In another installment of things that amuse (or perhaps annoy) me on the road...
On the way home from the beach the other day, we kept passing those flashing word signs in construction zones. Depending on your angle and where the rest of traffic is, they can be a little dangerous. And these ones in particular said something especially annoying. (No, it was not "Please pardon our progress" though that is a little annoying.)
The sign said "USE EXTREME CAUTION".
That is really dumb advice. Extreme caution is how accidents happen. Extreme caution is what makes people unable to make left turns until someone behind them rear-ends them. Extreme caution is what makes people drive so slowly they cause accidents. Extreme caution messes with the living flow of traffic and screws things up generally.
I am not a fan of extreme caution. Not in driving and not in life at large. Extreme caution is what people are thinking should be imposed because of recent security lapses in the aviation industry. But the goal of extreme caution, that is risk-free life, is a mirage, an idolatrous mirage. And in the meantime, extreme caution causes more problems than it solves.
Enough with the bad driving advice on road signs, already!
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2 comments:
Amen. And I say that as one who believes that living fully involves risks, not just as one who happened to hook up with an extremely cautious driver. ;)
Hm. I'm not sure I agree. People don't realize how dangerous driving is - witness how willing they are to talk on the phone while doing it. And particularly in a construction zone, where there are workers risking their lives to make your road surface smoother, I think a little extreme caution wouldn't be out of place.
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