After forty years of living in Wisconsin I had grown completely comfortable with the horrible drivers there. Okay, perhaps comfortable is too strong a word; I had grown used to them. However, the worst thing the drivers in Wisconsin do is sit in the left lane doing five miles per hour under the posted speed regulation and honk their horn at you when you pass them on the right because you actually have someplace to be. Oh yes, they drive drunk quite a bit there too. Now that I live in Los Angeles, Wisconsin drivers don't seem so bad. Did I really just say that? Truly, the thing that bothered me most about Wisconsin drivers is that they just really didn't seem like they were trying to get anywhere, like every day was Sunday and they were just out relaxing in the motorcar. In Los Angeles there are actually quite a few people that are really bad at driving and they all seem to be looking at their phones.
Texting and driving; I know it is a problem everywhere but it never seemed as prevalent when I was driving in Wisconsin. I suppose it could be because there are just so many more drivers here in L.A., but I constantly see people playing with their phones. I mentioned it on Facebook yesterday, but that wasn't enough to get it out of my system. I have to share the story. Hopefully then I will be able to move on and think about something else. If not, I'll have to start pulling people over and taking their phones away from them.
I was driving to work yesterday when I came upon a white, Toyota Camry that was driving erratically. As I approached this vehicle, I had to slow significantly. The posted speed regulation was forty miles per hour, but this vehicle was traveling at fifteen. Due to dark, tinted windows, I was unable to see what the hold up was. Of course there had to be something in front of this car as the brake lights were lighting up sporadically and the car kept swerving slightly. I would have just gone around, but there was heavy traffic in the left lane. Finally, after a few moments and a little cursing, my opening came. I slipped into the left lane and saw that there was absolutely nothing in front of this car but empty lane. There was no reason for the car to be traveling twenty five miles per hour under the speed limit, no reason for the sporadic braking, and no reason for the random slight swerving into the left lane. There was no reason for any of it aside from the fact that the idiot driving was sharing his attention between the road and his phone. I am not a huge fan of name calling (that might be a lie, I'll have to pay more attention) but this asshat earned the steady stream of vulgarities that poured out of my mouth as I watched him make an unnecessary traffic spectacle of himself. Sadly, the story of this jackass is only one of many. As I drive through the streets of L.A., I am astounded at the number of people I see looking at their laps. They sit through stop lights until you honk at them, they swerve into your lane, and they randomly hit their brakes for no reason at all. It is ridiculous.
There is never a good reason to text someone, look at Facebook, or Tweet to your Tweeps while you're driving. There are absolutely no nuggets in that little noggin of yours that are so earth-shattering that they cannot wait until you get there to drop them. Put your damn phone down and drive. I am perfectly okay with the idea of you leaving this world behind because you decided that texting, "He's hot...lol" to your bestie was too important to wait until you made it to Starbucks, but there is a good chance that you're going to take some innocent people with you. That is not okay. You are more dangerous than a drunk driver when you text and drive. Now, I am in no way shape or form advocating operating while intoxicated, but at least those drunks in Wisconsin are looking at the damn road. When you're looking at your lap, you aren't even trying.
That's it. That's my rant. Thanks for listening.
Texting and driving; I know it is a problem everywhere but it never seemed as prevalent when I was driving in Wisconsin. I suppose it could be because there are just so many more drivers here in L.A., but I constantly see people playing with their phones. I mentioned it on Facebook yesterday, but that wasn't enough to get it out of my system. I have to share the story. Hopefully then I will be able to move on and think about something else. If not, I'll have to start pulling people over and taking their phones away from them.
I was driving to work yesterday when I came upon a white, Toyota Camry that was driving erratically. As I approached this vehicle, I had to slow significantly. The posted speed regulation was forty miles per hour, but this vehicle was traveling at fifteen. Due to dark, tinted windows, I was unable to see what the hold up was. Of course there had to be something in front of this car as the brake lights were lighting up sporadically and the car kept swerving slightly. I would have just gone around, but there was heavy traffic in the left lane. Finally, after a few moments and a little cursing, my opening came. I slipped into the left lane and saw that there was absolutely nothing in front of this car but empty lane. There was no reason for the car to be traveling twenty five miles per hour under the speed limit, no reason for the sporadic braking, and no reason for the random slight swerving into the left lane. There was no reason for any of it aside from the fact that the idiot driving was sharing his attention between the road and his phone. I am not a huge fan of name calling (that might be a lie, I'll have to pay more attention) but this asshat earned the steady stream of vulgarities that poured out of my mouth as I watched him make an unnecessary traffic spectacle of himself. Sadly, the story of this jackass is only one of many. As I drive through the streets of L.A., I am astounded at the number of people I see looking at their laps. They sit through stop lights until you honk at them, they swerve into your lane, and they randomly hit their brakes for no reason at all. It is ridiculous.
There is never a good reason to text someone, look at Facebook, or Tweet to your Tweeps while you're driving. There are absolutely no nuggets in that little noggin of yours that are so earth-shattering that they cannot wait until you get there to drop them. Put your damn phone down and drive. I am perfectly okay with the idea of you leaving this world behind because you decided that texting, "He's hot...lol" to your bestie was too important to wait until you made it to Starbucks, but there is a good chance that you're going to take some innocent people with you. That is not okay. You are more dangerous than a drunk driver when you text and drive. Now, I am in no way shape or form advocating operating while intoxicated, but at least those drunks in Wisconsin are looking at the damn road. When you're looking at your lap, you aren't even trying.
That's it. That's my rant. Thanks for listening.
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