Category: Safe Driving

Safe Driving

Jekyll and Hyde

Anthony Dixon

 

 

Jekyll and Hyde


Every day I commute my least favorite Road in my travels, US-19. It’s a road that instigates speeding, the lights are approximately  one mile apart, the speed limit varies to 55 mph. Not good when you have six or more U turn lanes all within one light. The Roadway is always congested and everyone is always travelling above the speed limit. Smash Ups are daily, injury and fatalities are frequent. A lot of which could be avoided if people traveled in a conscientious state of mind,  knowing that each side of the street is lined with Stores. People are always doing stupid things like misjudging the distance of approaching traffic while making U- turns and crossing lanes to get to their destination. putting themselves and others at risk. Just getting to the other side of the road is nothing short of playing a game of chicken. I am a driving enthusiast who appreciate the Automobile and  my life, so riding this Road five days a week back and forth is my primary Job. Navigating this treacherous road one hour each way every day become nothing short of a game of skills, and discipline.

 

 

 


By having the use of the internet I surf world wide to see how other Countries fare with their poorly designed roadways and bad drivers who think they are race car drivers, it’s the same everywhere. Why is this? It appears that some people who can’t cut an Onion without cutting off a finger. gets behind the wheel where they develop a Jekyll and Hyde personality. Mild mannered  courteous and intellectual, they get behind the wheel and all that change to a rude and abrasive Crud. Young people driving for less than one year, old people driving for fifty years, gets behind the wheel and the reckless speed demon comes out. I have got to tell you Road Maniacs that I have the driving skills to lose Cops in a chase at speeds exceeding 140, my speedometer says 170, not even at eighteen years old would I have considered doing 140 mph,  I am one of the most civilized drivers on the road because I enjoy life. Whether I am going five miles or fifteen hundred miles my goal is to get from point A- to point B without a scratch. While the majority of drivers I encounters daily travel on a wing and a prayer.

 

(Seat Belts don’t always Work so why bet your Life)

 



Driving is something you should excel at from the previous days experiences. Whims and flight of fancies behind the wheel is for fools with total disregard for their lives and yours. One day travelling my least favorite Road, my car driven less than nine thousand miles, it was early afternoon so the road wasn’t congested. On a stretch posted 45 Mph I was doing 55, I looked in my rear view mirror the traffic that was following was more than one mile behind. I decided to change lanes to the middle lane, it appears that this young flighty girl driving a twenty years old Heap must have traveled at eighty Mph to have caught up with me in the short time I looked away from the rear view, now we were both sharing the same Lane. If my car was not equipped with blind spot sensors we both would be dead.

 



This is the mindless operation of a Car I am always beating the Drum about. They are out there everywhere. So it is for you the contentious driver to always be on the lookout for the people with missing screws. The driving Instructor who crafted my skills told me to always drive like I am the only one who knows what I am doing. Ten minutes after writing this Blog on a trip to the Bank three miles away,  on a strip of road posted 35 Mph I see a Tow Truck pulling a newer car out of the Ditch with extensive front end damage. Two minutes later a Car driven by mister Flighty became glued to my bumper with his twenty five years old Heap as if I was Towing him. I put on my emergency flashing lights, he backed off slightly and continued driving in his usual mindless approach. Now at twenty nine thousand miles I still sweat bullets when it leaves the driveway.

Safe Driving

Roadside Graves

Anthony Dixon

This is no place for a Gravesite Yet I see them everyday, a makeshift Grave for a Loved one who died at that spot. I have seen these Roadside Graves from Erie Pennsylvania to Dallas Texas and every States in between. The first time I started noticing them on the Highway, I thought to myself that someone needed to rest fell asleep at the wheel. Over the years I have come to realize that it’s careless Drivers who creates them. I drove a Truck for many years so I have been more exposed to Road Horrors than the average Commuters. The Department of Transportation and Osha warns of the Dangers of being behind the wheel for too long a period of time for safety reasons. So I must tell you that Truckers driving for eight hours a day do not cause 90% of the Highway and inner city Fatalities. It’s Soccer Moms , people running errands and people driving like Taxi and Pizza Delivery Drivers, and dont forget the thrill seekers who gets behind the wheel and think they are Racecar Drivers.

