Oblivious Drivers


I find myself constantly cursing those that are oblivious while driving.

They're oblivious to their surroundings.  Oblivious to whether the turn they're making allows for two lanes to turn at the same time or not.  Whether or not they should turn into their lane, regardless of another turn lane, is yet a matter in itself  —By that I simply mean that turning from the far left lane should mean you turn into the far left lane.  You can't turn into the far right lane, unless you're the only lane turning and no one from the opposing side is making a right turn into their lane (the right lane where you're trying to go).

Then you have drivers oblivious to the fact that the right turn they're trying to make has its own lane, signified by a either a solid white line (two in some cases) or even a curb-like line/divider.  Now I'm not a cop, in any law enforcement or Dept. of Transportation, so please don't expect me to know what things are technically called.  What matters is what they're intended to do.

Other drivers have no concept of a yield sign.  None what-so-ever!  Let me see if I can help clarify what a yield sign is once and for all:  It is not a stop sign.  You can only stop as a last resort.  Getting on a highway should never mean that you come to a stop.  Now, granted, yielding to allow heavy traffic coming off the highway through is expected; but definitely not getting on it.  In general, there should be a zipper effect with most merges and merge-like traffic operations.

Now let me see ... who usually cannot handle that?  Hmmm (brace yourselves, here come the stereotypes) ...
Asians!  Yes, I said Asians.  Now, I'll have you know (and my wife is witness to this) that I checked every time a slow moving vehicle was in the way of general traffic, the cause of traffic, almost caused a wreck, or acted in any way that made me thing "what the ..." and found that almost 90% of the time it was an Asian person.  By Asian, I'm referring to the race-classification and not those of the continent, if you know what I mean.  The other 10% is predominantly the next big Asian population:  Indians.

I'm very curious to see the race with the least amount of accidents.  I wouldn't be surprised that it would be the Asian population.  Whether or not it's accurate, however, is another matter all together.   In my state, for example, you hit someone from behind and it's pretty much your fault.  Whether or not they yielded, stopped, etc. is irrelevant.  You should have kept an adequate distance between you and the car in front of you.  Whether or not some other car, not directly involved in the accident, caused the accident is rarely ever (if ever) captured.

Give these oblivious morons a change to be on the cellphone while driving and we're all in for a treat.

Good drivers, in my opinion, are the ones that are aware of their surroundings; and have a good idea of who's thinking about changing lanes, talking on the phone, needs to pass, etc.  Law obedience aside, good drivers in my opinion can be fast drivers.  Again, as long as they're truly aware of their surroundings.

Every now and then, you see a driver that passes you by, slow down and then you end up passing them only to notice that they're on a phone call.  That's right.  They slowed down, changed lanes to the right and took their call there.  I don't want to start the debate on whether or not driving and talking on the phone is right, legal or anything else.  It's simply not the focus of this post.

These drivers, who slow down, step aside and/or let someone pass by are the ones I consider to be good, and dare I say safe, drivers.

I have seen many who turn on their left signal, and are trying despite odds, traffic flow, their inconsiderate speed (or lack thereof) among many other factors and/or elements to change lanes.  Why?  What's so darn important about changing lanes to the left.  What's in that lane that warrants all that?  Where I am, we hardly have any exits on the left.  Most of our service roads and exits are on the right.  So, I ask again, WHY?  The only logical explanation is that it's habit.  A habit to drive in that one lane when they're on the highway.  So much of a habit that they don't even accelerate to the right speed until they're in it.  How they get to that lane, what they cause to get there, etc. can only be described as oblivious stupidity.  Get this ... some don't even believe in checking their blind-spots.  That's what mirrors are for after all.  WRONG.  Two of these oblivious idiots on the highway within 50 yards of each other and we have a cluster @#$% waiting to happen.

Then we have a whole different class of people.  These folks are aware of how many lanes are turning at that intersection, they know how to change lanes and check their blind-spots.  Once they're in their lanes, however, they're oblivious to the needs of others.  Most of the time, they're in the left lane.  It's almost like they're saying "I'm going this fast and I don't care what you do."  Here's the issue I have with this; and this applies to everyone, really:  If the lane to your right is going faster than you, then you should change lanes to the right even if that means you slow down a bit.  The stubborn ones that act like the speed in the left lane they occupied should be the max that anyone should go, legal, right or indifferent are the ones I'll likely cut-off.  Those same stubborn ones are the ones that have a mile plus long line behind them of cars.  They're simply going the "speed limit" and are not going to break the law.  How about doing that in one lane over?  Give the rest of us law-breaking citizens a chance to get caught or get where we're going on time.  Why we're in a hurry is irrelevant.  What matters is that we're going faster than you, and your stubbornness is more likely to cause an accident than our speeding.  Again, if folks on your right are passing you by, move over.

No matter how in a hurry I may be, if someone is going faster than me, I do my best to move over.  And I do it as soon as humanly possible.  I don't wait until it's a "good" spot.  I take the next available spot to move over.  Even if it means that I make the person I get in front of slow down a tiny bit (not cut-off though).   To me, driving is like all other human interactions  —It should be done with courtesy.  And common courtesy goes a long way.

Do I consider myself a good driver?  Well, in many ways I do.  In others, I'll be the first to admit I'm lousy.  But I'm aware of them and I keep them to a minimum, and am proactively trying to change them.

 

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