SAFETY
By Joe Belotte
This was published in The Healey Herald (Publication of The Austin Healey
Club of America) and Safety Fast Magazine (a British car magazine) in 1960.
Very recently, on my way home from work, I spied a safety slogan on the rear bumper of a fellow traveler. The sign said, "Think and Live." Being myself reasonably interested in safety, I thought about it. And I almost had an accident. While I was thinking about it another person directly in front of me stopped at a traffic light I came very close to ramming into the rear of his car. I began to get the idea that there is more to safety than just thinking. As a matter of fact, based upon my actual experience, it looks as though thinking is not quite safe. I decided to look into the matter.
What is this "thinking" business anyway? I decided to look up the latest definition of the word. I found quite a number to choose from, and I noticed that from the standpoint of safety most of them are very misleading.
Webster's New World Dictionary goes like this. I don't think they will mind my quoting them in the interest of traffic safety.
THINK, v.t. 1. to form or have in the mind: as, to think bad thoughts. 2. to judge; consider: as, he is thought wise. 3. to believe; expect: as, I think I can. v.i. 1. to use the mind; reflect; reason. 2. to have an opinion, belief, etc. —think of, 1. to remember. 2. to have an opinion of. 3. to conceive of.
Now mind you, I am not pulling this word all to pieces just to be critical. These are routine, usual, English definitions for the word "think". If someone says to you, "think", these are the ideas that you are liable to get. The meaning that is usually conveyed by the word and the action that will invariably be done when a person does think is described in the above paragraph. However, as I could point out again, most of these ideas from the standpoint of traffic safety are very misleading.
I think that we should take at least a slight look at this. Perhaps even something should be done about it. Of the above definitions only one is applicable to traffic safety. The rest are downright dangerous.
What could happen if you told a person to "think"? Perhaps the person you give this live wire to, being conscientious, goes along with it. He agrees that thinking is necessary and begins to think about safety. He starts wondering if he is a safe driver. He begins to worry about his car. Aren't his brakes getting worn down a bit? He pictures in his mind what would happen if his brakes were to fail. This is quite a shocking picture to him and he gets a little upset about it. He begins to wonder how safe he really is, and while he is working this out in his mind another car pulls out of an alley and across the road in front of him. He is too engrossed in his thoughts to see it, and though his brakes actually are all right, they don't do him a bit of good. He rams into the other car and he's had it. And that is quite a shocking picture.
According to Webster, "think" means to believe. Yet what if you as a driver simply believe that that truck is going to stay in its own lane and you rely only on your belief? "Think" also means expect. But what if you expect someone to turn right and they turn left. It means "to think you can", yet what if you "think you can make it", but you don't? What if you "reflect" on some situation and your "reason" tells you that woman and those kids wouldn't dare cross the road in all this traffice, but they do? Supposing your "opinion" of some situation is not correct? Or what if you based your driving skill on "remembering" some past happening and the present time incident is not the same? Do you see what I mean that the world "think" is not a good word for traffic slogans?
The accurate meaning that safety experts have been looking for is of course the term "to judge". It is actually driver judgment that promotes safety. Most people really know this. More and better judgment is what traffic safety councils are actually looking for. This is the meaning that they wish to convey but usually don't with the word "think". A driver can "think" as much as he likes, but until he uses actual judgment in his driving he could be a continual hazard. Unless a driver uses good judgment he could be driving his own tombstone. Luckily, judgment is something that sport car drivers actively practice, and they practice it rather routinely when they go on rallies and other events.
Sport drivers are more familiar with judgment than other drivers. Because they enjoy driving they usually look where they are going. They notice other cars on the road and what those other cars are doing. Because of this to some degree they actually take more responsibility for themselves and for those other people also who don't like to drive and can't stand looking where they are going.
This is a fact. The driver who can judge and practices judgment is the driver who probably never has any traffic mishaps. But this type of judgment involves looking, which by the way should probably be the real slogan behind traffic safety.
Look means "to direct one's eyes", "to see", "to pay attention". It means to be alert and to be aware of and to have one's attention on his environment. The basic ability of a driver to "observe his environment" is the button that should be pushed. Observe. Look at what is going on. Don't think or believe or expect; look. Don't reflector have some opinion; look. It is true that all drivers have some amount of judgment or they wouldn't have licenses, so if there is anything they should really need reminding of, it is the only thing that they forget, and that is to look.
Looking is one of the basic actions necessary for judgment. And it is looking that people have trouble with. Why? Because they forget to look, instead they think. They think about their aches and pains and they think about their problems and they think about their wife or their children or their girl friends and sputniks and income tax and other "lousy" drivers and a good lot of the time they think themselves right to death in eight car head on collisions. They think what the car up ahead might do instead of watching it to see. They think that they can't afford to fix a worn tire or they think they are going to be late for work because they wasted time at home thinking they were going to be early. Perhaps you think I am being a little hard on thinkers. Well if you do, stop thinking about it and take a look at it.
Every time you ever, if you ever, went off the road or backed into another car it was because you were thinking and not looking. Every time you ran out of gas, if you ever did, and, as a matter of fact, every time you ever goofed anywhere was probably because of this. Why is an unsafe driver unsafe. Because he thinks. What does he think about? God knows. It doesn't matter. Sometimes he can't even tell you himself. But he isn't watching what is going on, that is for certain. He has his attention elsewhere. So if he needs to be reminded of anything it would be to open his eyes, to look, to leave his problems at work and his worries at home and to drive the car. Yes, drive it down that street, the one in from of him. Drive by that corner. Watch that pedestrian; Notice that bus. Observe that car. Look! That-a-boy. Look!
But this isn't so easily done.
Some people just seem to have too much to think about. Some people just never learn to look. After all, how many people can keep their attention unwavering right in present time for as long as it takes to drive down to the market without getting to thinking what groceries they are going to buy? Do you see what I mean? Not many. But that is when the accidents happen; right at the time when you are too busy wondering how the tomatoes will be to see a car coming out of an alley. And the guy in that car; he is too busy thinking about something else. So what? So crash! That's all it takes. So how are we going to get people to stop thinking and start looking? It won't be easy. But first we can at least say something about it. Thinking is NOT the answer to safety; looking is. Lets let more people know about that. Then lets look into this thing a little further.
From what I have observed so far, and I expect that at one time or another you have observed things which are similar, more investigation on how to train drivers to be better able to look, to observe, would be important and beneficial to people all over the country. I have started investigating it myself already. And all by myself I found out a few very interesting things. Looking has something to do with willingness; I mentioned previously that sport car drivers more generally like to look. And the problem of not looking has something to do with what I will call "out-of-control- thinkingness", where the guy gets to thinking about the past or future and totally forgets about the present.
What can be done about it is yet to be seen. But I am sure that something can be done as long as there are people who want to do something about it. People don't want to be worried or upset or forgetful and cause accidents. So the problem of people who don't look or can't look will eventually be solved. I just want you to know that I am for it and that if I can find out anything else that will help I will let you know more about it when I have looked into the matter further.