There is such a vast difference between a Motorist a Driver and a Vehicle operator. Most People on the Road are only operators, they got their Driver’s Licenses on minimal skills and they operate at that level for the rest of their lives. Bad Driving habits are like any other bad habits they are hard to break sometimes you never loose them until they wreck your life. I have known Jane for all of her life and as long as I have known her she was a reckless Driver, over aggressive and heavy foot on the Gas Pedal. I can’t remember how many bad accidents she has been involved in but none of them made her a better Driver.

Her last accident almost killed her, she never mentioned the other Driver involved or whose fault. The gravity of her injuries told me that all who were involved suffered badly. How can one live with oneself knowing that you cause such calamity on the Roadways because of your imbecilic attitude towards Driving.

As the saying goes, it’s a Fool that does things the same way all the time and expect different results. Whenever I pass a bad accident or a Roadside Grave it strengthens me to become a better Driver, most people neither of which phases them that this could be me, I have always tried to learn from other people’s mistakes, I have been Driving for forty seven years with two wrecks that weren’t my fault and every time I get behind the wheel it’s a new learning experience watching my fellow Drivers Driving mindlessly knowing that the Lord looks out for Babies and Fools.

Not only is it the Lord’s job but to stay alive out there you need to be on the constant lookout for them, remembering to drive like you are the only one out there that knows what they are doing. Then you have the ones who think that Buzz Driving is their God’s given right, also the Chronic

Alcoholic who have been Driving impaired for so long it becomes second Nature. Once while working for a Major Corporation my Boss took me to Lunch at a nearby Bar and Grill, before we were seated his lunch was at the Table a double Scotch on the rocks. Before we left he had another and before his long Commute he would have a couple more. I’m quite sure that when he got Home he had another couple, this was his daily routine he had been doing it all his life until one day going home he ended his Life along with three undeserving Motorists.

Billy Martin had been known to drink and drive, one morning while riding with a Drunk they drove down an embankment killing themselves and so another Roadside Grave was created. Today we have an Epidemic of people who can’t even have sex and chew gum at the same time, yet these same people never put down their Cell Phones, oftentimes they are Texting while driving at sixty MPH or better. When they make impact with your Car there is no skid marks. In conclusion I am telling you to always drive like your life depends on it, because it does.

Safe Driving

Sucks To Be Me

Anthony Dixon

The Driver

It’s a fact of life, the majority of People learning a skill will settle for marginal to good, very few aspire for excellence.Of all the places to be marginal it’s not Driving. If a Doctor settled for marginal, in your time of need he would not be there. Same for Driving, when the time comes for you to Perform you won’t be there for you and the poor fool who puts your life and his in your hands. In Pinellas County 14,15 and 16 Kids are out four am in the morning stealing cars and racing them over 100 MPH to their death all for the thrill of it. It’s the example that we set for them that Driving is a mindless game and that we are all Racecar Drivers.

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One day while traveling on Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania descending Hazelton into Mountain Top, at the point where 80 and 81 intersects 300 yards away a blind Bend awaits, as I entered the Bend at 65 MPH 15 MPH over the speed limit, the Traffic came to a full stop. Still approaching stalled traffic  I began working on my Breaks with short quick stabs in order to not lock them up and farther shoving the VW embedded under the Tractor Trailer, whose Driver’s Head just rolled past me on the Highway. It appears that the Driver of the VW had approached the Bend too fast and reacted slowly to the stalled Traffic.

Witnessing something like that only make me stronger in my commitment to myself and my Driving instructor . Drive like I’m the only one out there that knows what I am doing. He Harped those words like he was selling something to me, I bought it and have saved my life and others many times. Lesson learned from the V.W. Never over-drive. Overdrive is when you Drive faster than you can see or stop, such as a Blind Bend, heavy Fog, poor Lightning or being intoxicated. Heavy Fog, another time while traveling interstate 80 in the Poccono Mountains on a crisp Winter Afternoon, Skies clear and Sun shining. At the Crest of this Mountain lays a flat strip of Roadway, for two hundred yards it was covered with 2-3 inches of Snow and at least 100 Drivers smacking into each other and into the Woods, everything from fender benders to kissing Trees in the Woods. As I approached the Crest I realized that We had just entered an Atmospheric Disturbance.

