What prompted this? I was running some errands and then driving home Sunday night, June 3, 2012. After dark. I was simply amazed at what I saw. Absolutely amazed. That night I saw all of the following, all within about 30 minutes:
- I saw people leaving their bright lights on, they don't dim them for approaching traffic. This has been bothering me more lately, because I've been seeing it more often. People simply leave their bright lights on, even when I flash them politely to remind them that their brights are on.
- I saw one person driving at night without any lights. I was following such a driver Sunday night. I turned my lights on and off a few times to remind him, but no response.
- I saw people not driving in their lane. They just don't care. Not sure whether they're texting or talking on the phone or what, but they don't stay in their lane.
- Driving down the road, the driver to my left (in a car full of what looked like high school girls) started to drive right into me. I was RIGHT THERE, and they just felt like driving right at me. I can't believe that they didn't see me, because they were behind me and were in the process of passing me. I didn't sneak up on them, I was clearly in view ahead of them. As is common in these situations, once I hit my horn, they don't stop, they continue coming over. Like that horn noise just came out of thin air.
- I saw one person cut across multiple lanes of a street to catch a freeway on-ramp. No signal. No planning. No ability to read signs to get in the proper lane ahead of time.
- I saw one person swerve across three lanes of traffic on an interstate highway. No signal. No planning. No ability to read signs to get in the proper lane ahead of time.
- I saw one person drive through a solid red light. This happens all the time. All the time. Barely even worth mentioning anymore. Which says something about the world in which we live.
- I saw another person have difficulty staying in his lane. After making a left turn, in which there were two lanes of traffic turning left, one of the cars in the left left-turn lane (I was in the right left-turn lane) decided he didn't need to stay in his lane. Drove over into my lane during the turn, even though he was making another left turn immediately after this--there was no reason for him to be drifting to the right.
- Finally, I saw another "brights on" incident. Waiting at an intersection, in the left turn lane. Driver in the oncoming left turn lane, almost directly across from me, had his brights on. Didn't dim them when I (and other drivers) came up to the intersection. So I turned my brights on, to give him a taste of his own medicine. No change, he didn't dim his, so I didn't dim mine. This is at a well-lit section of road, no need for brights at all, by the way.
I also need to add one more, from just this morning. As I said above, this is something I see literally every week--yet I'm still amazed every time that I do.
Approaching a stoplight. Light turns yellow. I'm not close enough to make the light, so I start slowing down to stop. Notice a white Toyota Camry behind me, in my lane (two lane road) NOT slowing down. I start to get concerned. Luckily the other lane was open. As I was finishing my stop, at a SOLID RED LIGHT the Camry swings around me and barrels through the intersection at full speed. Never caught even a tiny bit of a yellow light.
Yes, I see this EVERY WEEK. Literally every week. And I've seen policemen just watch these cars sail through intersections on occasion. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Policing is NOT about protecting people or enforcing legitimate rules, it is about revenue generation. Nothing more, nothing less.
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