Tips for Staying Alive

I read an article about near-death experiences the day before it happened. The conclusion of the piece revealed that despite their obvious peril, people who had experienced a near-death event placed their level of anxiety during the incident at somewhere around a three out of ten.

Apparently, as the article explained, their brains were so focused on the situation itself—dodging the oncoming car, escaping the burning building, etc.—that their minds were strangely focused and relaxed. It was only once removed from the danger that the fear began, often multiplying into a series of dreadful thoughts and overwhelming “what if’s.” These later feelings rated considerably higher on the anxiety scale, the article reported.

I thought these findings absurd. How can a tangle with death itself cause little more apprehension than a lost piece of luggage at the airport? Of course, my falling through the Lake Michigan ice the very next morning would prove the article correct. After the first slow-motion slide into the freezing waters, at no time was I afraid. Never did my life scroll before my eyes, punctuated with moments of fancy and regret.

My first thought was of my son, Parker (baby #2 wasn’t born at the time). I then put my chances of surviving at 50/50. Finally, I remember thinking that it’s acts like these—stepping on black ice—that get people killed. And that was it. That, and the hope I could pull myself up on that little cropping of ice several feet away. It was only during the various recountings of the tale—and the memories of struggling to escape the water, the sounds of breaking ice in every direction, the weight of my clothes pulling me under, the uncanny appearance of a thick flow of ice I pulled myself onto—that I grew fearful. I can feel my chest tightening now.

Rating Risks
Apparently, the moral of the story is that it’s more relaxing to face death than to think about such encounters. Still, I’m asking you to do the latter to prevent the former. That is, to think about some of the risks we travelers take—namely driving—and address them so you don’t find yourself on the losing end of a 50/50, life/death proposition. I can’t afford to lose any more readers, so listen up.

We all know flying is about a zillion times safer than driving. Hopping a plane to Disney World is less risky than pulling the fifth-wheel to Mouse Town. However, there are things we drivers can do to tilt the safety factor back in our favor.

Start with those tires. I’m not a big statistics guy, but I recall seeing that approximately 75 percent of vehicle mishaps, accidents, and long afternoons spent waiting for tow trucks are caused by tire failure. Tell me you’ll start checking tire pressures—and performing an obligatory walk-around—before every trip. Remember to check tire pressures when the tires are cold, when they haven’t been driven on for several hours or more. And if you ever find yourself stuck on the side of the road, pull your vehicle way over and get everybody out of the vehicle and far away from the road. The shoulder is the single worst place to be on a highway, bar none.

Fix Little Things
We all drive with little annoyances. Right now, I’m driving with a cracked windshield and squishy brakes. Maybe you’ve got a rattling door, a back defroster on the blink, or sluggish acceleration. What’s that odd odor inside? Where did that puddle under the hood come from? What are we thinking? These problems won’t get better and could lead to an accident in their own right or develop into a much larger, more hazardous, and expensive problem. I recently heard about three kids who died in the backseat of the family sedan from a carbon monoxide leak onboard. Check your vehicles and be faithful to maintenance and troubleshooting.

Watch the way you drive. Those excessive speeds and ornery lane changes are going to catch up to you. Relax already and lose that aggressive attitude. The 10 minutes you save on the trip to Yellowstone isn’t worth it. When police asked the man who nearly killed my three siblings and me after ramming our Ford Mustang into a Rubik’s Cube why he was driving so recklessly, he responded that he was late for work. Funny, sitting in the emergency room that didn’t strike us as a really good excuse.

Pay Attention
Those of you distracted by cell phones, Happy Meals, and sneaking peaks at Finding Nemo playing on the vehicle DVD player are putting your family at risk. Ever hear about the woman who wrecked her car because she was—are you sitting down—eating a bowl of cereal? Is driving with your knee while eating a Pop Tart any less stupid? Come on, people.

We hear a lot about driving defensively in Driver’s Ed. Good advice, for sure, but we can also plan to drive defensively, meaning amending our driving behavior when the odds start leaving our favor. For instance, it’s safer to drive in daylight than in darkness, during a non-holiday than a holiday, in the middle lane than the fast lane, on a four-lane highway than a county road, and during an hour or two into a rainstorm rather than the slicker, first 15 minutes of water hitting the pavement. And you will be better off driving when well-rested and alert as opposed to when tired and hypnotized by an all-day driving session.

These all sound like little steps to take and they are. Why bother, you ask? I’m perfectly safe. That’s what I thought when I just ever so innocently, ever so gently, tapped the ice with my foot. What’s the big deal? What could go wrong? I think about that possibility every day, especially whenever my son runs into the room.