Just a few weeks ago, on my winter “vacation” to a small town outside Pittsburgh, I experienced first-hand the marvels of idiot drivers. While I lived in Pennsylvania long ago before driving was an option, it was my first experience driving in the Keystone State. Most of my traveling was along Interstate 76, or the infamous Pennsylvania Turnpike, where you pay a hefty fee for a massive headache.
Low speed limits (whose idea was it to make a highway 55 mph?), windy roads, and loads of pickup trucks…not things I would call my favorite. But the thing that bothers me the most is the moron who comes past you out of nowhere doing ninety and doesn’t use his turn signal when he ever-so-politely cuts you off.
Admittedly, I’ve been that moron doing ninety. But I used my turn signal, darn it, though it didn’t help me any when a certain Pennsylvania State Police officer happened to have his handy radar on when I went by. But I’m invincible!
Not anymore. On a stretch of road just outside Pittsburgh, where I-76 meets I-70 where the speed limit just so happens to be 55 mph, he clocked the small sports car at 82 in that wonderful speed zone. Needless to say, I was one terrified novice driver dealing with the authority for the first time in my sheltered life.
While I was fortunate enough to get out of the afternoon without peeing my pants–oh, and without a speeding ticket–I learned a valuable lesson. It didn’t matter that some guy in a Vikings jersey cut me off and slowed down–all without signaling! It only mattered that I was going the fastest. But that doesn’t mean I won’t yell at you in the parking lot for not using your signal.