An ode to Dayton Drivers, by Me
Today I feel that I have hit the breaking point. I literally have had instances nearly every day since I’ve moved to Dayton, that I almost get hit or rear-ended, side-swiped or flipped off. It’s so ridiculous! Granted, I am new to the area, so it’s natural to get some things wrong and have some people honk or cuss at you. That I can handle. What I cannot handle, is the amazing lack of respect drivers have for one another. People drive like they had to be somewhere yesterday.
I live on the edge of downtown. Just like my downtown section of home, half the streets go one way and the other half go the opposite; so there are a lot of times where you’ll have to keep driving until you find a street going the right direction you’re wanting to go. At about every 150 yards or so, there’s a stop light- a bona fide freaking stop light. So when traffic is more active, you’re stopping and going, stopping and going. Now, what is it about a stop light that makes people turn stupid? Seriously, as the light is yellow-about-to-turn red, people speed up! Even when they’re so far back that there is no way they’d get through the intersection before the light settled at red. When I stop at a light, there are usually one to two cars that fly through the intersection as oncoming traffic nearly clips them.
My other issue is the school zone sections of town. At home the school zones require that you drive 15mph. Here in Dayton, it is 20mph. That is odd in itself, especially with the school being right smack in the middle of downtown. I would think they’d be all about 10mph or something, but 20mph? That’s a bit too fast to get to a stop when a little kid is running across the road. As if that weren’t bad enough, no one- and I mean no one- slows down to even 25mph. I’m looking around as people fly by me or honk at me, and I can’t help but wonder, “Why are they doing that? Aren’t we supposed to go this speed?” Apparently not kids, so run like you’re life depends on it, because well, it kind of does.
Like I said before, I’m new here. But even with my West Virginia plates and newbie status, I still know when you should switch lanes and when you should not. One street in particular is four lanes wide. That doesn’t stop people from working their way over in one swoop to the opposite side. I’m driving along and then all the sudden there’s a car flying into my lane ahead of me which causes me to slam on the brakes. I really have tested my brakes here- a lot.
Highway driving is pretty scary. Don’t even get me started on Columbus. I refuse to go through Columbus. No one drives the speed limit or even close to it. It’s 65, and I clocked myself going 85! I was still being passed and had cars riding my ass. Crazy!
Another thing, why is it that no matter what time of day it is, everyone must know w
hat you’re listening to? I thought I had MY music up load, and when I looked down, it was turned off. That’s just nonsense. No wonder you can’t drive, you’re too busy trying to figure out if you should turn up the treble or bass. Neither. Turn it off.
Finally, I haven’t seen someone litter in years. No joke. You hear about it, but I seriously don’t think I have seen someone do that since they started airing the commercials with the crying Indian. Yesterday, after this chick with loud music cut me off, she apparently needed to clean out her car. She first threw a medium sized McDonald’s bag that looked pretty full. The whole bag! She just tossed ‘er out while in stopped traffic. I was dumbfounded! Then, as we’re going along, she throws a water bottle out too. I cannot believe people would be that ignorant. It was so awful. I wanted to get her plate number and call the police, but as luck would have it she had temporary tags and they were expired, and the numbers were scratched out. Seriously people.
I thought about changing my plates over to Ohio so I could save on insurance, but after this shit, I don’t want to be associated with that. I know people in my state (myself included, I’m sure) are not good drivers. Hell, I make mistakes all the time. But I don’t drive like a maniac. I may get confused or take a wrong turn, but I have never blown through a stop light trying to mow down some little kids while switching up my cds. I have never sped up when I knew a light was turning and there was no way I was going to catch it. When people fly up the lane only to realize they should’ve merged a long time ago, I let them cut in front of me. I hate to pass on the highway. I’m a nice driver! When I started driving, I remember being told that I needed to worry about how I was driving, but even more so, I needed to watch everyone else. No kidding. I think of that on a daily basis now. This place is nuts.
