4.28.2005

More on Stoneham crash trial

Fox25 Morning News carried the story and videotaped testimony of some of the witnesses in the trial against 65-year-old Enrico Caruso, who was discussed in this weblog earlier today.

The story showed weepy moms telling of how their children were hurt when Caruso's car allegedly barreled out of control through the schoolyard. It was gut-wrenching to watch. The most important testimony shown on Fox this morning (Disclaimer: I'm no screaming conservative, I just like the local news format of the morning show.) was that of Caruso's 9-year-old grandson. According to Fox's report, he told police at the scene of the accident last September that his grandfather's prosthetic leg got caught on the gas pedal. Under oath yesterday he testified that he didn't remember telling police that. Did someone tell him to forget?

There is tragedy all around caused by this accident, but if an adult suggested this boy forget that he told police about his grandfather's prosthesis then an equally serious tragedy has occurred. That is tantamount to witness tampering, though I am no lawyer, judge or cop. How bad is it that the adults who have probably scolded this boy for lying the past might now have condoned it? Make no mistake, I don't fault the boy if he truly forgot what he told police amid all the confusion of seeing his friends and their parents bleeding and being taken away in ambulances.

We'll probably never know for sure if the kid was clever enough to reason that a criminal trial might mean his grandfather will go to jail if he tells the truth under oath. At nine, he probably has been counseled on the moral implications of lying, but he probably wasn't told about the criminal charges associated with lying known as perjury. It's doubtful a prosecutor will charge the kid with perjury for forgetting what he told police seven months ago.

Whatever the case, I hold the kid harmless. I'd like to believe he truly did forget what he said, but I really can't. I believe it is possible that some adult, and not necessarily a family member, perhaps created enough doubt in his impressionable mind as to what he told police that the boy decided to say he couldn't remember. If that's the case, the boy will have to live with that on his conscience, serving as another wound in this tragic accident.

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Transponder charges


The Boston Herald is reporting today that the Massachusetts Turnpike is thinking about charging to replace its electronic transponders used in the Fast Lane toll booths to collect tolls. It's news, but it's no surprise, to me.

Since Gov. Mitt Romney came into office state bureaucracies have sought to increase revenue by adding or increasing user fees. The cash hungry Mass. Pike is no different. In fact, the Pike is probably second only to the Registry as the agency most likely to implement user fees that will affect commuter and casual driver alike. This idea to charge a fee for replacing transponders that die because of malfunction or end of battery life is one of those bank-style hidden "convenience" fees that creep into our wallets.

I never got a transponder when they were released in 1998 because drivers had to buy them or put down some kind of deposit, unless of course the drivers were BankBoston customers. Those people received the transponders for free because BankBoston was a sponsor of the new program. I didn't feel I should have to pay for the device. EZ Pass in New York gave out their transponders for free, and they worked on Massachusetts toll roads. I know several people who paid the monthly maintenance fee for the EZ Pass rather than buy the transponder, and this new replacement fee by the Pike is a good example why. Economist's lesson number one: Buy what appreciates and lease what depreciates.

So, I suggest that all those Fast Lane users who will face a replacement fee to consider EZ Pass as a protest to Fast Lane transponder replacement fees.

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Stoneham school accident trial

The trial of Enrico Caruso, the man charged with losing control of his car at a Stoneham elementary school last fall, began yesterday with emotional testimony from one of the victims, whose son was also hit.

According to the Boston Herald, the end of the story said the judge in the case threw out a charge against Caruso for failing to notify the Registry about his prosthetic right leg. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the right leg the primary one used for driving? I'm not a medical doctor, but I can imagine any number of scenarios where a prosthesis would be a driving hazard, first and foremost because the driver can't "feel" the pedals. Being able to feel the pedals sends a signal that triggers all kinds of appropriate muscle memory responses, such as emergency braking.

The sad irony in this case is that the children allegedly hit by Caruso now have their own leg ailments. One child had to have his leg amputated above the knee. Another will have to wear a brace for the rest of his life.

