Lessons from Stupid Driving Behavior

Why, why, why, why do the people around me continue to drive their cars in idiotic ways? Why, I ask you, why? Could it be just to give me fodder for blog posts and life lessons? Maybe…Maybe…

I was driving on a two lane road, behind a car in the right lane. I noticed that, about a block and a half ahead, the right lane was blocked by a double parked truck.

I like to have good driving etiquette, so I want to wait for the guy in front of me to switch to the left lane before I do (I don’t want to be the jerk who quickly switches lanes and strands this guy behind the truck)

But then an interesting thing happens. Or more correctly, something interesting doesn’t happen.

The guy doesn’t change lanes.

T-Minus one block away, and there is no other street for the car to turn off on to. There is plenty of room in the left lane. And the guy hasn’t switched lanes.

T-Minus 3/4 of a block away, and no lane change, no turn signal.

T-Minus 1/2 block away, and no lane change, no signal.

At this point, I am pretty sure he is either not switching lanes, or is just clueless. So I switch lanes and proceed on my merry way. The guy in front of me? He pulls up right behind the truck, has to come to a complete stop, turns on his left turn signal and then starts trying to switch lanes. At this point, there is some traffic in the left lane so he has to wait.

This behavior boggles my mind.

I noticed the lane blockage almost two blocks away. If I wasn’t trying to not cut the guy off in front of me, I would have switched lanes long before.

Did this guy not notice his lane was blocked? Did he not care? Did he just want to get an up close and personal view of the back of a truck? I have no idea.

Sadly, I notice this driving behavior quite a bit. It seems like so many drivers don’t pay attention to more than what’s 10 feet directly in front of their own car. That lack of awareness not only leads to slow, annoying traffic, but it can be dangerous. These are the drivers that don’t notice dangers and road hazards that could easily be avoided until it is far too late.

This mentality applies off road too. In your own life, how far ahead are you looking? In my experience, a lot of people have a tunnel vision, short sighted approach to their life. They don’t look far enough ahead to see easily avoidable problems until it is too late to do anything about it.

This is not a huge shift we are talking about. When it comes to driving, just lift your eyes and look a little farther ahead. In life, just periodically pay attention to where your life is headed, not just right now, but also in the medium and long term.

Remember, a little foresight can go a long way…