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Faith Dwight

Skirt! Editor

Faith Dwight's parents knew she was a strange one when, at the age of five, she asked for "a book with no words." 21 years later, her heart still races at the sight of a blank page. After traveling the world for five years, she's decided (for now) to settle not-too-far from the tiny North Carolina t...

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Why Brits are Better Drivers Than Us: Part 1

faith

They maintain a safe following distance.

 A couple of years ago, I was cruising down the center lane of the beltline with my younger sister in the passenger seat and her best friend in the back.  Suddenly, cars in front of me began to swerve to the right and left.  I didn’t know what they were trying to avoid, but I quickly turned on my signal and tried to move to another lane, to no avail – traffic was too heavy.  I saw, up ahead, in my lane, an early ‘90s model mini-van – the kind with the faux-wood panels down the sides – STOPPED.  No hazard lights.  Nothing.  I hit my brakes and was able to stop about 10 feet behind it, quickly turning on my hazard lights.  The lady behind me(in the big, shiny, Mercedes) was not so lucky: I saw her careening toward us in my rear-view mirror.* She rear-ended me at about 40 mph, totaling both our cars.

Luckily Miraculously, the car behind her was an ambulance, and the driver quickly stopped and turned on her lights, preventing our two-car wreck from becoming a multi-car pile-up.  When the police and fire trucks showed up, they stood around my car in awe: they couldn’t believe I had managed keep from hitting the broken-down mini-van.**

Want to know my secret?  Want to know what I think probably saved my life, and my sister’s and her friend’s?  Safe Following Distance.  Before my British husband was my British husband, he was my British boyfriend.  And once, when my British boyfriend came to America, amazed by the rampant tailgate-riding problem we’ve got going on here in North Carolina, he instructed me in the ways of Safe Following Distance; that is, either 2 seconds behind the car in front of you (they pass a landmark, one-mississippi, two-mississippi, you pass it) or, 1 car-length for every ten miles per hour you’re traveling(speeding down 40 at 70 mph?  you should be able to envision 7 imaginary cars between you and the car in front).

Sound like a pain?  Know what’s more of a pain?  Paying hiked-up insurance ‘cause you smashed your car and someone else’s into oblivion.

*Talk about scary.  My little sister was on the phone with my mom, who was on a 25th Anniversary dinner date with my dad when all this was happening.  She heard us scream “OH NO, They’re going to hit us!!!” and then the phone was knocked from my sister’s hand in the impact...it took a full minute for us to find it in the floor.  Mom was freaking out.

**That broke-down mini-van had just coasted to a stop in the middle lane, and 3 people were sitting inside.  #1, if you’re breaking down, coast on over to the shoulder.  #2, for PETE’S SAKE, TURN ON YOUR HAZARD LIGHTS.