Pope Benedict on Road Safety

The Vatican Information Service reports that at the end of an Angelus address on the third century theologian Origen of Alexandria (look for the complete text when it is released), the Pope made a plea for road safety. This plea concluded, "it is my hope that a conscious sense of responsibility towards others may induce drivers, especially the young, to greater prudence and respect for the highway code."

As I seem to live in an area where most drivers apparently have been schooled in the Demolition Derby method, I heartily agree.

Not wanting to seem absolutist or judgmental (this might be read by a relativist, after all), here are my Ten Suggestions of Road Safety for Careful Drivers.

I. Speed limits are there for a reason.

II. Tail-gating (driving too close behind another driver) is inherently dangerous.

III. Allowing others to merge is not a sin.

IV. Giving way for ambulances and other emergency vehicles is a virtue.

V. It's not the cell call en route; it's whatever a driver allows to so consume attention (the radio, conversation, attempting to read the fine print on the bumper sticker of the car in front, etc.) that needs to be abolished. (In other words, the one driving needs to take seriously the responsibility entailed in the act.)

VI. Headlights are good day or night, but attention to glare (and the procedure to dim the lights) is even better.

VII. Using a turn signal does not make you look stupid; leaving one on for over two miles does.

VIII. Recognizing that if you leave late you're going to end up late (one way or the other), is a revelation that not only brings calm it saves lives.

IX. Keeping your vehicle in good working order is not an unnecessary expense.

X. Don't like seat-belts? Build a bridge and get over it.

And "the answer to yesterday's bonus question":

What is the most dangerous part of a car?

The nut holding the steering wheel.