monkey nonsense

i’m not a good driver. particularly now after graduating from college and starting to work… i think i was a safer driver in high school than i am now. i got my first speeding ticket this year and nearly lost my license (despite my previously spotless driving record). i might even have some road rage issues.

BUT i think i try to obey all the traffic laws (besides speed limits though i’m working to obey those now)… i almost always signal lane changes and turns… even when it’s the middle of the night, i’m the only car on the road, and it’s a tiny tiny road and i’m turning onto a driveway or something like that… i SIGNAL.

so driving pet peeve #185101 would be people who do not signal their intent to change lanes. so annoying!! scratch that… not signaling lane changes would be pet peeve #185100… people who purposely speed up when you signal your intent to change into their lanes… that is driving pet peeve #185101!

anyways, this entry isn’t so much about my other 185101 driving pet peeves. no, this one is about #185102… and the related driving pet peeve that i will now number 185103…

#185102- making a right turn from any lane BUT the right lane
#185103- making a left turn from any lane BUT the left lane

please see the following (not that accurately drawn) illustration, which i wasted a good 30-45 minutes at work trying to draw :

on the bottom lefthand corner, we have what happened to me this morning on my way to work- pet peeve #185102. well within stopping distance of the light, the light turned yellow so i braked and came to a stop. the car behind me stopped as well. in my rearview, i see the car change lanes to the lane to my left. no problem, he probably just wanted to get out from behind me for when the light changes. and then suddenly, i see him make a RIGHT turn from my LEFT, nearly clipping my left front bumper. grrrrrrrr… you can’t wait freaking 1 minute for the light to turn green and then make a right??? (Note: i was NOT in a right turn only lane, the lane allows you to go straight or make a right. i was only in that lane because at the next light, i would be making a right turn. otherwise, i would’ve let him have his freaking right turn lane.) i don’t understand why someone would be so impatient to make such a drastic right turn… that was the 198791891st red light i got on my way to work, but you don’t see me going straight through the red light! and i was already 30 minutes late to work!! (i don’t start to do crazy stuff until i’m at least 45 minutes late! jk )

on the top righthand corner is an example of #185103. this hasn’t happened to me in awhile, but it was even scarier than what happened this morning. i was driving in the left lane of a divided “highway” (not like an interstate, but a pretty large road with a median). the speed limit was at least 55 mph. there was a car slightly in front of me in the right lane. we’re both approaching an intersection when the car in the right lane suddenly decides to make a left turn from his lane. ahhh!! i nearly ram the side of his car even though i’m braking as hard as i can. why do drivers drive so idiotically?!?! if you miss your turn, make a u-turn up ahead and come back! it’s better than being hit straight on!! (i’m pretty sure had i hit him, he’d be dead because back then, there really weren’t side impact airbags and i would’ve hit him on the driver’s side of the car at 55 mph)

ahhh! i hate cars

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 5th, 2005 at 9:43 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.