GUEST COLUMN: Five Movies That Will Make You Rethink Your Habits Behind the Wheel
Five Movies That Will Make You Rethink Your Habits Behind the Wheel
by Susan Melony
What kind of bad habits do you have behind the wheel? We all have at least one habit that we would probably be better off leaving behind. For example, road rage in the Bronx contributes to plenty of accidents. In the first half of 2021, 227 accidents occurred because someone was following too closely, which is a type of accident that is easy to avoid!
Whether it’s road rage, distraction, or another habit, digging into the facts and statistics can be sobering, but it isn’t much fun. Watching movies is much more fun, and you might just learn a lesson or two in the process! If you don’t, you’ll at least feel entertained, and you may just find yourself connecting with a character who is struggling behind the wheel.
A few entertaining movies that may make you rethink your habits while you’re driving include:
Last Exit
Learning to Drive
Unhinged
Dumb and Dumber
Clueless
Last Exit
You may not have heard of Last Exit, as it's a Canadian television film, but it's a great road rage movie if for no other reason than you'll likely see yourself in the characters.
Andrea cuts Kathleen off on the freeway, making her late to work. Later on, Andrea engages in some absent-minded driving, which causes her to park in a towaway zone.
After a terribly bad day unfolds, Kathleen recognizes Andrea and confronts her in her car, which ultimately results in a chase, and then an accident.
We all have things that are going on in our lives. This movie is a good reminder to be kinder on the road or suffer the consequences, as it could mean being late to work or getting into a car accident.
Learning to Drive
Learning to Drive is mostly a feel-good movie about a middle-aged woman learning to drive for the first time in New York City. In one scene, as she's learning how to drive, she starts to get frustrated with the things that are happening on the road. Her instructor tells her,“Don't engage with them, especially when you drive.”
This is a good lesson because you can’t control what others are doing on the road. All you can do is control what you’re doing behind the wheel, and if you don’t let others get to you, your driving will be much safer.
Unhinged
Although the plot is extremely unlikely to happen to you, it’s still a good reminder to be a little kinder behind the wheel. Unhinged is the story of a woman who ends up being followed by a man who just killed his ex-wife and her boyfriend. Rather than apologize after the man apologizes to her, Rachel says she has nothing to apologize for, which results in Tom attacking her family.
At the end of the movie, Rachel gets cut off and she almost honks her horn, but she decides against it, as she’s learned her lesson to be a bit more kind to others while she’s behind the wheel.
Dumb and Dumber
Comedies can teach us things about being on the road too! Take Dumb and Dumber, for example. The scene where Lloyd and Harry pick up a hitchhiker is a classic. Not only does it become obvious that neither Lloyd nor Harry should be allowed to drive a car, it's also a good reminder that you shouldn't pick up hitchhikers. It's not a bad lesson for hitchhikers either. You never know who is behind the wheel!
Clueless
Clueless is another classic 90’s movie with a great driving scene. It’s a good reminder of what it’s like to drive when you aren’t experienced. In this case, it's a teen on the interstate, but it could also be an experienced rural driver in the city, or someone driving a van for the first time.
Teens may want to think twice about letting a friend drive them to school when they first get their license, but adults would do well to think carefully about their skills—or lack thereof—behind the wheel. Take a cab if you are on vacation in a busy city, consider taking the highway instead of the interstate during rush hour, and do your best to focus on the road, even if you feel nervous!
Whether you’ve got a problem with road rage or it’s all a matter of confidence behind the wheel, movies have a way of highlighting the experiences in our own lives. Let these five movies be a lesson to you and you may find that you become a better, safer driver!
