Either Drive Safely or Play "The Blame Game"

"When two quarrel, both are to blame" ~ Dutch Proverb

"Mr. Sweeney, that tailgater riding our rear is really getting on my nerves! Is it OK with you if I stomp on the brake real hard and then let up on it real fast? I want to scare him off!"

"No!! You know better than that! Just relax and make sure you don't have to make any sudden stops. You don't want to be involved in a rear end collision. Believe you me!"

"Hee, Hee! Just kidding! But even if he hit us, wouldn't it be his fault?"

"Yes, Caitlin, it would be, but wouldn't you just rather get home on time?"

Just about everyday my students and I are threatened by careless or aggressive drivers. After we yield right of way to them or take evasive action, the kids pepper me with questions or comments such as:

"That wasn't fair!"

"If we had crashed, wouldn't it have been their fault?"

"Who would get the ticket?"

"Why did we have to yield to that jerk? We had the right of way!"

I'll answer with a quick analysis of what the other guy should have done if we lived in a perfect world where everyone drove by the book.

Then I ask them if they would rather be alive or right.

Word combinations like "right and wrong", "guilty or not guilty", "liable or exempt" are used in nice, comfortable offices by lawyers and insurance adjusters to sort things out after the crash.

Drivers on the cold, cruel road ought to be more concerned with phrases like "safe or dangerous" and "dead or alive".

Drivers(at least good drivers) are more concerned with avoiding crashes rather than figuring out who the bad guy is.

Good drivers yield to those who are mistaken because we'd rather go home a few seconds later than waste hours on things such as:

1. bandaging wounds
2. talking to police officers*
3. filling out accident reports (don't you already have enough homework?)
4. waiting for repairs on a busted up vehicle
5. lying in bed waiting for bones to mend
6. talking to insurance people*
7. talking to lawyers and judges*

Don't play the Blame Game. It's a game that you will lose whether you're right or wrong.

Instead compensate for the other driver's mistakes. Slow down when that knucklehead races out in front of your vehicle with only inches to spare. He shouldn't have done it, but give him some room anyway. You won't regret it.

*Not that there is anything wrong with talking to these great folks, but wouldn't you rather do so under better circumstances? Like at a ball game or a picnic?