If you follow me on Twitter you’ll know that I often post a series of tweets venting about my morning commute to work, or evening commute going home. For a while, it was documenting my experiences on BART, where I had the luxury of sharing whatever it was I was experiencing in the moment: how I could tell who wasn’t a regular on the morning train by their loud, obnoxious phone call they just HAD to have at 7am; the luck I’d have when sitting in an empty car (where there’s a plethora of empty seats around me), a person who didn’t believe in deodorant would decide to PLOP (not ease into the seat, literally plop like they were trying to catapult me into the air) onto the seat next to mine; how the incubated B.O. would hit me in the face the moment the doors opened and I’d board from the platform and try to find a seat that I’d like to think was clean but in reality…*shudder* Let’s not think about germs.
I could go on and on. Ooh, one more: like that guy on the evening train who would get up at the next to last stop and stand right in front of the doors, so that when we reached the end of the line, he would literally run out the door and sprint up the flights of stairs ahead of the stampede. His resting (b****) face always looked like he was smirking at the rest of us, like we were the idiots caught in the slow crowd and he was the smart one beating us to the exits every day. You don’t know how often I wanted to try and block him, or stick my foot out to trip him. Ugh, he got on my nerves.
Thankfully, those days are behind me, and I’m back to driving to and from work. In the cleanliness of my own car, I could throw all my stuff in the backseat, turn my music up, and be comfortable. Of course, I can’t enjoy any train naps anymore (which sucks, because if I’m not driving, I’m the type of person who will fall asleep in a moving car). But I’d much rather be in my car than stuck on a train or city bus. I know, it’s not the most environmentally friendly option but quite honestly, public transit would not work with my job responsibilities, plus my work-life balance.
At any rate, driving in the Bay Area has never been this bad. Probably because the overall population has increased due to the growth of the tech industry here. This means more cars on the road, and more people for me to deal with. Sometimes I wish I was hooked up to a blood pressure monitor while I was driving because nearly every day, there is someone who pisses me off by their bad driving habits. Sometimes I wish we drove bumper cars. And most of the time, I wish that driving in real life was like Mario Kart, because then I can inflict some immediate punishment to satisfy my heat-of-the-moment frustration (ALL THE SHELLS! And other arsenal. And I’d get away with it because no one dies in Mario Kart).
Provide examples, you say? Sure!
Speeding/Weaving Through Traffic
Oh so you’re the only one that needs to be somewhere? I cannot stand when people drive what looks to be 15 miles over the posted speed limit. They are weaving in and out of lanes either on the street or on the freeway, and it makes me anxious. On the street, anything can dart into their path: a child, a dog, another car, any object, etc. Now if they swerve to avoid another living thing, great. But what if they don’t? Or what if they swerve to avoid, but end up hitting someone else? On the freeway, they weave SO CLOSE to my car. If I happen to accelerate at the moment they are cutting in front of me, we’re screwed. What is the point of changing lanes that close to a car? What are you trying to prove? That you’re an impatient prick who likes to pretend all the roads are NASCAR tracks? Mission accomplished.
Driving Too Slow
I can be a little more compassionate in this area. Sometimes it’s a student driver, sometimes it’s an elderly person who, God bless them, is still hanging onto their independence by getting themselves from Point A to Point B without relying on anyone. But for experienced drivers who are doing anything below 55mph on a freeway – OH. MY. GOD. Why are you in the number 2 lane? If you’re going to go this slow, stay in the slow lane! Then when I go around you because I’M doing 40 in a 65mph zone behind you, I feel like the jerks that I just described in the paragraph above. Hurry UP! Just drive the speed limit! When I pass you, I’m going to look at you to see if you are…
Texting and Driving
Lately this offense has pissed me off the most. In California, you can be fined $20 for the first time you are caught using any handheld electronic device while driving, then it’s an additional $50 for each offense after that. This has been in effect since 2009, and yet more and more people ignore this regulation, probably because it seems like it’s not being regulated anymore. Maybe 5-7 years ago, I remember seeing news reports on how often the highway patrol were writing people up for using their phones while driving. Now, not so much. Or maybe they’re still issuing tickets but it’s not getting media coverage. Whatever the case may be, people don’t seem to care. Perhaps increasing the amounts of the fines would be a better incentive to drive safer and smarter? Smarter. What a concept. The increased use of smartphones in our rat raced culture is a huge influence on this. Don’t get me wrong, I am well entertained by my phone and feel weird when I don’t have it with me, but I don’t like having it in my line of sight when I’m driving. It’s too much of a distraction, even if I’m not holding it.
