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(800)
USA-HURT
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Internet
Edition 2008.01
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From My Lane To
Yours
Bobby Hataway
"Houston, we have a problem." This infamous line was worded during the Apollo 13 mission when the Lunar Module developed problems due to an oxygen explosion. The words can be equally worded for the transportation industry of today. We have a problem...
Have you noticed how many of our units on the highway are tailgating 4 wheelers? As you travel to and from work and you have witnessed 18 wheelers riding on the bumper of the 4 wheeler directly in front of them. Drivers, you have seen your friends try to push a 4 wheeler right off the interstate by tailgating so close that the occupants of the 4 wheeler have got to be scared out of their wits.
What causes a man who has to deliver his cargo cross country with plenty of time to do it, get right on the back of a 4 wheeler as if he is losing time? Well the bottom line is that it is not the lack of time or the loss of time that is the problem. It is road rage.
We associate road rage with 4 wheelers going after 4 wheelers which is like pairing two combatants in the old west with equal 45 caliber pistols and they go after it to see which one is going to come out alive. Yet what we see on our highways today is an 18 wheeler going after a 4 wheeler with such vengeance that if he could, he would run right over him. This is the same as one combatant in the old west coming out with a 45 caliber pistol only to face a 50 caliber machine gun. Obviously he is going to lose and lose by a large margin. If the 18 wheeler could and would make contact with the 4 wheeler, the 4 wheeler is going to lose.
Yet
who really loses? Think about it for a moment. At the very
best scenario, you have an accident where no one gets physically hurt,
yet the vehicles are damaged. You will have to call the police and
reports will have to be made.Not
to mention that your company is going to look at you with a skeptical eye
when they see the police report that says that you were traveling too close
to the vehicle in front of you. You could be fired.
The
worst case scenario is that you do hit the 4 wheeler for whatever the cause
and do bodily harm to the occupants in the 4 wheeler. As for the
4 wheeler, this could be a man or woman on the way home from work with
2 or 3 children waiting to see them. We have a way or getting so
outraged over a 4 wheeler slowing down in front of us or getting in our
lane that we forget that real live people are involved. It is our
rage that is manifested toward rage itself and not the people in the 4
wheelers.
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How many times have we addressed drivers who are remorseful for their actions in taking the life of others through an act of negligence or road rage? The whole process takes on different meanings when we are out of the truck and looking at an ambulance loading up one or two people who have lost their lives as a result of our rage. The rage is gone and all that is left is the remnants of the vehicles. The greatest loss is the children who now have to face life through adoption, family or foster care. Was it worth it? Even if we do escape the scenario completely and show 4 wheelers that they can not make fools of us on the road. What have we accomplished? Those folks are probably writing down our unit number and our company and at the first opportunity they will be on the phone reporting us to our dispatcher. Do you get on your cell phone and report them? No, you do not want the dispatcher or the company to know anything about it. Why don't you use this as a rule – if you are not proud enough to pick up your cell phone and call your company and report it – then do not do it in the first place. You can change lanes, slow down or even pull off at the next exit and check your tires. The stress will be gone immediately and you will feel better about yourself and your profession in knowing that you did the right thing. |
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