You decide — cautious driver or texting driver?
Amid a nice response to my recent Pet Peeves column, I received pushback on two of my personal complaints.
Regarding people who leave their shopping carts to roll around the parking lot or block parking spaces instead of returning them to a corral, I heard from some readers who noted that stores rarely put the corrals anywhere near the handicapped spaces, making it very difficult for them to take their carts back.
One of them wrote, “After one shops and puts the groceries in the car, one has to walk halfway in the parking lot to put the cart in the corral and walk halfway back to the handicap spot get in the car and drive away.”
That’s a reasonable complaint if you have a serious disability, although I’ll note that leaving them in the handicapped area may inconvenience another person by blocking a parking space or the striped areas where wheelchairs are unloaded from vans. The solution would seem to be establishing small additional corrals around the handicapped areas, with space for at least a few carts.
That said, there’s no excuse for the rest of you. I went to Wegmans just before writing this and saw another cart sitting in a parking space where someone had dumped it, nowhere near the handicapped area. Lazy slob.
I’m less sympathetic to the other area of pushback, although I’ll acknowledge a couple of good points. I agree that people should come to a stop before turning on red and that some drivers don’t, which is dangerous. I’ll also agree that where there’s an obstructed view that compromises safety, it’s better to wait for the green light than to turn on red.
One reader wrote, “Regarding the right turn on red, equally I’m aggravated by the knuckleheads who won’t go. However, my gripe is the flip side of this: The driver with the red light slipping out while I’ve got the green light. It’s illegal and dangerous to pull out on red if there’s a car with the green light. On top of their hurried and dangerous act, they then drive like a turtle!
“Thank you for letting this PA driver of 40 years express her pet peeve. I somehow feel a bit better.”
Another reader took me to task for being annoyed at people who won’t turn on red.
“When I first saw the headline, I thought you were going to write about the idiots who think it is their God-given right to turn right without even thinking about stopping (with no turn arrow). Many of the drivers today do not even think of stopping. I can remember when we had to stop regardless of the situation. Then we were given the OPTION to turn right on red only after coming to a complete stop, and proceeding only after it was safe to do so.
“Nowhere does the law state you must turn right on red; it is still your option to do so. If this frustrates you, then you need to take an anger management class because you are a borderline Aggressive Driver. Publishing your thoughts like this will only promote more of the same.”
As I mentioned in the original column, the extent of my “aggressive” driving is occasionally flinging my arms up or muttering to myself about the other driver’s stupidity or inattentiveness.
I would suggest that much more common than the person who stubbornly refuses to turn on red under any circumstances are the people who are on their phones texting and are oblivious to the open road. When I honk — which I do only rarely — it’s on the assumption that the person either isn’t paying attention or doesn’t understand that a red right turn arrow doesn’t preclude turning when it’s safe to do so.
In either case, they deserve a honk.
Speaking of that, texting came up in some of my other emails. One reader agreed with me that most of those nonturners are busy texting. He had a story about it, writing: “I was behind a very young woman whose car seemed to be drifting back and forth noticeably. I backed off thinking that the driver was either drunk or texting. Then in a display of pure recklessness they veered left on the exit ramp from Schoenersville Road onto Route 22 East and came within a foot or so of hitting the concrete barrier before wildly overcorrecting and veering right. The car was going slower than what is typical on this entrance ramp. It was a good thing traffic was light because it sure looked like she still wasn’t paying attention.
“I was now behind this car going about 40 mph. I decided to pass her and punched it to get her far into my rear-view mirror. As I cruised by, she was still blissfully unaware where she was and still looking at her phone!”
I’ve received lots more peeves. I’ll share some in a future column.