Drive safely for the sake of your loved ones

I am always reminded of how brash and careless some drivers can be. I was heading to work and had to take a photo of this scene unfolding before me as both cars came to a stop at a traffic light. B and K both came into a merging lane. The merging lane must be about 10 - 15m in length before it narrows down to one single lane.

Both drivers refused to give way and the gap between both was getting progressively narrower and narrower (can you see the side mirrors here?) to the point that K was almost knocking into the kerb so clearly, K had no choice but to slow down and B overtook K.  

Was that the end of the story? Nope. K zoomed out right in front of me, overtook B and then immediately wrestled his way into the lane. But halfway in, he changed his mind (I think this is due to the slow moving traffic on the lane) and zoomed right back out. AND then, B decided to perhaps put his turbo charged engine to the test and tailed after K and both zoomed out of sight. Wow, all this in less than 10mins.

What has this got to do with Parenting? Loads.

1) Language
How many of us may have said something totally inappropriate while driving with our child(ren) behind, forgetting that they absorb things like a sponge?

I recalled reading a friend's status shout on my Facebook. He was turning into a lane and a car honked at him. The daughter called the driver a moron. LOL, the child was only 3 at that time.

2) Patience
Oh boy, I am not great with this as well. I did not realise I was sighing and showing signs of frustration when driving at times until Dumpling told me "Mummy, stop sighing". And then I realised that my driving style may indirectly affect how she would react to road conditions when she is older too.

3) Safety
I think in anger, many sometimes overlook the safety of their passengers. Even if we were to be alone in the car, it is good to just take a breath and let it all out because it is not worth it getting killed due to some reckless drivers on the road.

I travel on the highway daily and I still recall a fatal accident some years back. The filter lane (to another highway) was closed as the accident occurred at that spot. As our car drove past the accident scene, we could see the corpse sprawled across the road as the ambulance has yet to arrive. The victim was a middle aged motor cyclist from Malaysia. I felt extremely sad thinking about how this man may have left his home very early to ride into Singapore to work, kissed his family goodbye (who might have been sleeping then) and not having a chance to return to his family. Ever.

So let's be safe and be calm. Let us also get into the habit of strapping on our safety belts. Let's embrace life.