Please slow your ass down.
That's right, when you drive your car, motorcycle, suv or truck.
Whether you're a punk doing a "takeover" of a public street or intersection.
Or a Speed Racer Wannabe sawing back and forth between highway lanes.
Or a big mamma wheeling a lifted Hummer at a 100MPH down a rural road.
People are driving like they are nuts.
They flip each other off, ride 2 feet from your bumper on the freeway, eat sloppy burgers, fiddle with their electronics and phones. Anything but actually paying attention and driving with the overall flow of traffic.
I race cars on road courses. I don't take a back seat to anybody for speeding. But I do it in context, legally, within a rulebook, with a group of fellow racers who expect the unexpected, with an ambulance just yards away with a doctor attending. Because I'm not an idiot.
Are you? If you want to race, go to Watkins Glen or an NHRA dragstrip. Pay your fee and race.
Think about what you're doing when you race on the street.
You're demonstrating to other drivers and youngsters that driving is a ruthless unserious activity. Drink your Big Gulp and drive with your kneecap while the cell phone is pinched between your ear and shoulder.
Your kids or the other cars' kids mean so little to you?
Do you really think getting to work or the store 30 seconds sooner than otherwise is worth the extra hazards?
How will you stop in time if a deer, bicyclist, or kid chasing a ball suddenly darts out in front? Are you keeping a diligent outlook through the windshield? Do you leave assured clear distance? Do you think of emergency contingency maneuvers? THINK!
You are piloting a lethal 2-ton missile made of metal. It's not a video game. It's not a trivial undertaking.
When you go to the funeral of a beautiful 17 year old girl killed by her boyfriend showing off, or a toddler backed over by his father, or a CEO killed by a distracted driver using their Apple phone, or when it's you in the casket - maybe then you'll wake up? Too late.
Grow up. Sober up. And drive like it.
