Over the last several years, the nation’s highways and those who use them have become frequent topics in the news media and the focus of many politicians. There is a good reason for this: We are killing each other. Why does this happen? There are a number of reasons. Most of them however, trace back to a handful of root causes. And, most of those root causes have three common threads: Self absorption, carelessness, and fatigue. America has long held a reputation as one of the greatest places on Earth to live and work, but with the alarming death rate on our highways today, I find it more and more difficult to feel blessed.

You may wonder how it is that I would have these feelings based solely on what I see upon the roads I travel. There are other factors involved, to be sure. But, you must consider that I travel across the country almost constantly. I cover over one hundred twenty thousand miles per year on the average, and some of the things I see on a day to day basis are, quite frankly, deeply disturbing. I’m not about to sit here in front of my well-worn Presario and attempt to absolve the trucking industry of any blame, either. We have our fair share of bad apples in our basket. But you may be surprised, and perhaps even a little offended at what else I have to say. If I offend you, I offer no apologies. I will not be made to feel guilty for telling the truth. And the truth is: Americans by and large are some of the worst drivers I have ever seen.

To be sure, there are a lot of safe and competent drivers on the roads today. But those good drivers are far outnumbered by the ones who place themselves and others at risk each and every time they get behind the wheel. Who am I to say this? What makes me qualified to say what’s safe and what isn’t? In a nutshell, I’ve made my living on North America’s highways for twenty-three years. I’ve logged over two million miles behind the wheel of a semi, and in that time I have seen things that will make your flesh crawl when I relate them to you. Before you read further, you must open your mind to the possibility that YOU may be one of the people I am about to describe here. If so, you need to adjust your behavior, BEFORE you kill someone.

Carelessness:
I see people every day who change lanes without checking their mirrors, who cross railroad tracks without looking, who actually read newspapers and even novels while driving. I see women who attempt to negotiate rush hour traffic while putting on their make-up in the rearview mirror. I have even seen sexual activity at 80 mph. By the way, if you think that you can keep your activities “private” when you do it below window level, guess again. Remember how tall those trucks are? You can’t hide from me.

How can you read “War and Peace” and concentrate on your driving? How can you read the sports page and still have time to slow down when the guy who’s reading “War and Peace” swerves in front of you? He probably swerved to miss the guy who drifted across the centerline as he and his girlfriend were finishing up a little hanky-panky. What the HELL is wrong with you people?! Driving is a SERIOUS thing. Your car can become a three thousand pound battering ram when you don’t pay attention to your driving.

By the way, why is it that you can’t seem to talk on the cell phone and watch where you’re going? I can gab on the CB radio all day long and keep it in my lane. I also have a cell phone in the truck, and I have no problem maintaining control with it either. Why? The answer is really quite simple: I keep my priorities in order. If I’m in busy traffic, I use a headset with my cell phone. If I use the CB radio, I hang up the mike when good sense dictates that I do so. If I want to read the paper, I do so BEFORE I start to work. If I wish to read the latest Clive Barker novel, I find a more appropriate time to do so than when I’m in charge of 80,000 pounds of truck and trailer. If I desire to have sex, I do so responsibly. If you want to have sex in your car, do it the old fashioned way: GO PARKING!

Self Absorption…
So many people out there have forgotten how to share the road. Is it really such a big hassle to click off the cruise for a few seconds to let someone merge? Is it a giant sacrifice to move to the left when there is a disabled vehicle in the breakdown lane? Is it really necessary to cut in front of someone just to beat them to an exit ramp? Self absorption is something that we adults are supposed to out-grow by the time we reach age 16 or 17. I see perfectly normal, considerate, compassionate people who become spoiled, petulant children when they get behind the wheel. Are you one of them? Take this test:

1. Do you remain in the “fast lane” until you are ¼ mile from your exit, and then cut across 3 lanes of traffic to exit?
2. Do you steadfastly refuse to move over or slow down for merging traffic?
3. Do you crowd 18-wheelers at traffic lights or heavy, slow merge areas because you just KNOW that the trucker will relent and let you in?
4. Do you become irritated more easily while driving when you don’t get your way than at other times (BE HONEST!)?
5. When a lane closure is coming up, do you wait until the last second, cutting off Lord knows how many people just so you can be a few car-lengths further along when it closes?
6. Do you take advantage of the fact that trucks need to maintain a greater following distance than smaller vehicles, and crowd in just to change lanes?
7. When entering a freeway, do you simply enter at the speed YOU wish to drive, or do you adjust your speed to the flow of traffic?

I don’t have to tell you which answers denote bad driving. You already know. The question is: Are you willing to change your ways, or should everyone else have to make allowances for you? We live in a “ME” society. Everyone seems to be concerned with their own desires, and to not give one hairy damn about anyone else. You can get by with that to a degree in the mall or at home, but sooner or later, it’ll kill you on the highway.

