People either don’t know traffic laws or don’t care to follow them, but regardless, driving on public roads involves driving near other people. I’m here to inform you of traffic laws and the Golden Rule of driving. Here’s a list of traffic laws that people regularly break in the name of being an inconsiderate jerk.
Warning: the following content may appear to be quite angry, and that's because it is. I am not attempting to target any particular person or group of people. Reading this article may result in secondhand road rage but is also meant to inform and to make light of a frustrating life situation through the usage of memes and other media.
1. Use your blinker.
I don’t know if not using your blinker is some kind of fad that I’ve missed out on, but people don’t use their blinkers anymore. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been driving at a normal speed on a two lane road, only to have to slam on my brakes for some unknown reason. The car in front of me seems to have parked in the middle of the road because it isn’t moving. After a minute or so, the car decides to turn left without warning. Using your blinker can prevent you from being rear-ended and can prevent you from looking like an inconsiderate *insert obscenity here.*
2. Go AT LEAST the speed limit.
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, as most of the time, college students drive in a hurry because they're late for class or eager to beat the line for Moe's Monday, but maybe there are few old souls out there that think driving below the speed limit will protect them from an accident. In reality, more accidents happen because of people driving to slowly than because of excessive speed.
3. On highways, use the left lane properly.
The left lane is a PASSING LANE. Slower traffic is supposed to ride in the right lane, and when someone is riding in the right lane and wants to go faster than the people in that lane, that person can USE THEIR BLINKER and get into the left lane to pass. This brings up another issue. If you can't resist the need to ride in the left lane because you're going to be turning left in 10 miles or whatever reason you may have, make sure you're at least going faster than the people in the right lane. You should not, and I repeat for emphasis, YOU SHOULD NOT be riding next to the person in the right lane. I'm sorry. That's not how this works. In Georgia, police officers can now pull people over and ticket them for riding too slowly in the left lane on a highway.
4. Stay in your lane, aka don't fall victim to "distracted driving"
Text messages, Snapchats, Facebook notifications, Instagram likes, etc. can wait until you get to where you're going. Put your phone away and drive your car. I can assure you that posting your #throwbackthursday while driving isn't worth potentially killing someone or yourself because you were too distracted to notice you had driven into oncoming traffic. This doesn't just apply to phones, though. Get up 10 minutes earlier, so you can comb your hair or put on mascara while at home instead of when you're driving. Stoplights seem like a safe haven for phone usage and other distracted activities, but the line of cars behind you are going to be very upset when you are the only person who gets to go through the green light because you were too busy texting to notice the light had changed.
Be a smart driver. It is difficult to focus on the road sometimes, but you have to do it. Make good choices and remember the Golden Rule of driving: don't be a jerk.
