Husbands and wives who have been married very long know a thing or two about compromise and negotiation. Sometimes sheer avoidance of an issue or a matter at hand is called for.

Such is the case when my husband and I go on car trips – short or long. Since I can’t avoid such excursions, I compromise. I bring a crossword puzzle and I avoid looking up, which often results in my sucking in air between my teeth, bracing my arms against the dashboard and yelling out a sharp warning such as, “WATCH OUT HE’S [the car in front of us] SLOWING DOWN!” or “YOU’RE TOO CLOSE TO THE CENTERLINE!”

When he’s feeling particularly playful and I’m seated quietly beside him content with my puzzle and keeping my eyes off the road, he’ll tap the brakes, which causes my neck to jerk up violently, my lungs to expand and my eyes to widen to take in whatever it is that we are surely about to crash into.

My husband likes to use these opportunities to gently remind me that he has never had a car accident. I think that’s irrelevant.

I like to use those opportunities to remind him that I have been to more car crashes in my lifetime than one could ever count and that many of the people hauled away in ambulances or hearses had never been in a car accident before, either.

Besides all of the twisted metal that I’ve seen littered on the roadways over the past 20-plus years as a news reporter, I also get a weekly reminder as to the stupidity of drivers in the form of the “Communicator,” the weekly newsletter from Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Shall we review some of the summer’s highlights?

This past week there were two police chases involving motorcycles. In Liberty a trooper crashed his cruiser while chasing a motorcycle that was going 120 mph while passing cars along Route 3. The trooper crashed his cruiser to avoid striking a car that made a left turn in front of him. The trooper was not injured.

In West Gardiner, a man was injured when his motorcycle crashed after police started chasing him and his two buddies who were riding together at 130 mph on the Maine Turnpike.

The same day another biker was clocked at 106 mph on Interstate 295 in Gardiner. He actually pulled over for police.

Another man was arrested twice in two days for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs.

Earlier this month the press jumped on the story of the Waterville couple who flew by Trooper Forest Simpson’s cruiser at 108 mph on Interstate 95 in Bangor. They said they were late for a flight out of BIA. After a couple of days in jail, the couple did make it to the airport, but were arrested again for causing a disturbance there.

Then there was the 16-year-old motorcyclist who led police on a chase along Route 132 in Wales at speeds over 100 mph. He later told police he sped off because he only had his motorcycle permit and was not supposed to be driving it at night.

Another motorcycle was caught doing 102 mph on I-295 in Freeport. His excuse was that he needed to get to the hardware store to pick up some screws.

Apparently a few of his were loose.

Two teenage boys were clocked separately going over 90 mph on the turnpike. One had only had his driver’s license for five days.

Then there was the 49-year-old man whom police checked on because his car was parked near the New Gloucester tollbooth. The driver was awakened by a state trooper and then proceeded to tell the trooper that he was in Lowell, Mass. He was taken to the Cumberland County Jail and charged with drunken driving.

And the winner so far of the stupid driving tricks of the summer goes to a Kentucky woman who was caught watching her laptop computer while driving on the turnpike during the July Fourth weekend. A state trooper happened to be at the tollbooth when the driver came through watching an episode of “Gilmore Girls.” While watching TV while driving is illegal in Maine, the law is vague when it comes to watching your computer or your cell phone.

The woman told the trooper she was tired and that watching Rory and Lorelai (the two main characters in “Gilmore Girls”) helped keep her awake.

What I need to do is convince my husband that while I know that he is a smart, conscientious and downright clever driver, it’s the other idiots on the road that I worry about.

I think he’ll buy it. Meanwhile, my crossword puzzle book will be close at hand.

reneeordway@gmail.com