Friday, March 25, 2011

New Stoplight Law In NY State: Rated R...

Contains language which is unsuitable for minors.

This morning while I was on my way to the office, I witnessed one of my fellow drivers obeying the new law pertaining to traffic signals, which went into effect all across New York State last night, just after midnight.

I don't watch very much local news, so I had no prior knowledge of the recently passed legislation.

Apparently, the new law requires all drivers to come to a complete stop at a green light, wait thirty seconds, and look both ways, before proceeding straight through the intersection.

The driver in question had obviously been diligent in keeping up on all of the news regarding the impending legislation.  Clearly, she'd done her homework.

This morning's scenario played out as follows.

As I was driving up over the crest of the hill on Residential Road, Traffic Light came into view, about a hundred yards down the road.

On some mornings, Traffic Light is red when I come up over the hill.  In this case, I turn on my left signal, slow down, and come to a complete stop at Traffic Light.  When Traffic Light turns green, I'm free to make my left turn onto Country Road...  as long as there aren't any vehicles approaching me on Residential Road, from the opposite direction.

However, if there are any vehicles approaching, then it's my obligation to yield to any drivers who may be turning right onto Country Road, or proceeding straight through the intersection on Residential Road.

This phenomenon is called Right-of-Way.

On other mornings, Traffic Light is already green when I come up over the hill.  In this case, I'll turn on my left signal, slow down, and make my left turn onto Country Road without stopping...  as long as there aren't any vehicles approaching from the opposite direction.

Again, if there are any vehicles approaching, then it's still my obligation to yield to any of these drivers who may be turning right onto Country Road, or proceeding straight through the intersection on Residential Road.

You see...  Right-of-Way trumps Green Light when making a left-hand turn.

On this particular morning, Traffic Light was green.  As I came up over the hill and signaled left, I noticed Black SUV approaching me on Residential Road, from the opposite direction.  We were both about fifty yards from Traffic Light.  As I approached Traffic Light, I didn't see any turn signal from Black SUV.  That was my indication that Black SUV would be driving straight through the intersection.

Even though Traffic Light was green, it would still be my obligation to stop and wait for Black SUV to proceed straight through the intersection, before I made my left turn onto Country Road, per Right-of-Way.

Since Traffic Light had been green for the past fifteen seconds, I expected that Black SUV would go straight through the intersection, without hesitation.  When I took Driver's Ed over fifteen years ago, I'd learned that you were supposed to go through a green light.

Instead, Black SUV started to slow down about fifty feet from Green Traffic Light.  I had already pulled into the intersection, preparing to make my left turn onto Country Road.  I was waiting for Black SUV to pass by before making my turn.

Instead, Black SUV came to a complete stop.  The woman behind the steering wheel was looking down into her lap.

I looked up and saw that the light was still green.  I honked my horn.  The woman looked up at me and then looked both ways down Country Road.  There weren't any other vehicles approaching in either direction.  The woman looked back down into her lap.

I looked up and saw that the light was still green.  I honked my horn.  The woman looked up at me and then looked both ways down Country Road.  There weren't any other vehicles approaching in either direction.  The woman looked back down into her lap.

I was about to ignore Right-of-Way and just make my turn in front of her but then decided against it, realizing that it would still be my fault if she decided to join us back on planet Earth and plow into me, while I was turning left in front of her.

I looked up and saw that the light was still green.  I honked my horn.  The woman looked up at me and then looked both ways down Country Road.  There weren't any other vehicles approaching in either direction...  not one.  The woman looked back down into her lap.

I slammed on my horn repeatedly and flashed my bright lights on and off.  The woman looked up at me and then looked both ways down Country Road.  Finally, she looked up and noticed that Traffic Light was green.  She drove straight through the intersection.

When she passed me by, I finally noticed what was holding her attention in her lap, as she lifted it to her ear and began chatting.

     "PAY THE FUCK ATTENTION, ASSHOLE!"

I gave her the finger for good measure, hoping that she was an accomplished lip reader.  Maybe she'd realize that she was being an asshole.

After turning left and starting down Country Road towards the office, I took a deep breath, just to relax myself.  I wasn't about to let this careless woman's actions ruin my entire Friday.

What I haven't mentioned until now is that this woman's head was down the entire time, as she was approaching the intersection.  She was looking down into her lap for over fifteen seconds while operating a giant SUV.

I first noticed this as I was descending the hill down Residential Road towards Traffic Light.  From the time she began slowing down to the time that she came to a complete stop at the green light, I could see that her head was down.  She didn't look up once...  not even once.

On the one hand, do I give this woman props for slowing down as she approached the intersection?  If you're not sure whether or not the traffic light is red, and you can't be bothered to look up from your phone to find out, I suppose it's better to err on the side of caution.  If you've already decided that you're not going to pay attention to the road in front of you, stopping at the upcoming intersection is one way to make sure you won't, by chance, run a red light, and possibly cripple another driver or run over and slaughter an innocent pedestrian.

