Please Drive Responsibly

The next time someone gets in your car, feel the change of responsibility.

Photo credit: iStock

By Niklas Göke

Almost a decade ago, I did a road trip with two friends to Austria. In the span of a few days, we visited several locations, and I was the designated driver, since we were using my family’s car. I’m not sure why, but I went very fast during some of our countryside drives from place to place. Perhaps we were on the clock, or maybe I just enjoyed the winding roads.

One of my passengers neither condemned nor encouraged my driving behavior, the other was visibly uncomfortable. After she voiced her concern a few times, I eventually slowed down, but it took me longer than I’d like to admit. I still remember seeing her in the back seat, almost literally holding on for dear life.

In hindsight, I’m not proud of it, but on that trip, I learned a valuable lesson: When you drive alone, you can do whatever you want. As soon as other people enter your car, however, your job is to safely get them from A to B. Nothing more, nothing less.

Now, when it comes to an activity like driving, which is heavily regulated by the law and all the other traffic participants, “whatever you want” is not as stretchable of a term as most of us would like it to be. But if it’s just you piloting…