Who Do I Talk To About This?

I wrote some time ago about the phenomena that no one ever sees a fancy sports car pulled over and getting a ticket. It is like the police avoid the one group of people who can probably afford to pay the speeding ticket and always seem to focus on the people driving the crappy Ford held together by duct tape.

Well, I was driving to work and I actually saw a Nissan 350Z pulled over and getting a ticket. Did the 350Z not qualify for the “can speed all they want” list? Did someone forget to send in the proper paperwork? I mean I realize it is a Nissan and that has to work against it somewhat. But it is also one of the fastest cars you can buy today. It is not meant to be driven at 65 MPH. Maybe it is the fact that it doesn’t have the same price tag as a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. But if that is a determining factor, all you Boxster drivers had better look out. The Porsche name will only get you so far.

I used to be able to drive my Jaguar worry free on the highways as the XK8 apparently qualified for fancy sports car status. Now that I only have the hybrid to drive around, I have relinquished my carefree status. I must actually pay attention to my speed and slow down when I see a police car parked on the side of the road. Who knows, maybe the police will learn to have a soft spot for all of us GREEN drivers. It really isn’t a stretch as most of you don’t do over 50 MPH anyway.

And speaking of people driving on the highways…I would like to personally thank those of you out there that have taken it upon yourselves to make sure that the rest of us don’t speed on the highways. I know it is grueling work to drive on every highway at 5 MPH under the speed limit to protect the rest of us from ourselves. It is especially nice when two or three of you get together on the same road to help us all. Although I appreciate your tireless efforts, do me a favor, let me worry about my own speed and get the hell out of my way.

Here are a few tips for all of you commuters that would greatly reduce the overall frustration on the road:

1. Keep up with the car in front of you. This is probably the biggest thing that you can do to eliminate traffic. I am not asking that you tailgate the car in front of you, but don’t let the car get 20 car lengths in front of you. All the impatient people behind you, me for one, then just feel the need to go around your slow ass and that causes more traffic. Keep up!
2. Learn how to merge. All of my trouble spots on the way into work are caused by merging. If you are even somewhat considerate and leave people a little room to merge, then everyone behind you won’t have to come to a complete stop every time someone has to squeeze in. And if you are the mergee and someone leaves you some room, take it and stop trying to wait until the last second to merge in.
3. And the very last thing that I implore you all to do while driving home is this: GET OF YOUR DAMN CELL PHONE! I don’t know how many times I notice the person causing the traffic jam has their cell phone attached to their ear. Holding a phone to your head is not only distracting, but it blocks half your peripheral vision. How can you pay attention to what you are doing if you are busy having that conversation that couldn’t possible wait ten more minutes for you to get home. Use a headset if you have to, but stop holding the phone to your ear.

Thanks for listening and happy commuting.