Though not specifically this incident, it's incidents like these that gave me the idea to start a weblog on Boston's crazy drivers. We can all laugh at the silly stuff posted here, such as the pair in a Route 93 fender bender who stopped in the middle of a travel lane to exchange papers, but there is a tragic side to the crazy driving in Massachusetts and the trial of Enrico Caruso is one example.

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4.27.2005

Weekly commute from hell

Today is my long commute day. I must drive from Boston to Beverly. Yay. This commute takes me over a every type of road to speak of, from country side road to major interstate, to the dreaded Tobin Bridge. (Why the Tobin Bridge? Because it's faster to get to 95 by Route 1 than Route 93. I've timed it.)

I don't mind the height of the Tobin. Actually, I like it best on days with low fog because it gives me the sensation of flying through clouds. Trouble is there's a ton of turbulence on that road. Does anyone else feel like they need to go to the dentist to make sure the teeth are OK after rumbling over that tooth-chattering patch of patches? I don't know the reason why the bridge is in such bad shape, but it seems to me that a surface road wouldn't be left like that for too long. This stretch of bridge, just past the old northbound tolls, is so bad I expect a section of it to fall out any day now. I just pray it's not on a Wednesday.

Route 1 after it is no treat with that near hairpin turn at Route 60 in Revere. The final leg of my journey takes me over the extremely dangerous old Route 128. It's two-lanes in each direction with very little room for traffic to enter and exit. In other states, this would be a signal to drivers to exercise caution. In Massachusetts, it is a challenge to run people off the road.

To top off all of this, it's raining today, and there's always more knuckleheads out on rainy days. I especially like the ones who try to remain clandestine by leaving their headlights off. It also seems as though any time there was a major snow or rain storm during the week this past winter it was on a Wednesday, adding yet another challenge to the commute. I guess spring hasn't ushered in a change in that weather pattern. Oh how I love Wednesdays.

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4.26.2005

Advertising irony


I answered yes to this question on the back of this commuter bus on Route 93 in Dorchester today. It wasn't because of the typical traffic congestion, though. It was because I had to close my windows thanks to the black smoke spewing out of the bus's tail pipe. That drove me crazy. Luckily, the bus maneuvered into the HOV lane and I was able to lower my windows again.

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Troublesome turns


The buses at the end of the 32 line wait at this bus stop in Wolcott Square in Readville. They create a problem when starting up the return route because they pull off the curb and make a left turn from the far right lane and often cut off the straight-driving traffic. It's a really bad setup that could be easily fixed by moving the bus stop to a spot on the street underneath billboards in the background.

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4.25.2005

I'm not alone, part II

I grew up in the Boston area, so I had advanced knowledge of Boston road rules before the Registry ever granted me a learner's permit. I feel for the poor schmuck who came from a New York Podunk. He posted his rant on Craigslist recently. Apparently, we have not only stole his driving innocence, but our local vernacular has infected his vocabulary. Hey, Buddy, I'm sorry to say you are right, and that I am guilty of everything you've just mentioned, except the last-minute line-cutting on an exit ramp. Or the flashing and beeping someone in the left lane. That is where I draw the line. As for the latter, I consider myself a much smarter driver, and will use the other lanes to my advantage (without being a weaving idiot) to get by a slow left lane driver.

That said, I won't usually let anyone in front of me in my lane. I know why, too. I am a prick. OK, I admit it. But nine times out of ten, letting someone in inevitably means letting someone slow me down. Usually, it's also some driver in an old beat up car who doesn't care what happens to it, nor is it maintained well therefore increasing the potential that it will break down or spew some kind of goo all over my car. No thanks. Stay in your own lane until there is a wide enough opening -- behind me. If that car is behind me, there is far less it can do to cause me trouble. This is also a split-second decision, too. I use certain criteria to assess the chances the driver will be trouble. First I look at the make and model of the car. Anything over $30,000, that isn't a trendy SUV or a minivan gets let in. Then I look at the state tags. Even if it clears the first hurdle, if it's from out of state (especially Rhode Island, Connecticut or New York), I won't let it in. Then I look at the driver, if I can get a good look. This is where I become a bit sexist, ageist. Ladies, be mad at me if you want, but I have seen too many of your gender give a bad rap to the good ones among you (Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving included). Finally, I try to discern if the driver's immediately past behavior will indicate whether he or she will take this new pole position and use it, or die in front of me. This is very arbitrary, and I must say arguably the most prickish part of my decision (Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving has scolded me for this rationale).

