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Driving with the Entitled
Few things irk me more than people who drive in a manner that suggests that they believe themselves to be The Chosen One. Though I confess to not being the world’s most faithful speed limit adherent, I try to be courteous in my driving. But like many, I am subject to the impulses that underlie road rage. My hackles get up when encountering cell-phone abusing drivers, cutters-off, and generally oblivious drivers dangerously weaving about as if they were the only people on the road. But while my temperature rises and my language becomes more colorful — unless there are kids in my car — I can generally avoid seeing red.
Except in school zones.
Yesterday, I was passing through one on a 4-lane, divided road when some lady drove right up to my rear bumper, swerved around me — cutting off someone else — and dove back in front of me before speeding away. Fortunately, there were no kids around at the moment; unfortunately, however, neither was the cop who occasionally monitors the area.
For a split second, a massive rage of righteous indignation sprang up inside me. I wanted nothing more than to hit the accelerator, follow her all the way to wherever she was going, read her the riot act, take a picture of her car tag, and otherwise shame her for putting other people in danger. In that split second, the world was colored blood red through my eyes.
Luckily, I had the presence of mind to remember that I was still in the school zone. I kept the rage in check, and before long, she was gone and out of sight. But a day later, my anger still simmers.
I am painfully aware of my own fallibility and susceptibility to emotion. But is it that hard to be courteous? Is it that hard to not lord oneself over others, putting oneself at the head of the line with no regard to the chain reaction that occurs in your wake?
It’s a school zone, for crying out loud! An extra minute or two isn’t going to cost you that much. The alternative could be much worse.
Published in General
If you understand the physics where is your responsibility?
I agree with Doug, a great responsibility lies with the one in the most deadly weapon–which I think might be a two-ton car.
My parent never walked me to school. Well maybe kindergarten, and definitely on a short harness leash, not pink.
It was a good thing when I got let off the leash, that I was smarter than all the arrogant drivers in my little blue collar town. Walking from the wrong side of the tracks, I was a living statistic (not a dead one). There weren’t even school zones, and 10-year old kids were safety guards on some of the streets. Those were the days. :)
Nobody ignores traffic laws more than government employees, especially police. Other than when conducting a rolling roadblock, has anyone ever seen a police car going within 10mph of the speed limit?
See also many discussions of why cars with government plates are immune to red light camera tickets.
All sorts of death rates have gone down due to improved medical response/care.
We see this being used to manipulate all sorts of statistics.
Density of ambulance, EMT coverage is massively higher now. Hospital care is much better.
40 years ago, many kids walked to school of had long walks to a bus. Nowadays, it seems that busses have to stop at every street or driveway and two different busses have to go in opposite directions down the main street so that kids do not have to walk along, let alone cross a street to catch the bus.
Many interesting tangents, but tangents they are, and by all means, proceed. But to me, it is irrelevant whether the offender is a public official with government plates, or a cop enroute to some destination, or your average private citizen. If you are behind the wheel of a vehicle and choose to blaze through a school zone like a NASCAR driver blowing through a caution flag, you will ignite the tinder that fuels my temper.
Nanny state arguments are separate and distinct. Personal responsibility most certainly can and should include not acting in a manner that recklessly endangers other drivers, pedestrians, and yourself.
Individuals will choose to obey these laws or not. They have that freedom, as it were. But don’t for a minute attempt to shift focus to whether these laws are valid, to whether parents should be better managing their children, or to the alleged economic benefits of time saved. Because if something happens, the responsibility for the consequences will be yours. And others may suffer as a result of your choice.
This!
And thanks captainpower, I appreciate that level of courtesy. The speed at which some folks deem necessary to drive through my car-choked cul-de-sac beggars belief. There are no less than 8 adorable small kids that live on my block and they routinely play outside (I know, mind boggling).
There are plenty of safe places to drive fast, I see no reason we can’t slow for schools and residential streets.
Just so I’m clear on your logic Jimmy. If you were to hit a kid in a school zone or residential street, your cool with pointing the finger at the parents and not feeling any guilt or remorse? You seem like a fine human being, I very much doubt you’d live well with that.
Speaking of driving annoyances…
My latest irritation arises from the number of people I see (about 50%) who approach a stop sign at-speed looking the wrong way while I approach at the (25 mph, 30 mph) speed limit. Typically they’re going too fast to stop before encroaching on the intersection and can’t possibly see me coming straight at their driver’s side door. I’m a cautious driver who always anticipates the other guy will do the wrong thing, so naturally I have to slow down.
Can someone explain to me why you’d approach an intersection you intend to traverse without looking in the direction of the oncoming traffic? And who taught these people to drive? These are the same kids who couldn’t safely cross a street apparently.
I’m going to start using my horn. “Hey, dummy! I’m over here!!”
I presently live in Portland. Everyone here on the road is stupid. If you don’t drive cautious, you’re doomed.
As someone who grew-up out West but lives in Massachusetts, I can’t shake my suspicion that New Englanders think of driving as a competitive sport.
