What does being 'responsible' mean when it comes to cars and driving? Let's say you are taking a long road trip to visit family and friends in a state that is located across several different states. You know that you are going to be in the car for the duration of at least seven or eight hours, and you are also driving with someone else. Do you do all of the driving, or does your driving buddy share in some of the driving responsibilities? The choice should be obvious.

There are times when we will be stuck driving long distances by ourselves, but in those situations where we are sharing our vehicle with someone else;,(provided that the other person is a licensed driver), this responsibility should be shared. On a recent trip up to New York to visit with family and friends, I made the mistake of not getting enough sleep for several days in a row leading up the trip. The first few hours in the car started out fine, but then I suddenly hit a wall where I experienced extreme difficulty in keeping my eyes open. My boyfriend, who was sitting next to me in the front passenger seat insisted that he drive. I didn't want to relinquish control of the vehicle because it was my car. I knew the way to New York like the back of my hand whereas he did not. However, it did not take much more convincing before I finally pulled over and let him drive. We were driving on a straight path, and he had brought his GPS with him anyway. I gave him the few basic directions that he would need, and then in a matter of seconds, I was out like a light.

In retrospect, I shudder to think of what might have happened if my boyfriend hadn't been so observant and if I hadn't agreed to allow him to drive. There are countless Americans out there who don't even get the chance to think about this fact because their decisions (or lack thereof) have resulted in near fatal or fatal vehicle accidents. When I was in high school, one day, the assistant coach for our track team failed to show up to practice. It was extremely unlike her to miss a practice, so right away everyone was worried. After she didn't show up to practice the following day, we were slightly horrified. Finally, four days later, she showed up to practice and had some visible bruising on her face. We were shocked and horrified when she told us that she had fallen asleep at the wheel of her car while driving on the highway. As the story goes, it was late at night, and she was driving home from a friend's house. The drive back to her parent's house was a long one, and she was exhausted. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep at the wheel. She explained to the rest of us how days leading up to this very incident, she hadn't gotten enough sleep. Because the road she was traveling on was flat and careless, she actually wound up driving while asleep for several minutes before she finally crashed her vehicle into a guard rail!