, which required frequent field trips; that is, a lot of driving. The girls knew he would take them anywhere, however, there was a caveat. Talking was not allowed in the car!
I drove a Lincoln Town Car Cartier fully equipped with all the buttons and devices available. There were many business dinners and business meetings on the agenda those days. A business partner was driving my daughter, her friend, and I back from such a dinner when Rachael and her friend started sounding loud and giggling, making conversation impossible. Without warning, my partner turned to look at the girls as he said, we are having a very important top secret meeting and you must stop talking right now or I will be forced to press this eject button, his hand is hovering over one of many. controls on the dash. The girls immediately fell silent.
On the next excursion some girls, new to my car and to the rules, got pretty loud. My daughter said, you have to stop talking right now or my mom will be forced to press the James Bond eject button that points to the “button.” One of the girls laughed and said you can’t do that, when Rachael’s friend stepped in and said, oh yeah, I’ve been in this car before and I saw it! From that day on, all the girls were always quiet in my car.
I have never been involved in any type of car accident due to three (3) things, driving with one eye looking in the rear view mirror, one hand on the horn, and of course no talking, radio, or other distractions while driving. Have you driven somewhere today without finding a car crossing the lane only to see a driver on a cell phone? Or a driver speeding, changing lanes and furious on the highway? My favorite is the rude driver who swiftly passes everyone in the long line of traffic merging into the left lane as he passes the right and “drops bombs” in front of any car where there is only a few inches of clearance. The distance some drivers will go just to pass a car is insane. My car horn has literally saved my life hundreds of times. As a speeding driver approaches and is about to rear-end my car doing 70, I honked my horn to ensure the attention of surrounding drivers, including the speed demon. Instead of getting angry or losing control, I focus on what the drivers around me are doing and anticipate what they might do next. Drivers change lanes that get in the way of other cars without signaling, go through stop signs, and apparently believe that a yellow light means rushing, not slowing down, and preparing to stop. It is surprising how many people believe that the driving rules are for other people and do not apply to them.
My approach was drastic in teaching my daughter the importance of paying full attention to driving when behind the wheel of a car, yet it had the impact I wanted. To this day, my daughter has not been involved in any type of car accident. He has been driving for several years and yes, he drives with complete peace of mind.
There is nothing you can do about the careless or reckless driving of others on the road. It’s your responsibility to drive like your life depends on it, because it does!