Anger on the Roads
Here's something I really don't understand.Road Rage.
Sure, I've been upset when someone's made a move on the road that put my kids in danger. But to get irate because someone is not driving as fast as you want seems ridiculous. We have people fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that evidently pales in comparison to the ordeals many drivers face when they come up on someone who's only doing the speed limit in the right lane.
Virtually no one does the speed limit.
During the Thanksgiving holiday I went to Augusta. Just after getting on I-20 outside of Florence, I set the cruise control at 72. I was able to cruise about 50 miles in the right-hand lane. During that stretch, I passed TWO vehicles. As for the number that passed me, I quit counting at about 100. A conservative guess would be 200. I ask you... where are these people going that the 10 minutes or so that they'll save is important enough to risk their lives (not to mention the extra gas they burn. But they probably complain about gas prices, too.)? My guess is, many sped to where they're going (if they got there), then sat around and did nothing. Or they complained about being where they were in such a hurry to get to.
You hear so much about the dangers of drunk driving... and rightly so. However, in 2004, just over 21 percent of the fatal wrecks in this country happened when one driver in the wreck was deemed intoxicated. However, about 31 percent of the wrecks were the result of excessive speed by drivers not deemed intoxicated.
By the way, the statistics consistently show men speed more than women. And the percentage of those who speed consistently decreases with age.
As you would expect, those numbers go up dramatically when you drink AND speed.
And what about drivers who run red lights?
Nearly three percent of traffic deaths occur because someone decides to run the light. About half of those who die are innocent. They are either legally in vehicles in the intersection... or they're pedestrians.
I think it's a safe assumption that someone runs the red light at at least one quarter of busy intersections. I think it's even safer to assume that virtually every one of these "runners" knows they did it. Again... where are they going that that's important? Many are going to work. These folks must really love their jobs!
I've always thought seconds count on the road only if you're having a baby or if you REALLY need to use the bathroom.
It appears that you can add "sitting around and wasting time" to that list.
And shame on those of you who stand... or drive... in their way to waste time.
It's hard to understand.
Posted by on 12/11 at 01:58 PM
