Grindin' Gears (week 1)

Ok, it's about that time for the first installment of Grindin' Gears. This is where I write about things that I've noticed recently while driving. Since I do a lot of driving, I'll have a ton of material.

This is what's Grindin my Gears this week:

1. The utter lack of use of turn signals
- I don't know if people are just that zoned out when driving, or if they just don't know they're there, but the lack of turn signal use is disturbing to me. People, it is ILLEGAL to make turns, change lanes, or parallel park on the road without the use of a turn signal. I can't count the number of times I have been cut off by a person not signaling, or come up on someone stopped in the middle of the road with no signal of what they're doin. I wouldn't be as upset if they used their signal, but to cut someone off without warning, or be a sitting duck in the middle of any road is dangerous.

2. No one uses their side mirrors
- 3 times this week I have almost been sideswiped by someone that didn't use their mirrors before changing lanes. Cars aren't equipped with side mirrors so you can check your friggin makeup. They're there for safety. It's not too hard to take your attention off the text message or newspaper you're reading for a 1/2 second to see if anyone is next to you. I drive a big blue Jeep, I'm not too hard to miss.

3. Ridiculously short following distances
- I don't think it's covered in Driver's Education anymore. At 65mph, you should have a following distance of 6 car lengths. This, of course, is best case scenario. But when you're in some traffic, is it too much to ask for 2-3? I feel that should be the minimum in all situations. The worst part is, when I have that comfortable 2-3, someone cuts in and takes it away. And if they do that when I'm braking, I (or anyone else) have to brake hard, and the person tailgating me might not have enough room to stop.

The sad part: They're all enforcable traffic violations.
1: Failure to signal, Changing lanes without signal, etc.
2: Dangerous lane change, reckless driving, etc.
3: Tailgating, Following too close, etc.

The worst part: They're not enforced!
With the amount of cops I see on the road, I would think I would see more people pulled over. If I was a traffic cop, I'd be pullin people over all day. If cops gave two shits about these smaller traffic problems, the roads would be much safer for everyone.

'Til next week...