On the other hand...  Nope.  This woman gets no props whatsoever.  If you're behaving like an asshole behind the wheel of a two-ton vehicle, then you don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Think about what I've just described here.  A driver operating an over-sized SUV could not be bothered to look up from her phone to see whether the light was red or green.  She drove over fifty feet with her head down.

Folks, deciphering the color of an approaching traffic light isn't difficult.  It's not rocket science.  You don't have to solve a Sudoku puzzle, call 411, or enter the phrase 'stop light color' in your Google search engine.

You simply lift up your head and pay attention to your surroundings.

LIFT UP YOUR FUCKING HEAD AND PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS!  YOU'RE DRIVING A THREE-TON VEHICLE!

Maybe I should give this woman the benefit of the doubt and assume that she was lost or reading directions.  That's highly unlikely.  Anybody who's familiar with this intersection would understand that somebody who's lost is not going to end up at this particular traffic signal.

But even if she was reading directions, that's not a valid excuse.

I don't care if this woman was texting, reading a map, changing CDs, making pancakes, adjusting the lid on her coffee mug, whatever...  If your attention is going to be drawn away from the road for almost twenty seconds, you need to slow down, pull over, and take care of whatever it is that's distracting you. 

Am I being unreasonable with this request?  No, I don't think so.

For those of you rolling your eyes and saying, "C'mon Crow, I'm sure you do it to..."  Actually, I don't.  Not at all.  I don't send or read texts while I'm driving, and I don't send or read texts while my car is stopped in a line of traffic.  Those drivers are also being assholes.

I have a wired, hands-free thingy, but I probably spend less than nine minutes a month talking on my cell phone in the car.  I hate talking on my cell phone in the car.  Why anybody would want continuous babble in their left ear while they're driving is beyond me.  My fifteen-minute commute to work is one of the few times during the day when I don't have to be talking to anybody.  Instead, I can get some peace and quiet.

If you don't actually know me, you've probably stumbled upon this blog on accident.  Perhaps you think I'm some sort of a wack-jab who's just ranting and raving about distracted driving.  Maybe you think that I'm a hermit who hates all other human beings.

Actually, I love spending time with my friends and family.  I'm fortunate to have wonderful co-workers.  I love to meet new people, and I try to look for the good in everybody.  I'm actually a normal everyday kinda guy.  I just happen to feel pretty strongly about a few things here and there.  Glad to have you along for the ride.

And for anybody reading this who does know me outside of the blog, I do want to offer my sincere apologies if you were startled or offended by the language, or didn't expect to read it here.  Unlike my previous R-rated post about buying furniture, this particular entry actually involves me using unkind language in reference to others.

I'm not going to make it a habit of polluting this blog with profanity-laced tirades.  This type of post will remain the exception, and not the norm.

I did consider toning it down a bit.  Would I want any of my younger nieces or nephews reading this entry?  No, I wouldn't.  Absolutely not.  That's why I've tacked on the Rated-R warning, knowing full well that their parents are monitoring their Internet activity.

I'm not proud of the fact that I cursed out the woman in the black SUV and gave her the finger.  It felt really good for about three minutes, and then I realized that it was probably a juvenile act on my part.

Life can be tragic...  difficult...  unfair...  heartbreaking.  Life can also be beautiful...  wondrous...  inspiring.  I try my best to be a fairly positive person and focus on the latter.  I try not to let the small stuff get to me.  There is very little in life that truly pisses me off. 

But few things get my blood boiling more than somebody who gets behind the wheel of a six-passenger vehicle and decides that they don't need to pay attention for almost twenty seconds.

There are studies coming out that are now showing that texting while driving is not only just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol, it may actually be more dangerous than drunk driving.

Here's one that was published in Car and Driver magazine, in June of 2009.  The results showed that the reaction time for the participants was much worse when they were texting while driving than when they were driving while intoxicated.  A good summary of this study by Phil LeBeau can be found over at CNBC. 

I don't need to read research results to come to this conclusion.  During the past year, I've basically been run off the road four or five times by assholes who were too busy texting to notice that they were driving in my lane.

In this latest incident, I shouldn't have screamed obscenities at this particular woman, and I shouldn't have given her the bird.  I should have shown better judgment.

However, I stand firmly by my original assessment of this woman's behavior.

She was being an asshole.

Anybody who drives an SUV for over fifty feet without even looking up once, disregarding or rendering themselves completely oblivious to any posted traffic signage, is being an asshole.

Anybody who makes the decision to compose, send, and read text messages on their cell phone while operating a two-ton vehicle, thereby putting the lives of other drivers and pedestrians in danger, is being an asshole.

That's just the way it is.

Please...  Don't be an asshole.

2 comments:

  1. Sorry this ruined your Friday morning, but it sure made my Monday laughing at your rant! Well said Maine Crow.

    ReplyDelete