Driving in America… Driver Beware!

Everyday I go out on the roads of America, I keep my eyes pealed. Today we will try to humorously determine which drivers are conservative and which are liberal. And we will discuss the best way to avoid an accident.

You might remember if you are old enough the "stop look and listen" ads. And the ads about driving defensively or you will or can end up dead right! But over the last several months you and your loved ones really need to be careful. I can add up at least 3 AH's every time I drive a considerable distance. And there are a considerable amount of accidents per day. Fortunately deaths appear to be less because of all the air bags and collapsible parts on a car. But the cost to restore the car has grown to be astronomical. So that's a good thing. All these accidents help the economy. More cars are sold, more cars are repaired and more healthcare is needed. Let's start with trucks. They seem to cause the biggest problems on the interstates. My favorite is an AH truck driver that pulls into the left hand lane, there are only two lanes. The flow of traffic is 10 or 20 MPH faster in the left hand lane and the AH pulls out going 10 or 20 miles slower and proceeds to pass another truck or slow moving vehicle up a hill. So is this AH a conservative or a liberal? In the old days truckers were always so considerate. Today there is a bunch that just doesn't give a damn. So we should blame this on the liberals. It is always prudent not to damage Johnny's ego by telling him to be considerate. The trucker pays a lot of taxes and he will be on the road for hours. So what will a little inconvenience cause? If there is enough traffic it will usually cause an accident.

---

The other problem is construction. The liberals are all concerned about the environment. But the DOT's of the world don't seem to care a bit about causing miles of backups. All those cars just sitting there wasting gas. Some liberal will come up with the idea that a policeman should stop the traffic for 10 minutes to allow all the vehicles to shut off their engines. That would be fun in the winter and summer. But it will save the environment! Why don't they fix these highways with shorter road blockages and block traffic at night, not during rush hour? I think we have created a bunch of inconsiderates when we have all the stop signs at the shopping centers. This has to be the stupidest thing I have ever seen. Some one is stopping a 4 thousand pound vehicle so a 200 pound person can stroll across the street. And the shopper can cross at any point. There are no cross walks that are used! I think this mentality has been transferred over to the highways. People now think they have a right to drive into any lane and people will have to look out for them. You don't even need to put on your signal light. The latest one I saw was on Route 22 in PA. It was a Sunday morning so there was not much traffic. And there was a beamer in the left hand lane. Route 22 has 2 lanes at this point. She passed an entrance ramp and a mini van entered the highway. She was probably too busy checking her emails and texts to notice the mini-van. So a short time later she decides to move back into the right lane. Fortunately the minivan was paying attention and there was enough distance that the BMW was not going to hit the minivan. When she was about halfway into the right hand lane she probably accidentally looked up at the rear view mirror and realized she was real close to the mini-van. She was too dumb to realize that she was half way into the lane; she was past the impact point of hitting the minivan. She freaked out anyway and jerked the car back to the left. Fortunately the road was dry and the mini-van was driven by a conservative, so there were no tragedies. But I chalked up an AH for the day and had a pretty good laugh. Another point I try to accomplish is stay away from other cars. If you are going to pass a vehicle, pass the damn vehicle and get out of the way. Some folks want to make an event out of it and stay along side the car they are trying to pass. Granted if there is a lot of traffic then stay alert. But if you can get out of the way then by all means pass the car and get out of the way. People think nothing of pulling out in front of vehicles and making the other vehicle slow down. So get out of their way. I look at the AH's of the day if I have the opportunity to pass them. And I can't say they are all young, all woman and all liberals. But at the end of the day there are many accidents that could have been avoided. All we need is a little consideration and caution. I guess I figured out at a young age that there are blind spots on a car. In most cases if you really turn your head to the right or left depending on which way you are turning, you can see if there is a vehicle in your way. So people are getting so lazy or inconsiderate that they fail to turn their heads. Are they all liberals? But the best precaution you can take and save millions of lives, is to change lanes slowly. It amazes me when people cut me off and they do it in a hurry. If I am in the wrong spot, my reflexes better be real quick to avoid the AH. And there better be an open lane for me to hide. So please when you decide to change lanes there is no hurry. Please use your signal and do it slowly. If there is someone there, probably a conservative he will blast you with his horn. No harm, no foul. But at the end of the day, you will arrive home safe and sound. There is one quirk with some accidents in places like NJ where the police officer is forced to give one person a ticket. It is a great revenue profit center. But you need to be careful. In Phillipsburg, the police officer not only gave the ticket to the wrong person but allegedly falsified the police report. This creates problems for the insured. Once you are blamed for the accident, you get to pay for the ticket and your insurance premiums go up and you have to pay the full deductible. The policeman was also found to be allegedly making false indications (that's police talk for statements) to his superiors. At first the superior said it was his word against yours. Just so happens there was another 3^rd party present who had no stake in the game. Well see how far this cover-up goes. So save yourself all the headaches if you can. If you are a liberal, you can follow these rules as well. 1) Don't change lanes quickly. Take your time, the space isn't going anywhere. 2) Always keep on the defensive; there may be a liberal in front of you checking his messages. And after all he has a right or better yet a duty is owed to him to get out of his way. And the policeman may just agree with him 3) Always keep a safe distance. And if you are texting or checking your messages please allow a bit more room to stop. I can guarantee you that your reaction time will be a lot slower. By the time you look up from your gizmos, it may be too late! 3) And if you are changing lanes, be considerate. Please use your signals. If you are not going as fast as the person you are cutting off, why don't you wait until the car passes you? You have all day. No sense spending it in a body bag!