The 100 plus Drivers ahead of me had Overdriven themselves into it. As soon as my eyes focused through the Thick Snowflakes, I saw once again Traffic coming to a stand still on 2-3 inches of Snow, dead ahead is a Tractor Trailer waiting for me to rear end him and the Van behind me who is still coming too fast to push me into the Truck. If I apply my Breaks too hard I am going to skid into the Truck, with the touch of a Feather I veered away from the Truck to find safety in the middle Lane, the Van following me rear ended the Truck everyone else was in the Woods, as I approached the Crest I took my Foot off the gas because I could not see beyond twenty yards.Thats what not Overdriving is all about.

Am I the only one who walked away from that Fiasco with the idea that Overdriving is bad any time of the Day on any Road surface. There is a time for Running and there is a time to stay within the Safety Apparatus(speed limit) when I am traveling interstate I keep it between ten and fourteen MPH over the speed limit, the faster I travel the higher the awareness and diligence, knowing that whatever can go wrong will go wrong, all the more reason not to Overdrive. It’s only a Fool that exceeds speed limits by 20-30 or 40 MPH the outcome, huge fines loss of License and loss of lives. Sometimes I think that it sucks to be me, always looking out for Fools who think that Driving is a mindless game. At that point I reflect back to all the bad accidents that I have seen and realize that someone have to be the Driver.

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Safe Driving

Where is The Fire

Anthony Dixon

 

 

Moving From Pennsylvania to Tampa has been a culture shock for me. In PA we had regular Auto Insurance and yearly vehicle inspection. Tampa have no fault Insurance, sometimes no Insurance and no vehicle inspection. These are all catalyst for creating Horrendous Driving conditions and Dangerous Drivers. Knowing that collecting Tickets and Wrecks your Insurance Carriers won’t drop you or raise your Premiums sky high so you could not afford to collect Tickets and Wrecks there is no Deterrent for mindless Driving. Watching the Morning News is an ongoing Soap Opera for me, each and every day there are horrendous wrecks. Driving to and from Work is a reoccurring Horror Movie.

 

 

Considering that I have been to Driving University, Driving Taxi in Manhattan at eighteen, taking defensive Driving courses, Driving Courier Service and Drove Commercially for many years. There is nothing that Tampa or Daytona Raceway can throw at me that would overwhelm me. But what of the new Driver or the Seniors who needs their mobility to get to the Doctor or shopping. I can not put it in any stronger Words they are all Maniacs Mindless Drones behind the wheel. Who told these Fools that they know how to drive, when many of them never went to Driving School and had a Professional instructor like I did at sixteen, who told me to always drive like I am the only one on the Road who knew what I was doing and to always know my surroundings, also to back off from the maniac on his way to Hell thinking his name is Mario or Dale.

 

 

The time and effort my Driving instructor invested in me is the Foundation for my Safe Driving Page at adixon7611.com the other components are watching your mindless approach to Driving. Back in PA while working as a Contract Employee I knew the Project Manager so I got a Friend a job. You would think that having two hungry kids would be incentive to develop responsibility. There was not one day that I pulled up in front of his House that he was outside waiting for me. Each and everyday we had an argument over my Driving, he complained that I Drive like an old Woman because I wouldn’t do sixty in a thirty MPH Zone. Eventually we both got fired for being late everyday.

 

 

Which brings us back to Responsibility, No fault and no vehicle inspection makes the Commute a living Hell with people who think it’s a crime to wake up a half an hour early. They wreck havoc an the traffic patterns Barreling through a slight opening, changing lanes with reckless abandon, staying in the left Lane until they are within fifty yards of their exit Ramp expecting everyone to let them in, thus Road Rage is a daily occurrence. In conclusion let me interject that it is only a Fool that does things the same way for twenty five years looking for different results.

