The real safety problem is the loose nut behind the wheel

You could ram every conceivable safety device (and a few currently inconceivable ones) into a car, and it won’t change the fact that someone out there will figure out how to get themselves killed in it. No matter how hard you work to idiot-proof something, the only thing you’ll really achieve is an improved idiot. I’m sure there’s someone out there who could figure out how to kill themselves in Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T. when the car was driving it for them.

As nice as all these wonderful safety items are, despite all they’ve achieved in terms of saving lives, they’ve also served to increase the road-going I.Q. (Idiot Quotient). Remember what Einstein said - “The only difference between genius and stupidity is that genium has limits.” Ron White added his own corollary to this - “You can’t fix stupid.”

Now, I’m not against adding safety features - I’ve been buckling my own seat belt since I was strong enough to overcome the spring in the retractors, and I never leave the driveway without it on. ABS, airbags, TMPS, stability control, they’re all very clever and nice to have, but does that mean I think every car should be forced to include an electronic nanny?

You know, it used to be that folks actually knew how to drive, and could actually get around in bad weather in a rear-wheel-drive vehicle with little to no weight on the back end (like the 1978 Farimont wagon my mom had years ago - it fishtailed going in a straight line down a dirt road in the middle of summer). We didn’t NEED four wheel drive, front wheel drive, fancy traction control systems, or any of that. As my father used to say, just because you can GO in the snow, doesn’t mean you can STOP. Sadly, too many people are too stupid or oblivious to realize/remember this.

The two main problems these days are:

1. Driver education in the U.S. is a joke (I’d be willing to bet that anyone who actually took the time to read the owner’s manual for their car and pay attention to the signs when riding in the car with their parents could pass the licensing test in most states without taking any of the courses). Also, graduated licenses for teenagers don’t seem to be doing much except generating repeat business for the DMVs every time the kids change to a different license level. Why can’t the behind-the-wheel training and test be like the Bridgestone Ice Driving School and the Skip Barber Racing School? At least people would know how to handle their cars in bad weather.

I spent an entire quarter year in driver’s ed, and I could have just read the driver’s manual, cut class, and still passed the test. I also fervently disagree with the idea that a kid with a learner’s permit should be prevented from driving at night - rather, I think they be REQUIRED to take some of their behind-the-wheel training after dark. The first place I ever drove myself after getting my license was to an evening Jazz Band rehearsal in High School (rural area where it actually gets DARK at night), and let me tell you, it’s a whole different ballgame when you’re depending on those two bulbs on the front end of the car to see by instead of the big one in the sky.

2. The other big problem is people not staying off the roads when the weather is too bad to drive in, and that’s because their employers refuse to close. Where I work, they never close for engineering folks (like me). There have even been times when the state has been hit with a snowstorm severe enough to declare a state of emergency and a travel ban (meaning if they catch you on the roads, it’s an arrestable offense). The last time that happened, 50 people drove to work at my company. When coroporate policy is that “we don’t close. If you are not comfortable on the roads, you can stay home but it comes out of your vacation time”, people feel pressured to go in anyway, and then you get roads clogged not only with the weather, but people who can’t handle the conditions but are out there anyway, and the result is chaos.