The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Numerous small mistakes widen the path to widespread failure. These proverbs or axioms each apply to many of our world’s problems. The mistake of “blind eye diplomacy” certainly led to the terrible events on the U.S. Capitol steps and inside its halls Wednesday. That violent, terroristic act of war was the result of seditious rhetoric and both the acts and the words rose to a fever pitch because of enablers. These dangerous, horrific words and acts appall nearly everyone, regardless of political leanings.
Is that too much? Are you done with the column? Take a little break; it’ll be right here when you return. The next ideas actually apply to almost everyone.
Rare is the Georgian or Atlantan who actually thinks most other people are good drivers or that drivers in Georgia deserve a good grade.
Driving in the Peach State was more deadly in 2020 than in 2019, despite overall miles traveled decreasing because of COVID-19. GSP continues to hand out hundreds of citations for violating the 2018 Hands-Free Georgia Act. 2020 saw a sharp increase in drivers being cited for super-speeding in Atlanta.
The increase in Metro Atlanta’s crash count in Q3 of 2020 outpaced growing traffic volume, as more businesses and campuses reopened. A break out of anarchistic street racing and drifting shut down roads in cities nationwide, not the least of which is our Capital City. Objectively, Georgia drivers are collectively defecating where they sleep, rather than drive.
Georgia State Patrol reported last week that 13 people died in the 78-hour New Year’s driving period. GSP alone worked 474 crashes, issued 372 DUIs, and gave out nearly 8,000 citations in less than four days. But those numbers still might not be enough to move some moral needles.
During this deadly driving period, GSP investigated the tragic death of DeKalb PD Sergeant Daniel Mobley. In his supervisory role, he drove to Downtown Atlanta to investigate his cohort’s wreck at about 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 2nd. As Mobley surveyed the scene in the sweeping curve on I-75/85/southbound south of Williams Street, a reckless driver plowed into and killed Mobley. Mobley was 44-years-old.
Mobley, like many around the world, had likely rung out 2020 even harder than welcoming in the New Year. The 22-year DeKalb PD veteran barely got a sniff of the new hope of 2021. A passing driver selfishly and avoidably snuffed out Mobley’s life.
At this point, one might read this and say, “Yeah, those people are terrible!”
That kind of thinking is a philosophical failure of checking one’s own blind spot. Now is high time Georgia drivers properly change lanes.
We allow or encourage bad driving all the time. Yes, even those of us who recognize errant and selfish drivers in our state - we are enablers. We remain quiet when our family or friends grab their phones, while in motion and behind the wheel. “I don’t want to nag. I want to keep the peace,” we may say.
Correcting a driver, especially someone we love, can open a good door to discussion (if done correctly and without an overly emotional infusion). Sometimes behavior stops when the right person says the right thing. In fact, my wife Momo and I had this exact discussion recently. One behavior in the car by one of us led to an entire discussion about how to properly approach it. We can all agree that impactful conversation is far better than a high-impact crash.
We often justify our own bad driving behavior, because we think we are actually better-than-average drivers. “I can handle doing 90, but that idiot over there is going to wreck,” we may say. Technically, this may be true; drivers have different skill levels. But driving far above the speed limit increases our risk and decreases our reaction time.
There is also something more consequential about speeding, erratic lane-changing, tailgating, or just, overall, being selfish. When we drive sophomorically, we lower the bar. When we misbehave, we subconsciously alert others that driving that way is acceptable. Almost every person succumbs to this kind of herd behavior.
Regressing to the mean is exactly how protests with a few enraged outliers turn into predominantly violent mobs. Once the first person or two topples the fence or breaks the window, many others follow suit. Those actions just became acceptable by that group’s terms of engagement. The same phenomenon is happening with us on the Georgia roads.
How many more ways can we slice this? Drive with more than yourself in mind. Be an advocate for more than just your schedule. Be a leader in your own family or friend group. Bad behavior is contagious, but so is good behavior. Many Americans have clamored for reasonable voices on the political and social stage. Those admirable aspirations are empty if we don’t do strive for the same in our own cars and on our streets. Road fatalities are almost completely avoidable. We must do better and stop enabling, well, ourselves. We, the people. We, the drivers. We, the killers. We can stop the bleeding.
Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. He also hosts a traffic podcast with Smilin’ Mark McKay on wsbradio.com. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.
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