Scary Drivers
It happened again today...another Elderly citizen that has no buisness with a valid drivers license, out on the highway and seemingly targeting me!! It's the 3rd time in two weeks. This one turned her little silver-hair'd head, looked in my direction, then pulled right out in front of me. While swerving quickly to avoid hitting her and smashing us both into bolivian I almost attached myself to the front bumper of another car ..who luckly saw what was about to happen and slammed on her own breaks giving me just enough room to slide in, causing a chain reaction of other break slammers coming up behind her ..Thanks to my fast thinking, experienced reflexes, and complete bladder control, I was able to avoid what could have been the makings of a very bad day!!! But what really scares me about all this is thinking that, had it been my young, inexperienced but licensed daughter behind the wheel instead of me ...who, because of her youth is not yet as skilled in split second maneuvers or as concentrated in quick thinking as I.. (especially if she is chewing gum at the same time)..I am afraid the outcome would not have been the same . I looked at the elderly lady, or what I could see of her peeking over the steering wheel...and she was totally oblivious to anything that had just happened...I honked my horn at her for no other reason than to make her look up and around so she could be aware that there were other cars around her, just incase she was considering taking another nap before reaching her destination.... Unfortunately, she never even acknowledged my horn honking ..so not only was she blind she was obviously deaf too!!
Perhaps I'm out of line, but I think that when you get behind the wheel of a gazillion pound motorized vehicle, turn the ignition key, get into gear, hit the gas, and begin to move, you should maybe .....I don't know....PAY ATTENTION!! (being able to see further than the splattered bug bodies on your windshield doesn't hurt either!)
This approach has many advantages, and not just for the elderly...For example, look at all the good stuff one is missing by not paying attention to the other drivers around you....if you carefully observe your fellow drivers, you can:
A: Pick up lipstick application tips from the woman going 65mph
B: Place bets on how far into your lane the guy next to you will
swerve while switching CD's;
C: Ascertain whether the stuff that man is trying to dab off his horn, tie,and
suit is ketchup or mayo and learn high-speed stain removal techniques;
D: Cancel your newspaper subscription and read today's headlines on the
one propped up on some news hound's steering wheel..
Please somebody tell me: What are these people thinking?
I know that we all lead pressured lives. And that people are so busy, they're forced to eat, apply make-up, shave, read, return phone calls, and relieve themselves on the run. Being a compulsive multi-tasker myself, I'm very sympathetic ... to a point. For instance, I'm not necessarily suggesting that breathalyzers be enhanced to also test for freshly applied eye shadow and just ingested Big Macs at the scene of an accident,
But it's not a bad idea.
But if you're so pressed for time that those extra-car-icular activities are a must, couldn't you please, as a personal favor, at least do them at red lights or while stalled in traffic jams, and keep your eyes on the road while in motion...how else will you be able to avoid smashing someone's grandma or grampa when they pull out in front of you....and they will, as soon as they are finished targeting me.
The Very Near Future Fears
Prepare yourselves because things are going to get even worse as Internet-enabled cars become common. Now I have nothing against the Internet.
I earn my living ... such as it is ...with the use of the Net, so I can think of nothing
better to occupy my car-bound time than surfing the Net ...assuming I'm not
the one at the wheel. I'm not against car gadgetry but I sure don't want to
share the road with some guy who's hard drive just crashed or who just
accidentally mass emailed a painfully personal note. I also don't want the
driver in the next lane to be busy downloading porn, cursing out a
fatal Window's error, or instructing his car computer to tell his
home computer to tape a movie from his cable tv then fax it from his
VCR to his cd-rom, then email it back to his
car computer so he can watch it on the way to work.
This would be a good time to learn how to set my lasor pointer to stun
*evil grin*
until next time
- Kim Gallagher-
