Monday, January 31, 2011

Idiots changing lanes and feeling cool about it

All right all right.  We can all agree that changing lanes is more fun than going in a straight line.  But let's also agree not to unnecessarily endanger the lives of others by darting from left lane to 2nd-to-left lane and back in heavy traffic going a relatively uniform speed (at least in these lanes) for gains of a car length.  I can see that you're proud of that 90's Olds and you want to show off its enviable power and agility.  I can see that you want people to look at you and think, "Wow, I wish I could do that!"  But the reality is that people think your Olds is shit, people think you are shit, and people are afraid for their lives.  Unless your wife is in labor or you have an urgent gunshot wound (an urgent one mind you--not this "shot in the hand" crap), there is no reason to be swerving around people and acting like an ass.

My only advice for dealing with these folks is to get the hell out of their way.  Sure, that reinforces the behavior, but it doesn't kill me in the process of its correction.  Early in driving, when I drove on the highway only occasionally and it wasn't a high enough fraction of my time to actually start thinking about "Hey I'm gonna be on the highway for six hours tonight, that's a lot of exposure to potential death," I would put these people in their place and cut them off and keep them from getting in front of me.  Now, I brake and let them in, and I decrease my speed until they get a good five cars away.  Stopping distance isn't usually something I'm freaky about (I don't really do the three-second rule or anything), but if I think the probability of a wreck happening in front of me is greater than 10% I want those three seconds in front of me and the cars behind me can go to hell.

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