Roadrage 1

For some reason, the drivers on the east side of the 275 loop around Cincinnati are the worst I've encountered so far. They all seem to be driving half asleep. Seriously, the number of times I've seen people jerk the wheel to get back in their lane is ridiculous.

I think most of those people are on their cell phones. It's a phenomenon (I'll spell check that word later) that crosses all class/age/race boundaries: no one can drive well and talk on a cell phone at the same time. NO ONE. This means you. This also means me. I know this and try to limit it. People speed up when they suddenly become aware that they are driving to slowly. They are made aware of this when others start to pass them. Apparently their ego can't take that, so they then speed up to make sure that no one can pass them. They then drift back into that half-aware-driver state and focus back in on their phone conversation and begin slowing back down to 60 mph in the far left lane. (Often conversations with other people in the same car have the same effect, especially among the teens and baby-boomer generation, for some reason.)

Smokers also seem to be very bad drivers. This is not only when they are scrambling to find a cigarette, find a lighting source, or brush the hot ashes from their thighs. I truly believe the studies that say that cigarette smokers go through their day high. Their driving certainly proves this.

My top driving peeves:

1. Not using cruise control. People seem to think that cruise control is only for when you are on vacation, driving for hours on the flat highways of Kansas. No. It is for anytime that you want to maintain a constant speed. Except in heavy traffic, slow speeds and mountainous areas that will kill your transmission, cruise control is appropriate. Your fellow drivers will thank you for not gradually slowing down in front of them.
2. Not pressing the gas when the incline of the road dictates. (Using cruise control will prevent this.) If you keep steady pressure on the gas pedal and maintain an even speed on a flat road, you will slow down if you start going up hill. That is fine, as long as you GET OUT OF THE WAY! Move into the right lane if you want to save gas and your speed drops to 60 on a 65 mph speed limit highway. MOVE OVER!!!! Every single day there are massive backups on my way home because ONE person ignores this principle and the 50 cars stacked up behind him while his speed slows from 70...65...60...55... all in the far left passing lane.
3. Not using turn signals/indicators properly. Read the manual: turn on the signal to INDICATE that you want to change direction. Turning on the signal WHILE making a lane change or a turn really does nothing. It does not reassure the people behind you that, yes, you really did mean to do that. The purpose is to let people behind you know that you are about to change your lane/direction before you do it so that they have time to react. Yes, some people are jerks and will speed up to cut you off. However, assuming that the person you are about to pull in front of at 65 mph is a jerk and NOT giving them fair warning is unkind and unthoughtful. Signaling after you start breaking for a turn is also unkind as it will make the person behind you wonder if you are breaking for something in the road, for a turn, or are just a really bad driver.
4. Speeding up to prevent someone from changing lanes. WHY?
5. Not paying attention and then expecting everyone on the road to let you cut across 5 lanes to make a right when you were in the far left lane passing everyone (or holding up traffic), or being in the far left lane when you really needed to make a right turn (or the opposite, of course). Or using clearly marked "no u-turn" areas on the highway instead of going up to the next exit. No excuse for this. It's illegal and dangerous.

I feel much better. I guarantee this list will grow.