Zen, the art of mindful driving

The law doesn’t govern every driving behavior — some actions are influenced by thoughtfulness, or the lack thereof. For example, if a thoughtful driver were caught in the left lane when needing to turn right to Aunt Bessie’s house, he or she would circle around the block and try again. Thoughtless drivers stop in their tracks, hold up traffic, then dart in front of others in the right lane to accomplish the turn they simply have to make.

A thoughtful driver would give N.W., an 83-year-old veteran, some due consideration as he trims his hedge. However, it seems to him that thoughtless drivers are the norm. He asks, “What is your take on giving ordinary people like me a little room when you drive by?” My take, N.W., is that maintaining distance from people and animals is one way to avoid hitting them — just common sense.

Here’s N.W.’s situation and hope: “I live on an arterial and have a hedge about 10 or 12 feet from the pavement. When I am out trimming the hedge, I like to have the vehicles give me lots of room — even into the other lane if the traffic allows it. It can be very aggravating to have vehicles, especially large vehicles with loud exhausts or knobby tires, rushing by a few feet from me at 40 or 50 miles an hour (in a 35 mph zone). I believe they should give me room, if traffic allows it, don’t you? And certainly stay within the speed limit. Isn’t this just common courtesy?”

Yes, N.W., it is.

N.W. made it through World War II flying fighters and bombers — please don’t run over him now, or any others you encounter by the roadside. Give them room — and bicyclists, please do the same for walkers on the Centennial Trail.

Again, we don’t need laws for all of this — just thoughtfulness, or what some are now calling “Zen driving.” This refers to the Zen Buddhist practice of using meditation and thought to control your actions. If another driver cuts you off, don’t get mad, or get even — take a deep breath and let it go. In order for the thoughtful drivers to tolerate the thoughtless ones, something is needed — a Zen approach may help.

With the Internet presence as an indicator, Zen driving is gaining momentum — lots of Web sites are devoted to it. One of the first readers to mention it to me was a UPS driver who touted the practice a few months back. He tries to keep optimum space on all four sides of his truck at all times. In a recent e-mail, this thoughtful commercial driver told me of another thought process he uses while driving. He’s lopped a couple of letters off the NASCAR acronym to form his own: ASCA — assume stupidity and control anger —not a bad approach.

Another example of Zen driving is to leave a proper following distance from the car in front of you — and when someone fills that space, back off and open up more space without anger. As a result, you’ll be a happier and better driver.

D.J., of Elk, sent me some more thoughts on thoughtfulness — some about the law, and some common sense. He wishes for the simple (and lawful) things, like using your turn indicator signals early enough to alert other drivers of your intentions. He also implores good-sense driving by using the shoulder when turning off of a high-speed road, or going to the end of the block to make your left turn instead of holding up traffic mid-block.

D.J. also has concern with something that fits more in the distraction category: People who drive around with sometimes multiple small animals in their laps. It seems a bit unsafe to me — thoughtful to the animals’ wishes, I guess, but thoughtless to safe vehicle operation.

Finally, I know that the woman who gave me the go-ahead wave at 5th Avenue and Sherman Street recently may have been feigning thoughtfulness, but please, if it’s your turn to go at a four-way stop — just go!

I had just sat through a three-block long backup headed east on 5th Avenue (because of I-90 construction). As I rolled to the stop line, I observed the vehicle across from me already stopped — in another couple of seconds, I was too. I expected that vehicle to now take off, for legal and traffic-flow reasons. But no, instead this driver acted as what I have previously labeled a “go-motioner”— one who revels in directing others to go first. She put her whole arm out the window, and waved me ahead. At least her signal was clear —just misguided. Please, try to follow an order of arrival approach to four-way stop takeoffs.

The “You go,” “No, you go,” approach causes confusion, and stutter-foot, stop-and-go fiascoes. It also slows down the progress of that long string of traffic through the intersection.

Thanks to everyone for your input — please take time to voice your opinions.