Violators unlikely to be ticketed!
DW and I traveled from Florida to Maine recently and we are thankful to have arrived home all in one piece. I saw an article on television about the driverless car manufacturers planning to put th...
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We, too, used to live in Austin, TX. Sheesh.
I was fortunate to have been trained by the best there is outside law enforcement - Greyhound and UPS. Greyhound was 8-10 hours per day six days a week for six weeks. We practiced, practiced, practiced every scenario you can imagine. Hauling people was the most precious cargo going. After the bus business went in the toilet I got on with UPS driving the big trucks in Wyoming and Colorado. Many more weeks of training and check rides every month or two afterward. The result is over a million commercial miles accident free. I have absolutely no idea how many non-commercial miles accident free over the last 46 years. I'm not special, I just got great training.
That leads me to believe adequate training is a must, but pretty well non-existent. Looking in mirrors, using signals, being aware should all be ingrained habit, no thinking about it. If you vehicle is going to change position that will be preceded by a signal. Every time. No exceptions - none of the not-signalling because there is no one around. Do it every time and then you don't miss. But I have to say, I do catch myself occasionally missing one - and I let myself know about it!!
If you watch people on the highways you will notice they are driving the same way they do in city traffic. Driving in heavy congested traffic requires faster lane changes, quick movements etc. That's ok at 35 mph. Doing the same moves at 65 or 70 and the danger grows exponentially. Proper extensive training would have a huge impact on things. The three most dangerous things people engage in and are mostly woefully under trained: Driving - shooting guns - raising kids.
How many of us are willing to attend 200 hours of serious and extensive training before getting our licenses? That followed up with a 10 hour refresher course every few years? Would you be comfortable riding in a plane with a pilot who was shown the controls and let go after an hour's familiarization and no follow-ups? Why not? They have radios, control towers, radar, weather info and multiple people in the cockpit? Driver's have none of that for the most part.
I was fortunate to have been trained by the best there is outside law enforcement - Greyhound and UPS. Greyhound was 8-10 hours per day six days a week for six weeks. We practiced, practiced, practiced every scenario you can imagine. Hauling people was the most precious cargo going. After the bus business went in the toilet I got on with UPS driving the big trucks in Wyoming and Colorado. Many more weeks of training and check rides every month or two afterward. The result is over a million commercial miles accident free. I have absolutely no idea how many non-commercial miles accident free over the last 46 years. I'm not special, I just got great training.
That leads me to believe adequate training is a must, but pretty well non-existent. Looking in mirrors, using signals, being aware should all be ingrained habit, no thinking about it. If you vehicle is going to change position that will be preceded by a signal. Every time. No exceptions - none of the not-signalling because there is no one around. Do it every time and then you don't miss. But I have to say, I do catch myself occasionally missing one - and I let myself know about it!!
If you watch people on the highways you will notice they are driving the same way they do in city traffic. Driving in heavy congested traffic requires faster lane changes, quick movements etc. That's ok at 35 mph. Doing the same moves at 65 or 70 and the danger grows exponentially. Proper extensive training would have a huge impact on things. The three most dangerous things people engage in and are mostly woefully under trained: Driving - shooting guns - raising kids.
How many of us are willing to attend 200 hours of serious and extensive training before getting our licenses? That followed up with a 10 hour refresher course every few years? Would you be comfortable riding in a plane with a pilot who was shown the controls and let go after an hour's familiarization and no follow-ups? Why not? They have radios, control towers, radar, weather info and multiple people in the cockpit? Driver's have none of that for the most part.
