Read While You Drive, The New In Thing!

Ok, I'm going to rant a little here so bear with me. No matter how much the authorities come up with this rule or that regulation regarding road safety, it isn't going to come to much if the people who sit behind the wheel of a vehicle don't use their blooming brains!

It really isn't about enforcing the use of rear seat belts (though it has its merits), it isn't about having an expiry limit for motorcycle crash helmets (I've always wondered why they're called crash helmets), it isn't about reducing the speed limit on highways that would reduce the death toll on the roads. 

It's all about the mindset of the moron behind the wheel. If he/she basically doesn't practice some common sense while driving, then all the seat belts or airbags or speed limits or crash helmets is going to worth jack-shit!

This morning, on the way to work, I was caught in the usual daily bumper to bumper crawl getting to work. Now, I'm kinda used to the traffic already (but that doesn't mean I like jams, ya) and was behind this lady inching my way through the roads. 

We all know how stressful it can be when you have to inch your way through and the car in front of you moves so slowly leaving a huge space in front for a few million cars to squeeze their way in. I for one hate situations like that. But never mind, I said, she is a woman driver after all (no disrespect to all you women out there) and maybe she just takes off a little slower than the rest

This kept on going for as long as I was behind here. Every time the traffic moved, she would take ages to move forward and a host of cars would get in front of her and I would have moved only about 2-3 inches from my current position behind her.

That was when I started getting irritated with her. I couldn't overtake her cos of the bumper to bumper traffic. That was also when I actually took notice of the real reason why she was slow off the accelerator. That dumb stupid woman was actually reading a book in the car while driving! Really, a book and even when she started moving, she had her eyes on the book!

I was flabbergasted! Shocked even! I felt like getting out of my car and giving her a blooming slap on her stupid brainless face. Come on lady, do you even know how dangerous it is to drive and read? With your mind on the book, can you even concentrate on driving? What if the car in front of you suddenly stops? Can you even react in time with your eyes and mind on your book?

Now these are the kinds of attitude that causes accidents and deaths on the road. To be honest, she isn't the only one. There are still countless people who still use the cell phone blatantly while driving, not caring that it's absolutely dangerous! Is answering the call while driving really that important? Can't it have waited a few minutes till you stop the car at a safe place and then make that call? 

I even had the experience of almost rear ending this idiot once who decided to stop his car right there at the traffic light (which was green, mind you) and talk on his cell phone! Seriously, this guy actually just stopped at this traffic light junction and answered his cell almost causing me to ram into his rear and the cars behind me braking frantically to stop from rear ending me! That was how stupid this guy was!

That's why I believe that all the safety precautions in the world isn't going to amount to much if you allow people like that lady who decided that reading a book in a traffic jam is okay or the guy who thinks stopping at a busy traffic light junction to answer his cell is perfectly the right thing to do. If the attitude doesn't change people, the accidents will always keep happening.

Now, if I get stuck behind that moronic lady again, I swear I'm really going to get out my car and beat the life out of her! And no I didn't take any pictures of her car and I can't remember her license number because I was too dumbstruck by her stupidity but I think she lives around my area and I'll recognize her car and face if I see it again.
.