DRIVING THE ROAD TO RAGE

I can hear those grunts from the older readers. The parents are shaking their heads sideways and any young people are shaking theirs up and down. As teenagers many of us couldn't wait to get their license and start driving. Borrowing dad's car, picking up some friends and just riding around, destination no-where, weren't those the" good old days". Not to mention the whole dating thing where you can actually pick the girl up without an escort. The father of the girl's nightmare, but the excitement of having some freedom of being on your own was incredible. It's these combinations of feelings that truly make life what it is for many of us.

Back to the driving thing, what has happened to the use of a directional or a hand signal (old school) to let your fellow drivers know your intentions? Not being clairvoyant puts me at a big disadvantage if the drivers around me don't signal for their turns. Not to sound petty, but not only would I appreciate a signal, but I would like you to turn in the direction you signal. You know what I'm talking about, those drivers who signal for a right turn then go straight or worse try to take a left. The left signal on then going right isn't acceptable either. It's amazing how so many drivers have forgotten, stopped using, or are too busy talking on their cell phones to make a turn signal.

I've been driving for around 40 years now and have seen most anything that can happen on the road. The bumper to bumper traffic due to construction or an unfortunate accident that takes hours to get through and all you can do is sit there and wait until you pass the problem and the road opens back up. Ice, snow, sleet, high winds and whatever else the weather has thrown our way I've had to drive in it. Just like the mailman sometimes you just have to go some where (usually work) no matter what the weather.

Oh lets not forget that memorable morning when I was getting onto the highway and there had been a horrendous accident. Only one lane was opened and as I passed by I witnessed a couple of the rescuer's putting someone in a body bag. It was a ghastly sight and if I had eaten breakfast that morning I probably would have lost it. As it was, I found myself shaking a bit as I continued down the road. Life is precious and seeing it taken away like that leaves a mark.

My point is I've done my share of driving and feel I can make some semi unbiased observations. For instance I have a theory that the root of road rage could be those drivers not signaling for turns. I know that's a huge leap but think about how many times you see a fellow driver not signal a turn and upset another driver, maybe even you. You can usually recognize these situations by horns blearing, a lot of yelling with some colorful language (swearing) and of course the universally known gesture of flipping the bird (giving the middle finger). Or as my daughters refer to it, flipping off or being flipped off. If the person flipping the bird is pumping it up and down or doing the double flip with both hands, then you know they are truly pissed off.

Who's to say that this type of behavior doesn't build up and fester until finally someone snap's. Let's face it there are some drivers out there that seem to be clueless or too busy gabbing on their cell phones to actually pay attention to how their driving is effecting the drivers around them. Having a driver's license is a privilege not a right (a police officer told me that once), so show a little courtesy to your fellow drivers and use your directional.

This signaling thing applies to the highway as well. Putting your blinker on to signal changing lanes is the proper way to do it. However that doesn't apply when you put your blinker on then CUT ME OFF or another driver. I use capital letters for all you texters and computer geeks so that you can hear me YELLING. Again remember you're not alone out there, look around there's plenty of other drivers on those roads. Be courteous; signal your lane changes, let fellow drivers know your intentions. It helps avoid accidents and may actually save lives including yours.

Hopefully I'm making my point, to further drive it home and help prove my road rage theory here's a series of events that happened to me on my way home from work. It was a nice spring day, warm enough to drive with the windows open. The time was mid afternoon and it had been an uneventful 8 hour shift at work. I was approaching my first four way traffic light on my route home and my light was red. There was room for two lanes, thus the cars on the left could make a left turn or go straight. Leaving the cars on right to take a right turn or possibly go straight. A normal situation and there were several cars on the other side of the street that would be coming our way also stopped at the light. Just a normal intersection we all encounter during our daily drives.

Let me further describe the situation by stating that there were three cars on the left side of the road in front of me, none of which were signaling for a left turn. Knowing this light as I did I was sure at least one of them would take the left even though they weren't signaling for it. Thus I pulled to the right side of the road and had two cars in front of me. The car directly in front of me was signaling for a right turn. The car in front of him had already started to make the turn to the right, but had no blinker on. There were three cars on the other side of the road that would be coming our way when the light changed and the front car was signaling for a left turn. Thus he was coming across traffic in my direction.

Nothing out of the ordinary, so here's what I thought would happen when the light changed. The two cars in front of me would take their right turns, while that was happening, the three cars on my left would go across the intersection. If I was right one of them would end up taking the left allowing the car coming the other way to make his left. I intended on letting him make his turn in front of me then I would continue on straight across the intersection. I would deal with any of the cars on my left that went straight as well on the other side of intersection. Again it was a situation that happens all the time at this intersection.

I had already prepared myself for someone on my left taking an unscheduled or late signaled left...