Off The Cuff

Driving In Traffic..Get The Heck Out Of My Way!

Posted by: From Arkansas in The Good Things, What Drives You Crazy?, What's Your Opinion? on Aug 20 2007

Welcome back!

When you are in traffic, do you always find the guy who wants though no matter how long you have waited? He crowds in line, cuts you off and never looks back. He is in a major hurry. And then…you get to the next light and who is sitting next to you? Yeah, him. So, how much gas is he using to go leadfooting it around while you take your time and get there a few seconds later? A bunch. For some reason, these folks actually think that they are saving time. Not so.

Traveling around the country like I did, I saw so many ways people could get hurt or killed just trying stunts like cutting in line. Either some person will take offense and then roadrage steps in OR the line cutter eventually causes a wreck. Sooner or later, these people end up doing bodily harm to themselves or someone else just because they want to get there before everyone else.

Actually, I used to be that way..some of the time. The driver’s education class did not teach me any consideration for the other guy. They did not teach me how to be on the road with other vehicles really. We were in the simulators for 6 weeks. We had classroom work for 6 weeks. The last 6 weeks, our group of four students went out to practice driving for all of about 10 minutes each. Of course, the kids in the back were not silent. If ever there was a time to not be nervous, that was it. Did they make me nervous. Oh yeah!! Big time.

What I did learn was how to take the written test. Since then, I have not failed any written tests for a driver’s license. I’ve taken the test in Iowa twice, Missouri twice, Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas. Oh wait, not Arkansas. They just exchange licenses. I even passed the CDL test first time out. That was the one you have to pass to drive a semi-truck. But they did NOT teach me how to drive around other cars or trucks. They never really do. The teacher gets you in very little traffic. Doesn’t want to die, I imagine. LOL!

So, what changed me. Learning to drive a semi-truck from a guy who had just quit the road to teach. He was one of the ones taught by his Dad like so many truckers were back when it was okay to do that (before CDL got really going in 1990 or so). He taught me about compassion and courtesy. It was an eye opener for me, I can tell you.

Okay, nuff about me. What are the problems you have on the road going to work, traveling, whatever? Tell me about it. I’m thinking about making that list and addressing each concern individually. I can tell you, I DO know about driving. Tooting my own horn for a moment, I drove a cab for close to two years in a city of over 100,000. Yeah, not that busy but still a lot of driving each day..twelve hours at a time. I traveled around the country for some years, sometimes driving a rig that had equipment in it. When I learned to drive the big rigs, I worked at that for about 8 1/2 years. I can tell you lots of stories.

Now, what’s your story? What are your concerns about driving?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!