Scary Drivers
One of these days, I am going to get myself shot. I am not a peace officer, nor do I engage in illegal activities. My driving is going to get me shot. I have two serious flaws when I drive, one being that I believe in observing speed limits, traffic signs and the basic rules of driving. My other flaw is that I always seem to be in the way of someone who doesn't know the laws, doesn'tcare, or who is so important that the "rules of the road" don't apply to them.
I have to admit that while I am irritated by people who think that being late for work is just cause to drive 50 MPH through a school zone and that stop signs are only suggestions, I take a bit of perverse pleasure in glancing in my rearview, to see them writhing in their bucket seats, mouthing obscenities at me. When someone comes barreling up on my tail, assuming I will speed up to accommodate their poor use of the morning, I usually slow down.I tend to take an extra half-second or so at stop signs, which is an eternity to someone who should already be at work and I feel a moment of triumph if I can get them to honk.
At my last job, my commute was a mere 2.9 miles. Because our city has been undergoing a major "renaissance" for the last decade, the main streets were often traffic-filled nightmares, and one never knew which streets would be either narrowed down or completely closed for construction. So, my route to work went through some residential streets, and through several school zones. I avoided the actual streets the schools were on, due to even higher traffic, but the surrounding streets were still filled with kids walking to school. To me, this route wasn't a shortcut, and I would plan my mornings with plenty of time to get to work. I encountered dozens of people who not only considered it a shortcut, but were very proprietary about it!
Part of this route went through a neighborhood that was recently rural. Large properties with livestock had given way to housing tracts, but the streets hadn't quite caught up. There was a section, about eight blocks long, where there were no sidewalks and children walking to school had to do so in the street.
One morning, as I was approaching this section, a large, older sedan came screeching around the corner and was on my rear-end in seconds. She flashed her brights' at me and came within inches of my rear bumper. Just as we were coming to the area with no sidewalks, the woman careened around me, going down the wrong side of the road, flipping me off as she went. She slowed only slightly for the stop sign a quarter mile ahead, turned right and flew off. Around the corner I caught up to her at the stop light and then watched in both horror and amazement as she made her left turn, barely missing some kids crossing the street. By the time I waited for the kids to cross and then made my left turn, she was nowhere to be seen.
I am currently not working, so my morning commute is limited to taking my son to school, and I have fewer encounters with the road ragers. I'm sure the drivers on my old route are glad to have me out of their path. I did have to go to my sister's the other morning, immediately after I dropped my son off at school. She lives a few miles away, on a winding road that goes through another one of those semi-rural neighborhoods. Within seconds of turning onto this road, I had a familiar sight in my rearview. A large SUV, filled with kids and a woman who was quite vexed that I wouldn't exceed the speed limit. This road has several stop signs along its course, and I had the audacity to stop at each and every one! At the last stop sign before reaching mysister's neighborhood, she positioned herself to where she was straddling the center line. I assumed she would turn left, since she was halfway there. I guess I shouldn't be shocked, but she floored it and went roaring past me on the wrong side of the road. I believe I mentioned this was a winding road, and she had no way of knowing who was approaching the other direction. God help us all, what if it had been someone driving hell bent as she was? As she passed me, I saw several kids staring at me, as though I were the idiot making them late for school.
I guess I should be grateful none of them was packing!
