Be Careful Out There

Mom's car right after the accident.

My mom was in a bad traffic accident a few days ago. She was driving down the highway in a compact car. The driver of a large pickup truck turned left onto the highway from Mom's right side. He either didn't see Mom's car or didn't look. Mom didn't even have time to react before they smashed into each other. The vehicles were totaled, but both drivers survived. I don't know the status of the other driver, but Mom has a broken sternum and broken ribs, and her neck and back don't feel so hot. She spent a couple days in the hospital for observation. She has been released, and she is staying with my brother and his family, where she'll be well looked after.

Living in Atlanta, I've seen my share of careless and downright dangerous driving. More often than not, you'll see drivers zipping through heavy traffic like they are in a race. I've witnessed a disturbingly large number of drivers turning left on a red light. I've also seen several drivers who apparently don't realize that oncoming traffic has the right of way if you are turning left, and approximately half the drivers in Atlanta don't seem to understand the value of using a turn signal.

This past week, while driving on I-285, someone came up on me so fast that I thought he was going to ram me from behind. He swerved into the right lane at the last minute, missing me by inches, and proceeded to approach and pass other cars in the same manner. Two nights ago, I was driving side by side with an SUV on Freedom Parkway, when two racing motorcyclists zoomed right between us on the dividing line. They were so close that I could have open my door and creamed them. Five minutes later, on the same road, I was waiting at a stoplight at the head of a line of five or six cars. Another motorcyclist passed all the cars on the left hand side, zipped in front of me, and then turned right.

This type of driving has always disturbed me, but with after Mom's accident, it just plain pisses me off. Nobody wants to believe they can die, and sometimes it seems they're treating the roads like it's a video game. Unlike a video game, though, there is no reset button. If you crash, you can't just use another life.

I also consider this kind of dangerous driving to be selfish. When you drive like a lunatic, swerve in and out of traffic, split lanes to pass between to cars, or pass everyone else sitting at a stoplight, you are treating the rest of the drivers as obstacles instead of living, breathing human beings who are just trying to get somewhere. If you want to risk your own life, go somewhere and race on a closed track, but how dare you risk everyone else's life just because you're in a hurry!

Atlanta Driving Tips

If you're visiting Atlanta and want to blend in with the local drivers, be sure to follow these tips.

• Treat a red light as you would a stop sign. It's perfectly okay to coast to a "stop" and then go straight or turn left at a red light. Your time is too precious to waste.
• If there is a sign that says "No Turn on Red" and the light is red, you should turn. That sign was probably put there because there's a hill that makes it impossible to spot oncoming traffic, but you're not just anyone. You have x-ray vision, and you know for a fact that no one is coming over that hill. Just gun it.
• Honking your horn makes all the traffic in Atlanta go at least 15 mph faster, and it clogs up crowded intersections, too. It's a miracle, really.
• Although the signs on the interstate say 55 mph, feel free to travel as fast as your vehicle can go. As a matter of fact, just glue your foot to the floor. You won't know your limits until you test them.
• In most areas of the country, oncoming traffic has the right of way, but not Atlanta. If you're turning left, you should dive into oncoming traffic randomly, and for god's sake, don't use your turn signal.
• As a matter of fact, don't ever use your turn signal. Ever.
• Emergency vehicles are such an inconvenience, and those drivers are so rude, speeding through crowded streets with their annoying sirens blaring. Do NOT pull over to the right and stop. You don't even need to slow down. Besides, there's only a 1 in 300,000,000 chance that it's your husband, wife, brother, sister, father, or mother who is in dire need of medical assistance or protection.
• Sometimes you'll see a sign at a clearly marked crosswalk that tells you to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Ha! 1,000 points per pedestrian. (On the flip side, if you're a pedestrian, 1,000 points for ignoring the laws of physics, jumping in front of a car that's 10 feet from the crosswalk, and giving the driver a heart attack as you flip them the bird.)
• By all means, text and drive. I know, I know. There's a new law that says you're not supposed to to do this, but if you hold your phone in your lap to text, who's going to know? The only real clue that you may be texting is that you're swerving randomly into oncoming traffic and blowing through stoplights, which are optional anyway.

Visitors, follow these simple rules, and nobody will know you're from out of town. Be sure to wear a medical bracelet and carry some instructions for notifying your next of kin. Enjoy your stay.