Bad drivers make for bad days

Dec 15, 2007

Are drivers really getting worse these days?

I'm not so sure that the overall percentage is losing touch with road reality – needless crashes have been part of driving since the automobile was invented – but as the number of drivers increases, it certainly stands to reason that the mean streets are getting meaner.

Throw in a prevalent "me first" attitude, lenient testing and multi-tasking drivers, and I seem to spend most of my time on the road just looking out for other people.

In no particular order, here are some drivers that really don't make my day:

For some reason, this is becoming increasingly common. The car ahead makes a left-hand turn, proceeds at a stop sign, or pulls out of a driveway. The second driver blindly follows, without bothering to stop or check to see if any traffic is coming. It's as if all these people see is the bumper ahead, and when it moves, so do they.

Stop signs and red lights are now the equivalent of yield signs. Close behind are those who stop well past the sign, so pedestrians can't get around them.

Watch how many people, coming out from a driveway or cross-street, look solely to their right for oncoming traffic. Buddy, if I'm coming up on your left, I'm going to be your concern long before the cars on the other side are even close.

If you don't like your ashtray cluttered with cigarette butts, what makes you think we want them thrown on our streets?

If I want to listen to your music, trust me, I'll buy the CD myself.

You want entertainment? Sit outside a Home Depot on a Saturday and watch people take things home. I've seen refrigerators tied down with string, boards sideways through car windows, and my favourite, the driver's left arm out the window, which should be sufficient to hold stacks of plywood or a king-size mattress firmly to the roof.

Conceding the right-of-way isn't polite; it's confusing, and it's potentially dangerous.

Don't give the little "go ahead" wave (which is usually invisible through your tinted windshield anyway); instead, proceed as you should, so that other drivers can then follow the law.

It's just too darn safe to go to the next turn or exit if you miss the right one. Better you should cut across the highway, back up, or just stop in the middle of the road to read the map.

These folks aren't quite sure if this is the store or restaurant they want, so rather than pull into the parking lot to see, they simply stop on the road in front of the driveway.

I thought I'd seen it all until the day a driver passed me on the highway, doing at least 120 km/h, eating a cob of corn. Yes, really, he had his elbows on the steering wheel and he was munching away with both hands. Put down the paper, the hamburger, the mascara, and above all, put down the damn cellphone and BlackBerry. You can't work a phone and drive safely at the same time. Period.

Toronto Star