In January of 2008, drivers in California will join the growing number of drivers nationwide who must operate their cell phones hands-free while operating a motor vehicle. That's great, fine, and dandy, and a necessary step to making our roadways a little bit safer. But the driver's who really get me fired up, and I'm not in any way saying cell phone users aren't a hazard (they are), but these drivers, the ones who like to drive with burning cancer sticks stuck between their fingers, they are the real nasty habits on the roadway.
They light it, smoke it, killing themselves in the process and passing their second hand smoke along to anyone else close by with their window down because they can't keep their windows rolled up and inhale their own noxious, vile fumes, and then they flick the still burning stub out the window where it's free to fire-up anything it comes into contact with.
I don't understand smokers. I never will, don't want to. It's a dirty, filthy habit that makes everything it touches smell and die.
Not to mention, of course, how much time, focus, and inattention it takes to actually smoke the thing while you're driving, but driving while smoking (DWS, for short)is a habit that must be stopped, for the good of all drivers on the road.
Stop the smoker's habit. Drive Safe. Drive Smart.
The Traffic Guy
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Foul Weather Driving
So I'm cruising down one of the main thoroughfares where I live, a four lane roadway (two lanes in each direction) with multiple stoplights and very curvy, thinking how much I love the first rains of the season (always reminds me of the rainy seasons we had when I lived in Ecuador), when two vehicles blow by me in the #2 lane at about 60mph. Mind you, I'm already going just over 50 in a 45 zone.
Secretly I wished the two vehicles would do every other driver a favor and smash their $30,000.00 rockets into each other and then into the sound wall at the side of the road. I know, that's a terrible thing to say, but come on. The roads are still draining the excess water from the rain that's been falling all morning, it's still raining, and it's the first real rain of the season. All of that spells slick, nasty roads.
I think everyone who wants a driver's license should be forced to drive in really foul weather, I'm talking the really nasty stuff, snow falling so thick at night you have to turn your headlights off to see while driving on a packed, icy snow covered freeway (Been there and done that, no joke. Freakiest drive of my life), so they understand the posted speedlimit is the speed suggested in ideal driving conditions.
Think people. Drive safe. Truth is, the basic speed laws allow for officers to cite drivers driving at an "unsafe speed for road conditions". When you get a ticket for "speeding", it's not because you were driving too fast, it's because you were driving unsafe. Think about that the next time an officer pulls you over and tells you the reason for your detention is because of your speed.
Drive Smart. Drive Safe.
The Traffic Guy
Secretly I wished the two vehicles would do every other driver a favor and smash their $30,000.00 rockets into each other and then into the sound wall at the side of the road. I know, that's a terrible thing to say, but come on. The roads are still draining the excess water from the rain that's been falling all morning, it's still raining, and it's the first real rain of the season. All of that spells slick, nasty roads.
I think everyone who wants a driver's license should be forced to drive in really foul weather, I'm talking the really nasty stuff, snow falling so thick at night you have to turn your headlights off to see while driving on a packed, icy snow covered freeway (Been there and done that, no joke. Freakiest drive of my life), so they understand the posted speedlimit is the speed suggested in ideal driving conditions.
Think people. Drive safe. Truth is, the basic speed laws allow for officers to cite drivers driving at an "unsafe speed for road conditions". When you get a ticket for "speeding", it's not because you were driving too fast, it's because you were driving unsafe. Think about that the next time an officer pulls you over and tells you the reason for your detention is because of your speed.
Drive Smart. Drive Safe.
The Traffic Guy
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Looky-Loos
I don't often travel the freeway during rush-hour. My job allows me to travel against the normal flow of traffic at the other end of the work week, but every now and then, a meeting, or training, draws me out onto the highway most of the working force is accustomed to. I seriously don't know how the 9 to 5'er does it.
The thing that really gets me is the "Looky-Loo". Traffic is moving along great, thick, but moving at a speed I can be alright with, maybe even fast enough to get me into town a little early so I can get me a warm drink on this particularly cool morning. And then, without warning, the traffic comes to a virtual standstill.
No smoke. No fire. No flashing lights from patrol cars or fire engines or ambulances, not even a tow truck. Nothing.
