Unwittingly Accept Risk

We all accept various risks; sports, stocks, card games, walking, riding bikes, surfing and sky diving.

Ride a bicycle with no brakes. Walk on an icy road with no winter boots. Leave the house in a winter storm with no winter jacket. Walk to the store to buy food but forget to check for your wallet.

Accepting various risks when transporting our bodies is a well-known and commonly accepted practice.

Each time we drive or get into a car, this public risk is there daily.

One cannot change this risk, but we can do is distance ourselves strategically as far away as possible.

Distance is the key.

Do you stand right at the road edge when you wait for a bus less than a meter away from a 50 kph passing car in the closest lane? Or do you stand way back from the curb closest to the nearest side of the closest building?

Do you drive at 50 kph past a pedestrian standing on the curb corner? Or do you move into the faster lane giving an entire lane between you and the unknown pedestrian?

Do you get into a taxi or a ride-sharing car and NOT watch how the driver drives? Or do you carefully observe how the driver moves, where they look, and how they place themselves in the traffic, even to the point where you may say something about their choices, or even where you might ask to stop the vehicle and get out?

Have you been a passenger in a car and had a close call? Did you know what happened? Have you ever asked to stop the vehicle so that you could get out? Or do you choose to ignore the driver’s behaviour, blindly accepting the risks?

Near, all new drivers enter my driving school car and show me their driver’s licenses. To date, not one driver has ever asked me for the following:

• my driver’s license $109
• the expiry date on my license $109
• the insurance on the driving school car $598
• the expiry date on the insurance policy $598
• the policy covering the driving school commercial work $368
• the insurance matches the plates on the vehicle $598
• the plates on the car are valid, not expired $230
• there is an N or L on the back of the car $109

The new driver is legally and financially responsible for every item on this list. Why has no one ever checked?

Do they not realize they could be fined $1046 to $2719 for this list, not to mention the legal bind they would walk into financially if there was a collision and there was no proper insurance on the driving school car?!

ICBC FINES AND POINTS

Even worse, we adults lead younger followers into this blind acceptance of risks bringing them in totally unprepared for the responsibilities that lay ahead, most hoping that the odds will keep them safe.

Knowledge is the key.

Have you avoided or exited a car ride because of a percieved risk?Have you avoided or exited a car ride because of the perceived risk? Before being licensed, we have all transported ourselves in buses, taxis, rideshares and with friends. Have you ever chosen to avoid a ride because you noticed something risky about the driver? Or have you ever gotten out of a car because of the driver's behaviour?

NEVER. I have never noticed how someone drives.NEVER. I have noticed, but I am too shy to say or do anything.NEVER. I do notice and have tried to say things but it never produced any positive effect.YES. I secretly avoid certain drivers.YES. I have stopped the car and gotten out.

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