Let’s keep our heads out there on the road

We’ve all been there. All you want to do is get to Rapid City. Or Hot Springs. Pick the destination. It’s summertime, so traffic is exponentially worse than a February afternoon. There are visitors from near and far cramming the roads with you. There are tour busses. There are giant RVs. There are bikers. There are people stopping to gawk at animals we see on a daily basis, so we don’t see what is the big deal. And, lest we forget, those J-turns in downtown Custer as tourists cross the double yellow lines on Mt. Rushmore Road to pull into a parking spot.
All you want to do is get where you’re going, but the trip to get there is now taking a lot longer, and for all intents and purposes has become considerably more dangerous. Welcome to tourist season in the Black Hills.
Yes, it’s that time of year when our hands are firmly at ten and two on the steering wheel, a change of lanes requires a second and third look before going, and our patience gets tested by all sorts of drivers with all sorts of driving abilities from all sorts of locales across the globe. Our advice? Stay patient. Take a deep breath. You’ll get where you’re going, it may just take a tad longer.
What we don’t need out there is road rage, something that is seemingly on the rise in every corner, costs lives and puts other people in prisons for years on end. And for what?
A common refrain for people who don’t like how tourists drive is something to the effect of “they left their brain at home.” The reality is they are new people in a place they have never been, driving on roads where there is beautiful scenery or something interesting to look at everywhere you turn. The scenery between Custer and Rapid City, or through Custer State Park, may be something we are used to and take for granted, but allow yourself to remember the first time you got to see the beauty. You wanted to slow down. You wanted to take pictures. That’s what our guests are doing. Find some empathy and remember what it was like for you.
Road rage is definied by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as when a driver “commits moving traffic offenses so as to endanger other persons or property; an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger of one motor vehicle on the operator or passengers of another motor vehicle.”
Incidents of screaming, rude gestures, and sometimes even violence are reported frequently on our roadways. Learn what causes road rage, whether you are prone to it, and how you can help to keep our roads safe by not giving in to road rage. There is no reason to endanger yourself or others over a temporary inconvenience. The NHTSA recommends if you find that you have agitated another driver, whether the fault is truly yours or not, do not react or retaliate to the other driver on the road. This will only cause the situation to escalate. Remind yourself that the other driver is just bad at handling stress, avoid eye contact and continue to practice safe driving habits.
Be kind and be patient on the road this summer. We’re all better off when we follow this advice.