Safe Driving
August 09, 2009
Maybe it’s because I don’t have long legs that I can’t understand this phenomenon, but even so, it does seem incredibly odd and unsafe. Why would a person drive a car with his left foot sticking out the window like it’s a turn signal? What is with that? How can you possibly drive safely with your body so contorted? Of course my foot can barely reach the dashboard, but I could imagine what it would be like to have longer legs and being able to stick one out the window, feeling the breeze and waving to passing cars, is just a ridiculously unsafe idea. What must be required of a body to have one foot navigating between the brake and the gas pedal while the other foot is outside?
Besides the absurdity of putting your foot where your hand should go, how could you maintain good control over the car when you are doing a split?
Since Congress is finally getting around to writing a law against texting and driving at the same time, I think they should add an amendment against driving while contorted.
What interesting sights have you seen drivers doing lately?
I have mixed emotions about testing because it is still leagal to eat a bowl of noodles...with chopsticks while driving...my son and I saw it yesterday. I guess my issue is about limiting it to texting...why not hitting buttons on GPS
Posted by: Morethananelectrician | August 09, 2009 at 07:12 AM
I don't think it is actually legal to eat a bowl of noodles with chopsticks while driving or to hang your leg out the window. In most states there are probabty laws that cover having control over your vehicle and not being distracted. The problem is having a cop there at the right time to observe the behavior and who is also in the mood to write a ticket for it.
What might deter the leg hanger is finally being sideswiped and losing that leg or elbow or whatever else is hanging out the window.
As for noodle eater; a rear end collision might just cause those chopsticks to be shoved up their nose and into their brain.
I guess it all comes down to taking personal responsibility for oyur actions.
Posted by: rockync | August 09, 2009 at 09:12 AM
I could go on and on but will limit myself to just five. On the roads I have seen:
1. A motorcyclist riding side-saddle.
2. People reading maps, eating and putting on makeup.
3. Two cars going down the motorway passing drinks to each other.
4. People driving with both hands behind their head.
5. A four person car with about eight people crammed inside.
Now you know why I prefer to walk to work.
Posted by: The Last Post | August 10, 2009 at 01:21 PM
A friend of mine was able to steer his car with his thigh, while eating using both hands.
But I gotta admit, hanging your leg out of the window while driving has to be considered one of the 'top 10 most reckless thing to do while driving'.
And I thought driving with a pet sitting in your lap was risky...I really don't know which is worst.
Posted by: Sadie | August 10, 2009 at 09:28 PM
My daddy was really good at the driving with your thigh trick.
I'm pretty sure I could sit fairly comfortably with my leg out the window, it's not like you use that foot anyway with an automatic. Silly yes, but I doubt it's all that dangerous to other motorists. Now if that person did get in a wreck, I can't imagine the injuries.
Posted by: Liz A. | August 11, 2009 at 09:49 AM
Oh my...I can't think of any right at the moment but I sure am fascinated by all the comments people have left in answer to your question...wow!
Posted by: Lori | August 13, 2009 at 06:19 PM
I can't even drive barefoot. Stupid, I know.
But I confess, I have talked on the phone, put on make-up, changed cds while driving. What distracts me the most? The kids in the back seat!
Posted by: April | August 13, 2009 at 07:57 PM
MTAE, voice controls are what we need. I find the CD system in my car too confusing--it demands too much time away from the road. The one time I used a GPS (in LA) I can tell you that it saved a lot of map-looking. With the voice controls and my feeling confident that I would get to where I need, I really felt that the GPS made the drive safer.
rockync, I love that image of the chopstick driver!
TLP, that is some list. Is it from the past week?
Sadie, dog-on-lap is surely another stupid driving technique.
Liz, I'm just thinking of how poor your reflexes would be when your body is contorted? The time needed to react would be the time you waste putting your foot back in and sitting straight into your seat.
Lori, it is quite an impressive list of driving unabilities.
April. I have never driven barefoot either, it scares me. Maybe I'm too much of a city girl for this one. Girls in the backseat. And what about when they were little, before the squabbles? I'm thankful that when my daughters were little they were able to sit in their car seats in the front passenger seat. I couldn't imagine having to drive not being able to see how they were doing.
Posted by: Laura of Rebellious Thoughts of a Woman | August 15, 2009 at 07:54 AM
I can't imagine how uncomfortable that must be. I have seen this too. It's awful. They'll pass a law when someone doing this kills a bunch of people.
Posted by: Ricardo | August 17, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Thank you for posting this, I strongly feels posts like these should be up on frequent basis so that people get aware!
Posted by: electronic dog fence | November 13, 2009 at 10:40 PM