The Only Thing Filling This Traffic Gap Is Aggravation
Dear Street Smart:
Something that aggravates me is drivers who leave a large space between their car and the one ahead when stopped for a signal or other delay.
It frequently causes one or more cars to stick out into a through lane, or prevents cars from reaching a left-turn lane, or causes other inconvenience. I have seen some accidents that could have been prevented by closing up. I think it is plain inconsiderate.
Robert G. Lyon, Anaheim
Yes, a vintage pet peeve. I, too, loath people who don’t “close up,” as you call it. I’ve seen some folks lag so far behind the guy in front that one could drive an M-1 tank through the gap.
Usually it’s no big deal, just another little nuisance that causes your blood pressure to soar. But if enough people in a long queue of cars do that, it can potentially make those to the rear miss a green light, and there is no greater pain in the car-crazy culture of Southern California than having to sit through the indignity of two go-rounds at a traffic signal.
I, unfortunately, suffer from a far different driving illness. I tend to close up so tightly to the motorist in front that a well-trained squirrel could do the lambada from one bumper to another. Sometimes I roll so close the squirrel would be squashed. Now that’s a pet peeve.
Dear Street Smart:
I am driving along Coast Highway in Laguna Beach. The traffic is moving at 45 m.p.h. There are cars ahead of me, and beside me. The guy behind me is flashing his headlights at me. I can see him in my rear-view mirror. He is so angry and frustrated, changing lanes back and forth! What is the problem? Is only his time valuable? We should all pull over and let him have the highway?
I’m traveling along at 70 m.p.h. (is the speed limit still 55 m.p.h.?) The person behind me is frantically flashing his headlights at me! Now what does he want me to do? Drive on the ice plant? Gee whiz, what is wrong with Orange County drivers? They seem to become selfish, self-centered, discourteous people hiding behind a machine. I can’t imagine the same person behaving this way in a bank or grocery line. The truth of their personality comes out behind the wheel, all their selfishness and greed.
Also I’m sure you have experienced trying to change lanes, your blinker has been on for five minutes, and people speed up, not letting you pass at all. Another issue we’ll talk about in our book about selfishness and greed on the highway.
Sunny Sprenger, Laguna Beach
Yes, some of us do become jerks when we get behind the wheel. And we all know who we are.
Suffice to say, slipping into a bucket seat seems to transform the average Jane or Joe. People who are the most meek of friends or neighbors become raving lunatics once safely shrouded behind their tinted windows and encased in 3,000 pounds of sheet metal and plastic.
Erratic driving behavior is the least of your worries. A UC Irvine study found that nearly 27% of 480 drivers surveyed knew someone who carried a gun in the car. Among men, 17% admitted throwing an object at another car, nearly 11% said they had bumped or rammed another car in anger and one-third of them said they had chased another car.
A prime reason, experts suggest, is the anonymity afforded by the automobile. It allows the most level-headed of us to let loose of standard social inhibitions and act out impulsively, switching lanes recklessly, flashing our headlights at the car ahead or worse.
Part of the problem in traffic-clogged Southern California, of course, is the strain that the daily gridlock puts on our psyches. Our go-go lifestyle of dashing out to do lunch and then rushing off after work for racquetball is locked on a collision course with the nerve-shattering congestion that invariably blocks our paths.
I have a ready remedy when some creature approaches from the rear flashing his lights to get by. Pull over and let him or her through. It’s just not worth it. And let’s all of us take care to keep from being that lunatic racing to reach our destination at the expense of others.
Dear Street Smart:
Just a few lines about my feelings on traffic in Orange County.
* I question the value of some of the turn lights. Many times traffic on the main streets is tied up to allow only one or two cars to turn.
* Several times your readers have suggested roundabouts, a la Europe. The difference is the European attitude of every man for himself. The traffic really moves. Witness the circle in Orange. The signs say yield, but the cars almost stop.
* In Europe, the fast lane is indeed the fast lane. Here we have the people who tie up traffic for miles and then flip you off when you honk or flash your lights at them. What’s wrong with moving over one lane when someone is behind you.
* And last but certainly not least, why do we still have those long funeral processions complete with rent-a-cops and flashing lights. Why just funerals, why not baptisms, weddings, etc. I live in east Orange and almost every day I can’t enter or exit Santiago Boulevard because of a 40- to 50-car procession. I think they have long outlived their usefulness.
Thank you for letting me sound off. I feel better already.
Robert Hardman, Orange
Were you driving down Coast Highway in Laguna Beach recently?
Sure, it’s irritating when someone clogs the fast lane. Certainly, however, it’s not worth getting riled up about. And honking at drivers to get them to change lanes is a poor practice. The auto horn, any traffic expert will tell you, is meant as a warning device in the case of emergency, not to willy-nilly clear a path in front of you.
But I can certainly sympathize with your feelings about traffic signals. I’ve met few I’ve liked. Traffic officials in Orange County say the passage of Measure M, the half-cent sales tax increase to provide $3 billion over the next two decades for transportation improvements, should send a torrent of dollars to help ease such signal problems.
The Orange traffic circle is perhaps my favorite place in the county. It is not only beautiful, but the ultimate driving experience (sorry BMW). As you note, one never knows when Aunt Sallie is going to slam on the brakes as she rolls into the circle.
We touched on funeral rent-a-cops a few Monday’s ago. I imagine they’re here to stay, along with the practice of allowing mourners to drive in a long procession of cars. The way I look at it, the poor guy or gal who takes that procession lying down deserves a little respect. Let them have their day to tie up traffic.
