Driving Safety: all jammed up

Megan Roth

Contributor

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I don’t mean to be repetitive (if you’ve read my other articles, you’ve heard this before), but thank goodness I don’t have to drive!

I watch every morning, afternoon and evening as cars sit through multiple traffic lights without moving because it’s rush hour and they’re unable to progress. How frustrating – the whole situation looks positively dreadful if you ask me! And, based on what I’ve heard, New York rush hour doesn’t even pale in comparison to the traffic buildups in Los Angeles and other spread out cities.

Ick - no way, Jose – not for me…definitely not for me.

But for many, sitting in traffic isn’t a choice. They have to get from point A to point B within a certain time frame and often there’s no other way to do it. So they sit on the Harbour Freeway (or whatever forsaken freeway they take) for what seems like a lifetime.

Sitting in such traffic may seem minimal in terms of risk as most often the traffic doesn’t progress very quickly and the odds of a high speed accident are, well, minimal (to say the least). However, crawling along at a snail’s pace can actually be somewhat dangerous and carries certain risks of its own.

For starters, think about what causes such traffic buildups. Sometimes accidents occur which explain the holdup (as police and clean-up crews need time to investigate and clear the road before letting other vehicles through); however, most daily buildups are the result of lane-hoppers and drivers unwilling to follow the ‘every other’ practice of allowing cars to merge gracefully.

It’s frustrating, isn’t it? And it explains why the vast majority of drivers in such situations are irritated, angry and short on patience (which is only natural, considering they’re essentially at a stand-still). Under such conditions, that irritability can present itself in some undesirable attitudes which can foster some less-than-desirable behaviors (road rage can become a major issue and you never know how one will (re)act under such stress).

And while some act out in anger (my uncle had a gun pulled on him in a traffic jam once; he was instigating, of course, but the reaction is uncalled for nonetheless), others simply react in boredom. It’s not uncommon to see people stuck in a traffic jam get out of their cars and pace along the pavement. Seems harmless enough, but what happens if traffic suddenly begins to move? What if the cars around you start moving and you’re not prepared? It’s a rare occasion, but what if you (or your car) get hit by another vehicle? Like I said, it’s unlikely but it has happened. And at best, you’ll frustrate other drivers and could spark the aforementioned road rage.

Or, what if when traffic does moving, an overzealous driver punches on the gas (or even accidentally lets up on the brake) and rear-ends you. You’d think such fender benders wouldn’t really be an issue as traffic is essentially at a standstill; however, such isn’t always the case. Depending on how hard the driver presses the gas or how long he lets up on the brake, a car can actually get moving much quicker than one would think. And, the faster the speed the more serious the injuries that you may sustain can be.

Unfortunately traffic build-ups are not something we can control (and often times they're not something we can avoid); however, in the event that we do get stuck in traffic, we can make ourselves knowledgeable about certain safety issues surrounding them and be as aware and safe as we can reasonably be.