JC – I’m no fan of slow speed limits – but you do realize that parents can’t all hold their children’s hands all the way to school. School zones help control the chaos that erupts when any elementary school opens it’s doors. Kids are everywhere. And lots of them walk home or ride a bike home. Parents can’t hold their little hands to cross every street forever.
When school lets out, most of the parents are at work.
If you were listening to a Ricochet podcast or something from EncounterBooks on your drive, you would appreciate the extra time for yourself in the car. (-:
One of my pet peeves is behavior at four way stops, well, at stop signs in general. Many people seem very confused on the difference between stopping and yielding. In my experience the impatient jackwagon who is still rolling forward attempts to feign courtesy by waiving through those who have the right of way because they actually came to a complete stop and have earned their turn to proceed through the intersection. In other words, if you haven’t stopped, it’s not your turn…ever. So, when these folks attempt to wave me through I wave them through then start the inevitable cat and mouse of game of going and slowing at the same time. You see, I left the house on time or early, so I have plenty of time and a disposition to truly enjoy the four way auto joust. My opponent, usually not. Carrier, not sufferer. Avoiding this asphalt drama with me is easy: come to a complete stop, i.e. do what the law requires.
People on the road Defined:
Someone going slower than you are = Moron
Someone going faster than you are = Maniac
I think that is part of the problem. I think all schools zones should be 20 miles per hour all the time. With a blinking light that kids can use anytime they want to cross.
Schools attract kids all the time except in the middle of the night. (So those school streets should be well lit too.)
If these zones were not set up to be in force only some of each day, if we were consistent about applying the speed limit, there would be less speeding through them. People wouldn’t have to wonder if the school was in session or not. Instead, it would just be an automatic “I have to slow down here” thought for drivers.
I’m more in favor of drivers being aware of their circumstances and surroundings. When I was in school to earn my CDL the driving instructor always asked “What was on the sign you just passed?” every time he caught a student not being fully aware. The ones that got me the most often were overhead clearance signs, which are of vital importance to those driving something a little bigger than a Miata.
Where I live in PA, the least likely place to see children near roads is around schools. They all get on or off school buses at the door of the schools. This is no longer the day when kids walk to school (and home for lunch, too, when I was a kid).
In selected schools,, sure, this still may be sensible; not for them all. It is yet another nanny law with minimal practical effect. That doesn’t mean that the lunatic described isn’t nuts.
Want to save lives? Ban left turns!
Tangent alert:
My pet peeves:
(1) Four-way intersections that are so big and wide you can’t see around them. And the people walking or on bikes can’t get across in the right amount of time.
(2) Four-way intersections into which each street divides into three lanes at the light and once you pick a lane, you are locked into going that way, whether straight, left, or right. These are wonderful ideas if you are familiar with the area, but if you’re not, you can get really lost because you can’t read the street sign until you are right next to the lights. (I’ve been through so many college towns as a lost parent driver, and I’ve been moved to tears more than once as I got turned around in these stupidly designed intersections! Missoula was the worst. My son finally said to me as we circled the city for the fourth time, “Mom, you realize there are two Home Depots! There’s two of everything.”) Lost and confused drivers are people who get into accidents.
(3) Traffic lights that last too long. We have traffic issues in some parts of Cape Cod. :) One thing I have noticed is that the shorter the light, the more likely it is that drivers will stop on yellow lights, thus leaving the intersection clear for the oncoming traffic. It’s human psychology. When drivers know they will end up waiting a long time, they really push through questionable stale green lights. But when they know the red light won’t last long, they stop. And traffic moves much better. And everyone is happier.
I cannot argue with that. I wish I had known about the street sign test–I would have done that when I taught my kids to drive! :)
But that said, realistically, people are often distracted. Especially people who have been driving for a long time, people for whom everything is just habit. No one means to get into an accident. We all do stupid things. And sometimes just once. You can be a perfect driver, but you get news that your mother is in the hospital, and suddenly you’re not all there. We simply underestimate how distracted we are. We stop paying attention without realizing it. That’s just a fact of life, I think.
Drivers need to be aware that not everyone is paying attention. Keep back from other cars, sort of thing. I used to ask kids, “What does that blinker mean?” The right answer was, “A blinker is on.” The person may have left it on, turned it on by accident, etc. etc. A blinker (or turn signal?) means nothing. Doubly true if you’re in Massachusetts. People are people. :)
Granted, circumstances vary upon location. We have several school zones where the crossing guard’s primary duty is traffic management for car line ingress and egress. Busing is an expensive and underfunded operation around here. It exists, but much of the traffic concern around schools involve parent drop-offs and pick-ups. Orderly flow is critical at these times of day.
My pet peeve is the people who believed they are entitled to the left lane going at or below the speed limit. I always make way for someone who wants to go faster than me.
You just opened pandora’s box.
