FIRST, DRIVE THE CAR!

I'm eating some dinner, and CRASH! Not squeal-crash mind you. I rush outside, and no one is seriously hurt. A driver of a Subaru Legacy wagon (is there any other kind of car in Bozeman?) drove right into my neighbors parked trailer, which then smashed into the parked car in front of it. The driver's explanation of what happened was "my dog vomited on me". Sure enough, there was a small rodent-style dog hyper-hopping on the drivers seat.

I was polite, but I was suppressing an urge to bitch-slap this driver. Add a distracted child to the mix and this would have been a tragedy.

So the Nuclei Driving Rule #1 is:

First, drive the car!

I don't care if your dog coughs up its cookies into your lap, a bee stings your ear, or aliens are communicating to you through the car radio; your first responsibility is to drive the car. If something else is demanding your attention, stop the car, and THEN deal with the dog vomit.

-Nucleus