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slow down, do it gradually so that
vehicles behind you can adjust.
4 .
When you start to pass, make
sure another car isn' t passing you.
First, use your turn signa!; then
look in the rear and side-view mir–
rors. Finally, take a brief look
over your shoulder before you
pull out.
5. As you approach the crest
of a hill , slow down a bit and be
mentally prepared in case there
is a barrier or hazard on the
other side.
6. Whenever there is a car
t raveling toward you in t he
opposite lane on a single-Jane
highway, wait until Jater to tune
the radio or scold a chi ld . Even a
momenta ry distraction co uld
cause you to veer directly into a
head-on crash or onto a soft shoul–
der where you could lose control.
Where Have All the Drunk
Drivers Gone? - To Pot
Driving under the influence of marijuana
can cause the driver to think he's only doing
40 mi les an hour when in fact he is doing 80
or 90. Marijuana intoxication may cause
impairment of time reaction; inability to
brake quickly; impairment of night driving
abilities; a marked increase in the time
needed to recover from glare; difficulty in
backing, turning a round, passing, getting
on or off roads.
7. Concentrate on obeying the
"Golden Rule" when driving:
• PIWE:;;;llitl
lmpai rments caused by pot plus alcohol
are more than additive. One drug serves to
" tire up" the other. Thus, one plus one
equals three or
tour
on the impairment scale.
" Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you." This
one driving rule- if
universal/y
practiced- would
save tens of
thousands of l ives annually
throughout the Western wor ld
alone.
lt
is so easy, when driving, to
become impatient and demanding
and forget al! of the normal civil–
ized habits of caution and courtesy.
The tremendous lethal power sud–
denly placed into the hands of a
driver requires a great deal of
maturity and responsibility.
We
must
learn to exercise
sobriety, caution, courtesy and out–
going concern for the very lives of
our fellow human beings whe n
driving. Otherwise, the expensive
· vehicle that could have been a great
pleas ure a nd convenience may
instead become a death trap or a
killer.
Home Accldent s
The record keepers say that about
four million Americans are injured
each year in home accidents. A sur–
prising survey by two researc h
groups disclosed that three quarters
of the 48,727 people answering the
questionnaires thought the acci–
dents were preventable.
"This is a startling change in
peoples' att itudes toward accident
prevention," said H oward Pyle,
Safety Council President. "For
February 1982
years, mos t people believed
that an accident was not pre–
ventable, [but] an act of God or
fate. This apparent shift ... is gra–
tifying to al! those concerned with
safety and accident prevention."
Most home accidents reported
involve tripping over, falling off or
out of things, striking, bumping,
s lippi ng , dropping o r fa ll ing .
Again, the under-20 age group
experienced the highest rate of per–
sonal injury, while the lowest
injury rate was in the 35 to
44
age
brackets.
Obviously, greater patience and
care needs to be taken by the
young, and by parents of very
young children who need to more
closely supervise their activities
around knives and sharp objects,
fire , stoves, fans a nd ot h er
appliances. But the elde rly, too,
need to be more cautious in reach–
ing, lifting, pulling and especially
when using stairways.
Lack of CHARACTER lnvo lved
In Acciden ta
The exercise of right character--or
the lack of it- is very much
involved in whether acci–
dents occur. The development
of right character is one of the chief
reasons for which humans have
been given life and breath by our
Creator.
We
will be held accountable
for
how we use the mechanical vehicles
and contrivances that God has given
us the ability to invent and produce.
Most auto crashes are not strictly
accidents. They are
caused.
They
are usually caused by someone who
is regularly and knowingly driving
too fast;
by someone who is regular–
ly and knowingly
drinking t oo
much.
They are often caused when
someone is constantly selfish, vain,
thinking of himself rather than
others, arrogant , impatient , careless–
ly following other drivers too closely,
weaving in and out of t raffic, literal–
ly bullying his way down the high–
way
askingfor troub/e.
Drivers, having Jearned how to
speedily annihilate space, put them–
selves in constant danger of
annihi–
/ating one another.
It
is easy to Jet
the speed needle climb without
noticing it. But as a decent human
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