1) Protected left hand turns that disallow turning when the light is not green (i.e. the driver is not allowed to make a turn when there is no traffic, because the turn arrow is red). How many times have I missed a light by a few seconds. I would have to be driving at an unsafe speed to make the turn while the light allows, but because I slow down I have to wait several minutes (or flout the law and turn left on red, which I am tempted to do every time).
2) People who don’t move out of the fast lane on the freeway when the car behind them is faster, forcing the faster car to pass on the right. I’ve heard that putting the left turn signal on in the fast lane will cause some courteous drivers to pull into the righter lane to allow passing, but have never seen it work myself.
3) Big rig trucks that take up the two right lanes of the freeway. To be fair, when freeways transition it’s hard for them to get out of the rightmost lane, so I can see why they might selfishly decide to stay two lanes over instead.
4) cars going matching speeds on the freeway in each lane (i.e. blocking the passing lane). trapped!
Someone earlier said people see driving as a competitive game. I see it as a cooperative game. If we all help each other out we all get where we need to go. The problem is all these other drivers don’t see it that way.
This is one of mine too, but I do despise those who won’t give me a chance to get out of the way and whip around me anyway, or if I do manage to move over while they are simultaneously moving over, give me grief for not moving out of their way fast enough for their cutoff effort to work. And I’m usually over the speed limit if I’m in the left lane anyway.
I tend to drive near the limit, and so stick to the right lane. However, frequently there are people slower than me and I am forced to pass. My big pet peeve is people who angrily pass on the right and cut me off going back left because I’m much too slow for them. I’d get out of their way soon enough if they let me.
:)
I used to drive into Boston every day, and I parked in the Congress Street Post Office Square garage. It was really cool. We all knew each other. People took turns, on their own, getting into and out of that garage. Restored my faith in humanity.
you are right on all of those points, though I hold back on “manipulate” but I do think that data can be distorted or clouded.
Personally, I don’t need data to make me comfortable with a school zone. The standard weight of a car, the size of a child, and the unpredictability of driving & pedestrian activity near a school is enough for me.
I won’t lobby to have them removed, and I’d probably argue to keep them active.
This is America, carry the torch in your community to change minds if the concept is so abhorrent to you. I’m not sure you’ll find consensus.
Funny story, one of the kind where you tell all the things you did when you were a kid, and how amazing it is you’re still alive to tell the tale, eating dirt, drinking creek water, staying out til dark, etc.
My mom was a good mom, but she was young, and I don’t think she worried the way mom’s do now. For Pity Sake, she’s a Granny now, and there is no more protective and restrictive mother figure in the universe, the kids aren’t even allowed to jump on the bed!
When I was in Kindergarten, mom was still young, and fearless. It is really true, I don’t remember being walked to school on a regular basis, though I am sure I was taught to be safe.
I went to public school Kindergarten in the large common auditorium of a local Methodist Church. Other kinders were farmed out to other church auditoriums, and the 1-6 grades were in the school at least 1/2 mile away. This was before ‘school zone’ was a thought.
My classroom was probably a mile from my home. Mostly neighborhood side streets to cross, but my walk was parallel to a heavily travelled road. (I wouldn’t let a 10 year old walk it alone now, but I did at 6.)
Anyway, my classroom was on the corner of a Route 13, a main thoroughfare into Philadelphia proper. The ACME, barber, restaurant, post office, and bowling alley were across the 4-lane street. No push button for a pedestrian light. Just a 1950’s traffic light post on each corner.
There I was, out of school, and my task was to cross this street, and to meet my mom at the bowling alley.
I stood on the corner, minutes upon minutes, watching the light, and the traffic, how it stopped when I had green to go. It was a bit like bungy-jumping, sky-diving or human sling-shot, when I finally let myself rip across the street the instant the light went green.
I was probably in more danger as I walked across the parking lot or played in the nursery at the bowling alley. But now that same road has More Cars, More Stores. More People. More Kids.
Since every kid isn’t cautious, careful, or observant at 6, or even 15, we have school zones because we want our kids to have More Chances.
New Mexico drivers come in two flavors: in-a-hurry or inattentive. I’m not sure which is the more dangerous, but clearly there’s a group of people for whom traffic flow means absolutely nothing. The best defense against such drivers is simply to avoid them wherever possible, and to anticipate even the most bone-headed possible maneuver (coming to a complete stop at a green light while traffic is moving at speed is particularly irksome and dangerous). Keep in mind that stupid drivers are legion. Patience is one of the supreme virtues in life, and that applies double when you’re behind the wheel.
To be more specific, as someone who has spent a lot of time trying to negotiate New England in an 18-wheeler, they think of driving as roller derby.
We are crazy here, but, hold onto your hat (I theorize that this is because people don’t drive too fast because they don’t trust their fellow Massachusetts drivers!):
Deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. vary widely. Twelve states averaged less than 10 deaths per 100,000 people per year during 2007 to 2009. Massachusetts had the lowest average yearly rate in the country of just 5.5 per 100,000 people.