Life on the M8

Why is it that when you hit seventeen you can’t wait to get behind the wheel of a car and show off to everyone that you can drive. When I was seventeen it was easy to pass your driving test! I only had to drive with an examiner sitting next to me and at the end of the test he asked me 5 various questions from the highway code and I had passed!! SEVENTEEN!!! And I had my own car! I could get from A to B but don’t be fooled I did not understand the road! A ring road? What was that? How did I know I was on a one way street! Thank goodness they introduced the theory test to drivers! Back then when I passed my test you didn’t need to wear a seat belt and car phones were fancy! At least now the law states that you have to wear a seatbelt and you can’t use a mobile phone whilst driving. How ironic is it though when your driving along the motorway and you are in a trance state thinking about life in general when you look up above you and there is a huge sign saying “DON’T USE YOUR MOBILE PHONE WHILST DRIVING” that automatically makes me think about my mobile phone, then I get anxious thinking I wonder if someone has text me, what if someone has phoned me. These signs should not say the word don’t as the brain doesn’t recognise it, the sign is basically saying use your mobile whilst driving!! It always triggers me to think about my phone!!!
So all that enthusiasm at seventeen to pass my test! If I had known at seventeen that I would spend at least a quarter of my life sitting in heavy traffic being unproductive with nothing to do but wait whilst I pollute the atmosphere I would maybe have thought twice about getting a car so young. If I had also been made aware of the horrible things that can go wrong out on the road and how dangerous they are I would maybe have thought twice. I certainly wouldn’t have drove the way I have done in the past knowing what I know now. You see I have been extremely lucky as my dad taught me to be a safe driver and I have only ever had minor accidents, but, some people aren’t that lucky and have been involved in horrific accidents out on our roads. Please drive carefully and analyse how long you spend sitting in traffic and perhaps choose a different way to travel even if it is just once a week. Don’t get stressed in traffic, what is the point, you can’t do anything about it so shouting and hitting the steering wheel in an angry way will only give you grey hair and wrinkles with high blood pressure!!!
I now an ambassador for Road Safety and I deliver road safety presentations to potential drivers all over Scotland, these people have decided to embark on a career driving so it’s imperative that they understand how dangerous it is to use your mobile phone whilst driving, to wear a seatbelt, to drive at the correct speed, to have good eyesight, to maintain their vans, to not use electronic equipment whilst driving and not to drink and drive. We show them horrific footage of accidents that have happened so they can fully understand the impact if they make the wrong choices whilst driving. Why wait until someone takes a driving job to train them on road safety? I am fully behind Stevie Kidd that the decision should be made to deliver this material to 16 year olds over Scotland. This would help them make the right choices whilst out on the road.
Well I now have a drive in front of me from Lanarkshire to Paisley with the dreaded Kingston Bridge to cross! But I put on my music and I sing at the top of my voice as I can’t control how much traffic there will be and I certainly can’t influence it so why should I be stressed about it when there is nothing I can do! That’s the attitude to adopt when sitting in traffic! TRY IT!!!
 

Posted by Amanda Parvin on 20 January 2010 in : KDS Training, Road Safety

1 Comment

Posted by katie on 21 January 2010

I was lucky too that my dad taught me to be a safe driver and to understand that it was a legalised lethal weapon that I was in charge of. Doing the journey over the Kingston Bridge with someone I used to work with most days you did see examples of some really hazardous driving, awful crashes and bad bad tempers!! Wonder what else people do to stay calm when they are driving? K

Add your comment