Consider this a warning

Hamilton 2-20130726-00483We’ve grown up listening to warnings. Our parents warned us of what was dangerous to us and many products have warning labels on them. It’s helpful to have these warnings, provided you notice the warnings. The same can be said about driving. We have so many warning signs on our daily commute, but do you really notice them?

Each time I’m out with a student from Young Drivers of Canada I ask them what the last yellow warning sign was that we had passed. They rarely notice them at first. However, by asking them regularly, they learn to notice them. Noticing the warning signs is one thing, but doing something about it is something different.

When I was a judge on Canada’s Worst Driver on Discovery, I had the opportunity to ask each licensed driver what a series of road signs were. They got most of the regulatory signs correct, but failed miserably on the warning signs. What happened from the time they got their license until then? Is it important any longer once you have your license? Of course it is, but how seriously do you take warning signs?

I often see drivers slide out of control when the road conditions are wet and of course, they passed a couple of signs that said the road was slippery when wet. Why didn’t they slow down? I’ve also seen the results of drivers taking a curve in the road too quickly and drifted off the road. Of course, they passed a warning sign that gave a suggested speed for the curve. I’m sure if they were asked what the warning speed was, they wouldn’t get the answer correct.

I do get a chuckle out of drivers who drives past to the “right lane ends” sign only to stop at the end of the lane because they can no longer do a lane change. Why didn’t they change lanes earlier? Did they not see the warning sign, let along that the lane was ending if they looked well ahead? There is a reason for these signs that are posted along our roads.

So here’s your challenge; start identifying to yourself each of the warning signs you come across while driving. Ask yourself how you’ll deal with each one. After doing this for a number of days, you’ll begin to make this into a habit. If you continue to ignore these warning signs, you could crash and cause injury to you or someone else. Consider this a warning.