Sooner or later, someone who’s just as selfish as you are will refuse to give in to you, and what then? Do you suddenly snap and go into a bout of what we now term as Road Rage? Do you flip the other drive a finger, do you curse and shout? Or, do you set out after this person with but one goal in mind: “I’m gonna pass this asshole and honk my horn!!” It never fails to amaze me how some people regard their horns as instruments of revenge. It's as though by pressing the horn button, they're launching a weapon of some sort! I see and hear you trading salvos each and every day. Do you realize how utterly dumb this appears to others? What babies you are. No, scratch that. Babies cry when they are hungry or tired. You cry and whine because you’re immature and selfish, and you’re stupid enough to let that personality disorder spill over into your driving. GROW UP!

Fatigue…
This is becoming more and more of an issue as time goes by. More and more people are getting behind the wheel when they are too tired to drive safely. In my industry, there are laws against this. Those laws are enforced with heavy fines and downtime. I’d love to see similar laws passed for the rest of you! I narrowly avoided an accident in 1999 when a lady nodded off at the wheel of her Buick and jumped the median on I-79 in West Virginia. I had to leave the road myself to avoid her. She’s dead now, because she slammed into a wall of solid rock and killed herself and her husband.

Had this poor lady just taken the time to get a good night’s sleep, or even a nap along the way, she’d be alive today. And, before you start going on about all of those tabloid-TV specials about “Killer Trucks”, consider this: The number of fatigue-related highway deaths in which the driver of an AUTOMOBILE was the one who nodded off at the wheel is RISING. The number of similar accidents in which a trucker is faulted with driving when sleepy has FALLEN. What does this tell you?

What it tells me is this: You people are falling into the trap that truckers have worked for years to climb out of. You work and work and work. You never let up or give yourself a break. Please my friends, take your automobile seriously! It only takes one mistake, one lapse of judgment, one moment of inattention, to KILL SOMEONE. It can happen so fast you may not even realize it until it’s already happened. Then what do you do?

To be safe and alert, make allowances for the time you spend behind the wheel. You’re not Superman or Wonder Woman. Don’t work a fifteen hour day and then try to drive a thirty mile commute to get home. Leave earlier. Leave work while your brain is still working. Splash some cold water in your face. Get some coffee! Driving sleepy is no different than driving drunk. YOU ARE IMPAIRED!

The Facts:
Would you like some cold hard facts to back up what I've said here? The following data comes from a study commisioned by the Federal Highway Administration, and was performed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Information for the study was obtained from police reports and survivor testimony from four hundred thousand accidents which occured from 1994 through 1996. The very fact that there were this many accidents in such a short period of time is alarming enough, but when you read the data you'll be alarmed even more. These accidents have two things in common: Each accident involved a commercial truck and a non-commercial passenger vehicle; that is, a car, pickup, SUV, etc. The other common thread is that ALL of these accidents resulted in a fatality. I have not altered the data in any way. It is presented as I received it...

As I said before, we in the trucking industry have a few bad apples in our collective basket, and the above chart bears this out. But, look at the percentage of plain old everyday people like YOU who were found at fault. Are you surprised? I've managed to drive a truck for almost a quarter-century without killing anyone. I have, however, been involved in two accidents. In each case, I was struck by a drunk driver. Neither of those people were driving a truck, nor were they off-duty truckers. Perhaps YOU need to examine your driving habits. Perhaps YOU need to be a bit more open-minded about sharing the road with others. Perhaps YOU need pull your head out of the sand and take your driving, and your life, a bit more seriously.

If you swerve in front of me and then slam on the brakes to make an exit (this happens EVERY DAY), and I don't have room to stop, YOU ARE DEAD. I repeat: YOU. ARE. DEAD. Let it sink in. An average load of freight weighs 42,000 pounds. My truck and trailer weigh 33,400 pounds. That's 75,400 pounds slamming into the back of your car at whatever speed I'm driving. SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS. Not just crashing into you, but ON TOP OF YOU. You won't have a snowball's chance. Is that exit ramp really that important to you? I can't change the laws of physics. A loaded semi takes more room to slow or stop than an automobile. Therefore, when you suddenly slow down in front of me, it is unavoidable that I will be gaining on you.

I realize I've come down a bit hard here. I really don't mean to be rude. But I am trying to get YOUR attention. Why? Simple: I don't want to kill you. I don't need that on my conscience, and your family doesn't deserve to lose you. It benefits everyone when we excercise a bit of common sense and courtesy. Please drive safely, and thank you for taking the time to pay me a visit.