Driving in the Rain
I don't have a long list of pet peeves. Really. It don't. It is simply a waste of precious energy resources to maintain a litany of pet peeves - energy that could be better spent more constructively. But I do have one. And I question whether it falls into the "pet peeve" category, because it is more than an annoyance, it is an issue of safety:
Drivers who fail to use their headlights in the rain.
I don't know if they just have their head up their asses, or because the headlights don't improve one's own ability to see, some choose not to use them. If it's the latter, they need to step outside their egocentric bubble and realize that using the headlights helps other people see them.
Recently I was stopped at intersection preparing to make a right hand turn. To my left, the direction of oncoming traffic, there was a deep overpass. It was 8:30 in the morning, and the day was so misty and gloomy, that there wasn't a lot of light coming through from the other side of the overpass. So I am stopped watching cars with their headlights on come from under the overpass. Then a break in the traffic. I start to make the turn when I catch movement in my peripheral vision. A freaking dark green SUV with no lights on shoots out from under the overpass.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Are you kidding me? Between the gloom and the color of the vehicle, he was nearly invisible.
I was scared and I was pissed. If an accident had occurred, we could argue all day about whose fault it was - the guy who failed to use his headlights (I am not sure whether Kansas law demands drivers use their headlights in the rain) or me for pulling out in front him - but an SUV hitting the driver's side of my little car, I doubt I would be around to argue about much of anything.
So yeah, regardless of what the law says, how about maximizing the odds of not contributing to an accident? How about feeling a little concern for your own self-preservation? Even if you are not the one who winds up dead, a wreck like that is going to ruin your day. Use your headlights.
Drivers who fail to use their headlights in the rain.
I don't know if they just have their head up their asses, or because the headlights don't improve one's own ability to see, some choose not to use them. If it's the latter, they need to step outside their egocentric bubble and realize that using the headlights helps other people see them.
Recently I was stopped at intersection preparing to make a right hand turn. To my left, the direction of oncoming traffic, there was a deep overpass. It was 8:30 in the morning, and the day was so misty and gloomy, that there wasn't a lot of light coming through from the other side of the overpass. So I am stopped watching cars with their headlights on come from under the overpass. Then a break in the traffic. I start to make the turn when I catch movement in my peripheral vision. A freaking dark green SUV with no lights on shoots out from under the overpass.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Are you kidding me? Between the gloom and the color of the vehicle, he was nearly invisible.
I was scared and I was pissed. If an accident had occurred, we could argue all day about whose fault it was - the guy who failed to use his headlights (I am not sure whether Kansas law demands drivers use their headlights in the rain) or me for pulling out in front him - but an SUV hitting the driver's side of my little car, I doubt I would be around to argue about much of anything.
So yeah, regardless of what the law says, how about maximizing the odds of not contributing to an accident? How about feeling a little concern for your own self-preservation? Even if you are not the one who winds up dead, a wreck like that is going to ruin your day. Use your headlights.