Saturday, June 11, 2011

Average Riders

I am not trying to study or examine human behavior. I am merely reporting it as I have seen & experienced this behavior. As a city bus driver, I've seen people at their best, worst, and all points in between. Any emotion that you can imagine, we the bus drivers, get to deal with regularly. Most of the day is good with good natured folks, but every encounter has the potential to end badly. It is up to us to keep our cool when everyone around us ends up losing theirs. We end up being a psychiatrist on a regular basis, even though we don't get paid their kind of money. Volatile situations...we have to try to diffuse them without causing major delays to the route, or trouble for the other passengers. Irate passengers...it's always fun trying to calm them down and keep a peaceful bus. Drunks of all kinds...I see them on a regular basis, and most just want to get down the road, but there are a few that always want to cause problems. The majority of people on the buses are good folks that are just trying to get somewhere, and it's my job to take them. I take that job very seriously, and do the best that I can. I'll tell you up front that I am not perfect. I'm also not a perfect driver, but I do my best to provide a smooth, safe ride for the people that depend on me every day. I also want the occasional rider to feel as safe & secure as my regular passengers. In the early morning, I have regulars that will catch a nap on their way to work - safe in the knowledge that I will make sure they get there, without missing their stops. Yeah, I know that the company says not to let folks sleep on the bus because, sudden movements may throw passengers out of their seats. Well, it is my job to limit those jerky movements, and to provide a smooth and comfortable ride across town. I try to scan the road far enough ahead to be able to anticipate most traffic and the occasional obstacles. There are always a few things that I miss, but that is the day to day traffic pattern that I am a part of. It's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle. Every piece fits a certain way, and when you put a piece in the wrong way - our results can be deadly. That is the hard part and also what causes the most stress. Knowing that there are many lives on the line helps to make me a safer driver. I just wish that more people would consider this fact while they are driving. I think the roads would be a much safer place IF other drivers would spend more time concentrating on safe driving, and less time worried about how quickly they are going to “get there”. Safe driving is a conscious attitude to pay attention to what you are doing, what is going on around you, and reacting to it in a safe manner. Part of that safe attitude is not rushing into an intersection as the light is changing. People need to be more aware of their surroundings and more responsible with their actions. In the last few years, cellular phones have become a major distraction. People can't seem to put them down long enough to do anything, especially drive their vehicles. I would love to be able to say that most drivers are doing a great job of driving safely, but I can't. I just see too many distracted drivers on a daily basis. I would like to believe that it is a phenomenon that is only a problem in my city, but I really can not imagine that. Do you think that my city is the only place where people are too busy to see what's happening around them? I see the problems of most major cities, and those drivers have to deal with them daily; so I believe it is a major problem throughout the country, and the world, as well. But how do we, as a civilized society, deal with this issue and create change? We need to be more aware of the problem and be willing to change it, even if it is just our behavior that is changing. Change happens one person at a time, and if we all try to drive safer; then, I believe we can make a difference. We have to try to make a difference, in order to have safer roads for our children. We also need to teach our children safe driving habits & not expect others to do that for us. I know that before I started driving city buses, I did not think about safe driving on a regular basis...I was too busy getting to my destination. I did not spend much time worrying about how to do that safely. I was avoiding accidents, after all? I just wasn't in a space to concentrate on my driving habits and how they affected other drivers or the situations I was involved in. I imagine that most drivers are in the same place, emotionally. They are just getting down the road and going about their business, not expecting that others will impact their driving and/or their abilities to do it safely. That is part of the problem. Until we all realize that every move we make in our vehicle WILL affect others, and their movements WILL affect us … we will not be able to keep our roadways safe from major collisions. Recently, I overheard someone joking to his friend. He said, “every time I don't drive my car, I'm 50% less likely to be in a major collision”. Sadly, he is right. On the other hand, if he is a passenger in a friend's car, then he is right back to that probability of being in a collision. Why, because his friend may not be paying close attention to their driving and could very easily get involved in a wreck. I'm sure that you have heard the statistics that most wrecks happen within 5 miles of our homes. Do you know why that is? Most of us let our guard down when we are near our homes. We are more accustomed to those roads, parking lots, alleys and the traffic patterns around them. However, we tend to take more risks and chances in the same areas, because we know that we can do it and not have a problem. That is when we end up in a wreck just around the corner from the house. How many times have you zipped in front of a vehicle approaching from the other direction, to get into the subdivision faster or to get home quicker? Not a safe maneuver, but we all do it regularly. Those kinds of chances are the ones that get us into trouble and lead to more unsafe driving habits. So, we need to try to change those and turn them into good driving skills that will save our life or the lives of our families, one day.   Alba T. Ross

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