Driving Antics.......

I have a long commute to work. I drive in from a rural area into a urban area. Where I live the posted speed limit on the highway is 110km, most people travel at about 120km. This speed limit goes for about 35km and then goes down to 90km which people then might slow to 100 or 110km.

Like any commute you see all sorts of things and believe me I have seen my share of accidents,car fires,animals and wild life. The thing that never ceases to amaze me is the behaviours of some drivers.

The other day when I was driving to work I swear the stars must have been colliding and sending someone of the most aggressive drivers my way. I have always admitted to the fact that I have a lead foot and more times than not exceed the speed limit. It was very evident when I owned my mustang and got 3 speeding tickets in less than a year. Something I am not proud of, and I paid substantial financial penance for my driving behaviour.

Back to the other day. I drive fast....generally I admit I drive about 10-20km over the speed limit. In my experience even when you are driving fast there is always someone who is on your tail pushing you to go faster. At a certain portion of my trip the traffic increases significantly, the posted speed limit goes to 90km but of course most people continua to travel at 100km or more. The road becomes twisty that is when I think some drivers think they are Mario Andretti and love to push the performance of their vehicles....I don't know but something comes over some of these drives, it's like they get highway possession, they become more aggressive....you look in your review mirror and they are in you back seat...you consider pulling over but traffic is moving much slower in the next lane due to logging truck, commercial vehicles and now holiday campers and boats.

Although I like to drive fast, I always keep my distance from the vehicle ahead of me. I remember when I took driving lessons one thing they instilled was the 2-3 car length rule and now some 25 years later I still abide by that rule, much to the chagrin of other drivers. You can imagine what happens then.....other drives are forever cutting in front of me.

We have heard lots of talk about the aggressiveness of today's drivers. Older folks blame it on the young ones...young one's blame on the slow old pokes and so it goes. Well in my observation we are all to blame. Being a female I hate to admit this next comment...but I think we are some of the worst offenders of aggression when it comes to driving. So back to the other day, it was all women who were the aggressors. They were driving like crazed over hormone under medicated women on a mission. The age of these women ranged from mid 20's to maybe early 50's. The behaviour on one such driver was so frightening that I actually gasped at what she did.

I was in the fast lane (designated speed 90km) I was doing 110km. A semi truck was beside me in the slow lane a vehicle approximately 2 car length ahead of me. I was looking in my rear and side view mirrors when I saw this vehicle come out of no where travelling at excessive speed...she wanted to get into my lane.....she sped up almost colliding with the rear of semi truck....of course she wanted pass....the moment that the opportunity arose she scooted out missing the front end of my vehicle by mere inches and then she cut in front of the semi. I am sure she would have been on my tail but I had another women who had been riding my tail already. What I find so amusing is that they often don't get that much further ahead. More times than not you meet up with the at the red light. The crazed woman in the white car was now to my right talking on her cell, smoking and looking for something not sure how she even managed to focus enough to put he foot on the gas peddle or brake for that matter.

Yup, I have to admit I was embarrassed to say I was part of the female race. I have witnessed this so many times on my commute it is frightening. People doing everything except pay attention to the road. I can't help but wonder what is it that makes these people drive and behave in this manner. What's going on in their lives to make them drive this way? Do they even have any insight as to their driving antics and the impact it has on other drivers? I think not.

No wonder we pay such high insurance premiums....maybe instead of pointing the finger we all need to look at ourselves and realize we are all to blame. Drivers who drive to slow are just as dangerous as those that drive to fast. Do we really need to be multi tasking while we are driving....shouldn't driving be our primary focus..eyes on the road....be observant of your surroundings. Or what about driving for the conditions, slow down in the rain...make sure your vehicle is in good running order, ensure you have good tread on your tires......but most importantly let see if we all can slow down just a bit.....me included......as the commercial says...."Speed kills".