Sunday Seven #295

How are drivers in your community? If there anything like the drivers where I live, you have this secret wish to be a cop for a day so that you can pull over all of the bad drivers and really make them pay!

If that’s how you feel, this week’s topic is for you. I found a list of the top 10 moving violations. You can use it to help you come up with ideas if you need them.

Thanks for playing!

• Be sure to check back this week and click on the links of bloggers who play along in the comments below! It’s a great way to find blogs you may not have visited and to keep the conversation going!

Here is this week’s “Sunday Seven” question. Either answer in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your blog (with a link here), and then comment here with a link back to your blog so that everyone else can visit! Permission is not granted to copy the questions to message boards for the purpose of having members answer and play along there. Enjoy!

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
Name the seven most common moving violations you see committed by drivers with whom you’re forced to share the road.

Oh, my... where would I start?

1. Tailgating, always the biggest offender and the most offense unnoticed crime committed on the streets on a moment-to-moment basis. It makes me crazy that when I am driving at 70 miles an hour, some horse's patoot is right on my ass, so I can't even see the grill!

2. Musical lanes. This never ceases to amaze me. I tend to drive a little fast - comfortably at 85 miles an hour. But I only do that in the fast lane of major highways. I do NOT ever play musical lanes when moving at that speed. Too many dangerous variables are only one dangerous area of doing this. Usually people moving at high speeds cannot effectively know where all the other vehicles are.

3. Motorcyclists who don't follow the laws. I love riding on a motorcycle and completely understand why others do It is exhilarating. But there are too many who spoil it for those who do love it - and blatantly. Motorcyclists who drive in between lanes of cars in traffic is the thing that pushes other motor vehicle drivers bitterness about it and then they are not cautious about any of them.

4. People who try to take the shoulder to bypass traffic. There are too many who do this, too. It's one thing to take that emergency lane ten feet before you have reached the line where it is legal to get over to take it. It is quite another to try that when the exit is two miles away. I find that I will drive half in the slow lane and half in the shoulder so no one can pull that crap. I watch to make sure there is no one using the shoulder and keep a watchful eyes for cops (they are authorised to use that lane), but anyone else should just suck it up and enjoy the music.

5. Throwing the vehicle in reverse to come backwards down the exit you just took that wasn't the right one. When did THIS become okay?! I cannot tell you the number of times I've seen this - or, even worse - a motorist comes to a dead stop in the fast lane of Route 80 and then throws it in reverse to take the exit missed! How does this not just want to make you scream?! It makes me scream, usually out of naked fear!

6. Distracted drivers. I'm not saying we don't have moments where we distracted or a bit distant from the task at hand. I've had those days when I got into my car and then as if 25 minutes hadn't elapsed, got out of the car wondering how I got there. But then there is staggering amount of stupid things I see. The most common -and dangerous - are the women who apply their cosmetics in the rear-view mirror while driving but the more shocking was reading a newspaper, reading purchase orders, working a calculator and with one foot sticking out of the window.

7. People who don't use their turn signal. Even my father does this - he changes lanes without signaling. There are a lot who don't use it to turn, either, but my father is not one of those. But legally one who is changing lanes on the highway should signal - and not while making the change but before they move. It seems to be a pet peeve, though, because a lot of people don't agree with that one.

Bonus answer: I stop at intersections if the light is green but the lane is full and there is no room for me unless I sit in the intersection - it is illegal to block the intersection. If the light changes then I am in the right place. If it doesn't or the lane begins to clear before the light changes, then I will move up.

Secnd bonus answer: If a light turns yellow and I have space, I stop. I do NOT ever run red lights. But it blows me away when the light changes and the line wasn't moving very fast but four or five cars go through the ensuing red light. WHAT?!

There are not just seven answers - or top answers - for some questions!