To Swerve or not to Swerve????
A funny thing happened on my way to work this morning. As I pulled out of my driveway, I saw a raccoon sitting across the street from my house. I didn’t think much of it. About a block down the street, I saw another raccoon beside the road. (Still not too uncommon.) About a mile later there was another one and then about two miles later there was a fourth. It reminded me of the animal conspiracy theory from my last post.
I laughed to myself and then thought “I’ll show him I’m not scared” so I hit the brakes lightly just to show an act of defiance. I was the only one on the road at that time so there was no harm in slowing down a little. Just as I tapped the brakes, a very large buck walked out of the woods right in front of me. I continued to slow down. He walked out in the road, stopped and looked at me and then walked off into the woods. I think he was saying “Just keep laughing, we got your number.” I shook it off and drove the rest of the way into work.
So I was thinking this morning about swerving. In most cases it is the wrong thing to do when something is in the road but in most cases it is the action we take. I was wondering why that is. The correct thing to do is to gently apply the brakes and allow whatever is in front of you to pass. Well that is unless the object is something big like another vehicle, a refrigerator or maybe a moose. Then swerving is ok. So why do we do it then?
I know when I took drivers Education, way back when (yes they had cars back then) they taught us not to swerve. So who is telling us to swerve these days? Well then it hit me. Insurance companies, that’s who. I started going over all the commercials in my head depicting someone driving down the road and then swerving when something as small as a squirrel was in the road. Yes they are the ones to blame. But why would insurance companies tell us to swerve when in fact it leads to more accidents? That just doesn’t make any sense….or does it?
Have a great day,
Greg
I laughed to myself and then thought “I’ll show him I’m not scared” so I hit the brakes lightly just to show an act of defiance. I was the only one on the road at that time so there was no harm in slowing down a little. Just as I tapped the brakes, a very large buck walked out of the woods right in front of me. I continued to slow down. He walked out in the road, stopped and looked at me and then walked off into the woods. I think he was saying “Just keep laughing, we got your number.” I shook it off and drove the rest of the way into work.
So I was thinking this morning about swerving. In most cases it is the wrong thing to do when something is in the road but in most cases it is the action we take. I was wondering why that is. The correct thing to do is to gently apply the brakes and allow whatever is in front of you to pass. Well that is unless the object is something big like another vehicle, a refrigerator or maybe a moose. Then swerving is ok. So why do we do it then?
I know when I took drivers Education, way back when (yes they had cars back then) they taught us not to swerve. So who is telling us to swerve these days? Well then it hit me. Insurance companies, that’s who. I started going over all the commercials in my head depicting someone driving down the road and then swerving when something as small as a squirrel was in the road. Yes they are the ones to blame. But why would insurance companies tell us to swerve when in fact it leads to more accidents? That just doesn’t make any sense….or does it?
Have a great day,
Greg
Comments
The only exception I make is for domestic cats or dogs... I'm not into breaking hearts.
Have you seen those ultrasonic beacons you can put on your front bumper to scare off animals... may be worth it in your case.
I'll be in your neck of the woods this week-end - I hear Edisto calling for the next 10 days or so.
Interesting theory today, Greg!
So the hunters were joking that they were going to skip their deer stands in the woods and climb the light poles in town :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Blessings,
Pam
I'm not a swerver and I hate anti-lock brakes. I learned how not to lock brakes in fast stop situations and I haven't been able to unlearn it. I actually got into an accident because my anti-lock brakes wouldn't allow me to stop in time. UGH!