Attention drivers: Mind your driving

After a Washington State Patrol vehicle was blasted in the back by an SUV at highway speed on Interstate-90 recently, and I suffered a milelong tail ride from a young female on a cell phone as I passed a string of cars on I-90, I decided that more drivers must pay more attention to the task at hand. That task is driving, by the way, not talking on the phone, grooming, taking notes, or trying to shoo a fly from your automobile.

This column was borne of a need for drivers to take their roles seriously — to clear their minds of stress, avoid distraction, and focus on what they are doing while behind the wheel. Drivers must know their vehicles, the rules of the road, and practice good driving skills to successfully exist on the roadways.

Driver focus, and/or following distance, must not have been at an optimum level for the driver who couldn’t stop before hitting the unmarked red WSP cruiser that was slowing to pull over a semitrailer traveling up Sunset Hill. The rear damage to the patrol car indicates a high-speed hit — fortunately without loss of life.

Two other Washington Troopers were struck while on duty this month — one while on foot at the side of the roadway, and another in his patrol car. Some drivers are either lacking in focus, excelling in distraction or both.

Even if a vehicle or other object is stationary on the roadway, it is the duty of an approaching driver to stop or otherwise avoid it. Looking ahead for potential hazards, and maintaining a proper following distance are musts for safe, efficient driving. With all of the freeway construction zones now in our area, there will be plenty of slowing vehicles and stationary objects (like construction workers) for which to be mindful.

Washington state law addresses the situation where troopers are subject to danger while stopped at the side of the road. It calls for motorists to change lanes (or slow down if they can’t) when they encounter an emergency vehicle on the edge of a multilane roadway. Due in part to these recent accidents, local law enforcement has plans for special patrols to emphasize this requirement ($101 fine for noncompliance).

Now back to that young driver who pushed me past a line of cars on the freeway. She was a pretty good multi-tasker but, I think, diluting her available driving attention a bit too much as she talked, ate, and rode my behind.

It was Mother’s Day, and I had just been thinking that drivers seemed especially well behaved during my drive. I was wondering how to make this Sunday/Mother’s Day mood prevalent throughout the year. I believed that due to the pleasant, reflective thoughts and attitudes present this day, drivers were doing very well as a group.

Next, as I was passing a group of cars going a possibly too reflective 52 mph, my momentary bliss was replaced with a dose of reality. I ran about 66 mph, as I had to exit soon, and needed to be in the right lane in time for that. Partway through my pass, a too-familiar scenario occurred. A vehicle that was well back when I began my pass caught me during the pass, and hung to my bumper in true NASCAR bump-drafting style.

Well, I don’t like that treatment under any circumstances, but when I saw the young driver talking on the phone, and eating from a “table” formed by her left ankle crossed over her right thigh, I worried that she may not be ready to handle an emergency. Besides that, she was in a tiny car, and the van I was in at the moment didn’t allow her any view of the road ahead from her attached-to-my-bumper position. A sudden slowdown in front of me could have caused her plenty of woe. As soon as I moved right, she accelerated past, exposing her distractions to me from my higher vantage point, while in search of her next obstruction.

So whether your tempting distraction is tending to a pesky insect, a wayward eyebrow hair, or rowdy kids — or even the more popular rubbernecking, eating, and map-reading — try to avoid those engagements while driving. Simply recognize potential distractions and minimize them, please. You’ll have a much better chance of avoiding trouble.

Let me know the distractions you practice, or see others engaged in while driving. Above all, please give driving all of the attention you can muster — it can save your life!