The Faster You Go, The Shorter Life Could Be

    I was out on the road today, heading home from a training session for my job. It was just a good ol' ride, jamming out to music and enjoying the sun that finally decided to come out after a long chilly morning. Now the ride home was only about thirty to forty minutes long, and the area I live in is pretty hilly and has very curvy roads. Along the way back home a pickup hauling a backhoe pulled out in front of me. Naturally, it causes me to slow down. I was in no hurry, so to me it was no big deal. But of course there is always one person in line who is always in a rush. I look up in my rear view mirror and see a large dually dodge pickup peel over into the passing lane (which by the way was almost a no passing lane) and hauls ass passed the two vehicles behind me. All of the sudden the truck in front of me begins to slow down due to his turn off approaching. I begin to slow up, as do all of the other responsible drivers behind me, and the truck in front begins his turn. Mr. Speedy Gonzales in the left lane is then forced to slow down significantly fast, and almost runs into this guy. I slow down almost to a stop to avoid any situation that could have possibly happened in that moment. The person in the dodge truck then swerves over into the right lane, but is still going to fast to avoid a wreck if he stayed in the lane. So what does he do? He swerves into the shoulder of the road, which out here... that's not too big of a space. He was lucky enough that this shoulder didn't happen to have a cliff hugging up on it. Nevertheless, this guy ends up swinging his back end and whipping his tail end around before straightening out and speeding back up and heading out on his merry way.
     But wait... there's more... About ten miles out from my destination, in my rear view mirror, I see another person who is very eager to get where they were going. He was in a small dodge neon, and carelessly passed the truck behind me. As he got behind me there was a car coming in the left lane. He waited, oh so patiently, right up on my tailpipe until the car had passed. Once it did, he began his fast a furious pass. We were going up a blind hill, not very far from the top. And right when he was next to me, I see a car crowning over the hill. So he kicks it in gear and cuts me off just short of an accident and makes it back to the right lane. I have to say that he was damn lucky the he and the other driver weren't going to be having dinner with the almighty. Or i guess for him it would have been a little hotter. I gotta say, there is nothing like having two near death experiences within ten minutes.
     Now, I can honestly say that yes, there have been times where I was running late, or just felt a sense of urgency to get where I was going. But never in my life have I thought it necessary to race down a two lane highway, or ANY highway for that matter, to get where I needed to go. When I am on the road, it is not just me out there. There is a whole world. Filled with many lives that deserve to see tomorrow. Along that same road that I traveled on today, last year a school teacher lost their life because of someone who was in just too big of a hurry. The teacher didn't make it, but they did. Getting to where you need to go, is in no way, shape or form, more important than the life of another. Trust me, if you go the speed limit, you will still get where you need to go. You are just going to have to wait just like everyone else for the world to successfully invent teleportation. But until then, do the world a favor. Slow the hell down... And really it's not just a favor for the world, it is for yourself as well. Do you have a kid? How do you think they would feel if they heard you died in a car accident because you were driving too fast? Or how about the person you killed in the other car because of your carelessness? What about their family? Their children? Every human being is a special and important soul. There have been many situations in which awareness has been raised because of a loss from a car accident. But personally, I don't think it should take death for the world to wake up, and be safer. Don't be the one who takes lives, be the one who helps to save them.