Bad Drivers

If a teacher can’t teach properly they get fired(or don’t get to teach to begin with), if politicians don’t work for the people- they generally lose the next election, if hockey players don’t perform well their value goes down and are traded, and if a pen doesn’t work properly, you throw it in the garbage. For many years now I wondered why bad drivers still freely roam the streets with confidence and bravery and nothing’s done about them.

Would you feel safe boarding a plane if you knew the pilot would be flying the plane like a joyrider? Or if the guy behind the yoke would be drunk?

For the past few years I’ve seen more and more people who can’t drive, or don’t want to drive properly. There might have been bad drivers since cars became common, but these days it’s so bad that you don’t know if you’ll come home in one piece or not. Not only do bad drivers cause accidents and drive you nuts they cause billions of dollars in lost gas (petrol), productivity and time, not to mention the toll they take on the environment and other drivers’ health.

I think the car is too good of a machine. If you try to misuse a band-saw or a lathe you loose a finger or two. But with a car you get away with way more until something happens to a driver. Newer safety improvements give the drivers a false sense of confidence and so they do even more stupid things which they might normally avoid.

Since September 2004 I’ve had classes in Richmond 1-2 times a week. The first day of class I just passed Shell Road going on Alderbridge and a driver lost control, went over the curb and off into the bush. A few blocks up a Chinese lady rear-ended someone on a red light. This was on a sunny day too. There were other accidents after that day in the same area. That 5 minute stretch of road is the scariest driving experience I’ve ever encountered. Most Richmond drivers have good expensive cars and when they hit people they do a lot of damage.

Its really funny when you have a ‘behmarri’(bad driver) in front of you, when you pass and look back, the person turns out to be a Chinese lady. The passenger sitting beside you says: Cheeni can’t drive. This happens far too many times. I guess that’s what happens when people come from a nation of bikes then one day decide to sit in a car seat. I’m not generalizing but that’s just how it is. Ask any Punjabi they’ll say ‘cheeni’ cant drive.

Punajbis aren’t much better. Most of the traffic disasters that happen at Khalsa School 3 times a day could easily be prevented if a few parents had some common sense. Most of the Khalsa School kids’ moms have huge SUVs which they can’t easily maneuver. I’m not saying that ALL Punjabi women are bad drivers. Khalsa School has some really good woman bus drivers who drive better than most men. Some Punjabi women also drive trucks! So not all women are bad drivers.

Most drivers, no *all* drivers ignore the crosswalk signs posted on Punjabi dominated Surrey streets and seniors just hope for the long wave of passing cars to stop so they could cross. I sometimes wonder how people pass their learners when they don’t know the first rule of the road is to let passengers have the right of way.

The 4-way stop is the one place where you need to watch out for trouble. It’s amazing how some people can’t learn the first-come-first-go rule. This is another place where people don’t let seniors cross. It’s in these areas where selfishness shines the brightest. It seems most people haven’t learnt from elementary school that ‘budging in’ isn’t nice. Its absolutely appalling when someone just drives off out of turn.

16 year old punks are another category that needs to be tackled by the authorities. One thing that happens to me all the time now is when the oncoming driver turning left tries to beat me to the green light when they don’t have the green arrow.

In the winter some really smart drivers forget to turn their headlights on and become invisible at night until they almost hit you. Others have one light out and don’t bother to check it looks like a motorcycles coming at you.

Winter is a really good time to observe bad drivers at their best. Most people don’t change tires with worn out tread. The look on a person whose car’s doing a 360 on an iced road is a classic. Its fun seeing people with 4X4’s when they slide and don’t know how to use 4x4 properly.

One sure sign of bad drivers are people who keep yapping on the phone while driving. If you cant end a conversation in under a minute, you’re a showoff! These people give the wrong signal indication before turning or changing lanes. Others don’t signal at all. Some are so engrossed in their phone conversation they lose all sense and drive 30km shower than the posted speed limit. Some pretend the lights still red until the person behind them honks at them. Life existed perfectly fine before cellular phones became popular. It still can today. PEOPLE WONT THINK YOU’RE COOL when you talk and drive EVERYONE HAS ONE!!

I’ve driven over 30,000K’s in the last 20 months alone and have been driving the day I turned 16. My driving record is spotless. I drive carefully. Other people I know have got their licenses taken, legs broken and others lost their lives just because of risky driving.

If you really want to take risks and drive recklessly grab an XBOX.

If everyone followed the rules of the road there wouldn’t be any accidents. Because of a few wannabe thugs everyone’s insurance rates go up. its really hard for someone like me to afford a car even though i'm not a part of the problem.

YOU can make a difference and make the world a better place for all- just by being a good driver:
*Anticipate the flow of traffic well ahead of you
*Keep an eye out for upcoming lights and adjust your speed accordingly
*Look at the crosswalk ‘flashing hand’ to indicate when the light will turn red
*Make sure your vehicles tires are on the sensors- rectangles cut into the road, they make the lights change.
*Don’t forget to shoulder check before changing lanes
*LET pedestrians cross- your father does not own the road! But your father may be a pedestrian waiting to cross
*Drive the way you want others to drive
*Oh and don’t buy something you cant drive properly**