THE WASHINGTON TIMES The next time you cut off another driver on the Beltway or get behind the wheel after drinking one too many, you may be putting your immortal soul in jeopardy.
The Vatican yesterday issued a set of 10 “commandments” for drivers, beseeching the world”s motorists to drive with “courtesy, uprightness and prudence” and to avoid using their vehicles as “an occasion of sin” — a recognition of the central role that cars play in modern society.
“Cars tend to bring out the ’primitive” side of human beings, thereby producing rather unpleasant results,” according to the 36-page “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road,” which includes the commandments.
The document condemns rude gestures by drivers, cursing, blasphemy, impoliteness and law-breaking. The church also urges people to resist showing off with their cars, to get regular engine tuneups and to pass slower motorists with prudence.
“Overtaking dangerously can be a sin,” Cardinal Renato Martino told reporters at a press briefing in Rome.
Cardinal Martino, who heads the council, called the estimated 1.2 million road fatalities a year around the globe “a sad reality, and at the same time, a great challenge for society and the church.”
The rules of the road, which discuss both the physical and spiritual dangers associated with driving, were issued by the Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
The council suggested that prayer might promote better road etiquette — making the sign of the cross before starting off and saying the rosary along the way. The rosary was particularly well-suited to recitation by all passengers in the car because its “rhythm and gentle repetition do not distract the driver’s attention.”
In the United States, 43,000 people died and 2.8 million were injured in road accidents last year, according to AAA, an automotive interest group. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that accidents resulting from aggressive driving cost $40.4 billion annually and cause two-thirds of all road fatalities in the United States.
“In our communities, we may be religious people, but when we get out into the community of drivers, it’s different,” said AAA spokesman Lon Anderson. “It’s not, ’Do unto others,’ it’s, ’Dog eat dog, an eye for an eye, if you cut me off, I’ll cut you off.’ ”
Mr. Anderson welcomed the news of an “ally” in the effort to promote safe driving throughout the world.
“Is it surprising to see the Vatican come out on this? Absolutely. It’s very surprising to me. But it’s a recognition that this is a huge problem worldwide,” he said.
China, where only 3 percent to 4 percent of people are Christian, has some of the most dangerous roads in the world, according to the World Health Organization. Government officials said 89,000 people died in traffic accidents last year.
Along with the negative aspects of driving, the Vatican’s guidelines note some of the ways that vehicles have improved society. Families can use them to spend time together, and cars allow people of different cultures to interact more easily.
The document is meant for Catholic bishops conferences around the world. It includes recommendations such as setting up chapels along roadways and having a “periodic celebration of liturgies” at major crossroads, truck stops and restaurants.
c This article is based in part on wire service reports.
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