Taking wheel is serious business

The News Virginian / News Virginian
Published: December 31, 2007

Tradition dictates at this time of year that we, along with police and parents, distribute admonitions about the perils of driving under the influence. The perils are so obvious and the solutions so clear, we hardly think the point needs reiterating.

Less obvious, perhaps, are other dangers, such as distractions, overcorrecting, inattention or the simple desire of a guy in his 40s or 50s to start riding a motorcycle. Those are among the factors state police cited in explaining why Virginia, for the first time since 1990, surpassed 1,000 traffic fatalities in 2007.

Motorcycle crashes have almost doubled in the past year. Police blame that on a new wave of boomers suddenly discovering the joy of straddling hogs on the open highway. Their inexperience and exhuberance, police say, can be dangerous.

Interestingly, as one of our stories noted earlier this year, the real trouble spots are not the crowded interstates or big-city streets where our attention tends to be more attuned to the road, but the rural two-lanes that predominate in Augusta County.

Some people see more laws as a solution, pointing to the increasing number of people driving while talking on cell phones in addition to such distraction standbys as adjusting the radio or applying makeup. AAA spokeswoman Martha Meade doesn't buy it: "We can lobby for all the laws on all types of behavior, VDOT can build all the guardrails and engineer the safest highways, but until drivers refocus on the full-time job of driving it will be difficult to make a significant dent" in the number of fatalities, she said.

Recognizing driving as a "full-time job" is a first and best step. Our failure to recognize driving as a serious task might be its most significant hazard. So please pay attention to the job at hand, not only now but in the new year.

And be advised. Local and state police will be setting up sobriety checkpoints throughout the area through New Year's Day. That compels us to provide the usual admonition: Don't drink and drive. There, we've said it.

See you next year.