I’ve spent a lot of time in the car today in cold, damp, foggy conditions. I drove from Warrington to London and back the same day – a round trip of 450 miles.

Two things stood out on my journey:

1. Most Police cars travel at 50 miles per hour in the slow lane

2. Too many drivers turn on their high visibility rear fog lights, seemingly ‘because they can’ rather than ‘because the conditions warrant it’

Both of these driving 'decisions' got me thinking about what the drivers were thinking. I wondered whether they each were considering the impact they were having on the people behind them.

I’m sure that the intention of a Police officer driving at 50 MPH is positive – presumably to patrol the motorway at a safe, efficient speed in order to improve road safety.

But there’s a by-product to this – a huge queue of vehicles slowing down on seeing the police car and then gradually crawling past it at 71 MPH.

Does the Police driver know the impact he leaves behind?

I’m also sure that the intention of the over illuminated driver is positive – to stop drivers getting too close and to make the road safer.

But there’s a by-product of this too – when conditions clear, the drivers behind squint as they struggle to see the road and other cars due to the glare of fog lights.

Does Mr Fog Light know the impact he leaves behind?

We all travel through our lives and work on autopilot, doing the things we do at a pace that suits us.

But...

Do we always know the impact we leave behind?

As you interact with people on the Motorway of life, what do you do with a positive intention that may have a negative impact on the people you leave in your wake?