In the Headlights

How often do we ask ourselves that age-old question: How common is common sense? I believe that it’s not as common as you might think. Granted, a driver’s level of patience is tested when another driver is in the left lane and going the speed limit. But when a turning lane lies ahead speedy drivers should exercise patience.

I’m still trying to understand why, while driving in the left lane, I saw the windshield of the car behind me, but no headlights. I bet you’re wondering what happened to the headlights. Oh, the car had headlights, but the driver tailgated so close that I couldn’t see them. Talk about a lack of common sense. Who drives like that? It’s probably the same type of person who does this:

                                         https://youtu.be/ZN1jUXMHo5U

In most cases, tailgaters don’t drive like maniacs because they’re heading to the emergency room. The top two tailgating excuses are probably, “I was going out for coffee” and “I don’t know.” It’s helpful, but not pleasant, for someone to tell us we’re not being sensible. It’s better when we discover it in ourselves. What situations have you discovered in yourself?   

Follow Your Black-Topped Road

We have a major intersection that connects five major roadways in our area. You probably have one in your town, too. If you drive through it on a regular basis, then you know the stop-and-go light timings, which lanes move fastest, and at what point you should switch lanes to get where you want to go in record time. Traffic often flows smoothly through those major intersections, except when there’s a driver who’s impatient or ignorant of the rules.

Once in a while I’ll see the first driver in line try to switch lanes during the red light. They wind up delaying everyone behind them when they can’t make a smooth transition. Sometimes a driver will inch so far into the left turning lane that they get stuck and block traffic when the light turns red. That’s when we get live action—honking, swerving and sympathetic head-shaking. Your road trip can turn from a pleasant outing to a chaotic nightmare if drivers fail to follow the rules. When people want to experience rule-free driving, here’s where they go:

                                   

                                          http://youtu.be/P8PQUTiBNyw

 How about that? Even the German autobahn, which has no speed limits, has safety rules. We can’t avoid them.  What rule(s) do you make a special effort to follow?