That privilege called driving

If you are anywhere around Milwaukee, you know it rained all day yesterday.  And it was beautiful weather, by the way.  But I can never understand why just a day of rain can cause so many traffic accidents.  You would think that the only people who drove were 16 year olds who had just got their licenses.  But, no.  We’ve got ’em all. 

 There’s the person who’s so afraid of everything on the road (the weather, the other drivers, his bald tires, etc.) that he drives in an overly cautious manner.  This means that he’s trying so hard not to get into an accident that he slams on his brakes too hard and causes others around him (who have no way of predicting his movements) to slam on their brakes too hard as well.  Inevitably, one of these people is going to have a mechanical failure, a failure in judgement, or just plain not enough room to stop because the the guy in front is overreacting to the driving conditions.

Then there’s the person who says to himself, “It’s just a little rain.  It’s not like it’s snow!”  This guy forgets that every time it rains like this he ends up skidding all over the road because he fails to take into account the slick pavement.  He drives just like it was sunny out, not giving extra time (or room) for stopping and not being any more considerate of other drivers than usual.  This guy is the one who loses control of the car and flies into something.  Let’s just hope it’s not us!

 There ware far too many accidents on the freeway system here yesterday.  People don’t need to get hurt like this.  I guess we’re at least keeping the mechanics in business!

 And while we’re talking about driving, here are a few of my pet peeves.

  1. When you are driving perfectly fast in the left lane, passing others to your right, and the car behind you just won’t get off your bumper because you aren’t traveling 20mph over the speed limit.
  2. When the car behind you keeps stopping within only inches from your bumper.
  3. When the person in front of you is following very closely (and happens to drive a big SUV that you can’t see around or through) and slams on her brakes at the last minute, leaving you to perform a feat Houdini wouldn’t dare by trying to stop in time.
  4. People who read in the car while driving.  Or apply makeup.  Or text message.  Or otherwise divert their attention from the road.  (Drive or pull over!)
  5. TV screens that I can watch from outside their vehicle (and inside mine).  Now that’s distracting.  See my post on Movies While You Drive here.
  6. The woman who drives 25 MPH in a 35 MPH zone and won’t let me pass. 

Got any peeves?  Let me know!

0 Comments On “That privilege called driving”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.