a.  I keep on smoking because I am ‘special’ and hence it is not going to happen to me.
or …

b.  I can keep on smoking because I am ‘in control’ and hence it is not going to happen to me.

We dealt with the first option yesterday so let’s concentrate for a minute on the second option, which is …

b.  I am ‘in control’ and hence it is not going to happen to me

Research clearly demonstrates that most car accidents are a result of driver error, and that many of these errors are the sour fruit of reckless and irresponsible driving.

Imagine a car speeding at 80 miles or 120 kilometers per hour on a curving road. It’s a dark night and visibility is limited. The road is quite narrow, the driver is not really familiar with it, and he has no experience of driving in such conditions. But he gets a rush out of it – the speed is thrilling and his foot squeezes further down on the accelerator. The driver is a beautiful young man, the radio blasts his favorite music, he is thinking of his girlfriend and he smiles to himself. The future awaits him and he cannot wait to get there. He is smart, he’s got what it takes, he’s a winner. But he is going to lose both legs tonight and be crippled for the rest of his life.

The road is narrow and dark and taking the curves at this speed is sheer suicide. But the wheel feels so right in his hands and the car sits perfectly on the road, reacting like an agile beast to his touch. He is loving it!

A big truck is approaching down a slope. It is a semi-trailer and its driver has been at the wheel for twelve hours today. He’s had his breaks and has rested – he is not tired, he’s a professional, but maybe he’s a bit less alert than in the morning. He feels like a cup of coffee. The thermos is still half-full, but he’ll be unloading in the warehouse in just another forty minutes, so he keeps at it. He plans to sleep in the back cabin of the truck tonight and head home early in the morning. He rejoices for a second in the notion of home, and he smiles.

The semi-trailer approaches a curve just as the youth arrives at tremendous speed from the other side. The truck driver can see the headlights closing in from around the corner, he blows the air-horns, brakes and veers to the right, but he knows they are going to meet. Nothing can stop it now.

The young man takes the curve way too fast, and suddenly everything turns into slow motion – the haunting sound of the horn and the huge truck growing larger and larger. His body responds spontaneously by hitting the brakes hard, the car moans and groans like a beast caught in a trap. It is all surreal – first comes the explosion and then the bliss of silence.

The impact is massive. The car flies high in the air, then lands on its side on the black bitumen. Like an empty matchbox in the wind, it whirls and flips several times and lands in the ditch.

It is a miracle that he is alive. He is all right now, he seems to have matured quite a bit in the last nine months. But both his legs were amputated above the knees and he is paralyzed, he will never walk again.

Imagine you have the power to intervene and change these events. You manage to catch this youngster at a coffee shop, where he stopped for a bite half an hour before the accident. You could sit by him and sip your coffee and tell him that you’ve seen the future, and you can give him information that will save his life. You’d tell him about the truck and the curve and the hospital, and how his life was saved, but now he’s forever paralyzed.

But maybe that’s not the best approach; he would most probably think you are some kind of lunatic. No, with such an approach you would not manage to save his life.

How about being more general – appeal to his commonsense and intelligence. Talk to him about the virtues of safe driving. Tell him about the tough weather conditions, the poor visibility and the hazards of speeding in such conditions. Tell him that so many accidents happen every day and that they could be prevented if drivers were more responsible.

Would he listen to you?
Most probably he would not. He would probably think to himself, ‘what a bore’, then swallow the last bit of his sandwich, slurp the remains of his coffee and head off, hoping never to see you again.

He wouldn’t listen.
And you know why he wouldn’t listen? He has heard it all before. He would probably acknowledge the truth of your assertions about the virtues of safe driving and the fatal consequences of recklessness, but he would think he is different. He would think that he’s in control, and that even if he drives real fast, he knows what he is doing. He can trust himself, he is in control – it is not going to happen to him.

Now forget about him, he is fiction.

Let’s concentrate on you and your reality.

The analogy is quite obvious. Do we need to spell it out for you? For the sake of any doubt we will.

You know that smoking will kill you. You know that there is a great chance (one in two) of contracting a fatal disease, and you know it is not fun to be treated for cancer, god forbid. But when it comes to you, you think you are in control. You think you know what you are doing, you think you will be able to stop in time, or cut the curve, when it comes to the crux.

You think it is not going to happen to you.

Well, I am the person in the coffee shop who is telling you that I have seen the future and it made my heart quiver. I came here to tell you that you are risking your life and the future is not looking good.

Would you please listen to me?