It is fairly obvious that during the holidays we all need to take extra care on the roads, even the ones with which we are most familiar. The increased traffic and potential distraction from gadgets can result in accidents so it’s worth being extra vigilant on and off the public roads.
This afternoon after coming home from work I drove into our townhouse complex. There quite a bit of common property driveway to cover along the way but I was stopped about halfway in by a stationery car smack bang in the middle (meaning I couldn’t get past). It was facing the opposite direction to where I was going and the driver inside was glued to their phone. I thought I would be patient and wait for them.
However, without looking up, the other car started moving forward without the driver having looked up from his device. He wouldn’t have been doing more than 5km/h which is relatively slow (bit faster than walking pace) but obviously still capable of causing an accident between two vehicles. Just as I was about to beep my horn he looked up and was startled to find me sitting in my car looking back at him and was immediately apologetic.
The messages we get in the media with regard to driving safely all seem to be centred around safety on public roads. That’s fair enough but people need to realise about safety on private properties as well. This includes service stations, fast food joints, shopping centres, business premises, etc. When you’re behind the wheel with the ignition on and the park brake off that should be the end of mucking around with gadgets until you’ve properly parked the vehicle out of the way of others.
It’s simple mistakes that can be addressed in order to avoid causing headaches for ourselves and others at this time of year. Finish up with your gadgets and have a good look around before heading out on the roads.
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