STUPID KILLS!
Opinion
I believe that most of the untimely deaths on this planet are from stupidity. Yep. If you don’t die of one of the terminal illnesses that will eventually kill every species that has a pulse, as a human you’re most likely to die of an act of stupidity. It may be yours, but it could be some other person's that causes it.
Old age gets credit for nearly all of the natural (non-stupid) deaths, even though the autopsy usually names a specific cause. Face it. We get old, all our parts get old at the same time. Sooner or later either enough of of those parts, or one of them that’s really essential, gives up the ghost. But, ‘natural causes’ is not what this rant is about. Unless, of course, stupidity has somehow achieved ‘natural cause’ status.
No. This rant is about some of the stupid things people do on the highway.
A relative of a man I know, recently became a victim of blatant stupidity. One day, a few minutes after noon, while most people were either thinking of lunch or sitting down to eat, his life came to sudden, violent end.
This was a case of another person’s stupidity tragically terminating this man’s hopes and dreams. Stupidity altered the lives of his family, friends, and everyone who depended upon or loved him.
On a busy entrance to a nearby Interstate Highway, an individual pulled the stupid stunt of stopping in the the lane. Here's a good rule of thumb: The key to successfully negotiating an acceleration lane is to accelerate! If there is ‘STOP’ or ‘YIELD’ sign, stopping is not an offered option.
No one will ever truly know the final thoughts and actions of the victim. We are only left with the results. But, it’s safe to say he was following a vehicle up the long, high speed acceleration lane. He was presumably accelerating to blend into the 65 mph plus traffic heading north on Interstate 81.
I would be looking in my mirrors, glancing over my shoulder to the left, gauging the speed of approaching traffic, and accelerating to blend into it. That’s what you’d be doing, too. That’s what you are supposed to be doing. It’s the safest thing to do.
In the split second it takes to check traffic behind you, either in your mirror or with a sideways glance, a lot can go wrong. What went wrong this time was that the drivert right ahead of my friend’s brother-in-law, stopped. He stopped!
I didn't mention it, but the victim’s mode of transportation was one that’s invisible to too many motorists. He was astride his beloved Harley-Davidson motorcycle. When you stop dead in front of a motorcycle being driven by someone who assumes you’re doing the right thing on an acceleration ramp, that’s what your doing. You’re stopping him dead. The motorcycle rider braked hard. The skid marks still paint the ramp at the accident scene. It looks like that’s all he had time to do.
From my experience, having ridden a motorcycle for several decades, many automobile drivers operate under a shroud of misinformation. They frequently seem to feel that motorcycles are dangerous, "death-wish mobiles," ridden only by mouth breathing knuckle-draggers. That is, of course, if they think of them at all. A large percentage of the automobile driving public ignores motorcycles, out of hand. Many offer no common courtesy to motorcyclists. The may have a false impression that bikes can stop on a dime. That thinking kills hundreds of motorcyclists every year.
The fact is that a motorcycle can’t stop as quickly as a car. Nor can it swerve as nimbly around obstacles as a car is able to. The unbendable laws of physics prohibit those maneuvers.
Don’t be stupid. When you are driving a car, be aware 360 degrees around you. Just like the Driver’s Ed instructor taught you. Watch for the small profile of a bike.
I suggest that you use the acceleration lane to accelerate and blend with traffic at speed. I further suggest that when you're on a four lane highway and you observe someone accelerating to blend with you, you give them the courtesy of a lane change whenever possible. That will clear the driving lane and make their access safer.
When you’re riding your motorcycle, scooter, or even your old blue bicycle, be 100 times more careful and alert than you are in the relatively safe steel cocoon of your car.
Remember…don’t be stupid. Stupid kills!
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