When I see other drivers obviously using their phones while driving, I can’t help but think what is going on through this person’s mind? Are they insane? Since I can’t ask them, I fill in the answers myself: they think they’re immortal, they think the law doesn’t apply to them because they’re so confident in their driving skills; THEY can drive and text at the same time, unlike the people who have caused major, fatal transportation accidents. They have a “it won’t happen to me” attitude, and it’s immature. Most of all, this cocky, arrogant mindset tells me they really don’t care about their own safety, or the safety of other people. It’s inconsiderate, selfish, and stupid. As with most rules, this law was put into place for a reason. Why wait until something bad happens before following it? The need to always stay connected and available – is it really worth the risk? Put your phones down, pay attention, and drive. If not for my safety or the safety of others, at least be safe for yourself. And as I’ve always said, if something bad happens to you because you were on the phone, I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t feel sorry for you.
Cutting into Congested Lanes
When I’m exiting the freeway to go home, I have to get into the right turn lane on an overpass to get to the main road that leads to my street. Compared to the left side of this street that has the right turn lane, there’s only one lane, as opposed to the THREE that turn left. This setup makes zero sense to me, because the right turn lane causes a ton of backup, sometimes all the way to the exit ramp. Everyone is trying to get into this right turn lane. They act like this is the only way to get to the main road. News flash fellow drivers, if you’re unable to get into this right turn lane, just keep going straight. You’ll end up on the OTHER side of the main road, and you can take those side streets to get back out. There are other ways.
What kills me about this lane is that I learned quickly what lanes I need to get into to have the least amount of times needed to change lanes as possible. I know where I need to be. Now if all these other drivers, presumably with their routine route like mine, are driving this same way every day, shouldn’t they know the same thing? This is what happens: I’m already in the lane that leads to the right turn lane. All I need to do is go straight. But I don’t move, because I can’t. I’m practically parked in this one lane, because the other drivers who are too impatient to wait as long as I have, drive further up and CUT into the right turn lane. The cars now behind them (and of course, in front of me) also can’t move. Meanwhile, more cars are lining up behind us. Increased backup because these other drivers feel the need to cut in line. What’s that you say? I should take the other way that I mentioned above? I could, but no. Why should I have to be the one to take the alternative route when I was in the correct route to begin with? Why am I taking a detour because of someone else’s stupidity or lack of patience? Bottom line: get the correct lane earlier and if not, know that there are alternative ways to get to where you need to be if you miss your turn or exit. Learn the road instead of acting like you own it.
Parking (all kinds)
For fun sake, let’s just list the kind that bug me. Again, if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know which one has bothered me the most because it’s what I’ve been experiencing for nearly a month:
- Blocking my driveway
- Parking on a red curb (Or any colored curb for that matter)
- Parking anywhere where it says NO PARKING
- Not parking between the actual lines
- Taking up too much unnecessary space, lessening the amount available for others
- Parallel parking too close behind, in front of, or next to me. Why you gotta box me in?
- Double parking (If I gotta use up my gas to circle around until I can park somewhere legal, so should you. You’re not that damn special.)
I mean, WTF? If you don’t know how to park properly and legally, you shouldn’t be driving. That’s part of the privilege, and it IS a privilege. Sure, we have the freedom to drive nearly everywhere we want, but be responsible about it. I’m not claiming to be the best driver in the world, but I want to be a SAFE driver. I don’t want to be the reason why someone dies or becomes paralyzed. I don’t want to be the reason why traffic gets backed up for miles, inconveniencing thousands, simply because I thought “it won’t happen to me.”
There are a lot of tragedies that happen on the road (check the evening news as this Memorial Day weekend ends, I’m willing to bet some make it on there) that are completely preventable.
If you value your life, start driving like you do.