What happened today was a perfect example of how driving in this country has gone terribly wrong. It is a dangerous undertaking every time you turn the key. I was approaching a highway entrance ramp, and a woman with Florida plates who was in the lane to the left of me began to drift toward me. I leaned on the horn and she just kept coming over. She was attempting to get into the lane that lead to the entrance ramp but she didn't ever signal, or look to her side for that matter. I was not at all in her blind spot. I was right next to her. She just came over willy nilly, the rest of us be damned. I slowed down and let her get over because it was obvious she was not stopping or turning back into her own lane. Once on the ramp, we accelerated, she in front of me. When it came time to merge into traffic already on the highway, she pulled into the slow lane and began again to drift. Only this time, she drifted toward the middle lane, never looking to see that someone was right next to her....there is no way she didn't see that car if she looked to her left. But she never looked and BOOM, she hit the car in the middle lane. They bounced slightly off of each other and kept driving.
A lot of things ran through my mind at that moment. One was to not panic and cause another accident in the process.There were a lot of cars around us and they were all going at very different speeds. The Boomer and the Boomee pulled over to exchange info. A quick glance told me there was no major damage so I continued on. But as I drove away, I couldn't help but think that this was either someone driving impaired i.e. drunk, medicated, low blood sugar, over 80 years old; or it was someone that was distracted by cell phone conversation or texting. Then I was really mad I didn't stop and see for myself and defend the poor boomee from this menace woman. It is hard to tell when to stop when there was no obvious damage.
The road is a dangerous place, at least in Massachusetts, these days. The throngs of elderly drivers that accidentally push the accelerator instead of the brake pedal are all around. There were many of these incidents last summer and people were hurt and killed in some cases. The Mass. state legislature has failed to pass any legislation on RMV retesting of seniors or a texting while driving ban. We are way behind other states on these issues.
Then there are the Camrys and Corrollas that are accelerating out of control. You never know when one of those will come up behind you!
Let's not forget about the teens and tweens and even twentysomethings that think they are invincible and are talking on the phone and texting to beat the band. PEOPLE, as I have said before, THAT IS A DANGEROUS AND DEADLY THING TO DO! Nobody's brain is capable of driving and texting at the same time. You don't usually read a book and drive, do you? I hope not! It almost never fails that when you see someone driving like a bonehead, they are either texting or talking on the cell phone. How did we get here? Just because it is possible to do something, does not mean it is a good idea. I am able to stab myself with a knife, but it is not advisable. This seems to be the standard people are using to determine that it is perfectly OK to text while driving. And the other argument I always here from people is,' Everyone is doing it," Wow, that one boggles me. Goes back to the old adage, " if everyone jumped off a cliff would you follow them?
Maybe I am glorifying the good old days, but I don't remember driving being this dangerous when I was a new driver in 1977. You were courteous, you stayed in your lane and signaled to change lanes, you had both eyes on the road at all times. In terms of driving in America, it feels like we live in the Wild West now. You never know what stupid maneuver someone is going to attempt right in front of your eyes. You are never sure what is going to jump out at you or into you. If you are not always on the defensive, you will get into a crash, for sure.
I had a roommate in college from Thailand. She used to tell me about driving in Bangkok; how there were very few traffic signals and even fewer traffic laws enforced; Intersections were a big free for all. She spoke of pedestrians being hit by cars and the cars just driving off. That was routine and it happened every day. That was the norm in Bangkok in 1982. I don't know if you have listened to the news lately but I have and I think that more people than not DO NOT stop when they hit someone with their car nowadays. It is immoral and it is infuriating. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their actions anymore. Sad.
Well, my advice is be careful out there. As Oprah says, take the "no cell phone zone" pledge not to use your cellphone in your car. Or at the very least STOP TEXTING while driving. There is NO EXCUSE for that. Watch for idiots doing just that and be ready for evasive maneuvers. I don't think anything in the driving realm is going to get safer for us until computers drive our cars while we just sit back ,text, talk, shave, read, eat, and sleep in our cars. I look forward to that day!!
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