What we have is two cars completely off to the side of the road having just been involved in a fender bender. Nothing serious, no blood, no body parts strewn along the roadway, nothing to necessitate the stop and look traffic that has now clogged the freeway and turned all of the normally sane and good-natured people into cursing savages.
I mean, is there really a need to come to a complete stop to look at another's misfortune? I don't understand it. I've been told, there's a little bit of a voyeur in everyone. Maybe that's it, a little bit of voyeurism being exercised on the freeway.
Stop. You're angering lots of people, good people. Save it for the privacy of your own home where the rest of us don't have to be affected by it.
The Traffic Guy
The thing that really gets me is the "Looky-Loo". Traffic is moving along great, thick, but moving at a speed I can be alright with, maybe even fast enough to get me into town a little early so I can get me a warm drink on this particularly cool morning. And then, without warning, the traffic comes to a virtual standstill.
No smoke. No fire. No flashing lights from patrol cars or fire engines or ambulances, not even a tow truck. Nothing.
What we have is two cars completely off to the side of the road having just been involved in a fender bender. Nothing serious, no blood, no body parts strewn along the roadway, nothing to necessitate the stop and look traffic that has now clogged the freeway and turned all of the normally sane and good-natured people into cursing savages.
I mean, is there really a need to come to a complete stop to look at another's misfortune? I don't understand it. I've been told, there's a little bit of a voyeur in everyone. Maybe that's it, a little bit of voyeurism being exercised on the freeway.
Stop. You're angering lots of people, good people. Save it for the privacy of your own home where the rest of us don't have to be affected by it.
The Traffic Guy
Monday, October 8, 2007
Why do people Hit and Run?
It's sad that our society has come to rely so heavily on the automobile for transportation, but we have and that's just the way of it. We have cars, we need cars, so when some one does something resulting in the loss of your car, it's a serious violation of your pursuit of happiness. Car thieves and drivers who Hit and Run are the worst.
Why do people Hit and Run? I don't understand. I don't think I ever will. Collisions happen, You drive long enough, eventually you're going to be involved in a collision. But why a person would crash into someone and then drive away without checking to see if the other person was okay, without stopping to say "Hey, I've got insurance. I'm sorry this happened. How can I help?" That kind of callous, lack of integrity just really chaps my hide.
To Hit and Run somebody has got to be one of the most despicable things you can do to another human being. You hurt them physically, emotionally, leaving them with all kinds of unanswered questions. Then they have to deal with their insurance, which may or may not go well. Being involved in an auto collision is a very traumatic thing, but then to be left alone, disabled in the road, watching the person that did it to you drive away, is so disheartening.
Don't be this driver. Be the one who, even though you're not at fault, helps in whatever way you can. A ride home, a call to a loved one, a bottle of cold water, a bandaid, something, anything to show that person, "Hey, everything is going to be alright." Because, ultimately, everything will be alright.
If you want it to be.
Be safe out there, Stay safe. Drive smart.
The Traffic Guy
Why do people Hit and Run? I don't understand. I don't think I ever will. Collisions happen, You drive long enough, eventually you're going to be involved in a collision. But why a person would crash into someone and then drive away without checking to see if the other person was okay, without stopping to say "Hey, I've got insurance. I'm sorry this happened. How can I help?" That kind of callous, lack of integrity just really chaps my hide.
To Hit and Run somebody has got to be one of the most despicable things you can do to another human being. You hurt them physically, emotionally, leaving them with all kinds of unanswered questions. Then they have to deal with their insurance, which may or may not go well. Being involved in an auto collision is a very traumatic thing, but then to be left alone, disabled in the road, watching the person that did it to you drive away, is so disheartening.
Don't be this driver. Be the one who, even though you're not at fault, helps in whatever way you can. A ride home, a call to a loved one, a bottle of cold water, a bandaid, something, anything to show that person, "Hey, everything is going to be alright." Because, ultimately, everything will be alright.
If you want it to be.
Be safe out there, Stay safe. Drive smart.
The Traffic Guy
Saturday, October 6, 2007
22108 CVC
Making a turn without properly signaling.
I've never been in a vehicle that does not have some way to signal a turning movement. Never. And it's such an easy, brainless thing to do. Push the lever up, pull the lever down. Push it up. Pull it down. It's really that simple. And in most vehicles on the road today, the lever will reset itself for the next turn you have to make. Yet, it seems a lot of drivers have difficulty finding that lever attached to the steering column (on most vehicles) and using it properly.
