The word "responsibility" or "responsible" gets used a lot, but I don't think people really know what it means. I frequently hear people saying things like "I'm a responsible adult", and I think, no, you're an adult, but you're not a responsible adult, in fact, you're completely irresponsible.
"Responsible" is just a word people use without thinking about, and without really meaning any more.
In it's most basic form, responsibility is just an acknowledgment that you are the person who will be held accountable if things go wrong. But, in reality, responsibility is much more than just acknowledging your own guilt when it goes wrong. Responsibility is acknowledging this, and taking measures to prevent things from going wrong, and reducing the damage if it does anyway. You can be in a position of responsibility without actual being responsible about it. Being a driver is a position of responsibility, but there are many irresponsible drivers.
Responsibility begins at home. I regularly comment that 99% of adults are not responsible enough to be allowed out unsupervised. This usually raises a few laughs, but I'm deadly serious. And it's made worse by the fact that it's socially acceptable to be so irresponsible.
When you're in a huge airliner going on your holiday, you never stop to wonder about how responsible the pilot is and how professional he is. It's a given. He got to his position because he has never forgotten to follow a procedure. A pilot is a regimented, methodical person who does things by the rules. The reason for this is obvious. You don't want any old jack flying a plane containing 200 people at 600 miles per hour even if he does know how to fly one.
So why is a car any different? Why is it a basic human right in the developed world to be allowed to drive when the consequences can be just as fatal as flying a plane? It's just because driving like a prick is socially acceptable, but flying like one isn't.
Is it any wonder that more people are killed driving to the airport than are killed in plane crashes?
A responsible person drives like a pilot. That doesn't mean never making mistakes, but instead acknowledging mistakes and, most importantly, learning from them. It also means ALWAYS indicating, whether you can see someone else or not. Driving is deadly serious, and responsible people behave like they know that.
Of course, responsibility isn't just about how you drive, that's just an example. Responsibility is about looking after and protecting yourself, and others. It's about preventing problems before they occur. This means realising that sometimes protecting yourself is a hassle and doing it anyway. For example, some mobile phones can be locked with a code. I don't just mean a keypad locck, it's a complete disabling lock that requires a pin. If you steal the phone, it is completely unusable and worthless without the pin code. Of course, I have to enter the pin code every time I want to use it, and, several times, people have commented that it must be annoying to keep doing that. Of course it is, but not as annoying as dealing with the aftermath of a mobile phone theft and paying for the calls made before the phone gets blocked (which your insurance doesn't cover). That's responsibility. That's looking after myself, not just following the easiest path.
So start to think about your responsibilities and ask yourself if you're actually being responsible about them. Responsibility doesn't just naturally happen when you're old enough, you need to consciously be aware of your responsibilities and consciously deal with them. Think about what insurance you have. Make sure you haven't invalidated any insurance. For example, don't declare that you have a 5 lever mortice lock on your house if you never use it. And if you have got one that you don't use, start using it!
There's one other aspect to responsibility. Responsible people don't try to shift the responsibility after things go wrong.
If you're too stupid to look where you're going and you have an accident, that's your fault, not somebody else's. Sueing somebody else is a really embarrassing way of telling the world that you're too stupid to be allowed out of your house unsupervised. 2 year olds don't look where they're going, and 2 year olds aren't allowed out of the house unsupervised. Responsible adults do look where they are going and they accept that if they don't, they are the ones that have to deal with the consequences.
Of course, truly negligent people are prosecuted, not sued. It's not an opportunity to make some money, it's an opportunity to prevent an irresponsible person (or company) from behaving that way again.
Your safety is ultimately your responsibility, nobody else's. Take responsibility for yourself.
