Driving, as a compilation of different motoric and cognitive skills, often includes double, triple or multiple thinking. What this concept refers to is the fact that drivers, apart from the mentioned learned skills, also have to be able to think in many directions. They should be able to do that every second of the drive, too. Why is this so? Well, many situations on the road show different types of irrational behavior. No matter if this means breaking the traffic rules, driving under influence, getting nervous and losing control or falling asleep at the wheel, we have to be ready for that. (Perhaps that is the reason why we feel so tired and worn out after longer drives). Although driving itself helps us gain the necessary experience, sometimes reading about potential dangers can keep our eyes and brains alert. Although we know that caution must be the supreme leader of our driving, there are many non-driving influences that can affect driving. We can call them non-motorized dangers. They largely depend on the type of the road and the area we are driving through.
Two wheels – double danger
Many people prefer bicycles. Driving these two-wheelers with pedal motion is air-friendly and it helps people keep fit. Also, when there is a traffic jam, cyclists move faster than cars and modern velocipedes can save our time, while burning our calories. Bicycles have proven to be extremely useful in hectic modern life. That is the case when cyclists obey the rules and stick to their tracks. However, many cyclists consider themselves a little bit faster pedestrians and move with no sense for the traffic around them. They drive along the road and then turn to the cyclists’ track at once, zigzagging between cars, trucks and pedestrians, putting their lives to danger and causing great shock to other participants in traffic. They are especially dangerous in rural areas, where their bikes often have no lights and you can hardly notice them, particularly by night.
If you are a cyclist who is reading this, turn on the engines of caution and reason. You can make your life and other people’s lives miserable if you act carelessly while on the bike.
Animals are beautiful people (if not on your windshield)
There is an amazing documentary called Animals Are Beautiful People. It is a documovie about animals in African deserts and their regular and less ordinary ways of behavior in different conditions. It was made in 1974 and its genuineness and artistic value still has not faded away. In this documentary we can see how animals become completely childlike and irresponsible during the mating season, how they escape from other animals and how they eat overripe fruit, which then ferments and animals get wasted from the fermented alcohol. This is a real fun and makes you laugh your head off.
However, watching that movie makes you ask yourself what to do if such an animal gets on your way. Try to picture yourself on the road and all of a sudden a giant tipsy bear appears on the road ahead of you. It does not necessarily have to be tipsy (yeah, it probably won’t), but just imagine any animal popping up in front of your vehicle. It is quite a realistic scenario, but mostly outside of large cities.
If you are somewhere in the Rockies or in the gut of Montana or Idaho, have your attention on maximum level. Deer, bears, dogs and many other animals can be in the middle of their let’s-cross-the-street Olympics and your truck or car might terminate the competition most cruelly, while the competitors, on the other hand, might bring your journey (on this world) to an end. To prevent this from happening, you should watch the traffic signs and drive according to the warnings and speed limits. If the speed is restricted to 30 mph and there is a sign with a deer on it, it means that the Olympics might just be on track (literally).
Be careful in suburbs, as well, because dogs can unleash themselves and jump in front of your car. The damage to the car and the animal’s injuries can be huge, even fatal. What is more an animal running across the street in inhabited areas can easily be followed by a sprinting kid, trying to catch it, so just open your eyes as if you have four of them and slow down.
Third world – hazards quadruplicate
Driving in some of the developing countries, which used to be called the third world (neither USA nor USSR-orientated block), can really be a uniquely unbelievable experience, in terms of non-motorized perils. In some of them the sense of traffic is quite relative and the road is not perceived as a motorized vein of the area, but rather as an ordinary path. So, steering a vehicle in those countries means you can easily come across two goals made of wood and children playing soccer on the road. While it is not unusual neither in the USA in some neighborhoods, playing any sport on main roads is a little bit awkward. In addition to that, sometimes people even take their tables and chairs out in the street (i. e. on the street) and decide to spend a tepid summer evening on the road.
Not to get to snobby about that, the idea of freedom people have in some parts of the world differs to some extent from our concepts of freedom. So, they think their freedom is to play soccer on the road or sit on it, or even push a cart along one of the main roads in the city. Our idea of freedom is free movement of vehicles. It can be that our concept is wrong. Theirs might be illogical. Everything suits, but if you drive outside the States or Europe, just be careful and adapt to domestic traffic conditions.
Traffic does not only consist of cars and trucks. The fact is that non-motorized participants in traffic can act quite foolishly and riskily. However, the motorized ones got the power and they should always be on the guard, because the power kills. We sometimes get too harsh on cyclists and pedestrians in traffic. Busy days at work and everyday stress simply explode when we are at the wheel. So what if animals compete in running across the street or children play football on the highway? The key thing is that we do our best to save them from danger and we can do that by following the rules and switching on our center for patience.