100 feet before the turn, you click the turn signal on and make your turn. Doesn't require an inordinate amount of thinking, and the benefits of doing so are huge. Other drivers will actually feel comfortable knowing what you are about to do and can react properly, perhaps avoiding a major collision and injury.
By signalling and then completing that specificed turning movement, you protect yourself from liability (as long as you're making a legal turn. Signalling doesn't make an illegal turn, legal. Doesn't work that way. Never has. Never will.) and, more importantly perhaps, you protect yourself from unnecessary risk. Driving is already risky enough, why make it any more risky?
Use your turn signals. Make driving easy and stay safe out there.
The Traffic Guy
I've never been in a vehicle that does not have some way to signal a turning movement. Never. And it's such an easy, brainless thing to do. Push the lever up, pull the lever down. Push it up. Pull it down. It's really that simple. And in most vehicles on the road today, the lever will reset itself for the next turn you have to make. Yet, it seems a lot of drivers have difficulty finding that lever attached to the steering column (on most vehicles) and using it properly.
100 feet before the turn, you click the turn signal on and make your turn. Doesn't require an inordinate amount of thinking, and the benefits of doing so are huge. Other drivers will actually feel comfortable knowing what you are about to do and can react properly, perhaps avoiding a major collision and injury.
By signalling and then completing that specificed turning movement, you protect yourself from liability (as long as you're making a legal turn. Signalling doesn't make an illegal turn, legal. Doesn't work that way. Never has. Never will.) and, more importantly perhaps, you protect yourself from unnecessary risk. Driving is already risky enough, why make it any more risky?
Use your turn signals. Make driving easy and stay safe out there.
The Traffic Guy
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
You're Not Gonna Pass Me!
So I’m driving along, minding my own business, traveling my usual speed of about eight miles per hour over the speedlimit when I realize the driver in front of me is traveling at a speed a bit slower than I am. As I approach the individual, I realize they’re not going to move over and let me pass safely by, so I change lanes and have to make my passing movement to the right. Then, just as I pull alongside them, they speed up and prevent me from passing safely.
Why? Why do some drivers do this? It’s unsafe, it creates road rage, and it’s down right rude. Come on, drivers. If you don’t want to be passed on the right, stop driving slow in the fast lane. If you don’t want to be passed at all, drive faster.
Oh, and then there are the drivers that force you to pass on the right and then speed up as you’re passing them forcing you to brake and slow down because they’ve boxed you in behind another vehicle. Once you’re boxed in with nowhere to go, they slow back down and keep you there as long as they can.
Why? Why would any driver act like this? We’re not riding around on scooters, or driving Big Wheels. These are huge chunks of metal and plastic and fiberglass, hurtling down the freeway at speeds of 60, 70, and 80 miles per hour. You would think driving reckless would be the last thing any one would want to do. You would think injuring or maybe even killing someone would be the last thing you’d want to have to live with the rest of your life, but then again, perhaps the reckless driver is also the kind of driver who would hit and run.
Which kind of driver are you? Be safe. Drive safe.
Just another pet peeve from The Traffic Guy.
Why? Why do some drivers do this? It’s unsafe, it creates road rage, and it’s down right rude. Come on, drivers. If you don’t want to be passed on the right, stop driving slow in the fast lane. If you don’t want to be passed at all, drive faster.
Oh, and then there are the drivers that force you to pass on the right and then speed up as you’re passing them forcing you to brake and slow down because they’ve boxed you in behind another vehicle. Once you’re boxed in with nowhere to go, they slow back down and keep you there as long as they can.
Why? Why would any driver act like this? We’re not riding around on scooters, or driving Big Wheels. These are huge chunks of metal and plastic and fiberglass, hurtling down the freeway at speeds of 60, 70, and 80 miles per hour. You would think driving reckless would be the last thing any one would want to do. You would think injuring or maybe even killing someone would be the last thing you’d want to have to live with the rest of your life, but then again, perhaps the reckless driver is also the kind of driver who would hit and run.
Which kind of driver are you? Be safe. Drive safe.
Just another pet peeve from The Traffic Guy.
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