It does not matter how many times you are told that you need to share the road, there are still those moments you cannot help but wish every other person's licence could be revoked and you would not have to deal with them. Some days it feels as if everyone passed his or her driving test by the skin of their teeth, and any lesson taught in the driver's manual was thrown out the window. Even with every curse word screamed behind the wheel, no one seems to be getting any better, and that leaves me to list a few of the drivers we all hate.
The Crawling Car
This is likely the most hated of the terrible drivers. This person is the one who blatantly ignores the speed limit and takes it upon himself to go about ten miles under. Is there a hazard no other driver can see? Is this driver's gas pedal stuck and they cannot go any faster? Maybe it is some warped reality where, in their mind, they are flying down the road and everyone else is trying to catch up. Either way, you find yourself gripping the steering wheel until your knuckles are white and the sneer on your face is almost permanently plastered on. It does not matter how closely you drive behind them or how quickly everyone else is going, this driver still feels no need to pick up the pace.
Typically this driver takes the form of an elderly man or woman and always manages to get in your way when there are too many cars passing in the other lane and you cannot get over, it is a single lane and there are seven more cars behind this turtle, or you are running late and are forced to watch every minute tick by with every five feet you finally get to move.
The Slow Starters
To go along with these little annoyances that always tend to make you late, there is that person sitting at the red light in front of you and, when it finally turns green, it takes an eternity for them to hit the gas. You would think that everyone is anxiously waiting for the light to chance and that when the opportunity comes up to get back in motion, they would jump at the opportunity. I know I live to be that first person out. And yet, there is always that guy who just sits there. Either they were on their phone, changing the radio, or they went off into Wonderland, but no matter the reason, they never move until you are screaming your face blue, or a lovely horn has brought them back down to reality.
The Speed Demon
This is when we all become slight hypocrites. You hate any one who is driving the actual speed limit or under, but once you notice that there is someone else driving faster than you, sometimes you find yourself asking, "Do you really need to be going that fast?" Fairly often, it is a very valid question, though. There will always be that one car that feels the need to be going at least twenty miles over the speed limit. In some areas, it can be forgiven, like on a parkway. However if you are on the highway or in the neighborhood, all you can do is roll your eyes at the unneeded speed. Apparently they get their thrills by flooring it and expecting everyone else on the road to just get out of the way. These lovers of the fast life can be found in muscle cars that really have no place being there. Sure, they can go over two hundred miles an hour, but what use is that to them when the highest the law allows drivers to go in most cases is fifty to sixty?
The Keep You Guessing Drivers
This driver has a special place in your heart. This is the driver that, despite having full knowledge that their car has it, refuses to use the turn signal. To get your licence, that blinker had to be used at every single moment, even when it was early in the morning and you and the instructor were the only ones on the road! And yet this driver believes that feature was only ever available during their test and that switch in their car is solely for decoration. After that, it is anybody's guess when they might turn up to surprise you. It could be when you are on the highway and they feel they need to switch into your lane. They might be twenty feet ahead of you or they might be two feet in front of you. They still think it is fair game to slide right in. They will then either weave back into the other lane and continue in this zig-zag pattern for the next few miles or they will turn immediately into the jug handle you are just passing, thinking there was no need for them to get in this lane earlier to be ready for this jug handle.
If you are not on the highway or parkway, you might be driving around the neighborhood and this miscreant thinks it would be a good idea to keep you on your toes. You will be cruising down the road and they will come to a stop, causing you to slam on your breaks, or they will whip left or right, still making you break, so they could make the turn that they probably should have given you fair warning about at least a block and a half ago. You are then left screaming curses, honking your horn as a complaint, or letting your hand leave the wheel to give a well-deserved middle finger.
It does not matter how many uneventful drives you might have, soon enough the inconsiderate come out and you are left to question why you even got behind the wheel in the first place. However, when reminded of the hardships in public transport, you would take your car any day.
