Drivers seem to forget they're steering a death machine

Here is my latest IMHO article, as published by the Winnipeg Free Press

A lot of people in this town -- and elsewhere I'm sure -- tend to drive as if it takes no more attention than walking down the sidewalk. In virtually every other vehicle someone is talking on the phone, putting on makeup, fiddling with the stereo and/or slugging a beverage.
If I were an apologist mouthpiece for a wireless provider or a "productivity" lobbyist, I might diplomatically label this "multitasking." But as someone who shares the road with these idiots, I'm inclined to point out that they are abusing their privilege to drive -- to a dangerously vain extreme.

I am constantly amazed that driving, which has to be the most dangerous activity we do daily as humans, is looked upon so casually. Everyone behind the wheel operates a potential death machine -- among certain age groups auto accidents are the No. 1 killer -- and yet so many of us seem to view our commute as a vacation from an otherwise hectic day.

When you are 15 or 16 you can start to learn how to drive. If you enroll in Driver Education they show you some gruesome highway accidents and try and indoctrinate you into a cautious approach. However, within a week of being behind the wheel you will undoubtedly be left with the impression that the classroom portion of your education is about as practical as the formulas they are shoving down your throat in math.

Like anyone learning a new skill, young drivers will learn more from their experience on the road than from any instructor, however well qualified. While lethal carnage can only be expressed as a probability, rudeness, impatience and displays of passive-aggressive behaviour are constants. Is it any wonder that there are three generations of Winnipeg drivers who view a yellow light as an invitation to speed? Just try being a cautious driver in this city. People honk at you for doing the speed limit, jeer at you for using a signal, and use that two-car buffer you've given yourself to jockey between the faster-moving lanes.

Sadly, there is little motivation for people to change their driving habits as they age. Whereas a teenager's rebellious nature will be naturally tamed by the cruel forces of economic reality and a desire for social acceptance, no such reformatory provocations exist on the road. It is only the distant fear of a fine or brief suspension that keeps our streets from becoming the chaotic playground of reckless motorists young and old.

The dog-eat-dog mentality of our city's roadways would not stand in other public settings. For instance, would one cut off a person using a walker to get ahead in a queue at the bank? If someone politely asked to get by in a shopping lane where your cart was in the way, would you refuse them, or start pushing just quickly enough to impede them?

You might do these things, but generally your actions would be regarded as antisocial and unacceptable.

Yet when you are anonymously concealed behind the glass and steel of your vehicle, you become somehow superhuman. Anything goes, because you are gone already, turning the corner, out of earshot, and not really responsible for your actions. The moment in history when you might have been held accountable is already a distant memory.

I have a proposal to fix this gap between action and consequence. It is a concept that does not involve more police, harsher penalties or increased taxation. It is as simple as making everyone who owns a vehicle affix a "How's my driving?" sign to their rear windshield. Each decal would carry the person's home and/or office phone number, and the offended would be free to call and comment on the offender's atrocious driving.

Sure, there would be a few abuses, but would they be any worse than the distress we suffer daily at the hands of negligent, egocentric -- and sometimes downright belligerent -- Winnipeg motorists?


Although previously employed as a sign-maker, Ryan Kinrade does not stand to profit financially or politically from this scheme.