Hi, my name is Don Logan. I've been a
professional driver for 29 years. I have 2.5 million safe driving miles.
I had always considered myself a safe driver, but about 15 years ago I had a
close call that drastically changed my driving habits.
One evening, I was traveling north on
Kansas Highway 4, north of Topeka, with a set of doubles. It was dusk and it
was the time of the evening that the headlights had not fully taken effect. I
came upon a single taillight and what I thought might have been a motorcycle.
It was, in fact, a flatbed pickup with one right taillight, carrying a big,
round bale of hay on the spear on the back of the truck. The vehicle was
traveling at a very low rate of speed, so I swung out into the passing lane to
overtake it. I then realized we were approaching a gravel intersection. I also
saw, once I was into the passing lane, the pickup's front left turn signal! The
rear left turn signal was not working.
At this point I had no other options but
to continue to pass the vehicle on the left and moved as far left as possible.
Fortunately, the opposing vehicle saw me as it started the left turn, out of
his driver's side mirror, and swerved to the right avoiding a
collision.
I'm very thankful that no one was
injured that day and that this non-event made lifelong changes to my safe
driving habits. It taught me to improve my defensive driving awareness by
increasing my eye lead time and anticipating dangers before they materialize.
It also taught me that your environment is crucial to highway safety. Here in
Kansas, we must pay particular attention in rural areas to agricultural
equipment. Farming is our leading source of business in Kansas and we must be
prepared to share the road.
I
encourage every driver to be vigilant in their safe driving habits, to learn
from their experiences, and to never take a day off from safety.
Don Logan is
from Eskridge and is America’s Road Team Captain with the American Trucking
Associations
Seems like it always takes a close call for us to remember to pay attention to safety. Thanks for the reminder to pay attention all day, every day!
ReplyDeleteDon, thanks for sharing a driving incident that had a significant impact on your life. Others who read this article may recall a similar personal driving situation and how it impacted their lives. It did me. Once behind the wheel, we can never take a vacation from being a safe driver.
ReplyDeleteLarry Emig
Kansas & ASCE-T&DI Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day Committees
Sometimes we get lucky, other times not. If we're lucky, we get the chance to become more vigilant about safety. Glad you were one of the lucky ones, Don.
ReplyDelete