THE RESPONSIBLE DRIVER

[Music] personal responsibility today is more complex than ever it means knowing and caring a lot more about the air we breathe the water we drink the food we eat and how we handle our cars in traffic what to look for on the road ahead i'm hugh downes to talk about saving human lives and preventing needless suffering that saving is automatic when drivers learn to recognize and defend against all the hazards of the highway [Music] we have a special responsibility to those highway users who are small easily overlooked and so vulnerable children pedestrians bicycles motorcycles and drivers once they enter the mainstream of traffic of our roads and streets they become part of the driver's responsibility and they can come from anywhere [Music] uh [Music] wow [Music] so [Music] every year more than 45 000 persons are killed in traffic one out of five is a pedestrian almost 130 000 are injured most of them severely the greatest numbers of those killed and injured are the very young and the very old together they account for half of all pedestrian deaths [Music] high among the most fatal errors made by the elderly is ignoring signals they tend to follow the movement of other pedestrians rather than to observe traffic and signals [Music] elderly people often are inattentive and they may not see or hear as well or move as fast as others [Applause] [Music] wow [Music] so [Music] in most pedestrian accidents the driver is not hurt at least his wounds don't show but holding yourself responsible for death or injury to another human is not easily put out of memory [Music] smaller faster moving and equally vulnerable children under 15 account for 25 percent of all pedestrian deaths they may not know the rules or heedless in play forget them [Music] [Music] people on bicycles present the same reasons for caution be alert for their mistakes tap your horn blink your lights communicate let them know you're there before it's too late [Music] [Music] drinking and traffic don't mix at all and not just drivers are involved pedestrians over 15 and under 50 involved in traffic accidents are frequently under the influence of alcohol and walking in the dark that's a tough combination for drivers to cope with [Music] [Music] reflectorized clothing with doubtless helped night walkers as this film demonstrates pedestrians are the only moving objects permitted on the roadway at night without a light or reflector keep this in mind because when you are walking at night you're a hard to see pedestrian too for the most part however the responsibility for seeing pedestrians at night is almost entirely on the motorist [Music] many motorists exhibit a mental blindness for motorcycles they too are undersized and overlooked in just one recent year there were more than 3 100 motorcyclist deaths a big share of them the fault of the automobile driver a motorcyclist is a licensed motorist too and despite its smaller size a motorcycle is always entitled to a full highway lane just as a car is [Music] cycle drivers are also citizens of the highway citizens that you and three thousand pounds of carelessly moving metal can easily destroy [Music] as a motorist life is in your hands your own life and others the size of your responsibility grows as the number of motorcycles bicycles and pedestrians increases with the population the techniques of defensive driving can help you live up to that responsibility but only if you practice those techniques every time you get into a car to drive it i'm hugh downs and like you i like to drive defensively the responsible driver knows that the most dangerous mile is the mile just ahead and that's how he takes it one mile at a time one trip at a time up the road to good driving anytime anyplace with more defensive driving course graduates each year practicing these techniques behind the wheel we can make america a safer place to drive and to live so long [Music] you