Driving - mainly in California.

OK - I've had it with what I've been seeing out here of late. Let me tell you what I'm seeing wrong, and hopefully it can get fixed. I've been told I should open a driving school, but there are problems with that idea:
1) I'd want to make it mandatory. Sooner or later, if you want to get or keep a driving license, you'd have to go through the class.
2) It would be taught in English only. All the signs here are in English, all the cops speak English, and English is the working language of this country. Learn it - quick.
3) People will fail the course. Either through sheer incompetence (don't bother trying again,) failure to learn English (learn it and come back,) or through making enough mistakes that they'd need to be retrained (go get the primary training again, then come back.) If you fail, you don't get your license - or, if current, it is suspended until you manage to pass.
4) There will be, I'm sure, people who will not be able to pass the course. We need to reduce traffic on the roadways anyhow, y'ask me (you try driving in this mess! Every time I have to go out during commute hours, I'm in danger of a psychotic break from dealing with everyone.)

So, what all is happening that shouldn't be - or what is not happening that should be? Let's touch on some highlights:

- A STOP sign is a STOP sign. Wherever it is. Chances are, it's there for a pretty decent reason (usually due to foot traffic in parking lots - often around a corner that you can't see. Stopping forces you to go around the corner slowly.) This means you stop. Period.

Oddly, the worst offences for this that I see are in hospital parking lots. I suppose if you're going to get hit by a car, there are worse places than a hospital parking lot - but getting hit by a car has little to recommend it. It's happened to me a few times, so I've got a pretty good idea what I'm talking about. Let's try to avoid this one, shall we?

- In America (as with most of the rest of the world) we drive on the right side of the road. Not on the left, not down the middle, on the right. Yes, even if the roadway lanes are not clearly marked. The only exceptions to this are when a one-way direction is posted - drive on the right, pass on the left. There are typcally arrows indicating which way you should be driving down that particular road, either on the road proper or on signposts. Pay attention!

- Likewise, we do not park on a line for a parking space - we park between the lines. You may be a small person - I've nothing against small people (I have a known fixation on small women, in fact,) but not all of us are small. If I have to push your vehicle out of my way, I will. Don't be surprised if this happens because you couldn't be bothered to fit in between the lines. In case you hadn't guessed, I'm not a small person...

Likewise, note well that a full-size pickup truck, van, or passenger car is not a "Compact" vehicle, nor will it ever be. If you stick out past the end of the parking space three feet, back out of it and find one that fits you better. Laziness is not an excuse. Ditto if you park on both lines in your space - if that happens, your vehicle is too large for the space and you should find a larger one.

- Bicyclists: I've no objection to sharing the road with you - I'm on a bicycle at times myself (my doctors are all after me to lose some weight.) However, know this: if we're all going to play in the same sandbox, we all need to play by the same rules. If I have to stop at a STOP sign or a red light, you have to stop at the sign or light. If I have to have lights on at night, so do you. (I need to see you to avoid you. Wearing dark colours and having no lamps or reflectors on your bicycle is just gagging to be hit. I've been hit by a car while on my bicycle as well - I got lucky. I can't guarantee you the same luck...) It's simple - if you're on the roadway, you're a road vehicle, and you have to follow the same rules that other road vehicles do. Why? Because this means you will behave in a predictable manner, and that means you will be a good deal less likely to be hit by a motor vehicle!

Also note that wearing the silly styrene helmet is not proof against getting hurt - paying attention to what is going on around you is. You're not the only person on the road, nor are you likely to be. "Share the Road" cuts both ways.

- On that latter note; no-one in a motor vehicle is the only person on the roadway, either. People who drive like they are all alone cause the most roads incidents (I hesitate to call them "accidents" - very few of them are truly accidental, and almost none of them are mechanically caused. Most roads incidents are caused by a negligent lapse.) Look around you if you're going to do anything besides drive straight and level - and keep your attention around you if you're doing that.

- Changing lanes: use your turn indicator (I'm psychotic, not psychic) and turn your head and look. I quit counting how many times I've almost been wiped out - in a car, in a truck, or on a bicycle - by someone who couldn't be arsed looking around. If you do use your turn indicator (thank you!) bear in mind that it doesn't automatically clear the lane for you. I want to give you some space, but I need to have the space to give you.

- More on lane changes: one lane at a time. If you miss your freeway exit, take the next one and turn around. Believe me, it's safer to do that than to dive all the way across the freeway. I've seen this cause roads incidents more times than I'd care to admit to.

- When driving: Drive. Anything you're doing that is not driving is a distraction. I've seen it all - reading newspapers/magazines, yapping on the cellphone (DWY - Driving While Yapping,) text messaging! - putting on makeup (eye makeup offenders are the worst) - men shaving their faces, and even women shaving their legs (she had her foot up on the dashboard so she could extend her leg.) The maximum distraction I'm willing to tolerate is taking a drink of something-or-other - I don't even like to eat while I'm driving. I can do it - but I prefer not to.

