Preface from my newly released book:
Preface:
When you’re drivin’down the highway at night
And you’re feelin’ that wild turkeys bite
Don’t give Johnny Walker a ride
Cause Jack Black is right by your side
You might get taken to the jailhouse and find
You’ve been arrested for drivin’ while blind
Now just the other night with nothin’ to do
We broke a case of proof 102
And started itchin’ for that wonderful feel
Of rollin’ in an automobile
You could say we was out of our mind
And let me tell you we were flyin’ while blind
Then they had us up against the wall
Hey! It’s only blood grain alcohol
And there ain’t no cause for alarm
We ain’t out to do nobody no harm
How could anyone be so unkind
To arrest a man for drivin’ while blind
I was in High School when this song came out by ZZ Top and
can remember thinking it was one of the coolest songs ever to hit the FM
airwaves! I went out and bought the tape (on 8-track) immediately. Those were
very different times…but our actions are no less costly or worse, deadly today.
My concerns
about safer driving all started when two of my 17 (at the time) year old
daughter’s friends died in a crash about a mile from my home. It opened my eyes
to some very controversial issues debated by many parents and a lot of concern
by a whole bunch of teen aged drivers. Unfortunately, for the teen aged
drivers, that concern doesn’t last very long.
I know when
I was a teenager, I thought I was invincible…”nothing like that could happen to
me; and besides…I know everything”, at least I thought I did. At 17, the one
thing I wish I had known is that I didn’t know jack-shit! Unfortunately, no one
can tell you that when you are a teenager; you have to learn it on your own.
How many of us were told “don’t touch the stove…its hot” and went ahead and
touched it anyway?
This is not
to say that I intend this book (manual) to be a frightening “Scared Straight” (look
it up on YouTube…the 1978 version) approach to learning how to drive, although
that approach may have some validity. I would rather take the comic approach to
teaching what I feel needs to be taught and in the end, my hope is that this
book will be read and recommended by drivers of all ages. In fact, I’d love to
see it become required reading.
My bet is
that, anyone who picks this book up will have been affected by the tragic death
of a young driver; either by way of drugs and alcohol, a distracted driver or,
in the case of my daughter’s friends, by way of bad weather and inexperience.
Faulty equipment can also play a part, especially in crappy weather.
What makes
me qualified to write this? Nothing…and everything, really. First and foremost
I am a parent; so I am an expert worrier. Second, I have no idea how many miles
I have logged as a driver, but I do know that every one of the miles I have
driven is accident free. Over the course of these miles I have developed some
good habits which are second nature to me and third; I consider myself a
semi-professional driver; having driven a limousine for several years just
prior to writing this book and having been through several of Bridgestone’s
Learn and Drive training courses. I do
not claim to be an expert, just a good qualified driver with plenty of
experience which I would like to pass along.
With that
in mind I hope you enjoy reading this book, but more importantly I hope you
take the lessons it provides, and carry them with you, live them, teach them
and practice them. My goal with this book is to make a difference in just one
young driver, to the point of having saved him or her from a fatal mistake. If
I accomplish this; this book will have been a success.
Bob Hazard -
March, 2019
