Storm of Thoughts

An Open Letter to Massachusetts Drivers

Dear Massachusetts Drivers,

It’s not all of you. Let’s not generalize. But a number of you are…(how to put it nicely?)…not the best drivers. I know you’re in a hurry; we all are. And I also know you harbor a lot of not so secret anger over things like the Patriots’ last Super Bowl loss and Tom Brady’s injury and the state of the economy and the opposition to gay marriage. But there’s no need to take it out on the rest of us.

I grew up in New Jersey outside of New York City, so I’m all too familiar with the “kill or be killed” mentality. Yet here the motto is more like “kill and be killed.” For example, cutting me off and then stopping short is not safe for anyone. Additionally, while merging, it would be nice if you didn’t speed up and blow past three or four cars, nearly sideswiping all of them, just to get where you’re going 3 seconds sooner.

I think it’s also important to remember that not everything calls for honking your horn, and hardly ever does the occasion warrant laying on it for a full 90 seconds. If the first car at the light doesn’t start moving the second it turns green, said horn laying (which always seems to continue until that first car, you, and everyone else has made it through the intersection and then some) does not really make anyone move faster. Plus, no one is annoyed at the slow driver; we’re all mad at you, the horn-happy driver ten cars back.

Now I know this one is an easy one, and you would think it didn’t require repeating. But red means stop. I know you know. And yet I see cars that race through lights that have been red for several seconds every single day. And I can’t help but think about the car or pedestrian or group of kids walking to school who could be in that intersection when you carelessly barrel through. Of course, the flip side of this is that green means go. You know when you sometimes stop to let cars go out of turn or answer your cell phone or watch the wind blow in the middle of a green light? And then you make it through on yellow, but everyone else who has been sitting there for ten minutes is stuck through yet another red light? We don’t appreciate that either.

I would also be grateful if you stopped throwing garbage out of your window. Not only is it both annoying and distracting when it hits my windshield, as it invariably does, but it’s also not environmentally friendly. Maybe you didn’t get the memo, but we’re all trying to be a little greener these days. And I’m sure you pass a garbage can or two on the way to wherever you’re going.

Now let’s discuss the speed limit for a minute. To you, 30 mph seems to mean either 15 or 60. This can cause any number of problems for those around you. The government may not always tell you the truth, but please believe that they meant it when they said to stay at around 30 mph. After all, they went through all the trouble of putting up that sign. I’d also like to remind you that cars were given blinkers for a reason. It’s true, these people really thought of everything. If you’d like to move into my lane, just signal. It’s much easier than just trying to shoot in front of me. Alternatively, please do not signal when you have no intention of going anywhere. It’s confusing to the rest of us.

I know, I know - it’s a lot to take in. You’d think they’d hold classes or something. But, with practice, I’m sure you’ll get it in time. In the meantime, I’ll see you on the road. I’ll be the one in the silver Celica with the out-of-state license plate giving you dirty looks.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!