This morning, listening to the news, they mentioned a crazy statistic.
There have been 150,000 vehicle incidents in Ohio due to speed since 2020. That stuck with me. Lately, I have been asking myself the same question nearly every time I get behind the wheel. Why is everyone in a rush? Where are they all going? Why do they want to get there so quickly?
It seems like every road has turned into a speedway. The posted speed limits feel like suggestions rather than the actual law. While I have always accepted that some people push the boundaries a little, and have been one known to recite “nine you’re fine; ten you’re mine”, the level of speeding I have been seeing lately is alarming. I am not talking about just a little over the speed limit.
I am talking about people flying down Main Street in Wheeling or out National Road like they are running a qualifying lap.
Even more disturbing is the number of drivers blatantly, unapologetically running red lights. Every Single. Day. Some days, I may see one or two. Other days, it is four or five, but it is every day. I don’t mean slipping through on a yellow or mistiming a light by half a second. I mean completely red. As in, the cross traffic has already started to go and someone still barrels through the intersection, eyes straight ahead, foot on the gas. I notice this daily as people navigate the intersection between Mt de Chantal Road and the left turn onto National Road. I often wonder if some drivers completely miss the traffic signal right in front of them, often moving when the light at National Road turns green. It is not just dangerous.
It is terrifying.
But as troubling as the speeding and red-light running are, what makes it all worse is the growing number of people doing it while completely distracted. I used to think distracted driving was mostly about texting. Do not get me wrong, I still see plenty of people tapping away on their phones while drifting into my lane. I have a friend who has often complained to me when I was in elected office about people driving with pets on their laps. I sympathized with him and brought it up as an issue with colleagues.
Unfortunately, you really cannot legislate stupid. But goodness knows, plenty try.
But distraction has evolved. Now it is people FaceTiming or watching shows with a phone propped on their dash. It has turned to drivers scrolling social media at stoplights and not noticing the light has turned green. It is people looking at their GPS while turning corners, or eating breakfast with one hand while trying to merge with the other.
I think what troubles me most is how normal it has all become. We have created a driving culture where multitasking is expected, patience is optional, and the rules of the road feel negotiable. When did we stop treating driving like the life-or-death responsibility it is?
When did five minutes become more valuable than someone’s safety?
We all live busy lives. I get that. We may be running late to work. Trying to pick up kids. Getting dinner on the table. But let’s be honest. Most of the rushing is not really about urgency; it is about habit. We have forgotten how to slow down. We are addicted to being in motion, on the move, always connected and productive, even behind the wheel. We need a reset.
Because no text, no appointment, no playlist or podcast or perfectly timed green light is worth risking someone’s life, especially not your own. Yet, every day, I see people gambling with it. Not just their own safety, but mine. Yours. Our children’s. Our neighbors’.
Law enforcement cannot be everywhere. Most of us have driven long enough to know how to avoid getting caught. So, it is up to us. If we want safer roads, it starts with us driving like they should be safe. That means putting down the phone. That means treating red lights like they matter. That means driving the speed limit, not just when we see a cruiser in the rearview mirror.
What if we all agreed to stop accepting reckless driving as just part of life? What if we decided that being a safe driver was something to be proud of? What if we drove like the people we love most were in every other car around us?
Let’s slow down. Let’s pay attention. Let’s stop pretending that distracted, dangerous, high-speed driving is just the new normal.
Because if this is normal, we are in serious trouble.
