Idiots on the roads

As I ride a motorcycle almost daily, I have become more aware of the idiots on the roads. This is largely due to the need of being more observant due to the inherent added danger of being on a bike, and the desire to live another day and enjoy another ride.

Now onto the subject at hand, namely the idiots on the road!

Idiot number one is the moron who needs to tail gate people. Now I know that staying back the suggested 2 seconds from the person in front of you is a stretch at times, especially as in doing so results in a lot of people cutting in front of you. We'll get to THOSE idiots shortly. However, I've seen plenty of people following at about one car length from the person in front of them, WHILE DOING 70+ MPH!!! How can a person be that dumb? Do they really think that they'll have ANY time to stop should something occur with the guy they're tail gating? Perhaps that's mistake number one on my part... that is... I'm under the impression that they are thinking in the first place.

This REALLY becomes an issue on a motorcycle. What may just be a fender bender or a case of whiplash if a guy rear-ends a car, the same type of accident could kill a motorcyclist. This is why I don't tolerate being tailgated while riding the bike. However, why can't people have the brains to stay back the proper distance, ESPECIALLY when following a motorcycle? Don't these morons have at least enough neurons firing in their puny brains to give them the thought of "Gee, if that bike goes down, or needs to stop in a hurry, it appears I'm just too close to do anything. Therefore, I'd better back off a bit and give him plenty of room."

OK, let's now move along to the other ingrates that go darting around the freeways, cutting in front of people and not signaling. Once again, you'd think that if even a few synapses of the brain were firing, they'd have the thought of "You know, if other people drove like I'm doing now, certainly there would be accidents as we'd all be colliding into each other. With no signaling of my movements, along with no time for anyone to react to such movements, coupled with the fact that my fellow man is not a mind reader, then surely this behavior needs to stop."

But once again we are faced with having to be on the same road with these idiots, as they meander down the road, darting from lane to lane, and not caring about anyone but themselves.

Another real pain in the ass and threat on the roads are the ones that run red lights. Now I'm aware of the fact that we all at times will make the mistake of going through the intersection just as we see the light changing, and we go through while it's a little "pink" as I like to say. But what I'm talking about are the blatant red light runners that are staring at a red light way before they even get to it, and yet they proceed to go through, causing other people to have to wait at their green light while these Neanderthals proceed in all their selfish glory. The thing is, I bet even a Neanderthal would have the brain power to see this act as being a threat to ones survival. And yet we see this behavior all the time.

So let me get this straight... these people figure that it makes sense to risk killing someone just so they can make it to their destination about a minute earlier. Yeah, that's a real intelligent thought, huh? It would be as if I approached you and said "How about I give you a chance to win $10, but for that to occur, you have to risk losing $10,000."

Obvious any rational person would look at that proposition as being completely insane, as the potential reward does not justify the risk. So why is it any different in driving? These idiots are literally risking peoples' lives... a very high "cost", for the very trivial gain of getting to their destination a minute or so earlier... a VERY low gain.

And don't even get me started on the brainless souls who insist on driving in the left-most lane on the freeway AND NOT PASSING ANYONE!!! I've even had people do this on two lane roads where there are signs posted stating "Slower traffic keep right." Just what part of "Slower traffic keep right" don't these people not understand? Not only that, but being out in the left lane and forcing people to pass you on the right is more dangerous for everyone. Think of the 3 lane freeway where the moron is in the left-most lane, forcing such a situation to occur. Now we have people in the right-most lane changing into the middle lane to pass the people in the right lane, AND on top of that we have people changing into the middle lane as they pass the people in the left lane. This increases the chance of people running into each other as they are pulling into the same middle lane.

The concept here is so painfully simple, and it goes like this:
"ONLY BE IN THE LEFT-MOST LANE IF YOU ARE PASSING SOMEONE!"

I wish we were more involved with pulling people over for being stupid than just because they were going a bit over the speed limit or some such minor infraction. It seems to me that we get caught up in trying to enforce more and more trivial laws instead of getting to the root of the problem, and creating a safer environment for all drivers.

Let's truly educate people on not just all the traffic laws, but more on how and why to drive intelligently. Then implement some laws that make sense, like having it be illegal to be in the left lane unless you are passing, and go after the people that are darting about aimlessly. I'd much rather have someone go by me in a responsible fashion that is also speeding than the person who is doing the speed limit but is driving like an idiot. Just check out the way they run the autobahn! There they have people going at whatever speed they want, even approaching, and at times exceeding 200 MPH, yet it's one of the safest roads on the planet. Why? Because they enforce smart laws about driving and don't tolerate stupidity.

Just look at the way we test people here in the US for a license. You take some stupid written test, then drive around the block and parallel park, and they then hand you a license to drive a 2 ton vehicle down the freeway at whatever speed you feel at the time is needed. What a joke!

Please drive intelligently!