Rant on Bad Drivers...again

Ok I've bitched about it before, but after reading AcidMans pet-peeves post tonight I was reminded of the idiots I had to deal with today and yesterday and every flippin day!

I don't know if it's a Southern thing, a city thing or if I just notice it more now, but I would venture to guess about 80% or more of the drivers on the road don't bother to use their blinkers! Another 5% use them but leave them on so you have NO idea where they are going and when.

Isaw that today. A truck put one on to exit the Interstate. Great! Wonderful! Then after driving around and off the ramp, it was still on. At this point the road becomes two lanes, both going the same direction. The right lane veers off, the left goes straight.

I drive a little silver VW folks. It's not a big car and the silver can blend in with the concrete under the right lighting conditions. The guy (or gal) was driving a large freight truck. I wanted to be in that right lane, he was in the left lane, with his right blinker on still. I had no idea if he was going to come over or not. And I wasn't going to take the chance of being smashed between a truck and a barrier wall. No thanks!

Hey I forget my blinker sometimes, especially on gradual turns that don't trip the switch. But come on! This was a potentially dangerous situation. I have learned not to trust other drivers, so I did the right thing by staying back, just in case, but I shouldn't have had to do that.

As for those who don't use them. START USING YOUR BLINKERS!!!! The auto makers didn't just put them there to make a nice rythmic clicking noise to amuse or annoy you! They tell other drivers where you are going!

Oh your hands are full? One hand on the wheel, the other on the phone? Well get a damn headset for your phone before you hurt someone! They have made cell phone so small you can forget about holding them between your hear and shoulder, so headsets are the only safe way.

That still isn't great though. People need to pay attention more. I'm SHOCKED at how few accidents there are every commute, especially in the mornings. Hell I've been known to not be on top of my game in the morning commute and I'm not on the phone AND I pay close attention to the traffic around me.

Do people think that because they are in SUVs they are oblivious to danger? I see more SUV drivers who look more like they are on a Sunday drive in the country side during the afternoon commute. Here we are speeding at 60 to 70 MPH, with clearly not enough room to stop if someone breaks hard, much less if you aren't paying attention and they are chatting away on the phone, not using their blinkers and cutting people off.

Speaking of getting cut-off, why must people rush to block someone coming onto the Interstate from an on ramp? I mean it's not like I snuck in around these guys to get in front of them. It's not a race, but Nooooo...they don't want to let you in front of them. You might get one whole car length in front of them!!! Heaven forbid!! Slow down jack-ass! One of these days that lumbering SUV with the cell phone talker is not going to see you there and merge right into you. And you'll BOTH deserve what you get.

I'm by no means a perfect driver. As I said I can be a bit out of it in the morning. One morning when there was a dumb ass going onto the Interstate, using the on-ramp at 35 MPH (Its an ON-ramp you idiot! Speed up to freeway speeds!) I got a little pissed being stuck behind him. So when we got onto the interstate I wanted to get around the fool as quick as possible, he was still going only 55 in a 70 zone. Oh yes, he merged right onto the interstate at that speed, even though there was a long stretch of ramp to get up to speed on still. We had three lanes on our side. He was in the far right lane and I was right behind him. I was gunning for the middle lane. I made a quick glance and was gonna go for it and WHOA MAMA! There was a car that had been in my blind spot, in the middle lane. Had I kept merging over it would have been a mess. At 60+MPH a kiss like that is gonna hurt. I quickly thought to myself, "Ok Marc, is it really THAT important to get to work 5 seconds sooner?" Umm...NO. I backed down and took the rest of the commute nice and easy.

Road rage got me. It's a bad deal, but it still effects a lot of people, even the best drivers. Makes everyone a dumb ass. Still, I'm less of a dumb ass than most of the drivers I commute with!