Slow Down? Or – Think!

I spend a significant amount of time on the roadway. Lots of it is “in-town,” but I am not unfamiliar with Interstate 20 (along with a multitude of others highways) headed East.

While I sometimes get tagged (by my friends, no less) with being a “fast” driver, the truth is, I long ago abandon exceeding the speed limit unless required to do so to avoid situations that need to be avoided. Sometimes one just has to “get on down the road” when trouble is brewing.

Some people believe that speed is always bad. But is it? Or is it that people, who may be quite logical and thoughtful in every area of their life except driving, just make too many mistakes while “behind the wheel.”

Crowded with motorists and tractor trailers, the I-10 phalanx was moving at near 70 miles per hour despite the pea soup fog that rolled in, authorities said. Texas and Utah are the only states that allow truckers to travel at 80 miles an hour, while most states only allow 65-mile-an-hour truck travel.(Yahoo News)

Seems to me the issue here is “fog,” not speed. And – how do you slow people down? When the National speed limit was “55” I was often the slowest car on the road when I drove the speed limit. When it was “65,” same thing. Now that it is “75” on I-20 East of Terrell, I still find myself being passed by a majority of cars and trucks.

Lowering the speed limit won’t help much. More DPS Troopers helps a little. But what would help most is “paying attention” to one’s driving. Drive the limit, but slow down when conditions warrant. Try to think of the “other guy” once in a while and watch out for those folks who are poking along.

The same thing is true about life. Many are in such a hurry – they never slow down enough to realize that the journey is short – the next life is long (and I do mean long), and one best spend some times examining one’s preparedness. After all – one can get killed out there on the roadways.