Although you may or may not believe that you are an accident waiting to happen, the actual problem and the extent of the problem are for the most part invisible to most people, mainly because the average person does not see or hear about the accidents that happen every day, and in fact every hour in any average-sized city.

The problem is why people make the mistakes they do, which they wouldn't if they knew what the problems were.

Of course just because you make a mistake doesn't mean you will crash, but all crashes are caused by mistakes. Furthermore, some rules are more flexible than other rules. Speed limits, for example, are fairly flexible, a little over, a little under. Red lights, on the other hand, are not flexible at all. Running a red light is very, very dangerous.

Understanding

The problem is in your whether or not you believe it will happen to you, which is determined by how you feel about it, which is determined by what you think about it. If you get your nose broken, you'll feel differently about taking chances than someone who has never even felt a pin prick. Taking a chance is, in fact, a mistake, and if you use your imagination, you won't need to experience the reality.

Never do this.

Don't do this either.

This would also suck.

How does that happen?

Good gravy! I couldn't do

that if I tried!

Nice tree!

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More REALITY:

• There were over 6 million car crashes in North America last year. 6 million car crashes in one year. 6 million crashes! In one year!
• Over a hundred thousand car crashes per year in a large city, like New York for example. Over 100 000 crashes per year in one big city alone. 
• Or, for a different example, over 25 thousand car crashes per year in a smaller city such as Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• Per day, that equates to approximately 16,438 car crashes every day, 274 car crashes per day in New York City, or 68 car crashes per day in Calgary.
• Per hour, that equates in North America to almost 700 car crashes per hour, in New York City a dozen car crashes every hour, and in Calgary, Canada, three car crash every hour.
• Of course, these are statistics, and cars don't crash every hour like clockwork. There are many more crashes during different times, like Friday afternoon vs. Sunday morning. The rate of collisions is actually higher on a Friday afternoon than the statistical average.
• And even if you account for the spike in statistics caused by bad weather, which amounts to approximately 30% of all crashes, that's still over 200 crashes/hour in North America, more than a half dozen crashes/hour in New York, and almost two crashes/hour in Calgary. Snow is slippery, but most accidents happen on dry roads!

Fact: The front of a car hitting the back of another car is the most common crash, twice as common as any other crash, and a third of all crashes. The "rear-ender" is always the rear-ender's fault, not the faulth of the person in front who hit the brakes suddenly. You cannot go faster than the car in front of you, and you have absolutely no reason whatsoever to get close to the car in front of you. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. It is therefore your fault if you get too close.

Fact: It is not illegal to push the brake - HARD - and at any time, for any reason whatsoever. Many drivers are unaware of this simple fact, or ignore it, and so they get close to the car in front.  Then they just can't brake as quickly as they think they can when the driver in front slams on the brakes, which the driver in front is legally entitled and has every other right to do. Driving gets so boring that people start to get pushy when traffic gets heavy, and the result is that the rear-ender is more common than almost all of the other crashes combined.

Fact: Even if the driver in front slams on the brake as hard as possible, if you are not following close and are paying attention, you will not crash.

What are the chances that the driver in front will suddenly slam on the brake?

Fact: more likely than, say, winning the lottery for example. Much, much, much more likely. But what do you believe? What do you want to believe?

Tell you what, try this, if you think you're so lucky: quit your job and buy a bunch of lottery tickets, and then we'll see how lucky you really are, you lucky, lucky you.

No exeptions to the laws of physics in traffic

There are no exceptions to these simple facts. The laws of physics are unchanging. Most drivers have bad habits that make them (the drivers) accidents waiting to happen, waiting for just a bit of bad luck. But if you drive properly, luck has nothing to do with it.

Yet try telling that to people who don't believe it, or don't want to believe it, because if they do believe it, and act accordingly, that means they'll need to increase the space in front of them, which means getting off of the 'happy pedal' (the gas pedal,) and that also means someone else might go into that space.

Is that wrong? That someone might go into that space? Is that so wrong?

Your response to this simple question demonstrates your attitude toward risk, traffic, rules, government, speed, police, other people, society, money, insurance and the other driver's right to change lanes into the space in front of you, and the subsequent, temporary reduction of speed that will result for you from making that little space.

Some people just can't get their foot off of the gas no matter what the truth is. Why? Because they are ill. People don't need speeding tickets, they need therapy!

There are three causes of accidents: lack of knowledge, lack of skill and lack of proper attitude.

Most people don't crash because they don't know the difference between a gas pedal and a brake pedal, or how to turn the car. Driving a car is easy. Crashing is also easy. All it takes is one mistake. And paying higher insurance rates, healing in the hospital or lying in state is just as easy. But then, so is following the rules and thus eliminating accidents.

Attitude is, therefore the leading cause of car accidents.

Your attitude is based on how you feel.

What you feel is based on what you think.

What you think is based on what you learn.

What you learn is available here at how not to drive.com.

Whether you read what's here or not will determine whether or not you lower your own risk of a car accident.

But it's your choice. Return to the top and view the most common problems to start with!

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