Friday, December 04, 2009

I blame the parents

My daily drive to work includes a small stretch along a road that is crossed by students on their way to the local elementary school. It never ceases to amaze me when they - frequently - fail to look for cars as they cross.  Worse, yesterday I watched as a teenager, with tiny tots in tow, crossed the road without looking.  Here's a supposedly responsible person, or at least someone deemed responsible by the parents of the smaller kids, blindly leading these kids across a street.  Sure, I know my car is relatively small and quiet, but that's not the point.  You look, because your other senses can deceive you.

My parents, and those of my peers, drilled into our heads from a very young age the importance of being careful when crossing roads. "Look both ways" was the refrain. I can't help thinking that this failure is at least partly due to the overwhelming emphasis on making everything safe these days. In the UK, it's disparagingly referred to as the "nanny state."  I'm a good, safe driver, so there's no way I'm going to hit these kids.  But that's just me.  A lesser, or impaired driver, is going to kill these kids one of these days. Perhaps that's why there are are so many roadside memorials.  Could it be that parents are no longer teaching their children the basics of safety?

Friday, July 31, 2009

Ah, car alarms. Useless for deterring car theft, they do however provide wonderful new ways to annoy people. I was recently - and unavoidably - on a BC Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria and as usual decided not to do battle with the surging crowds of tourists on the passenger decks, preferring instead to stay in my car and read or nap. But as usual the relative peace of the car deck was shattered by car alarms going off every few minutes. There are only four possible reasons for this to occur: first, the car owner may not have realized that ferries move around a lot and will almost always set off their alarm. Hard to believe someone could be that stupid, but no, on second thought, it isn't. Second, they may have enabled the alarm automatically, without thinking at all, as we do with so many of the repeated tasks in our lives. This is actually almost forgivable, if not for... Third, they don't realize that their alarm probably has a silent alert option. Fourth, they know damn well it will go off, but don't care, because they are a jerk.

After enduring this symphony of idiocy for a few minutes, I gave up and started making my way to the upper decks. On my way, I encountered a BC Ferries employee and made a joking reference to idiots and their car alarms. I should point out that I had often wondered why there are no signs on ferries telling people to disable their alarms. Anyway, he admitted that there is a strict BC Ferries policy against telling people not to enable their car alarms. That's right, staff are not allowed to tell these idiots to stop being so incredibly annoying. Apparently their crack legal staff decided that BC Ferries might be liable if someone with a disabled car alarm had their car stolen on a ferry. Scratch that: where would the thief go with the car? So it must be that BC Ferries doesn't want to be liable for theft of items from within cars with disabled alarms. And hey, they may be right. Still, I very much doubt a small-time crook would pay $60 for the privilege of working a two hour ferry ride, running around as fast as he can, cracking open cars, avoiding numerous travelers and staff, then dragging his loot back to his car and stuffing it in his trunk. And of course, unless he pays another $60 to wait in line for a couple more hours and ride again, he'll be in the wrong town. Sorry, I just don't buy it. Sure, corporate lawyers have to come up with something to make themselves appear useful, but is this the best they can do?

Years ago I lived in Toronto in an apartment building. My windows faced away from the major streets, so it was relatively quiet at night. Except for the idiot who came home from the night shift every night and - at 4am - enabled his car alarm with that loud, oh-so-familiar squawking sound, thereby waking up hundreds of people in the vicinity - including me of course. What this idiot failed to realize is that most car alarms can be enabled silently. Or possibly he knew damn well that this was possible but was just a huge asshat. Or he knew, but was sure everyone who heard it was actually impressed with his toy and secretly jealous of it. None of these options speaks well for this turd.

Now, a quick survey: when was the last time you heard a car alarm and did anything besides a) ignore it or b) groan and cover your head with your pillow? Never, right? What does this say about the efficacy of car alarms? I mean for the purposes of dealing with car-related theft, not for annoying people. So why are people still using the wretched things?

Now, for those interested (and for those of you for whom much of this is news), here are some links to car alarm information that may help you avoid being beaten to death after you smarmily enable your car alarm in the middle of the night - for the last time:
Steering you right: Car alarms
Wikipedia: car alarms
Alarmingly Useless: The Case for Banning Car Alarms in New York City

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

A senseless death

Last week a member of my extended family was hit by a car while driving his motorcycle. He sustained serious injuries to one leg and several ribs. His prognosis was good, but died a few days later. The person in the car that hit him had been drinking, and ran the light in the intersection where this occurred. The light was red. This driver of the car has taken full responsibility.

