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City Hall175 East 200 NorthSt. George, UT 84770(435) 627-4000
| November 21, 2009 |
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Following Too Close There are many reasons that people get in crashes. We call them crashes because the term “accident” seems to imply that there is nothing we can do about them. 40,000 people will die this year on the highways of our nation, and calling these tragic situations “accidents” seems to pacify us, to ease our collective conscience a bit about the way we drive. After all, “I’m a good driver.” One plane crash with 200 or 300 fatalities makes national and international news and we look at this incident as absolutely intolerable. We want to know why and how and head up an investigation as to the cause, but the 40,000 that will die this year at OUR hands from OUR vehicles won’t even cause us to take a second thought about our habits behind the wheel as we get into our vehicles and drive about our community. The other day I had a spare moment and picked up the traffic code book and began flipping pages. I found a line that sparked a memory: I was having a conversation with a friend about the driving habits in St. George. He mentioned (and I have heard this a lot) that it is “impossible to follow at a safe distance because someone always jumps into the space” either from a side street or from a lane change. At the time I agreed with him. I have been “cut off” many times by another driver who can’t wait for the end of the pack of cars to pass before entering the roadway. Isn’t it funny that those who jump into these spaces do so in front of the last car in the pack? If they would wait for one more car to pass, it would be clear! The section I was reading was “UCA 41-6-62 Following another vehicle- safe distance-exceptions.” The first part reads like this: (1) The operator of a vehicle: (a) may not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having regard for the: (i) speed of the vehicles: (ii) traffic upon the highway: and (iii) condition or the highway: and (Here’s the line that really struck me) (b) shall allow sufficient space in front of the vehicle to enable any other vehicle to enter and occupy the space. Wow! What a concept! A concept that appears to be lost on the drivers here in our area. Following too close is one of the major reasons for crashes in our town. Not that we “tailgate”. Oh no, we adamantly refute this when the officer proposes this as a cause. We just looked away for a second to...(adjust the stereo, to discipline the kids...etc) and when we looked back they had stopped and ... (We are unwilling to fill in the blank with the obvious here) I was too close to stop in time. There it is. This is the real reason that we rear-ended the car in front of us. We didn’t allow sufficient space in front of our vehicle “to enable any other vehicle to enter and occupy the space” as required by state law. Let’s be honest here and not call this an “accident” . Let’s call it what it is: it’s a crash and we did it. Now let’s back off and not do it. We have the power to change this one thing today, if we will. Craig Harding Public Information Officer St. George Police Department |
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