Think what you want of me, but having been shut out of lanes, or forced to wait to make a left by someone who sped up to keep me from getting out, or cut off at a four-way stop by the fabled second car rule (when the second car goes at the same time as the first because that car stopped, too), I'm sure anyone reading this can sympathize.

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Parking problem

There was quite a tie-up on Route 60 westbound in Medford Square this morning. After enduring nearly a year of construction delays thanks to an MWRA program to replace a hundred-year-old water main, I was used to this kind of inexplicable traffic jam. Then I spied the tell-tale lights of some kind of emergency vehicle in the distance. Within minutes traffic moved and I was upon one of the freakiest accidents I have ever seen.

It involved three vehicles, and from I can gather a big blindspot. It also didn't appear anyone was hurt, thankfully. A black Cadillac was wedged between a parked Lexus SUV, also black, and a large dump truck -- the long type that is usually used for hauling sand or gravel. This one had sinewy rebar poking out of it. It appears the driver of the fairly new Caddy, which had one of those ubiquitous "Support the Troops" ribbon magnets was either pulling out or backing in to the parking spot in front of Medford Toys. Either way, the dump truck wasn't able to stop in time, and the Caddy was wedged against the Lexus.

This could have been much worse, of course, since the truck driver hit the Caddy right near the driver's door. Fortunately, it was only a little dented on both sides. The scene went, from an onlooker's perspective, from nearly tragic to comical, when the owner of the Lexus came out and saw her car damaged. The look on her face revealed exactly what was on her mind, but she was too polite to say.

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4.22.2005

London driving

LONDON--The drivers here get it. Traffic movement is logical, well "signposted" and swift. I don't know if it is the whole driving on the left business, but there definitely are fewer traffic jams, and no one leans on their horn in anger at a driver who is doing something unfair or illegal.

What's more, it seems the daily congestion charge is working as a deterrent to driving into downtown London. Whoever it was who suggested it on Boston's City Council was borrowing a great idea. According to one local, the way it works is: Cameras photograph license all license plates coming into the congestion area (of course license plates don't fade here because they appear to be made of Lexan), and drivers have until 10 p.m. that day to pay the £5 charge or be charged a fine. They say the charge will soon go up to £8. Several people I have spoken to say it has done a great thing for downtown London. One said it reduced traffic by 20 to 25 percent. That's great.

This could work in Boston, but the difference between London and Boston is that London has a much better subway system. There's about a dozen subway lines traversing central London, and they all reach out into the suburbs. There are also several National Rail stations serving all parts of England, Scotland and Wales. The Tube is also reasonably priced, and it operates much more efficiently than the T. So, Boston does have some catching up to do in that regard.

All in all, London drivers are far better than ones in Boston. I've seen one accident, and it wasn't bad. Although I'm not fully aware of all the rules of the road, I haven't seen anyone make any gross errors. No one runs red lights, and no one creeps into the cross walks. It seems safer to be a pedestrian here than it does in Boston.

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4.17.2005

London calling

Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving and I will be investigating the driving habits of Londoners for the next few days. (The house sitters move in to take care of Boston Crazy Driving's mascot, an 83-pound boxer.)

I will post from across the pond if there is a time and place. Since Boston was laid out by expatriated Londoners, it will be interesting to see where the sense and purpose for Boston's layout originated.

Tally Ho!

P.S. Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving and I will be taking the Tube.

