Apparently, I got promoted today to "Senior Member" status (which I was demoted from a few months ago.)

In recognition of that stupendous achievement on my part, I decided to change my avatar.

The inspiration for my choice came today while I was driving on a non-divided highway with two lanes southbound, two lanes northbound, and a center turn lane. I was traveling southbound in the right lane and was accelerating from 45 mph to 55 mph in accordance with the posted speed limits. A red pickup was on the right shoulder moving slowly. It began to ease out in front of me, so I moved from the right lane to the left lane (thinking that the truck was trying to merge into the right southbound lane.) But he wasn't; he was trying to do a U turn and get in the center turn lane heading north. He was looking for northbound traffic, and never even looked my direction. All I could do was jam on the brakes, which I did, and slid to a stop about 20 feet from his driver side door. I was plenty close to see his phone in his left hand and the "oh, sh*t" look on his face.

 

I was behind one of those at a traffic light. When the left arrow came on she proceeded, straight!
The left-turner stopped before he hit her.
I followed her into a gas station and berated her for endangering the baby in the back seat.
She said she didn't run the red light.
I can only hope she is alone when she receives the Darwin Award.

 

I was behind one of those at a traffic light. When the left arrow came on she proceeded, straight!
The left-turner stopped before he hit her.
I followed her into a gas station and berated her for endangering the baby in the back seat.
She said she didn't run the red light.
I can only hope she is alone when she receives the Darwin Award.

Too late for a Darwin, she already passed along her genetic material. Hopefully her child received some of the mother's non-expressed recessive genes and grows up to be less of an idiot than he mother.

 

Too late for a Darwin, she already passed along her genetic material.

You shatter my dreams.
I was clinging to the hope that she was only babysitting.

 

Every day I see dumb people Texting on there so called (Smart Phones)
Not too Smart I would say!

 

I was in Taiwan yesterday where scooters rule supreme and our cab passed a guy on one who was reading a text while going something like 40 MPH on a road going around a steep hillside. If I saw it sooner I would have snapped a picture. After he put his phone away he raced past us.

 

I was behind one of those at a traffic light. When the left arrow came on she proceeded, straight!
The left-turner stopped before he hit her.
I followed her into a gas station and berated her for endangering the baby in the back seat.
She said she didn't run the red light.
I can only hope she is alone when she receives the Darwin Award.

I wonder if that person moved to Boston, MA, USA! Same thing happened to me on the next day. But my incident occurred a few minutes after a box truck pulled the same move from a left turn only lane straight across the intersection, cutting me off. Is it an ass-trological phenonomem?

 

I wonder if that person moved to Boston, MA, USA! Same thing happened to me on the next day. But my incident occurred a few minutes after a box truck pulled the same move from a left turn only lane straight across the intersection, cutting me off. Is it an ass-trological phenonomem?

Probably just a nefarious plot to weed out (some of) the idiots.

 

When talking to these idiots the law is Failure to yield right of way.

 

In an effort at full disclosure, I should say that I got a "smart" phone about three months ago, and soon thereafter discovered the desire to text and drive. It's amazing how tempting it is, but even more amazing is how easy it is to be totally distracted by the activity. Never again!

 

Very much repeating myself, but...I answered my stupid phone while I was driving...once. That was all I required to understand that I can not talk on the phone and drive, and do either of them well.
Save the Darwin Award for somebody else!

 

Very much repeating myself, but...I answered my stupid phone while I was driving...once. That was all I required to understand that I can not talk on the phone and drive, and do either of them well.
Save the Darwin Award for somebody else!

I liked the Myth busters episode where the resolved whether ot not talking on a cell phone reduced driver skills. Drivers did ok when in conversations like, "I'm at the intersection of x and y", "ok, I'll be there in 10 minutes". But, skills dropped off quickly if the conversation got more involved, like, "the sidewalk is 40 feet long and 3 feet wide, how many yards of concrete will I need for a 4" thick walkway?"

 

Very much repeating myself, but...I answered my stupid phone while I was driving...once. That was all I required to understand that I can not talk on the phone and drive, and do either of them well.
Save the Darwin Award for somebody else!

I'm always wearing headphones when I drive, mainly to receive calls, and seldom to make them. And when I do, I only dial when I'm at a red light or when I'm not in motion. But I never, never ever never text and drive...