One of my biggest pet peeves are people who are not only oblivious about proper driving or traffic rules, but are indignant about it. People who sit behind you at a ‘no right turn on red intersection’ (which Gainesville is starting to have more and more of, unfortunately) honking at you to turn–folks who are either driving cars incapable of 40mph, or are just that oblivious as to the speed limit–and the lady this morning.

UF has a particular entrance to campus that has three lanes entering into a T intersection. The left and middle lane go left, and the right lane turns right immediately into a small parking lot.

The left lane has a large sign next to their stop sign: “YIELD TO RIGHT LANE” which many people seem unable to read despite it being less than 8 feet from their face. This morning I as I pulled up to the entrance (it’s on the opposite side of campus from my normal route, but we were late so I dropped Jaime off at AGH first), I was in the middle lane and two cars were in the left lane. The first car was clearly there before me, and I was clearly there before the second. I pulled out, watching in my mirror as the lady sped up in an apparent attempt to cut me off after the turn and honked her horn.

It’s one thing to be wrong and a bad driver. It’s another to get pissy about it.

I turned the corner thinking about all the times I want to go have a polite, educational conversation with bad drivers and I can’t because Jaime would be mortified. Then I realized she wasn’t in the car. I turned around, drove back to where the camaro (yeah; middle-age woman who can’t drive in a camaro) had entered a nearby parking spot, parked the car, and walked over to the lady where I politely explained that it was she who had nearly cut me off, not the other way around, and if the next time she went through that intersection if she could take the time to read the traffic signs, that would be excellent. Not my exact words, but very nearly the tone. She responded with a slightly befuddled remark about how she honked because I was going to fast. I smiled and explained that I had made a complete stop and was going fast so she didn’t have to wait for me (or pull out oblivious into me instead of seeing me, but I didn’t say that). I didn’t even mention that despite me being at the stop before her, she had ended up immediately behind me after the turn, so I couldn’t have been going much faster than her.

It’s not even monday. I need to wake up. Can I file this under Women, Travel, and Melodramatic? Guess random will have to do.

Posted by Jordan on Tuesday, June 15th, 2004 at 8:36 am.