Today I feel that I have hit the breaking point. I literally have had instances nearly every day since I’ve moved to Dayton, that I almost get hit or rear-ended, side-swiped or flipped off. It’s so ridiculous! Granted, I am new to the area, so it’s natural to get some things wrong and have some people honk or cuss at you. That I can handle. What I cannot handle, is the amazing lack of respect drivers have for one another. People drive like they had to be somewhere yesterday.
I live on the edge of downtown. Just like my downtown section of home, half the streets go one way and the other half go the opposite; so there are a lot of times where you’ll have to keep driving until you find a street going the right direction you’re wanting to go. At about every 150 yards or so, there’s a stop light- a bona fide freaking stop light. So when traffic is more active, you’re stopping and going, stopping and going. Now, what is it about a stop light that makes people turn stupid? Seriously, as the light is yellow-about-to-turn red, people speed up! Even when they’re so far back that there is no way they’d get through the intersection before the light settled at red. When I stop at a light, there are usually one to two cars that fly through the intersection as oncoming traffic nearly clips them.
My other issue is the school zone sections of town. At home the school zones require that you drive 15mph. Here in Dayton, it is 20mph. That is odd in itself, especially with the school being right smack in the middle of downtown. I would think they’d be all about 10mph or something, but 20mph? That’s a bit too fast to get to a stop when a little kid is running across the road. As if that weren’t bad enough, no one- and I mean no one- slows down to even 25mph. I’m looking around as people fly by me or honk at me, and I can’t help but wonder, “Why are they doing that? Aren’t we supposed to go this speed?” Apparently not kids, so run like you’re life depends on it, because well, it kind of does.
Like I said before, I’m new here. But even with my West Virginia plates and newbie status, I still know when you should switch lanes and when you should not. One street in particular is four lanes wide. That doesn’t stop people from working their way over in one swoop to the opposite side. I’m driving along and then all the sudden there’s a car flying into my lane ahead of me which causes me to slam on the brakes. I really have tested my brakes here- a lot.
Highway driving is pretty scary. Don’t even get me started on Columbus. I refuse to go through Columbus. No one drives the speed limit or even close to it. It’s 65, and I clocked myself going 85! I was still being passed and had cars riding my ass. Crazy!
Another thing, why is it that no matter what time of day it is, everyone must know w
hat you’re listening to? I thought I had MY music up load, and when I looked down, it was turned off. That’s just nonsense. No wonder you can’t drive, you’re too busy trying to figure out if you should turn up the treble or bass. Neither. Turn it off.Finally, I haven’t seen someone litter in years. No joke. You hear about it, but I seriously don’t think I have seen someone do that since they started airing the commercials with the crying Indian. Yesterday, after this chick with loud music cut me off, she apparently needed to clean out her car. She first threw a medium sized McDonald’s bag that looked pretty full. The whole bag! She just tossed ‘er out while in stopped traffic. I was dumbfounded! Then, as we’re going along, she throws a water bottle out too. I cannot believe people would be that ignorant. It was so awful. I wanted to get her plate number and call the police, but as luck would have it she had temporary tags and they were expired, and the numbers were scratched out. Seriously people.
I thought about changing my plates over to Ohio so I could save on insurance, but after this shit, I don’t want to be associated with that. I know people in my state (myself included, I’m sure) are not good drivers. Hell, I make mistakes all the time. But I don’t drive like a maniac. I may get confused or take a wrong turn, but I have never blown through a stop light trying to mow down some little kids while switching up my cds. I have never sped up when I knew a light was turning and there was no way I was going to catch it. When people fly up the lane only to realize they should’ve merged a long time ago, I let them cut in front of me. I hate to pass on the highway. I’m a nice driver! When I started driving, I remember being told that I needed to worry about how I was driving, but even more so, I needed to watch everyone else. No kidding. I think of that on a daily basis now. This place is nuts.
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