Crazy Things Drivers Do

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I get the pleasure of writing today’s article concerning crazy things drivers do. I am 61 years old and I have been driving since I turned 16 so I have 45 years of driving experience. If I related every crazy thing I have seen drivers do over that period of time I could write an entire year’s worth of articles. So for today I will focus on just a few of the common crazy things drivers do. My short list of crazy things people do while driving:

Applying Makeup – Yes I constantly see women applying makeup while driving. I am talking about physically driving, both on surface streets, highways, and freeways, looking in the rearview mirror and applying makeup while they are the ones driving their cars.

Shaving – Men were laughing as they read my previous comment on women applying makeup while driving but men have no room to make fun of others. I cannot count how many times I am driving, including on freeways, and I look over to see a man looking into his rearview mirror while shaving.

Reading a Book, Magazine, or Newspaper – I constantly see people holding a book or magazine in their lap and glancing down often to read the book or magazine. The craziest I have seen is someone driving while holding a newspaper in front of them and essentially blocking their view of the road while they are driving and reading the newspaper.

Watching Television – Today the televisions in vehicles are located where they can be viewed by only those in the back seats. Before entertainment systems were installed in vehicles some people purchased a small portable television, powered by plugging it into the cigarette lighter of the car, and they would watch television while driving. My mother would watch television while driving. She placed a small portable television on the passenger seat, turned the television on, and watched the television while driving. When confronted with the obvious hazards of doing this my mother would reply that there is nothing wrong with watching television while driving and that she is fully aware of what is going on around her while driving. Fortunately for my mother, and all the drivers around her, she never had an accident.

Of course there are other distractions while driving which cause the driver to lose their concentration. These include:  Eating…turning around to talk to the people in the back seat…changing the radio station or inserting a CD into the entertainment system…etc.

The bottom line is that if you are the one driving you should try to minimize all distractions to the best of your ability and this includes lengthy conversations.