Drive smart

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By Jon Parton

That certain someone you were hoping to hear from finally sends you a text. In a rush of excite­ment, you quickly take a look at what the person wrote. You devote all of your attention to the message, trying quickly to respond to the most important person in your life. At least, I guess. All I really know for certain is that I’m stuck behind you going 20 mph in a 40 mph zone.

Ladies, no amount of makeup will cover up the injuries you might sustain in a crash. Stop applying mascara and drive. Gentlemen, watching Vin Diesel movies makes you neither fast nor furious. You live in Kansas. Accept that fact. Slow it down. Races down most Johnson County roads go 100 feet before you hit another red light anyway.

I mention all of this because of the increased amount of construc­tion that will affect students for the rest of the semester. Road crews are scheduled to work on Quivira until sometime in July. While driving home from school the other day, I witnessed a driver taking some of the turns a little too quickly. He ran over three traffic cones while trying to regain control of his vehicle.

Although he was a lucky driver, he wasn’t a very good one. Driv­ing is one of things that can easily be taken for granted. As a kid, I couldn’t wait for the day I could fi­nally drive. Having a car represented freedom and status. As I got older, having a car represented a metal box that required 30 to 40 bucks a week in gas.

As Americans, we love our cars but we hate traffic. The College Boulevard and Quivira Road inter­section is one of the busiest intersec­tions in the Kansas City metro area. Combine that with ongoing construction and bad drivers and you end up with a lot of potentially dangerous situations. Speeding to your destination won’t help you if you rear end someone.

It’s easy to sound like an old per­son when you complain about driv­ing habits. I’m aware that there are people out there who can multitask while driving. I don’t believe people need to drive under the speed limit and show extreme courtesy to other drivers. I believe people should just display a modicum of intelligence when driving. Don’t let your driving style get in the way of your common sense.

Contact Jon Parton, news editor, at jparton@jccc.edu.

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