She is hardly alone on the road (although I personally no longer accompany her now that I know her driving habits). A good many other drivers are doing the same.
By sheer accident (chance, not wreck), I discovered a way to alert a distracted driver that his or her regard for the rest of the driving world is non-existent. It’s a potentially dangerous twist on the policeman’s pit maneuver. Whereas the police use their vehicle to throw off a driver’s groove, I use my horn.
It has to be used sparingly, which is to say you will likely encounter the only conditions under which it can be ideally done once or twice a year. If you don’t know the conditions without having to be told what they are, it’s probably not a good idea for you to try it. Causing injury or death to an innocent person is very uncool.
For the record, I don’t consider self-distracted drivers to be innocent people, but their child passengers are, and they don’t deserve to be put in more danger than they already are. This is precisely why American teenagers’ leading cause of death ought to be all that’s needed to raise the driving age and require extensive driver training for every driver, regardless of age. Teenagers are not adults, and it’s grossly unfair to expect them to be — or to expect the rest of us to share the road with them. Adult passengers, though, should know better than to climb into a car with someone they know is self-distracting, or get out when they discover it.
I’ve never been one to use the horn much, because my parents taught me from a young age that it could panic a driver other than my intended (like a little old lady), and send that person spiraling out of control. I would, however, tap the horn to alert a driver who continued to sit through a green light or whom I perceived was in danger of causing harm to others.
I then spent four years in Germany, where using one’s horn is considered a most boorish driving behavior, to be used only under dire circumstances. Incidentally, I only needed to use my horn once while on German roads. While I’ve never honked at slight infractions, I developed the habit of hitting the steering wheel instead of the horn to break myself of honking at even moderate infractions. Doing so is like spanking a hyperactive child: it won’t stop the infraction from happening again, and that person might just turn on you.
Article comments
1 - Condor
Spot on.
I drive a lot. It’s part of my work. Most of it is interstate. Cell phones are a problem for drivers; I see it everyday. I also see the two-handed talkers (steering with the knee I presume). I see the make-up applicators, two handed with the mirror adjusted for a detailed look at the eyeliner. I see the carloads of socializing peers, music loud, laughing, dodging through traffic, tailgating, and distracted soccer moms on the cell phone. All of them multi-tasking and really not paying rapt attention nor practicing any sort of reliable situational awareness. It’s scary. I quit riding motorcycles (old BMW’s) after 42 years because of all the inattention that was passing me by, like I was standing still. Do I talk on the phone when driving. Yes, but never for more than a minute or two and only very occasionally. And, yes it does distract me. A few miles may pass me by and I don’t really recall what just transpired. Part of it is fatigue, but I would venture to say that distraction is the detraction from what I should be doing… and that is. Paying attention to driving at speed, without causing any harm, or damage to other motorists, or myself. BTW, wear your seatbelts dummies!
2 - Ruvy
A lot of the locals here use a speakerphone in the car to argue over the price of some item or try to cut some kind of deal (Israelis are always trying to cut some kind of deal, somehow, but I digress), but a lot don't. I tramped a ride home with a guy who spent the whole trip on the cell phone trying to set up some kind of party for selling stuff.
Don't ask me about the Nimrods who would clog up the drive-thru at BK while chatting on the phone.
I'm just grateful I don't drive. All of the worst in my nature would come out on the road here.
3 - Scot
Diane,
"She's not old; she's reading a book!" You have really touched on a subject that most anyone driving today can relate to. Here in Houston, people not only read while driving, they also text message, change clothes, and eat an entire spread of food from the passenger seat. Since moving here a few years ago from Maine, I've seen more rear ends than I have in the last thirty five years of driving.
Of course when people are not mindful of driving, rather erratic behavior becomes commonplace. "I'm in the far left hand lane of the freeway, but I just remembered I need to take that exit." Not a problem. Just zip four lanes to the right in front of oncoming traffic and squeeze by the crash barrier. When people get rear ended here, they call it "getting blue toothed."
Scot
4 - Joanne Huspek
Oh, this hits home. I try not to do anything in my car but drive. Oh, I should take that back. I'm trying to learn Japanese in my car. Damn it.