What Noisy Cats Are We

Chances are, you think that you are a good driver.  We all do.  I think I’m a great driver.  But in reality, a lot of us are really BAD drivers.  I was reading another blog earlier and stumbled upon this post: http://punaro.com/2008/01/derek/bad-driving-is-no-mystery/.  The author points out some really bad highway passing faux-pas.

I drive in the city mainly.  My commute is a quick 3.5 mile drive from Boston to Cambridge.  How long do you think my morning or evening drive takes?  Anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour.  It’s a waste.  Traffic is horrible.  People have no clue how to drive, or give the right of way to pedestrians or bikers, or even other cars.  At a four way stop, you frequently get honked at for following the rules and going one-car-then-the-other-car-then-the-next after stopping.  If I actually apply my brakes at Green St. where the bus station is, I get honked at.  Nevermind that there is a STOP SIGN there!

What makes it worse here is the pedestrians.  You don’t get too many of that on the roads of Western New York.  There is so much animosity between the walkers of Central Square and the drivers that everyone thinks that they are in the right.  People crossing the street think NOTHING of just walking out across without looking at the car  baring down on them at 25 miles per hour.  It’s my duty to stop because they can’t be bothered to wait a second.  Of course I always hear the ‘I have the right of way – I’m a pedestrian in a crosswalk!’.  Well, if you are not in the crosswalk when I’m heading into it, and you step into it, you do NOT have the right of way!

But I’m ranting.  I’m frustrated wtih driving in Boston often.  I enjoy driving.  I love it.  I am not an angry driver, and I often let people in when I don’t have to (to the dismay of Gwen sometimes – she says I’m too nice).  I miss my old drives from Kenosha, WI to Libertyville, IL every morning.  I will be happier when my drive to work is less stop and go-y, and more just enjoy the road and the silence and the day-y.