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Rolling hazard

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon on Route 95 North near the Neponset Street/Canton exit. What could happen? Well, a man was pushing his older model Ford Explorer with the driver's door open and half in the breakdown lane and half in the right travel lane.

It was a surprise at first. Then I saw the tag. The guy was from Rhode Island, which explained everything, especially the idea that this was an OK practice. Since most of my driving was done in the south-of-Boston area for most of my driving life, I've become very familiar with the antics of Rhode Island drivers. Let me tell you, there could be a whole weblog dedicated to that, too.

Within weeks of getting my learner's permit, I learned to avoid Rhode Island drivers after being cut off by three different ones in the span of a week. Since then, the number of Rhode Islanders making a daily commute to Massachusetts has grown nothing short of exponentially. That phenomenon was, and is, being driven by the fact that Rhode Island homes have long been an affordable alternative to almost any town in Eastern Mass., and all of the good-paying jobs are in office parks along Routes 95, 24 and 495. (While spending more time in the past few years on the roads north of Boston, I've noticed a similar number of New Hampshire drivers.)

This, in and of itself wouldn't be a big deal, except that Rhode Island drivers, as a rule, are awful. People I know who grew up in Massachusetts their whole lives automatically became horribly erratic and unpredictable the minute they switched their licenses. It's stunning.

In their own habitat, Rhode Island drivers seem to function fine. On the many trips through that state on Routes 95 and 24, I've seen surprisingly few antics that I've seen exhibited from the drivers who represent Rhode Island across the northern border. It's hard to understand why there's a difference. They drive on the right, like we do in Massachusetts. Their cars are subject to the same federal safety standards, and so on. Perhaps it's the fact that the state doesn't require extensive driver training for its younger drivers, so bad habits are passed down the generations, only to grow worse with each passing of the torch. Who knows.

Regardless, I avoid Rhode Island drivers at all costs. They are the one set of drivers I yield the right of way too even when I have the clear right to take it. It's sort of the same way I deal with skunks or bees. Just let them pass and you will be spared a whole lot of trouble.

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4.13.2005

I'm not alone

One of the wonderful things about the Internet is that a person can find other like-minded individuals.

Boston Crazy Driving has found a friend in Jeff,who writes about his experience on Route 128 today
. Thanks to Universal Hub for pointing out his post. Thanks also to the people who have previously left comments here in support.

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4.12.2005

Revenue building


I wonder if the tower will ever be finished. The Pine Street Inn put up ads years ago while it was rehabbing its signature tower, which is in its logo. New ads keep going up every couple of months, making me wonder if they are ever going to come down. Posted by Hello

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Bad for business

In addition to the calamity below, today was the first instance since the start of this weblog of an all-too-regular occurrence around these parts: Bad drivers in business vehicles.

I've noticed more and more that I am cut-off, tailgated, etc. by vehicles bearing a company's logo. I've called these companies in the past, thanks to the beauty of cell phones, to report their drivers' bad deeds. I've even made a mental note not to patronize these businesses because of this. It may seem petty, but hey, it's my dollar, and I am not going to give it to someone who ran a stop sign. These vehicles are representing a business, and if they are careless on the road, who's to say they won't be careless serving me? No one's a perfect driver, so this site will be forgiving of all but the most negligent and preventable of maneuvers.

Today's infraction occurred in the new taxpayer car wash known as the 93 Tunnel, or the Liberty Tunnel, depending on who's speaking. A grey van was so close I could have been towing it. It didn't back off, either. So, in typical fashion, I threw out the anchor and suddenly became conscious of the 45-mile-per-hour speed limit. As soon as the new left lane came up with the onramp from Albany Street, the van swung out and went off like a shot. All I caught from the silver-gray flash that went by was Empire Auto. The logo was a Greek- or Roman-looking building. Superpages lists an Empire Auto Parts out of Foxboro, two other businesses with the words Empire Auto were listed in Springfield and New York. There was no Web site immediately available to confirm which one it was by the logo.

