Road Rage
Things that really piss me off these days when I'm behind the wheel:
-- Driving too fast in parking lots and apartment driveways like mine. Bonus points if you're driving in the middle, so I have to swerve not to hit you head-on. There is absolutely no reason to go faster than 20mph.
-- Deliberately ignoring school zones. "I didn't see it" won't work if each end of the zone has a flashing light. Quite a few kids walk to my school, but people blithely continue going over 40mph past our parking lot. What's worse is when I see PARENTS pull out of the lot and peel down the road. Hey, their kids are already inside! Who cares about their classmates? I asked our campus officer to get a local police patrol car out there with radar once or twice. That would get the assholes' attention.
-- Pushing into my lane ahead of me (without much space between me and the previous car) just before you have to make a right-turn into a parking lot, then forcing me to slam on the brakes as you slow down to turn.
-- Making a left turn from a side street across my lane of traffic just because you see a small gap, thus forcing me again to brake hard ... even though you would've had NO cars behind me if you'd just waited ten fucking seconds.
-- Making a left turn from a parking lot, even though there's one of those curb thingies to prevent people from making left turns. So I have to sit behind your greedy ass for several minutes as you wait for oncoming traffic to clear. A corollary: if an intersection has a dedicated lane for people making right turns, then don't waste everyone else's time just so you can cut across three lanes of traffic to make a left turn a block down the road.
-- And an old classic: nobody wants to hear your favorite music while we're all stuck at the gas station. Roll up your goddamned windows or turn down the stereo. Especially if it's a really raunchy song while kids are nearby. Show some common decency, jackass.
Look, I'm far from a saint. I've narrowly avoided dozens of accidents over the years, and my going over the speed limit is more common than not. But I do obey the rules in situations like the above, where wilfully ignoring them is dangerous. If I cause an accident, I have to take responsibility for the financial and medical consequences. If my car ends up wrecked because of something you did, I still take a massive hit (that I cannot afford) despite having decent insurance. But few people give a damn anymore, huh? Everyone's just looking out for themselves, and if you don't like it, too darn bad. And I'm really sad about how that describes so many parts of our society these days -- not just behind the wheel.
-- Driving too fast in parking lots and apartment driveways like mine. Bonus points if you're driving in the middle, so I have to swerve not to hit you head-on. There is absolutely no reason to go faster than 20mph.
-- Deliberately ignoring school zones. "I didn't see it" won't work if each end of the zone has a flashing light. Quite a few kids walk to my school, but people blithely continue going over 40mph past our parking lot. What's worse is when I see PARENTS pull out of the lot and peel down the road. Hey, their kids are already inside! Who cares about their classmates? I asked our campus officer to get a local police patrol car out there with radar once or twice. That would get the assholes' attention.
-- Pushing into my lane ahead of me (without much space between me and the previous car) just before you have to make a right-turn into a parking lot, then forcing me to slam on the brakes as you slow down to turn.
-- Making a left turn from a side street across my lane of traffic just because you see a small gap, thus forcing me again to brake hard ... even though you would've had NO cars behind me if you'd just waited ten fucking seconds.
-- Making a left turn from a parking lot, even though there's one of those curb thingies to prevent people from making left turns. So I have to sit behind your greedy ass for several minutes as you wait for oncoming traffic to clear. A corollary: if an intersection has a dedicated lane for people making right turns, then don't waste everyone else's time just so you can cut across three lanes of traffic to make a left turn a block down the road.
-- And an old classic: nobody wants to hear your favorite music while we're all stuck at the gas station. Roll up your goddamned windows or turn down the stereo. Especially if it's a really raunchy song while kids are nearby. Show some common decency, jackass.
Look, I'm far from a saint. I've narrowly avoided dozens of accidents over the years, and my going over the speed limit is more common than not. But I do obey the rules in situations like the above, where wilfully ignoring them is dangerous. If I cause an accident, I have to take responsibility for the financial and medical consequences. If my car ends up wrecked because of something you did, I still take a massive hit (that I cannot afford) despite having decent insurance. But few people give a damn anymore, huh? Everyone's just looking out for themselves, and if you don't like it, too darn bad. And I'm really sad about how that describes so many parts of our society these days -- not just behind the wheel.