If you’re like me (get off my lawn!), then maybe you’ve noticed a great number of drivers who seem to have lost their ability to follow the rules of the road. I’m not angry about it; but I am frustrated. I’ve compiled a list and attempted to attach reasons as to why people don’t seem to care about driving within the law.

  1. The roll-through stop. this occurs when a car simply slows for the stop sign and continues to drive through without actually stopping. Reason? No one seems to be coming, so I will self-administrate the law here and just roll on through. besides. I am an important person and have places to go and things to do. I can’t be expected to stop at a stop sign. Forget the fact that I slept late, my kids had to be at school, and I didn’t get up in time to be on time.
  2. The roll-through-behind-the-car-in-front-of me-without-stopping-stop. This occurs when the car car in front of you rolls through the intersection without stopping, and you just follow on through as though your car were attached to the one in front of you, ignoring the fact that you didn’t wait your turn and very nearly got clipped by the oncoming car that did wait his/her turn.  Reason? I am an important person; obviously more important than you,  and I have places to go and things to do. I can’t be expected to stop at a stop sign.
  3. Tailgating. Dangerously close tailgating. The kind of tailgating that results in an accident because you were so close to the car in front of you. Reason? I am an important person and have places to go and things to do, and YOU driving at the speed limit or maybe 5 miles over the speed limit is annoying to me.
  4. Driving 80 mph on the interstate. Reason? I am an important person and have places to go and things to do, and YOU driving at the speed limit or maybe 5 miles over the speed limit is annoying to me.
  5. Driving in the left hand lane on the interstate–always. This person has apparently not been told that the left lane is for passing, not cruising. This creates long lines of traffic that cannot move along because the left handed driver sees no reason to move to the right lane and allow others to pass. Reason? I am an important person and have places to go and things to do, and my taxes paid for this road, I’ll drive in whatever lane I choose.

These are just a few of the driving etiquette issues that seem to be growing more and more. Why? have we evolved into the ‘me first’ society? Do we not see that doing these things only gives one the illusion that he/she is getting to the destination faster? I was driving 5 miles over the speed limit in Newton just the other day, and an angry driver passed me on this city street. I guess I wasn’t going fast enough. In this driver’s hurry, it apparently was thought that they could get to the convenience store faster this way. As it turned out, we arrived with seconds of each other–traffic lights are such an inconvenience. You see? This little demonstrations of self-importance don’t really save us any time at all. It is an illusion. And at some point it may cost you more than a little time.

No I did not touch on the texting issue. This is a separate and far more costly issue.  Please. PLEASE. follow the laws and rules of the road. Impatience is not a virtue.

 

Burn