As with any driver who spend a number of hours behind the wheel of an automobile I know I have made mistakes. I doubt there is a driver who can honestly say they have not made an error once in a while. There are few drivers out there, as well, who cannot say they have seen some other driver make some mistake or who did not follow courteous and required rules of the road.
One of the advantages we have in rural Saskatchewan is we don't have a great deal of traffic. When we make those mistakes we are often lucky enough the error did not cause any damage or threat to life.
I think one thing that has helped me is that since I reported my disability to our license issuing agency I have been required to take a driving test to prove I am still able to safely operate a motor vehicle. Why I say that this has helped me is that, in the process of taking these tests, I have had to review the rules of the road and doing so has helped me to insure I put any bad habits that might have built up aside. I've refreshed my safe driving habits at regular intervals.
In looking at this process, I have come to believe each and every driver should have to go through this same process every few years just to overcome the tendency of human beings to get a lax in following rules that are there to insure the safety of every person who is travelling our roadways. Often when I have spoken this view, I have had some who are adamant they should not be subjected to such scrutiny in the belief they do not need to be assessed since they have driven for many years and know what they are doing. But if we really think about this, are we always doing our best? If we are really honest though how many of us have not seen something happen and been quite upset with the way another driver has been driving, what is the chance that someone else has had the opportunity to say the same about us?
I am not suggesting the test process would take away a lot of licenses, but that it could be used as a retraining tool to help us improve our driving habits. Yes there might be some who are restricted and forced to redo their test to prove they are capable, but for the greatest part we could all become better drivers. This process could also include some classroom instruction that could be delivered via multiple media so as not to be constrictive of our time.
The reason that I am on about this is that I recently took a trip through the Rockies in which I was subjected to some poor driving situations in which some drivers were causing dangerous situations that were affecting numerous other travellers. The situation that appeared most was when passing lanes were supplied there were many drivers who were travelling much slower than the majority of the vehicles on the road but who were refusing to keep to the right hand lane even though signage was adequately displayed. The majority of the traffic, including semi trailers, was having to move into the right lane to pass them then moving back to the left to pass other slow moving vehicles. In a couple of cases the process of going along an area where there was a passing lane, vehicles were jogging back and forth to make their way. The drivers who were causing this seemed to be unaware of the problem they were causing. This feeds my belief something should be done at regular intervals to insure driving conditions are safe for all and by making some sort of general ruling to assess all drivers so we are not seen to be targeting any one group.
Quote: "The one thing that unites all human beings regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside, we all believe that we are above average drivers." Dave Barry
