Speaking Out (of his mind!)	Speaking Out Archive

It's time for someone to have the courage to speak up and speak out against the shocking toll in human life and misery that thoughtless individuals with their self-indulgent behavior are visiting upon our community. I doubt that there is a single one of us whose life has not been tragically touched by the senseless death of a relative, friend, or loved one because of this epidemic, and still people carry on as though nothing is happening. It is not easy to alter significantly one's life style, but it is more than our heads we are burying because of our refusal to change our ways.

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As I'm sure everyone has figured out by now, I'm talking about that catastrophic cause of death among young adult males, namely the automobile fatality.

Of course, giving up riding in cars will involve some change and sacrifice. But we should remember that riding in cars is a practice less than one hundred years old. It is not as though we were asking people to give up some essential form of human expression.

Naturally, there are those handful who will argue that car travel is a "necessary" risk in order to function today I just have one thing to say to these rationalizers. Go see the movie Witness. This inspiring film powerfully demonstrates through its depiction of the Amish that people do not need to ride in cars in order to experience a rich, full, and satisfying life. The Amish, through disciplined self-restraint, have virtually immunized themselves against death through car accidents.

For those of you too selfish or too weak to give up car travel completely, for heaven's sake, at least cut down on the number of trips. The more often you ride, the more you increase the risk of car crash. One thing everyone can do is eliminate all car travel in the pursuit of pleasure. If you can't get to that movie, beach, or friend's house without driving, stay home. Is it worth killing yourself or someone else to attend some stupid party? It is much more responsible to keep in touch with friends who do not live within convenient walking distance by telephone or letter. Better yet, make new friends who live near by.

We all know that this Memorial Day many people will lose their lives in traffic accidents. The really immoral aspect of all this is that most of these people will be killed taking trips that could have been avoided. But no, chasing some sort of "good time" or vacation took precedence over responsible self-restraint.

Human nature being what it is, I know there are going to be some self-destructive people too frivolous or too hedonistic to completely give up car travel for pleasure.

For them I have come up with a few "safe car" guidelines.

Whenever possible, use fantasy or imagination. Invite some friends to take a "car trip" with you while the car remains parked. After everyone has piled in, find out where people would like to go and then take them there in your mind's eye. Describe to each other what you "see" out of the windows. If you have friends who lack imagination, tape to the windshield pictures from appropriate travel brochures or the National Geographic. Pack some sandwiches, sing songs, play car games, take turns behind the wheel, whatever. The point is that you can have just as much fun doing this as actually taking the trip. And the best part is, this way you put no one's life in jeopardy and you save gas money to boot.

For the really compulsive driver who, in order to get off, has to feel the car actually moving, at least pick out some relatively safe facility like the Boston Common Parking Garage and drive around in there for a few hours until you get it out of your system. Although you'd only be kidding yourself to believe accidents don't happen in places like these, by limiting your speed to 5 or 10 miles an hour, you greatly reduce the risk of a fatal crash.

If space permitted, I could offer a ton of other helpful suggestions, but the bottom line is this: if no one drove a car, no one would ever again die in a car accident. So let's keep things in some sort of sane perspective and significantly restrict or better yet, totally abstain from car use. It's the only responsible method of coping with the current crisis of auto fatalities.