Boston Crazy Driving will endeavor to report business vehicles driving aggressively or otherwise making bad driving decisions. Readers can decide for themselves whether to patronize those businesses.

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House movers

In the words of the great Foghorn Leghorn, "Calamity. I - I say, calamity."

At the risk of making this weblog the "Daily Calamity of I-93," I offer another episode of stunning surrealism. Imagine the morning rush. Now add sections of a modular home to the traffic flow. That's what we had this morning taking up the TWO left lanes. More stunning: People were trying to get by this thing on the right. Cars merging from the Neponset Circle on ramp, which typically try to get as far along as possible before merging, tried to wedge past this thing.

The two sections of house were causing all kinds of problems for drivers, including me. This morning I resembled the lane-changing fool I resent on the highway. You all know the guy. The lane he's in is too slow, so he moves over. But that lane slows down and he moves back. Then he crawls up someone's rear end until he can wedge back into the other lane, only to slow down and move again. Occasionally, these guys find their way out of their self-created maze and you never see them again. More often than not, though, they end up behind you on the offramp. Well, that was me, sort of, today. I apologize to my fellow motorists. I honestly wasn't trying to be that guy, but I kept losing ground because of the moving houses.

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4.11.2005

Fender bender causes bumper-to-bumper

Today featured a clever maneuver. What seemed like the typical Monday morning slow crawl on the Distressway (Route 93) was actually caused by a pair of drivers who had nothing better to do, apparently, than to have a conversation in the middle-left lane next to their parked cars.

In truth, they were exchanging papers after having a run-of-the-mill rear-ending. But they didn't even move over to the right. They just stopped right where the accident occurred and got out and started the paper exchange. The minor inconvenience to fellow motorists aside, I couldn't believe this seemed OK to the pair because of the danger of standing next to stopped cars in a travel lane of an interstate highway, DURING RUSH HOUR. Not to mention, it didn't seem like there was a lot of damage. As a rule, I don't usually grind to a halt to take in the finer visual points of accidents because I believe it is my job, as a driver, to pay attention to the road in front of me, lest I cause an accident myself. But a quick glance as a started to speed up revealed no sign of major damage.

To be fair, there is no breakdown lane at this point of the highway, just before the Neponset Circle on-ramp, but there's no preventing the two drivers from at least moving to the right lane. I just pray neither of them were hurt after I passed in astonishment.

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4.07.2005

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4.06.2005

Sign Language

A post on Universal Hub, a blog that lists a ton of Boston-area blogs, noticed this difference bewteen street signs on two sides of an intersection in Hyde Park. Just another of the quirks of Boston driving. The Boston Globe (which we won't link to as a protest because it will soon require registering to view its content online) did a story several years ago about this phenomnenon occurring all over Boston. A street can change to a road or an avenue with each passing cross street.

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Merge etiquette

Merging is an easy concept, or so it seemed to me in driver's ed. But for some, it is a daunting task. Take this guy driving a mid-90s silver Toyota Corolla on 93 North in Somerville on Tuesday. Forget for a moment that the guy, dressed in a pressed white-collared shirt, looked too big and out of place to be driving such a beat up heap to work. He didn't seem like the type to panic when it comes time to merging with speeding traffic, but he apparently did.

Coming up the 93 North ramp near the Sullivan T station, which enters the highway on the left, this Toyota immediately swerved to the right. Trouble was, there was a fairly steady line of traffic coming in the travel lanes that had to jam brakes and swerve to miss this lunatic. What makes it worse, the traffic entering the highway from the ramp has its own lane, because the ramp creates the fourth lane. So, the guy had plenty of room to speed up or slow down to let traffic go by so he could get across the road.

Judging by the fact that he swung all the way to the right lane, catching nasty glances from everyone in line ahead of me (I admit I moved over and slowed down to get a good look to see who would do something so stupid), this guy was probably getting off at the Route 28/38 exit for Malden and Somerville. I don't know, and don't care, because I sped away en route to work.

