PSA RE: Traffic

This is a Public Service Announcement to all bad drivers in Washington state (note: I understand that a lot of drivers here are transplants from: California. Arizona. New York. Texas. India. China. Japan. And a multitude of other areas/places. This is what makes this area so great/diverse but at the same time, overcrowded.) as if any of a majority of this area would read this post anyway. But maybe if people find it interesting and/or agree with it they could pass it along to their fellow Seattleites.

When driving on the freeway in normal traffic I have seen a rash of drivers wanting to cause slow downs and back ups. Do you like traffic? Do you like getting bad mileage on your car and not treating your engine well? Do you like sitting in the heat and smelling all the fumes of cars around you? If you do, then by all means please continue to do the following things. If not, please try reading through my check list and see if you do any of these things. Remember, if you start to feel defensive while reading, you could be guilty too. I’m hoping that all of us sharing a little common sense while driving will ease traffic issues…but probably not.

1) The left lane is the FAST lane. If you see someone passing you on the right, giving you the stare of death, or the finger, this means that you are going TOO SLOW for them. Yes. Some people are crazy and go 130 mph down the freeway. If you see them barreling towards you, and you are going 50 mph in the left lane, 10 mph slower than the speed limit, GET OUT OF THE WAY. Do not cause an accident by blocking them. Do not cause a back up by break checking them, thus causing them to lose control of their vehicle and create a 14 car pileup. We all have times when we are in a hurry. In fact, there are those out there, like myself that don’t like to waste time driving at all. Especially on the weekdays. So when you see me driving 85-90 in the left lane and flashing my brights at you it doesn’t mean I hate you. It doesn’t mean anything personal. This is my way of telling you that you are moving too slow and like the point says, the left lane is the fast lane. If you see a line of cars start to stack up behind you and you can’t figure out why? If you think that by going slower you’re keeping everyone else safe, this is incorrect. Those who are in a hurry will begin to tailgate…which brings me to...

2) Tailgating. Riding someone’s ass isn’t going to make them go any faster. Especially old people, and those who are completely oblivious to what’s going on around them/complete idiots trying to prove a point. By leaving less space between you and the car in front of you, you create issues for not only yourself but those in front, to the sides and behind you. Especially when tailing SUVs, trucks, or other cars where you can't in front them. Ever seen a blow out happen on the freeway before? I have. And luckily the person driving the van handled it masterfully. On top of that, they were driving in the middle lane and no one was tailing them. If a situation like this occurs, do you think you’ve left enough space in front of you to not rear end this person? From what I’ve seen in heavy traffic situations, probably not. Leave enough distance for you to stop if anything were to go wrong. And instead of tailing, why not figure out a way to pass them? There are alternatives to getting pissed off yourself, and possibly angering another driver.

3) Merging. This is the bane of my driving experience. This is what creates 70% of traffic. It is that bad. And lucky me, I now get off in time at 3 pm to see a few bad apples ruin it for the rest of us. A few things: When merging, get up to freeway speed and either get in front of someone, or get behind someone in the flow of traffic. It sounds simple enough, but the amount of times I see people fail at it time and time again…it is just ridiculous. I think the reason that people are so bad at it is because they lack guts. Balls. Aggression. It’s like that person that stops at yield signs no matter what. If your car can fit between two cars, take it. Hopefully the people you are merging in to aren’t assholes and let you in. Which is the secondary point to this. If you are driving on the freeway and see a large number of cars trying to merge in to the far right lane, and suddenly the right lane opens wide, there is a reason for this. The rest of us logical people are MOVING out of the way for the oncoming merging traffic. I don’t think there is anything worse while driving than seeing the asshole who grabs the opening in the right lane, speeds through it, only to cut off people who are merging…good job buddy, you saved yourself about a minute travel time. But back to those who have trouble merging. NEVER STOP. If you are merging in to moving traffic, you should never touch your brakes. Merging is an art form of keeping a safe distance with the people in front of you who are merging and the people next to you who are whizzing by on the freeway. If you don’t know how to do it properly, or are deathly afraid of merging, I’d recommend staying off of the freeways for everyone else’s sake.

4) One more quick note regarding freeway driving. If you weren’t aware, you have other options than the gas or the brake. I have noticed a lot of you other drivers out there only choosing one of these options: Gas or brake. Now, I’m not sure, do you think your car dies if you’re not using the gas? Have you ever heard of coasting before? You can let off the gas if you want to slow down a little bit. Just to give everyone the heads up…even touching your break causes a chain reaction. People see red lights and immediately they think they also have to slow down. When in fact, that person that is no longer touching their gas and has instead switch to “brake mode” is doing just that, not gassing, so braking. When in fact, they’ve got 10 car lengths in front of them, and even enough space to coast to a stop if need be. In fact, we should all be leaving enough room between us and the cars in front of us that if they do apply pressure to their brakes, we can coast for a little bit before deciding to brake ourselves. This will definitely help the flow of traffic.

5) The “free right”. I know. It’s counterintuitive. It’s scary. I know. But you’ve got to do it. It’s not against the law. It’s a red light you say? I know. So stop first. Look to your left. Is anyone coming? No? Then go. Other than someone almost hitting me, being stopped for no reason (whether you thought a green light meant “stop” or fell asleep at the light or don’t have the guts for the “free right”) these are the only times that I will honk. And people in Seattle seem to take the “honk” so personally! It’s not that I hate you and think that your family should die…All I’m trying to say is: LOOK! You can go! I’m waiting! Now go! That’s it. Nothing more.

And with that, I’ll get off my soapbox. That’s all the preaching I wanted to do. (For now). NINE DAYS UNTIL THE BACHELOR PARTY IN VEGAS! *So excited*