"Them's Fightin' Words, Pal"
"You A__hole!"
Ah, another day on the road... a nice, relaxing, top-down-on-the-convertible, sunshine-on-the-face, wind-in-the-hair kind of day. Until some road rage spoils it.
We've all seen it. I'll bet we've all been a part of it. Those people that sometimes just don't seem to really 'get it' - those that do stupid stuff while driving. In one study performed by one of the country's leading Collector Car and Boat insurance companies, drivers listed their top complaints:
Distracted drivers talking on cell phones
Slow drivers in the fast lane
Pushy drivers who tailgate
Drivers who weave through traffic to gain one or two car lengths
Obnoxious drivers who speed up to keep you from changing lanes
Hasty drivers who change lanes without signaling
Road Rage.
Motorcyclists who race down the middle of a lane, between cars
Women applying makeup and men shaving
Drivers who leave their turn signal on for miles
Some of these are on my list of pet peeves... and I'm sure to be on someone else's list. But there are a few types of drivers here in Illinois that I just don't understand. A few examples:
The driver that is in such a hurry to pull out into traffic in front of you and then just comes to a complete stop.
Why, oh, why are people is such a hurry to get on the road if they aren't going to GO anywhere?
The drivers that continue to pull through intersections well after the Turn Signal has turned red.
Only in Illinois. I've sat and counted as many as 10 cars continue through the turn light. How do they get away with it? I've seen cops sit and wait for the intersection to clear without blinking an eye or even appearing the least bit interested in these drivers - but yet pull over a 'speeder' for doing 35 in a 30 MPH zone.
And my biggest peeve - there are many sections of roadway where the lanes must merge and then split again. In Illinois, it appears that drivers in the merging lane somehow feel it is their inalienable right to cut off / in front / thru the driver in the correct lane. And then come to a complete stop.
Just tonight, on a heavily traveled three-lane street, the motorcycle in the right lane almost got ran over by the BMW in the center lane all because the Jeep in the left lane suddenly ran out of road and absolutely refused to even consider the possibility of slowing down or stopping. Even though the BMW was laying on the horn, the Jeep never once gave an inch.
And then, when it was my 'turn' to move through the merge area, a truck tucked in so close to the rear of my little Mustang that I thought it was going to take off the quarter panel. And so we went a quarter mile - the BMW's horn blaring and the truck on my bumper not backing off. As I turned off the road, the truck's driver shouted out "Asshole!" as he flew by.
Amazing. He's the one that felt some warped sense of lane entitlement by speeding around a line of cars - knowing he must merge ahead - and then expecting the lane just to open up when he gets there; but I'm the asshole for not letting him cut me off. Well ... them's fightin' words where I come from, Pal.
Road Rage.
