When I first arrived into New York from North Carolina, or rather even when I drove over the New Jersey border from Delaware, I knew that I was going to have to put on my “other” driving cap because I knew that the drivers were going to be much more aggressive than what I had grown accustomed to in North Carolina.
Angry drivers are everywhere, and whether they want to admit to it or not, all that they do is make driving situations significantly worse for the rest of us drivers. I say that they make things worse because when someone is driving while angry, their driving is unpredictable. Often, they do not signal when they are changing lanes and the follow other drivers at a dangerously close distance. All of this driving behavior makes other drivers nervous and due to their nervousness, other drivers may attempt to get out of the way of drivers who are upset.
I was driving on one of the local roads on Long Island, New York a few days ago when I saw a driver behind me was impatient and drover recklessly around me and several other drivers who were driving approximately five to ten miles over the speed limit. He was obviously speeding, but he was also speeding in a school zone! I watched as he weaved in and out of the two lanes ahead of us in his sport utility vehicle until he reached an older driver. I could tell that his driving had made the older driver nervous, and in an attempt to get out of this angry driver s way, the older driver put on their turn signal and attempted to get into the other lane, out of the way of the enraged driver. However, unknown to the older driver, the angry gentleman made a snap move to go around the older driver at the last minute without any warning. He did not indicate the direction he wished to travel by turning on his turn signal, and the result was a near accident between him and the elderly driver.
At that point, I wished that there was a police officer who was nearby and happened to see what had happened. Failing that, I secretly hoped that someone else who witnessed this entire turn of events would call in this man s vehicle to the local police department. After all, what would have happened if that guy had hit the elderly driver? The elderly driver had done nothing wrong, but would they still be partly to blame somehow?
Angry drivers inspire overly cautious reactions in other drivers, which often leads to more harm than good. Weaving in and out of traffic as well as following other drivers too closely is not only dangerous to other people on the road, but it is also considered extremely reckless. If you find yourself behind another driver who is driving recklessly, the best thing that you can do is to just stay where you are. If anything, slow down just slightly so that they will driver around you. Then, if you feel so inclined, record the make, model and license plate of their vehicle so that you report it to local police officials.