Experiment
I performed a little experiment in traffic today...
Karl and I were caravanning home. I was in front and came upon a yellow light--I could have stopped, but I also had plenty of time to drive safely through. Knowing that my husband would not have time to drive legally through the intersection, and knowing that he is a rule follower, I knew that if I went ahead, he would not follow. I decided to go through just to see how much of a difference this would make in the time it took each of us to get home. This intersection was the busiest and biggest one on our trip; it requires patience to wait through it. Not only does it take a long time, but also the timing of getting through that light can affect your flow rate of the half-dozen lights to follow. Therefore people are constantly trying to beat the buzzer, and consequently running the red-light in process. And also just as frequent are the drivers BEHIND the buzzer-beaters who rush through after it has clearly turned red, as if following closely to the other guy's bumper somehow connects them like a train and making it ok to keep going. It is becoming commonplace everywhere--you all know what I'm talking about--that when the light turns green, we actually have to wait on these people to clear the intersection. Even if there is not someone obviously running the light, I still have to pause and look to make sure no one is about to speed through it. It is even more disconcerting when I have my two little girls in the back seat. I remember grieving over a news report that told of a Mom with her 3 little girls ages 5 under, all hand-in-hand walking in the crosswalk, and all 3 girls killed instantly when a young woman ran a red light.
Why are people so careless? Why do they show such lack of consideration for human life? Are they really in that big of a hurry? Some friends of mine were in a wreck today because a guy rushing to the side of his wife who was in labor already at the hospital hit them. Ok, THAT guy was in a hurry. I have a hard time believing that everyone has reasons so legitimate. I think that people are just impatient. They don't want to wait at that light. Their impatience leads to a lack of consideration, and that leads to carelessness. And for what? I can tell you what...
90 SECONDS. That's how much faster I reached home than Karl. I didn't even have time to take both girls out of their car seats before he pulled up the drive. 90 Seconds.
So I'm imploring you red-light-buzzer-beaters out there. The next time you want to rush through the intersection, please think about my 2 precious little angels in the back seat, and take a moment to consider that they are worth more than reaching your destination a minute-and-a-half sooner.
Karl and I were caravanning home. I was in front and came upon a yellow light--I could have stopped, but I also had plenty of time to drive safely through. Knowing that my husband would not have time to drive legally through the intersection, and knowing that he is a rule follower, I knew that if I went ahead, he would not follow. I decided to go through just to see how much of a difference this would make in the time it took each of us to get home. This intersection was the busiest and biggest one on our trip; it requires patience to wait through it. Not only does it take a long time, but also the timing of getting through that light can affect your flow rate of the half-dozen lights to follow. Therefore people are constantly trying to beat the buzzer, and consequently running the red-light in process. And also just as frequent are the drivers BEHIND the buzzer-beaters who rush through after it has clearly turned red, as if following closely to the other guy's bumper somehow connects them like a train and making it ok to keep going. It is becoming commonplace everywhere--you all know what I'm talking about--that when the light turns green, we actually have to wait on these people to clear the intersection. Even if there is not someone obviously running the light, I still have to pause and look to make sure no one is about to speed through it. It is even more disconcerting when I have my two little girls in the back seat. I remember grieving over a news report that told of a Mom with her 3 little girls ages 5 under, all hand-in-hand walking in the crosswalk, and all 3 girls killed instantly when a young woman ran a red light.
Why are people so careless? Why do they show such lack of consideration for human life? Are they really in that big of a hurry? Some friends of mine were in a wreck today because a guy rushing to the side of his wife who was in labor already at the hospital hit them. Ok, THAT guy was in a hurry. I have a hard time believing that everyone has reasons so legitimate. I think that people are just impatient. They don't want to wait at that light. Their impatience leads to a lack of consideration, and that leads to carelessness. And for what? I can tell you what...
90 SECONDS. That's how much faster I reached home than Karl. I didn't even have time to take both girls out of their car seats before he pulled up the drive. 90 Seconds.
So I'm imploring you red-light-buzzer-beaters out there. The next time you want to rush through the intersection, please think about my 2 precious little angels in the back seat, and take a moment to consider that they are worth more than reaching your destination a minute-and-a-half sooner.
