He was a truck driver because most accidents happened near home. He figured driving cross-country would make him impervious to car crashes. There were wrecks on the freeway, but maybe all those drivers had houses nearby. Like, under overpasses or something. Maybe they lived in their cars. That was a dangerous gamble to our trucker – living in your car meant spending your life near where you were likely to have an accident. He never slept in the cab, even when he was between apartments. He’d sleep on a park bench or in a rest stop stall, parking the truck eleven miles away. It was a long walk, but necessary. He couldn’t risk an accident.
Hah! Excellent concept.
ReplyDeleteThere's great mileage in this idea.
I read Superfreakonomics recently and they proved, statistically, that you're safer driving home drunk, than you are walking home drunk.
I remember that part! It was funny how they neglected that people walking home drunk seldom swirve into the other lane and kill other drivers. Levitt and Dubner (I could have their names wrong) did an amusing pitch for the book on Charlie Rose.
ReplyDeleteFunny. He elevated a statistic into a superstition!
ReplyDeleteThe logic is implacable (even if derailed from common sense).
ReplyDelete