Thursday, October 05, 2006
Politically Correct Driving
Okay, maybe it's just me. Maybe, by some chance of fate, I didn't catch the message that said that the old concept of courteous driving was being done away with for a more modern, more stylish driving demeanor. Maybe I'm just wrong in thinking that it's bad form to drive down the road and flash your headlights at people to make them get out of your way, or to forego using turn signals to indicate your intent. Maybe I'm just wrong. I don't know.
I think people have become way to content driving their cars. I tend to feel that as we get cars with more and more power (and more and more marketing) that people feel like they have to use that power all the time. If your car has a 250hp engine, man, look out because I have to exercise all those ponies all the time I'm driving. Who gives a flying rusty about my fuel consumption or heck, even the safety of others on the road....BECAUSE MY RIGHTS START NOW!! Fooey! You don't have any rights on the road. Oh, but maybe that's just me being wrong again.
I find myself, as I do most evenings, driving home from work. I'm doing about 60MPH in the left lane of Highway 89. I'm keeping up with traffic fairly well considering that I have this terrible aversion to tailgating anyone. Suddenly, I look in my rearview mirror in time to see this stupid little PT Cruiser come flying up behind me and slow down so as to not smash right into me. Then, the driver, out of some wire loose in her head, decides to flash her bright lights at me, as if to say that she has some God-given reason to be in this lane and I need to get out of her way.
Now, normally, when I see someone driving maniacally fast behind me, I do move over and allow them to exercise their animal urges as they go by. But, this was different. Just because this lady treated me like she did, I stood my ground. And there she remained: doggedly attached to my rear bumper with her bright lights on so that she could see all the way up my exhaust pipe to the catalytic converter. It must've been fascinating because she hung on back there for like a mile and a half. She would have stayed back there, but I finally decided that it was more important for me to change lanes in anticipation of a right turn. So, when the opportunity came, I turned on my factory-installed and very reliable turn signal, checked my blind spot and proceeded to change lanes. Of course, as soon as I changed lanes, she went roaring by me (as fast as a PT Cruiser can sort of go) and then changed lanes in front of me, without the slightest hint of a turn signal! "Okay, what the hell was that all about?" I think to myself. Anyhow, she stayed in front of me and didn't appear to be in any particular hurry at that point. Finally, she just turned right at an intersection and left me and the rest of the drivers in peace. Of course she made that right turn without a thought to a turn signal. I don't know, does Chrysler install turn signals by default in PT Cruisers? Or is that one of those upmarket options?
Perhaps my perception of this whole encounter is flawed in some way and I'm not with the times because I use my turn signals and don't flash my brights at folks to get them out of my way. That's what the bumper's for, anyhow.
I think people have become way to content driving their cars. I tend to feel that as we get cars with more and more power (and more and more marketing) that people feel like they have to use that power all the time. If your car has a 250hp engine, man, look out because I have to exercise all those ponies all the time I'm driving. Who gives a flying rusty about my fuel consumption or heck, even the safety of others on the road....BECAUSE MY RIGHTS START NOW!! Fooey! You don't have any rights on the road. Oh, but maybe that's just me being wrong again.
I find myself, as I do most evenings, driving home from work. I'm doing about 60MPH in the left lane of Highway 89. I'm keeping up with traffic fairly well considering that I have this terrible aversion to tailgating anyone. Suddenly, I look in my rearview mirror in time to see this stupid little PT Cruiser come flying up behind me and slow down so as to not smash right into me. Then, the driver, out of some wire loose in her head, decides to flash her bright lights at me, as if to say that she has some God-given reason to be in this lane and I need to get out of her way.
Now, normally, when I see someone driving maniacally fast behind me, I do move over and allow them to exercise their animal urges as they go by. But, this was different. Just because this lady treated me like she did, I stood my ground. And there she remained: doggedly attached to my rear bumper with her bright lights on so that she could see all the way up my exhaust pipe to the catalytic converter. It must've been fascinating because she hung on back there for like a mile and a half. She would have stayed back there, but I finally decided that it was more important for me to change lanes in anticipation of a right turn. So, when the opportunity came, I turned on my factory-installed and very reliable turn signal, checked my blind spot and proceeded to change lanes. Of course, as soon as I changed lanes, she went roaring by me (as fast as a PT Cruiser can sort of go) and then changed lanes in front of me, without the slightest hint of a turn signal! "Okay, what the hell was that all about?" I think to myself. Anyhow, she stayed in front of me and didn't appear to be in any particular hurry at that point. Finally, she just turned right at an intersection and left me and the rest of the drivers in peace. Of course she made that right turn without a thought to a turn signal. I don't know, does Chrysler install turn signals by default in PT Cruisers? Or is that one of those upmarket options?
Perhaps my perception of this whole encounter is flawed in some way and I'm not with the times because I use my turn signals and don't flash my brights at folks to get them out of my way. That's what the bumper's for, anyhow.
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