I’ve been driving now for over 40 years, and I have been noticing a relatively new problem. Whether it is generational I am not sure. I live in a college town, but I Have been living in college towns for most of my life. Anyway, the problem is drivers who are driving in the middle of the street, and who seem completely unaware that they are being rude. More frequently than ever before, I find myself having to squeeze over to the right (within inches of parked cars) just to avoid being hit. I have been told that it’s the newer generation. Really? Has simple road etiquette gone out of style? Or have they not been taught how to drive properly?
It would be easy to point the finger at SUVs, but this is not solely an SUV problem. Sure, SUVs are bigger, but in this town lots of young people do exactly the same thing with regular cars.
Looking around, I see that I am not alone in my frustrations:
This is not a gas question but one of common courtesy and driving skills. I had the experience today of driving on a two lane road with cars parked on one side. There was plenty and I do mean plenty of room for two cars to pass each other, each going in an opposite direction. Along comes a huge SUV driving down the MIDDLE of the road, meaning partially in my lane, and that person (I refuse to say whether it was a man or a woman because I’ve had this happen with both sexes) did not move to allow me to pass by without me practically having to crawl up a tree. Did you not see my midsized blue sedan? It’s not like I was in a tiny smart car. I also want to know if there is something written in the owner’s manual of an SUV that says you have the right to drive down the middle of the road with no concern for other cars on the road.
As I say, it isn’t SUVs, and it has little to do with the sex of the driver.
Any ideas?
Comments
4 responses to “Should I just get over it and get way over?”
Here’s what you do. When you see somebody driving down the middle of the street stop where you are and wait for them to stop. When they do wait for them to turn back to their side of the street and drive around you. Enough people do that sooner or later the dicks will start getting the hint.
And yes, it is the bad driver’s education people get these days.
When I see that happen I instinctively slow down, then I get angry and I don’t give them an inch. So far 100% haven’t been willing to risk a collision.
In my travels to foreign countries, I note that driving in the middle of the road is endemic, and my observation is that the poorer a country is, the more likely it is that drivers will take their half in the middle.
Part of it is that the middle of the road is the smoothest ride. Another part of it is that most people in the world simply don’t understand or don’t care about “the rules of the road.”
Or, as Elizabeth Warren noted, she paid for the road, buster, so you can move your ass over and let the road’s rightful owner pass, you immoral deadbeat One-percenter!
I like Alan’s suggestion.