Driving

I live down the street from a fairly new YWCA facility.  In the summer the place is very crowded, and the customers park on the street. The parking on the corners made it difficult to see oncoming traffic. I contacted the city councilman for my district and asked if "no parking signs" could be placed one or two parking spaces in from the corners.  That happened.

Yesterday, I was driving down the street.  A car was coming out of the parking lot to this facility.  The driver came out of the parking lot and almost hit my car, coming into the lane I was driving in.  I slammed the breaks on my car to prevent the accident.  I don't think the other driver even saw me.  

That angered me a little.  This isn't the first time that customers for this facility seem to drive as if they own the street.  Mmmmm.

Trip - Day 8

July 20, 2017

Today we drove into Colorado Springs, Colorado https://coloradosprings.gov/ from Casper, Wyoming.  It was a much shorter driving day than we had been doing, but still put us in comfortable range to reach Lubbock tomorrow.  We saw antelope again today!

We were able to take the bypass around Denver, E470 https://www.e-470.com/Pages/PayingTolls/Paying-Tolls.aspx.  We kept waiting to see toll booths, and were ready to pay, but no booths were present.  We figured out, finally that we were a License Plate Toll customer, and my traveling companion would receive a bill in the mail about the toll.  It looked like it might only be $1.55, but I assured her if it was more, I would be willing to pay my fair share.  

We took a tour around the Garden of the Gods http://www.gardenofgods.com/, after a brief stop in the visitor’s center. We had a picnic in the free city park, donated to the city by the founders.  I had a left over salad for my picnic.  I had never even heard of the Garden of the Gods, so if my traveling companion had not known about it, I would have missed it. 

On our way out, we went through Manitou Springs, which was an awesomely interesting looking town, touristy and old west combined.  The Manitou Springs http://www.manitouspringsgov.com/ and Pikes Peak Cog Rail starts in Manitou Springs. 

We had an early night in the motel tonight.  For dinner, I had the rest of the Indian Taco I had ordered the night before, and could not finish!  Once again, it was nice to have internet access. 

Crazy Driving in Lubbock

I was driving through Central Lubbock about 2:15 today, and saw a couple of crazy maneuvers.  I was at the intersection of Indiana and 50th, as I was going East.  The South bound lanes on Indiana at this intersection are a right turn lane, 3 straight ahead lanes, and 2 left turn lanes.  When the light turned greed for the South bound traffic, I watched as a car in the center straight  ahead lane crossed the two lanes on its right to get into the CVS parking lot on the Northwest corner of that intersection.  Their was a space, but also vehicles driving South in both lanes.

So, I turned South at Indiana, and was in the left most lane.  There is a light at the intersection of Indiana and 58th St., and going South there are 3 straight ahead lanes, and one left turn lane.  As I approached the intersection, the light changed to green, and the first car in the left turn lane crossed well in front of me to the middle straight ahead lane, and continued South on Indiana, eventually working its way to the right most lane. 

Hmmm. The first driver cut it close with the traffic going South, the second driver had lots of space to make his move.  But it still is not a usually accepted practice. 

Almost T Boned

I was driving home tonight, and came to a 4-way stop near my house.  I stopped, and to my left, a vehicle sort of stopped after I did.  I started up, and so did this truck, very slowly, making only a rolling stop.  I sped up to get out of this driver's way.  I do not think the driver was going to crash into me, but the driver did not make a complete stop.

This is not atypical in Lubbock, especially when the weather is bad. It is like bad weather gives the drivers in Lubbock permission to drive poorly. It has been that way since I have lived in Lubbock.  Why would I think it would change.

Parking Lot Rage

I hate crowded, busy parking lots.  One of my greatest peeves is the driver who stops, blocking traffic, waiting for an occupied spot to become available.  It really aggravates me, but I am generally patient and do not blow the horn, although I may mouth something.

Yesterday, when I was leaving a store, there was a car that was stopped partway into a row, waiting for a car to back out of a spot.  The driver was holding up traffic, there were several cars waiting behind her.  The driver in the car immediately behind her swung around and zoomed by her, looking at her and saying something all the while. He was so busy being angry at her he did not see me, and if I had not been paying attention, he would have hit me.  As he drove by the lack of change of expression on his face made me think he never did see me.

Sure, the first driver was inconsiderate.  But the second driver was no less so. This lack of consideration and blind rage is dangerous. 

Why Do Drivers Do This?

I was driving home tonight on 50th Street, which is an east-west street with a speed limit of 40 MPH.  This is a 7 lane street: 3 east bound lanes, 3 west bound lanes, and one turning lane in the center.

I was driving west in the left most lane. I was traveling about 38 to 40 MPH.  The center lane was vacant, and the east bound lane had a vehicle in it, a little behind me.  From the right, a large SUV pulled into traffic, crossed two lanes and proceeded in the left most lane, in front of me.  And was traveling at less than 30 MPH.  After a few blocks, I swerved into the center lane, passed this vehicle, and returned to the left most lane, as I was needing to make a left turn in a few blocks.

I looked back at the driver. He was an older person. He was eating, talking and looking around while driving.  I wonder how much of that influenced his driving style.  I wondered why he had to be in front of me.  I increased my speed to close to the speed limit and soon was well in front of this vehicle and its inattentive driver.

Why do drivers do this?

Driving

One of the most frustrating experiences for me when I am driving on a highway (loop, interstate, freeway, limited access highway, turnpike, etc.) is when I want to change lanes, and I slow down, or speed up and the vehicle around which I am trying to navigate, makes the same change. 

This happened to me yesterday on my way home from work. When I looked at the vehicle, I saw that the driver was not even paying attention to me.  I realized that she was doing, what we are often exhorted to do, and that is to drive with the traffic.  When I slowed down, she slowed down. When I sped up, she sped up.  She was oblivious to what I was trying to do.  She was lost in her driving.

I finally made a drastic change in my speed so that she had to go past me, and just barely in time for me to make the lane change so I could exit the loop.

This was an "ah ha" moment for me.  

Driving Hazard

As I was driving home from work tonight, a little car almost rear-ended the Vue on the Loop.  That frightened me, but these things happen.  As I drove along, I merged right and the same car almost side-swiped me on the driver's side as it pulled along side me.  As it passed me, I saw the driver lift a long slim bottle wrapped in a paper bag.

I drink and drive: soda pop, or water, sometimes coffee.  Years ago, I was guilty of drinking and driving after the drinking included alcohol.  I have not done that for many, many, many years. I realize how dangerous that could be. I do not even have a glass of wine when I eat out, unless I am not driving.

I watched the driver forge ahead. He was basically driving okay, with an occasional swerve.  I did not get make, model or license tag. I was in the middle of heavy traffic.  I did not know for sure this person was drinking alcoholic beverages.  It was not safe for me use my cell phone. So, I did not.

This is just one of many examples of why drinking and driving is not acceptable.