What goes around comes around

Growing up I believed that doing a good deed would bring a good deed back to me. You know, what goes around comes around. In all fairness, the evil deeds also work that way too. Karma, or fate if you prefer, is something I do believe in. I also believe that you have to work for the fate. Working hard will bring good results, but doing things wrong, cheating or just being mean, will also turn around and bite you in the…you know. Do have similar thoughts?

I was recently out with my kids, traveling along the freeway when a vehicle came up behind me and began tailgating my vehicle. As soon as I was able, I switched lanes to give them room to pass. There was no need for me to risk my safety and the safety of my 4 kids. Tailgating never makes any sense. It shows your impatience and even your lack of understanding about sharing the road with other drivers. All 4 of my kids could have been seriously injured if the tailgating driver crashed into the back of my vehicle. I doubt any tailgater thinks about how they could injure young kids just by their impatience.

As a driver, you need time to see brake lights, time to get your foot to the brake and then time to stop. Tailgating barely gives you time to notice the brake lights before you crash into the vehicle ahead of you. It puts you, your vehicle and the driver you’re tailgating at risk. It can cost you money if you crash; not just with repairs, but with traffic violations and higher insurance. Perhaps even a lawsuit. If this is the case, why do it?

Once the tailgater passed me, they decided to tailgate the driver of a pickup truck. Everyone has a habit, but respect needs to be part of it. It shows lack of respect when you tailgate so severely as this driver did. Since we were on the freeway driving at 100 km/h, I thought I would time the space between them. I counted less than half a second between them; when it should have been at least 3 seconds. A little too close, right? Ok, a LOT too close.

This is where karma comes in. They were tailgated by another vehicle. If the lead driver had to hit their brakes reasonably hard, there would be a chain reaction crash at high speed. Injuries and severe vehicle damage galore. But it gets worse; another vehicle continued the chain. So there you have it; 4 vehicles driving so close together that no one could respond quickly enough if the lead driver suddenly hit their brakes. The driver who started the tailgating would get their vehicle squashed. If, or when a crash happens to that driver because of tailgating, I guess you could call it fate…