This Toyota Man represents more and more drivers on highways today. It astounds me that merging is so difficult for people. Now, it's possible that this guy had a brain cramp, or missed something in his blind spot. If he were to plead his case, I could give him the benefit of the doubt because there, but for the grace of God, go I. So far, there's no evidence to support that case. In fact, the preponderance of evidence is on the side of whacky people just cutting across traffic knowing everyone else will yield. Shame on them.

Please merge with care, but not too much care. Don't be the one stopped at the end of the ramp too afraid to get moving into the line of traffic. I'll post another time about those people.

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4.04.2005

Digging into the Big Dig

A Federal Highway Administration report out today says the I-93 tunnels under Boston are safe. I believe it because the federal government rarely makes mistakes. Right. It's entirely possible that the tunnel, which I use to get to and from work daily, is indeed safe, and the fissures that pour water on my car are nothing to worry about because they will be fixed. Sure. On the bright side, I would be more worried if I saw water in the Ted Williams Tunnel.

When I started taking that stretch of road on a daily basis two years ago, I still had to make my return trip on Boston's other Green Monster, the Central Artery. There's no doubt for me that replacing the highway was necessary from both functional and aesthetic necessities. When I am on the sinuy Surface Artery, I feel the city is somehow cleaner, on top of being brighter. And the rerouting of traffic thanks to the Big Dig has made the trip through downtown bearable. Even during peak traffic times, it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. For that reason alone it is an engineering marvel.

That said, it doesn't change the fact that the gross mismanagement of the project has cost state toll-payers and federal taxpayers (of which I pay both), far more than it should have. Because of this and many other reasons, it has become the Boston talking point about which nearly everyone shares the same opinion: Just hurry up and get the damn thing done. In the meantime, I'll keep my snorkeling gear handy.

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4.02.2005

Rainy Driving

Today is a rainy day, and I am glad I don't have to go out. Rain makes people stupid.

In the year leading up to my own endeavor to learn how to drive, I had someone give me a sincere piece of wisdom. He said that people's IQ goes down by one-third in the rain and by one-half in the snow. I believe this to be true based on my own observation in the years since.

If there is one thing I can count on is double the normal traffic on Route 93 through Boston, my main connector between work and home, on any day that has rain. I don't know why. It's just rain. That's all. I can't explain the phenomenon, but see if you notice it yourself.

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4.01.2005

Driving in Boston, Rule #1

I tell outsiders that the first rule to driving in Boston is to yield to natives. Give anything with a Massachusetts tag the right of way in all cases. It's likely the Massachusetts driver will try to take the right of way anyway, including me. Although I have one thing on my side, a knowledge of the right-of-way laws in this state.

First: The traffic in the rotary, known elsewhere apparently as a traffic circle, has the right of way. So all of the people who gun it in their approach to cut off all the cars in the rotary are doing so at their peril when I am in the rotary.

Second: Do not stop a line of traffic to let someone cut across the lane to make a left. Exception: When approaching an already red light or when in a long line of slow-moving traffic. I almost always have a ton of items on my front seat which end up on my floor when responding to this maneuver.

Third: Minivans do not have special right-of-way status. Just because the Griswold Family Truckster of the new millennium is most often carrying precious cargo, it doesn't give the driver the right to just barrel through any intersection.

Fourth: Please stop at stop signs. When two cars arrive at a stop sign, the car on the right always has the right of way. When all four poles are nursing a line, let opposing sides go, then switch.

Fifth: Don't beep at me to move when I am in the right turn lane at a no-turn-on-red light.

Sixth: Don't beep at me.

Seventh: Expect me to beep at you, especially when you try to take my right of way.

Eighth: Creeping over the stop line at a red light doesn't make the light change any faster, and jumping off the line to make a left before traffic heading in the other direction has a chance to get started. It's line-cutting and it's rude. Your mother would scold you.

There's many more. I'll post them as I see them. I'll appreciate your comments. Share your stories and frustrations. Driving IQ is a funny thing. It fluctuates with weather, mood, stress and more.

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