It’s a bittersweet time of year. While I am ecstatic about the success of the Lion’s Club garage sales, I am infinitely annoyed by the reckless behavior of drivers during the sales. I’m assuming (actually more like hoping) that none of what I am seeing on the road is the result of a Woodburian behind the wheel.
In the past couple of days I have seen countless cars run red lights, three illegal U-turns, two illegal lane changes through intersections. I saw a young woman cut into oncoming traffic into a far lane (illegal), and lose control of her vehicle. I’ve also recently heard stories of people shaving, brushing their teeth and even eating a bowl of cereal while driving.
I have been ranting as of late about the rules that govern the driver’s license testing process, mostly calling out the fact that you can get a license even if you can’t read, or speak, English. Now I feel the fool, because the problem that I see right now is much grander than a language barrier.
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It’s a catch 22, because if I had it my way, I would lobby for tighter enforcement of traffic laws, and retesting, to weed out drivers that seem to conveniently “forget” the rules, or are ignorant to new ones that become law. The reality is that budget and tax base generally doesn’t pay for public ideology.
A little traffic lesson on the violations that bother me the most:
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- Move over for emergency vehicles - This includes road maintenance vehicles with flashing lights, highway helpers and tow trucks!
- It is illegal to pass on the shoulder - Recently, Washington County and Woodbury officials had entertained performing a traffic study of sorts, related to the dangers of passing on the shoulder, along the south end of County Road 19/Woodbury Drive. Yes, it’s a problem!
- It is illegal to run red lights - This one needs no additional reasoning.
- Observe and obey the street signs - The no “U-turn," or “no turn on red” signs are usually posted where visibility is limited; maybe not for you, but for oncoming traffic.
If you would like a quick refresher course on driving in Minnesota, check out the manual, you may be surprised by what you don't know. http://www.dps.state.mn.us/dvs/DLTraining/DLManual/DLManual.htm
After that, consider taking a free practice exam here: http://driving-tests.org/minnesota/minnesota-permit-practice-test/
Feel free to post your results – be honest!
All said, the moral of today’s rant is: PLEASE, pay attention when you are driving. If you are not the cause of an accident, you could still be victim to someone else’s inattentive driving.
