Thursday, May 27, 2004
Memo to Other Drivers
Let's face it: many of you aren't very good drivers. Oh, I'm sure you know how to operate your vehicle, and I've seen some of you fit your Suburban in spots where only a Jetta should fit. I have no doubt of your technical ability.
However, many of you are rude, and sometimes downright mean. When someone has their blinker on, especially when traffic is hardly moving, then it is common courtesy to let them in. Not doing so, especially if it means nearly running them into a pylon or off the road, is just plain mean. Similarly, getting all up on my rear bumper isn't likely to make me go faster or get out of the lane, especially if I'm not in the passing lane or I have a tractor-trailer in the spot where you'd like me to move.
Many of you also violate the law. In Virginia, the speed limit designates how fast you are permitted to travel. State law recognizes no instance where you may lawfully violate the speed limit, unless you are an emergency vehicle or cop. You are also forbidden from passing on the right. When you drive the way that most of you do, you put those of us who actually obey the law at risk. If you have children in your car, then I think you ought to be charged with neglect for driving the way many of you do. If you are pretending to be a Christian and still speed, then I question whether you're actually a believer or not. I'm upset when cops are going at least 70MPH (the maximum speed in Virginia is 65; also, cops and emergency vehicles may not speed unless their lights are on), and even more so when they fail to pull people over whom they know are speeding. Look: either raise the speed limit to where you actually believe it should be, or obey the law. Allowing people to drive over the speed limit is a pretty dirty thing to do, since you allow them to believe that they may speed and then pull them over whenever your podunk town needs more money. It's fundamentally dishonest, and I don't like it.
The law is the law. Either obey it or work to change it. Until it is changed, though, you still need to obey it. I'm upset that so very few people obey the law, though I should expect as much in a fallen world.
ALSO: Would it wrong for me, as a Christian, to put a sign on the liftgate of my truck that says: "SLOW DOWN, You're Not That Important?"
Let's face it: many of you aren't very good drivers. Oh, I'm sure you know how to operate your vehicle, and I've seen some of you fit your Suburban in spots where only a Jetta should fit. I have no doubt of your technical ability.
However, many of you are rude, and sometimes downright mean. When someone has their blinker on, especially when traffic is hardly moving, then it is common courtesy to let them in. Not doing so, especially if it means nearly running them into a pylon or off the road, is just plain mean. Similarly, getting all up on my rear bumper isn't likely to make me go faster or get out of the lane, especially if I'm not in the passing lane or I have a tractor-trailer in the spot where you'd like me to move.
Many of you also violate the law. In Virginia, the speed limit designates how fast you are permitted to travel. State law recognizes no instance where you may lawfully violate the speed limit, unless you are an emergency vehicle or cop. You are also forbidden from passing on the right. When you drive the way that most of you do, you put those of us who actually obey the law at risk. If you have children in your car, then I think you ought to be charged with neglect for driving the way many of you do. If you are pretending to be a Christian and still speed, then I question whether you're actually a believer or not. I'm upset when cops are going at least 70MPH (the maximum speed in Virginia is 65; also, cops and emergency vehicles may not speed unless their lights are on), and even more so when they fail to pull people over whom they know are speeding. Look: either raise the speed limit to where you actually believe it should be, or obey the law. Allowing people to drive over the speed limit is a pretty dirty thing to do, since you allow them to believe that they may speed and then pull them over whenever your podunk town needs more money. It's fundamentally dishonest, and I don't like it.
The law is the law. Either obey it or work to change it. Until it is changed, though, you still need to obey it. I'm upset that so very few people obey the law, though I should expect as much in a fallen world.
ALSO: Would it wrong for me, as a Christian, to put a sign on the liftgate of my truck that says: "SLOW DOWN, You're Not That Important?"