Guys, you're in command of a 3,000+-pound effective guided missile. This thing can kill people when it hits them. Do you want to be responsible for ending someone's life?

- Speaking of which: 'way back when, when I took Driver's Ed in high school in the Midwest (out here, it's a farkin' joke. Both of my boys took it, and I'm not sure why...) we had one thing hammered into us - when driving, you are responsible for your vehicle, everyone in it, everything that happens to it, and everything that happens because of it. Period.

So why for can't anyone tie a load down into their pickup truck properly? Gardeners are the worst offenders at this - with contractors close behind. I get the twitching awfuls every time I see an unsecure load in the back of a truck, and I've dodged an amazing array of stuff that bounced or flew out of the back of a pickup truck. If you're in a box truck, there's a reason that it's illegal to drive around with the rollup door open.

Obviously, the tickets for this offense aren't large enough. Don't depend on the weight of something to hold it in your truck bed. As they say in Australia - "Tie me kangaroo down, sport." If it's not in an enclosed cargo area, tie it down nice and solid. I'm tired of dodging mattresses and bookcases, dimension lumber, plywood, rubbish bins, and the occasional lawnmower! A good rope can be had for just a few bucks, chain only costs a bit more.

- Motorcyclists: I'm not talking so much about the cruisers on Harleys, Indians, or other touring bikes. This is directed toward the "rice rocketeers" zipping about through traffic and making a nuisance of themselves.
1) Ducking/weaving through traffic isn't the greatest idea in the world. Doing so when traffic is moving is less bright. Doing so at 95mph when traffic is doing 60 or so is downright stupid, bordering on suicidal. Please stop - you're making me nervous. I never know what you're going to do. Just like the bicyclists - same sandbox, same rules.
2) Splitting lanes. I'm not sure why this is still legal. "Same sandbox, same rules" - if I can't do it, why should you be able to? You make me nervous doing this as well, since you always zoom up from behind. You're just about always doing traffic +20 or so - dumb. Besides, you already get to use the HOV lane lone-handed (that damned HOV lane ends up costing me money - because I get stuck in traffic when I need to be somewhere.)
3) Slow down. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I know the Interstate freeway system was designed as an unlimited-speed roadway, but speed limits have been imposed. It's damned near suicidal to zip around at top speed when people are stuck at 60-65 - "Same sandbox, same rules." Go to the drags at Laguna Seca or Sears Point if you want to get speed out of your system. I don't see us instituting Autobahn/U-bahn style traffic regulations and speed limits anytime soon (since it would take a massive shift in driver training to make it work, and it's training that would have to have been in place for 15-20 years before the first change is made.)
4) Bear in mind, we can't always see you. Drive your motorcycle accordingly - you'll live longer that way.

You know, it's occurred to me that most traffic laws have been passed for one or the other of the following reasons: 1) The "least common intellect" needs to be protected from itself. 2) Everyone else needs to be protected from the "least common intellect." 3) The "least common intellect" needs to be protected from everyone else.

The solution is simple - don't allow the "least common intellect" to drive. Driving a motor vehicle is a permitted activity - meaning that a test must be passed and a permit issued in order to do so. The test has become too simple for people, training is too simplistic, and I've found that incompetent instructors and careless evaluators do not make for the most highly-qualified individuals when all is said and done. This system needs to be fixed - and fixed soon! When I first came out to California, I was amazed at the number of roads incidents I saw in the small amount of freeway between San Jose Airport and NAS Moffett Field. As I've got more years out here behind me, that attitude has shifted - I'm amazed there aren't more, given what I see of people behind the wheel.

Just about every vehicle out here has a loose nut behind the wheel, and it's high time we tightened them!

Introductory Post -

Well, looks like I've finally broken down and done it.

Granted, I never said I'd never have a blog, but it always seemed like a silly thing to me - most of them that I've seen are of the "Look at me! Look! LOOK!" variety, but I'm hoping I can do it differently.

I'm not after padding my ego - I try to keep my ego in check. What I want to do is take what I see, what I hear, and what's going on, and apply a little rational analysis to it. Think of this as part "Uncle Jay" and part "Robert Heinlein" - with a little bit of Diogenes the Cynic thrown in as well. (But no Zeno of Cittium - I'm not a Stoic, I'm a Cynic. I'm not good at just accepting things as they are...)

Update schedule? If and when. It really depends on what is going on, and how often it's happening. I could update this thing nine times a week, four times a day - or a few months could go by without a post. It's up to the world as I see it, not up to me.

But, I have a feeling that I'll be updating fairly frequently due to Obama's presidency, and the Democrats being in control of both houses won't hurt anything, either. To quote Will Rogers - "I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." Some humour just writes itself, you know?

"In the house of the rich man, there is nowhere to spit but in his face." -Diogenes