ROAD RULES: DON'T FORGET TO HEED THEM

Perhaps it's time for automakers to design a device for vehicles that controls our driving. I'm not talking about something that monitors our speed; that was taken care of by a blind mechanical engineer named Ralph Teetor. He invented the modern-day cruise control in 1945 that was first installed on a Chrysler Corp. Imperial in 1958. (A more primitive cruise control dates back to the 1910s.)

On the open road, we can set the control to our predetermined speed and off we go. We're free to think about more important things than watching our speedometer. Unfortunately, there are too many drivers who don't give much thought about anything other than reaching their destination, at whatever speed they can get by with.

But as motorists, we have an obligation to drive with caution, to watch for the unexpected and to obey traffic laws. One day last week, in a 24-hour period, three Indiana State Police troopers were struck by vehicles as they were either stopped to assist motorists or to cite traffic violators. This is despite Indiana's passing of the "move over" law a few years ago.

This law, designed to give emergency personnel more room to do their job doesn't apply just to interstate traffic; it's along all four-lane roadways. (Two of the three incidents involving troopers last week were along Indiana's state roads.)

Locally, there are three other violations of traffic laws that we see quite frequently that are accidents waiting to happen. They all involve impatience on the driver's part. One is when motorists who make right-hand turns from parking lanes or they create their own turn lane next to the curb. The other is similar: Drivers who don't want to wait behind someone who is turning left, so they make their own passing lane on the right, using the shoulder or the parking/fire lane to go around the person who is turning.

The last violation involves those center turning lanes, which Corydon has along S.R. 337 between the north bridge and S.R. 135. Some motorists have created their own use for that lane, which includes using it as a passing lane to get around other drivers who are traveling too slow for them or, probably the more common misuse, as a means to shorten their time in making a left-hand turn from any of the businesses or side streets along that route. Once traffic is clear from the left, the motorist pulls into the center turning lane and does one of two things: stops and waits until there's an opening in the oncoming traffic before pulling into the driving lane or they continue to drive in the turning lane until they can move on over to the right.

All of these are traffic violations that could result in a crash, which could have serious injuries or even deadly consequences, if other motorists aren't watching for these inconsiderate drivers. So until such a device is manufactured that prohibits us from making stupid driving decisions, let's all remember to obey the laws and drive more cautiously. A life, including your own, could depend on it.