Eric Bailey's

For the past couple of days I have been in a classroom setting, taking a defensive driving course for my bus driving licence. There were a couple of things that really caught my attention (I was paying attention for the whole thing, but a couple of ideas seemed very interesting). One of the interesting notes (which I may have said before) is that the safety things they are teaching me with the bus is the same kind of thing that they teach with motorcycles. You know, things like make sure the other drivers see you (how can you miss a bus?!?! people do), position your vehicle so that others don't try to do things they shouldn't, and always be prepared for people to do the weirdest and most dangerous things. You are to do more than the average driver to prevent accident situations. On the bus you are always aware of what people are doing and what dangers there could be. On the motorcycle you are always watching all around you loooking for dangers and predicting what people are going to do. The difference is that the motocyclist will be killed, while the bus driver will kill the other driver.

The other interesting note was the greater responsibility that the government puts on bus drivers and truckers. As I was first grasping this point I was a little puzzled. I understand the company expecting more from its drivers, but the government? For every accident that a bus is you will get points (the company will) If a car rear-ends the bus, you will get a point. What could you do? The thing that made this okay with me was when the trainer used the word "professional driver". Think about playing hockey with a NHLer. If the two of you collide the assumption is that he should have been able to recognize the situation and avoided it or at least minimalized the potential damage. He is more responsible than the rest of us Friday night guys, even though we are the ones skating with our heads down.

The other drivers on the road are amatuers. I am not saying that they are all bad drivers, but they haven't been through professional training, and the kinds of tests that the "professionals" have. We have more responsibility for the road. Scary thought. That also means that I shouldn't get angry at the stupid drivers who do stupid things, because they haven't been trained like me. There are definitely some things that the amatuers need to improve around town, but the responsibility to show how to do it and to drive properly falls back on those like me who have been trained. Weird thoughts. So much for my time of blissful ignorance on the road, now I am responsible. Soon I will even be licenced.