Now, I'm not saying it's okay to drive when you've been drinking. Or that it's okay to run a red light. But most people hearing this story would focus on one or both of those things as being the causes of this tragedy. I disagree. The cause was lack of attention. If you read this blog long enough, you'll find that this is a running theme. In fact, I feel so strongly about it that I believe we could get rid of most driving-related offenses, keeping only two: dangerous driving and careless driving. Because when you really look at it, these are the root causes of all motor vehicle accidents.

Take the driver of the car in this case. Drinking tends to dull one's senses, so she was at a disadvantage right away. However, I maintain that if she had recognized her disability, she could have compensated by driving with extreme care and focus. And even if, by some stretch of the imagination, she still felt that she needed to run a red light when she knew she was impaired, if she had at least paid proper attention while approaching and moving through the intersection, she could have easily avoided the accident. You may insist that without knowing the details this is purely speculation, but put yourself in her place and go through it. Leaving aside her poor decisions, if she had at least been paying due attention, two lives (and possibly more) would not have been destroyed.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

This PSA about paying attention when you are driving is required viewing, in my opinion. The second part about speeding is less interesting.

Monday, March 30, 2009

If only I could get away with this...

Today's XKCD is a perfect reflection of how I feel about people who are unable to park properly. Check it out.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Idiots all around me

I'm back. Moved to Vancouver and goofing off between jobs. Which means I'm not driving much, so I didn't think I would have much to say here. WRONG. Almost every time I do drive, someone does something around me that is just retarded. I'm posting this because today I was driving home after doing some shopping, and witnessed something so ridiculous that I could hold my tongue no longer.

Here's the setup: I was approaching an intersection between two major roads (four lanes all 'round) and wanted to turn left. To get to the left turn lane, I had to first change from the curb lane to the center lane, so I signaled and slid in behind Mr. I. OwnTheRoad and his wife. I sized up Mr. O. immediately: slow-moving, hesitant; yes - elderly. He was driving significantly slower than the limit, but I wasn't concerned, since the turn lane started in a few car lengths and he would no longer be able to annoy me (hopefully forever). Still, I sensed something in his wobbly movements that caused me to wonder if he intended to turn left as well.

The entrance to the left turn lane arrived, but no signal and no positive movement to the left by Mr. O. For safety, I allowed a couple more car lengths of the left turn lane to pass, then concluded I had been wrong (it does happen) and Mr. O was not planning to turn after all.

I signaled left, moved into the left turn lane, and - hoping to get to the intersection soon enough to trigger the advanced left turn signal, I moved promptly past Mr. O. to the sensors before the light changed. I patted myself on the back: nice job!

But what's this? I hear a loud honk. I look around, trying to determine its source. I check the rear view mirror. Could it be? Yes! It's Mr. O! He's vigourously wagging his head and pointing at me, clearly indicating "yes, it was me that honked, and I honked at you!"

Lately, when something idiotic happens on the road, I try not to get enraged and instead work on figuring out what, exactly, the idiot involved was thinking that led to the event. But in this case, I'm stumped. What did Mr. O. think I had done wrong? The only way my actions could have led to any danger would be if Mr. O. had failed to notice my signal or my movement into the turn lane and crashed into me when he moved left. By the way, he never signaled, at least not in my view. I can only assume that Mr. O. feels that he should be able to do anything he wants on the road, no matter how stupid, but that this right does not apply to anyone else.

As the advance turn light flashed, I pulled away from Mr. O., shaking my head slowly in disbelief. I glanced back to see him gesticulating to his wife, apparently explaining why he was so upset. I can understand her confusion.

P.S. My sister wants me to mount a camera in my car to record these idiotic events. She says every time she's with me, someone does something idiotic in front of me (indeed they do) but that she's never seen anyone do these things in her previous experience on the road. I guess she's saying I'm somehow cursed. Oh joy. Well, at least I'll have something to blog about.

P.P.S. It just occurred to me that perhaps Mr. O.'s rear left turn light may be burned out, which still wouldn't exactly make him look like a great driver, but at least it could explain his anger. Ah, but I doubt it, since he also failed to use his signal at the intersection. The mystery remains.