What’s the first thing you should do when you rear-end another car? Well, you put your cell phone down, of course! At least, that would be the courteous thing to do. That is, if you are the courteous driver. I think it’s ridiculous when someone is talking, wireless in public. You don’t know they’re on the phone and they’re walking toward you, talking, and looking you right in the eyes. So you ask them if they’re talking to you and they throw that annoyed look your way. In the past, whenever you’d see someone walking down the street, talking to themselves, they were surely off their meds. Now they’re just wireless…and rude.
And then, letting someone merge into your lane in traffic, now that’s another thing that gets into most people’s craw. I think if you asked, most people would admit that they would allow someone to merge into their lane, but only “if” they didn’t have to reduce their speed. If you could get up to speed to merge in, they’d let you in. Signaling doesn’t hurt, which is another thing that most drivers don’t do anymore. Is it because it’s not cool? Or perhaps they’re trying to save the life of the bulb, so it lasts the life of the car.
And, what about that 3-way or 4-way stop sign intersection? When did they stop teaching in drivers ed that the person who arrives at the intersection first, gets to go first? And, if everyone arrives at the intersection at the same time, the car to the right gets to proceed first. Everyone is in a rush. But, actually, I think that’s the only time that people are truly courteous is when they all arrive about the same time at that intersection. Because, sometimes everyone is waving each other on to proceed. “No, YOU go first.”
It’s the holidays. Slow down. Be a courteous driver. And happy holidays.
Until next week…
Daun Thompson
Writer / Comedienne / Artist
The Courteous Driver – Comedy Defensive Driving