LiveJournal

And it's ME that has a road rage problem...

I'll admit that I'm a fairly aggressive driver and I'll even admit that I'm an extremely impatient driver. However, if my experience this morning isn't a perfect example of why we need distracted driving laws (STARTING with a hands-free cell-phone law) and why the cops need to make a concerted effort to pull people over more often for things besides speeding, I don't know what is.

This morning, I pulled to the end of the main road where there is a four-way stop. To my right (having the right of way) is a large garbage truck hauling a loaded full-sized dumpster. He's not moving, so I motion "okay, go ahead." He waves and moves on while I think, "Dummy...you *had* the right of way." As he passes me, he's yammering away on a cell phone, which tells me he wasn't doing me any favors--he most likely didn't know it was his turn. I groan, wondering why I did him the favor.

I follow this guy slowly all the way to the landfill, where he turns left. As I finally get around him, I find myself behind some dude in a hatchback going so slow that he's maintaining a distance of two car lengths between him and the car in front of him (in stop-and-go traffic before a light). As we approach the intersection, his behavior begins to block me from getting into my EMTPY left-turn lane...where I can see the light turning green. I honk once (in a "hey, stupid...pay attention" kind of way), make an evasive maneuver, and zoom on around him trying to catch my green light (which I miss by a hair). The guy has the nerve to lean out his window, breakfast burrito in one hand and flip me off.

Now, as I'm sitting at my red light, he begins to pass me on the right. As he does, he stops dead in the middle of the road, with SIX cars behind him, and takes the time to flip me off again and mouth "What's your problem???" ...again, burrito in one hand and blocking six other people. What's my problem buddy? You're kidding, right? Seriously?

I then make the left-hand turn onto the entrance ramp to the highway, where I end-up with a car in front of me that thinks it can merge into 65+ mph traffic at 40 mph. Impatiently, I make an aggressive move and swerve around him, all the while trying not to get whacked from behind because my little 4-cylinder car can't speed-up that fast (which is why they call it an "acceleration lane"..you're supposed to accelerate to the speed other cars are going). The guy leans up against the window and gives me the dirtiest look, while texting away on a cell phone with his right hand. Mind you, we have a no-texting law in this state. Again, I'm the one that's wrong...

I'm sorry, but those of you that tell me I need to grow some patience are out of your minds. I don't need patience--people need to start following the traffic laws and stop blaming others when they're the one that's wrong. I don't know where everyone in this state and the surrounding states think they earned such a right of entitlement to break the law and not pay attention to the road. When I do something stupid, I admit it...and I give an apologetic look to the other driver. I don't flip them off.

I only ask three things:

1) Use your friggin blinker to make turns and change lanes.
2) Pay attention to the traffic around you.
3) Put down the damn cell phone!

That's it! It's a simple request. I don't think it's asking too much, and NO. I don't think *I'm* the one that needs to have patience or put up with it.

View My LiveJournal

Last Three Entries

• House Update (05/02/2010)
• Tax Credit Rant... (03/07/2010)
• The Government's Way Of Thinking... (11/20/2009)