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Safe Driving

Pizza Delivery Drivers

Anthony Dixon

Today I observed a Pizza Delivery Driver on a Route and a Run that he had used over two hundred times. Waited until he was within twenty feet to the entrance of his Famous Pizza Shop entrance crossed three Lanes of traffic to make the entrance. That’s how much his Life and yours is worth.

There is never a good enough reason for you to drive like a Taxi Driver or a Pizza delivery Driver, driving too fast cutting people off not signalling and making right on red without coming to a full stop. I am often perplexed when I see people who are usually level headed, gets behind the wheel and mister Hyde takes over and all you see is a Bubble Head Teenager, at any age.

Nothing like watching a sixty years old person driving like he just got his license and he is still racing downhill. The more time you spend driving the better Driver you should aspire to become. The numerous Roadside Graves that I have seen, monuments with flowers to remember a lost one at the spot where they lost their lives, that is enough inspiration for me to drive like I am the only one out there that knows what he is doing. That should also serve you well knowing that Highway safety statistics are created by our driving habits. No one goes out looking to have accidents, it’s the way we drive that creates them, barreling through traffic, tailgating and crossing three lanes of traffic to get to your exit Ramp. Take a good look at yourself you are barely able to change lanes and focus on your mirror, yet you are Texting and fidgeting with your Android. I guess it hasn’t registered to some people that the moment you turned the ignition, it’s lights, action Camera you are on. It’s your moment to be a shining example to other Drivers of how serious you take your driving and how good you are at it. You are only fooling yourself thinking that you are that good you can Text and Drive, it’s only a matter of time before you realize that taking your eyes off the Road for two seconds can be of monumental consequences.

The Roadways are overcrowded as it is and crawling with bad Drivers who do stupid things for no reason, you don’t need anymore distractions. Two seconds at 45 mph is not enough time. The commute is one of my favorite part of the day, my car comes equipped with a Bose system, I use my one hour drive to catch up on my thoughts and to lose myself in the music. Most people dread the commute because they have been driving the same way all their lives, with no game plan and no plan B so if there’s an accident they are late. They haven’t learned that it’s better to get to work half an hour early than five minutes late. Me I leave my house giving myself enough time that if the Road is shut down I still get to work on time. I once knew a man who never made it to work on time in one year, can you imagine how he drove everyday, he did seventy in a thirty five Mph zone.  When you drive like a maniac you don’t give people a chance if they make a mistake. The bad thing about speeding is that you don’t know the damage that those extra twenty Mph can do until your car is embedded in someone front seat and they are in it.

If your hunger for speed is so overwhelming that it becomes second nature you need to see an accident scene where three teens fourteen, fifteen and sixteen lost their lives driving in excess of one hundred Mph. It appears to me that attitude is the biggest setback in creating good Motorists. One of the things that my Driving instructor hammered was, when you get behind the wheel, lose the attitude, the childlike mentality and behavior. Whatever that irks you in life should not affect your mental attitude behind the wheel this is not the place to act out. All that does is it instigates fellow drivers to act accordingly, now you have Road Rage. I don’t matter what eats at you, not personal matters like your home life your job or your relationships. When you get behind the wheel your number one job is to focus on the task of driving, being focused and adept saves lives.

The Driver who mowed down a Mother crossing the street with her three year old and one year old left no skid marks, the one year old died. How does one live with themselves after killing a one year old child because you weren’t paying attention. You hear about these awful occurrences on the Roadways but it doesn’t hit home until you are involved. I chose this subject because you hear conversation about everything under the sun except driving, why is that, is it that most drivers are mediocre and they have nothing to share in the area of expertise. They will tell you about their near misses and the bad wrecks that aren’t their fault, but they have nothing to tell of their evasive maneuvers like taking the vehicle off the Road to avoid running into an accident scene littered with vehicles all over the Road. It’s those split second decisions that saves lives, and are worth talking  about.

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