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• Driving in the modern world

I took a drive in the country this past weekend and it was really pleasant. Yeah, I know, only an idiot takes a pleasure drive with gas prices as they are, but I figured I’d skip a meal and burn a couple of gallons of fuel. I think I met about three cars in an hour. It was actually sort of exciting because it was clear and I could see them coming from miles away. All that anticipation just to wave or nod at the other motorist seemed a little ridiculous, but that’s how it is when you’re driving in the country. It’s actually about the only sort of driving a person can really enjoy these days.

It’s not the driving that bugs me so much anymore, it’s just all the other motorists. They either go too fast, too slow, are distracted, or in some sort of motion-induced coma. I feel like a large portion of the time I spend in a vehicle is spent tensing up and waiting for another car to barrel into my passenger door. That’s just how I am, having very little faith in other people.

Imagine my joy in learning that I was actually correct in assuming many of the other folks out there on the road have no business behind the wheel. Fair enough, it’s not everyone except me, but it sounds as if a whole lot of the folks driving tractor-trailers and busses would be better off finding another way of transportation. Apparently, hundreds of thousands of them have commercial licenses even though they qualify for federal disability. This is all according to a new US safety study.

Holy crap, I don’t like the use of such big numbers when it comes to that sort of thing. Hundreds of freaking thousands? One or two people out there on the roadways that are prone to seizures, heart attacks and unconscious spells is too many, but hundreds of thousands?

I may never leave the house again.

It makes you kind of wonder how something like this can continue to go on. Strangely, it’s not all that much of a mystery since the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration admits it hasn’t completed any of the eight recommendations that US safety regulators have proposed since 2001. Geez Louise, I understand they’re probably busy and all, but I would feel much better about leaving the house if they sucked it up and at least got one of the recommendations passed.

One of those suggestions is to set minimum standards on whether a person is safe to drive. Look, I hate big government as much as the next fella, but I have to admit, that seems like a pretty good idea. For example, if you can’t sit for over an hour, let’s say, without having some sort of “episode,” maybe you should find another line of work?

Another idea is to keep truckers from doctor shopping until they find someone who might overlook a dangerous problem. Hells bells, just do those two for now and we might be at least a little bit safer.

Honestly, I felt a whole bunch safer in those good old days of trucking when all a fella needed was a CB radio and twenty or thirty eight track country and western tapes to drive cross country non-stop. Oh sure, they also took a buttload of that awesome trucker speed, but so freaking what. At least you couldn’t say they weren’t alert ... really, really alert. It’s a pretty simple decision to me. When it comes to the other person driving the car, I would always prefer insanely alert to unconscious.

What makes it even more scary is that these are big damned trucks and they are made of steel and shit. If they were made of that Nerf material, I could maybe cut them a bit of slack, but putting up with huge chunks of metal blazing uncontrollably down the highway is just a little too much to ask. Truckers in every state have violated medical rules and there were 7.3 million violations in 2006. I didn’t do all that well in statistics but you don’t really have to be a math whiz to figure out that is probably a little dangerous.

It’s tough to make a rash generalization, but I do it all the time, so whatever. I’m sure most of the people driving out there are safe and professional. I’m sure they work hard and are just trying to do their jobs. If anyone should be angry about all the unsafe drivers, it should be the ones that aren’t endangering everyone. Maybe a few bad truckers can actually spoil the whole bunch.

I know a lot of those people driving trucks when they really shouldn’t be are just trying to make a living, and I can understand that. The thing is, if you’re going to continue to drive even though you’re aware you’re a danger, then you should probably lose you license just because of stupidity. It’s hard enough to get around in a car these days with all the other distractions going on. I’m fairly sure a few extra out of control trucks and buses aren’t going to help the situation all that much. If you’re driving, it might be best to keep you eyes open, even though everyone else isn’t.