Eyes on the Road

Figuratively, I am on a road to optimism, so I try to keep my ranting here to a minimum. Tonight, however, I am angry. I am angry because while on an actual road, someone failed to pay attention while driving his vehicle, and nearly killed my entire family.

I was driving, sitting in the intersection waiting to make my left turn. As I made the turn, a Jeep Cherokee came along from the right, ignored or missed the fact that his light was red, and very nearly t-boned the passenger side of our car at full speed (which, around this intersection varies from 40-50 MPH or more). It was so much closer than I dare to recall, so I will try not to picture it, but--by the grace of whatever is out there--we were not hit.

I am not a person who believes that driving is a right. I believe it is a privilege that carries a serious responsibility which most clearly take for granted. Probably because we, in the U.S., have come to view driving as something everyone should do. It's a charming little rite of passage for our 16 year old kids. There's at least one car per person in any given household. Yet if any terrorist group or murderer or obscure disease killed or maimed as many people as car accidents do every day, there would be outrage and telethons and run-walks and weepy celebrities calling for action. But apparently the convenience is worth the casualties.

Even the best drivers make stupid mistakes, and all you can do is hope that your inevitable slips of judgment mean no more than a fender-bender or someone giving you the finger instead of a trip to the hospital or the morgue. Many believe that the general public cannot be trusted with a gun, but a two-ton projectile moving at high speeds is somehow acceptable for anyone who's had a sweet sixteen. Hm.