We would all like to believe that we’re good drivers. Sure, we might make a mistake here and there, like not signaling a lane change or cutting someone off to make the exit, but we’re human. Things happen. All we can do is try our best and learn from our mistakes. I mean, having an irate driver blaring their horn behind you is enough to make sure that you don’t (or at least try not to) cut someone off ever again.
But we are forgetful creatures. If we’re feeling good about ourselves, feeling confident, you know, we take advantage. Such as like with our driving, especially if we have places we need to be. It’s not any different for Coloradan drivers. Have you noticed when driving in that state that the motorists aren’t really, well, the greatest?
No offense to Colorado drivers, there are definitely good ones out there. Every state has their fair share of lackadaisical motorists. However, the driving statistics for Coloradans show that Colorado in particular has a less-than-stellar driving record.
Let’s take a look at the findings:
Unsafe Driving Maneuvers: Where Does Colorado Rank?
According to the Denver Post, Colorado ranks eighth as the worst driving state in terms of speeding tickets, traffic citations, car accidents and DUIs. If you just isolate it to traffic citations, they take the top spot. So what choices are Coloradan drivers making on the road, and how can we help to make those choices better?
As of 2014, Colorado’s state patrol has found that speeding, DUI, distracted driving, failure to yield and lane violations (not using your blinker to signal a lane change) has all had a marked negative effect on Colorado roads. Blustery winters, blizzards and traffic jams don’t help the situation, nor does road rage.
Stopped a stop sign, Miguel Baray was honked at by another man named David Garcia, who it can be assumed wanted him to roll through the stop sign, not to make a complete stop. Annoyed, Baray flipped off Garcia. Instantly enraged, David Garcia shot at and killed Miguel Baray.
Garcia told police he had meant to shoot over Baray’s vehicle to “prove a point.” When people are honking and harassing you at a stop sign or are tailgating you on the freeway in the hope of making you drive a little faster, you might be more willing to make an unsafe driving maneuver to avoid the anger of the motorist behind you, but it’s not worth it.
It is more unsafe to let the poor driving decisions of another motorist cause you to make a split-second decision that could hurt you. If you speed up because the person behind you is tailgating you, you could potentially cause an accident yourself.
Think of it like this: You speed up to create some distance between you and the car behind you. You are focusing so much on the car behind you that you didn’t realize the car ahead of you has begun to brake. By the time you’re looking back ahead you don’t have enough time to put on the brakes, and you rear-end them. The accident will be declared your fault, and your insurance premiums will spike. And if you moving at a high speed, you had better hope you have enough liability and collision auto insurance to cover the medical and property costs of the accident. If reading this gives you a knot in your stomach, then it’s probably best to update your policy or to look for a new one.
Miguel Baray was right in coming to complete stop at the stop sign, he was following the law. The events that unfurled at the stop sign were a tragedy, but fortunately road rage incidences like these are an uncommon occurrence.
Driving is a task that we need to take seriously every day; it’s a privilege, not a right. Our licenses can be revoked at any time, so we need to make sure there is no cause to revoke them.
I’ve driven in Colorado on the western slope, and the drivers were pretty decent. I think with any big city there will be crappy drivers.