Recently I’ve come to the realization that many people treat the public roadways as their own personal playground. I do a lot of driving for work and I used to enjoy driving around for fun, but lately other drivers have annoyed me so much I’m about to buy a buggy so I don’t die of congestive heart failure when I’m 37.

            Tonight I was driving along Creek Road in Upper LeacockTownship. I was headed to Gap to play ball. It was 6:40 and I was supposed to be there at 6:30. Then I came upon a truck parked across the road. The truck was blocking both lanes of traffic and there was a trailer behind the truck and on the trailer was a bulldozer. A man was messing around with the bulldozer. He was moving slower than I move when I have a bad backache, headache, and toothache, all at the same time.

            Finally he unhooked the bulldozer and slowly backed it off the trailer. Then he sat in it for awhile and walked slowly back to the trailer and shuffled around for awhile. When he finally stumbled toward the truck I lost patience and honked my horn at him. At this he looked at me and waved his arms around. He got in and slowly pulled out. When he passed me he looked at me and yelled some obscene words in my direction. Ten minutes were wasted.

            I can’t figure out why he was mad at me. Me and the 12 other people who sat there in our cars were the ones who deserved to be angry. There was plenty of room for the man to back his truck up six feet so at least one lane of traffic could’ve gotten past. But no, he had to take up the whole road and that makes me angry.

            Yesterday I was coming home from work. I was driving along route 41 in ChesterCounty. I came upon a truck blocking both lanes of traffic. (Both of these stories are true). A simple man was standing there waving at people and he was holding a camera. Then a huge old tow truck came chugging onto the road. It was pulling a huge crane. As it pulled onto 41 the man took pictures of it. Then I had to follow the tow truck and crane and three other trucks up 41. They went from 10 to 20 miles an hour and I couldn’t pass them because 41 is a busy road and there was no room. Finally I did get past him. This story also makes me angry.

            A few weeks ago I was driving along Route 30 from Lancaster to York. This road is littered with abandoned vehicles. From Lancaster to York, there are at least 5 old cars sitting beside the road. Evidently some people drive their cars until they give out and then just let them sit there. A few of the cars have been there for weeks. Who are these people? Anyway, I was driving when suddenly the car in front of me slammed on the brakes and I almost hit it. The car looked like something from a horror movie. It had slowed down because its hood flipped up across the windshield. That also made me angry.

            I’ll close this diatribe with the 3 things that bring me more anger than anything else.

1. Close to my house there’s a little road which is slightly secluded. There are no houses along the road and it runs through fields. Some people seem to think this quiet country road is their own personal dumping ground. Every few weeks someone throws garbage beside the road. Anything from yard waste to household trash is pitched callously into the ditch. Once I went through four garbage bags in hopes of finding some type of identification so I could find these people. I dug through slop and muck trying to find an envelope or letter with a name on it, but I was unsuccessful. If I ever catch anyone dumping trash on this road, the sight will not be pretty.

2. While driving on 4 lane highways, I found that some people don’t realize the right lane is for driving and the left lane is for passing. Some roads even have signs reading, “Stay Right, Pass Left.”. However, many drivers don’t seem to understand this. They drive slowly in the left lane and I can’t pass them because there are more slow people driving in the right lane. Traffic backs up for miles as these simpletons sit in the left lane. Often they are talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to what they’re doing. Others are simply gazing around, engulfed in their own little worlds, with no respect for their fellow drivers.

3. Drivers who talk on their cell phones greatly annoy me. Some of them can’t seem to do two things at once so they drive crazily while talking on the phone. I can’t figure out why people have to be on their phones all the time. Evidently they are very important. They cut people off, drive slow in the left lane, and don’t use their turning signals. If you can’t talk and drive at the same time, pull over.

4. People who drive under the speed limit also annoy me. If you want to drive the speed limit, I understand. But seriously, why drive under it? These people are usually senior citizens, tourists, or Amish drivers. When people reach 60 they should be forced to take a driving test every year to see if they’re still capable. Old people should only be allowed to drive from 10 am to 3 pm and maybe from 6:30 pm to 9 pm so they can go to Bingo. Tourists are, well, tourists. Amish drivers drive slowly, for reasons I don’t understand. The Amish they are hauling don’t care because 35 mph is still much faster than a buggy.

5. The last thing I don't like, is people who drive Toyota Priuses. They drive around with smug looks on their faces like they're personally saving the world by driving a hybrid. Priuses are ugly, dumb, and Japanese and I wish they were outlawed.
            
         After reading this I hope you will treat the road, not as your own personal playground, but as public property. Respect others and they will respect you back. People who don’t should lose their licenses. One time a police man told me, “Driving is a privilege, not a right." On a side note, I don’t like police. Most of them are dumb, but that’s a topic for another day.  (4/20/07)