Freeway Rant

Okay - I give you that in Oregon I usually pull out on Highway 5 without a car in sight. It's a family joke to quote my step-dad. "Damn this congestion!" I admit I am spoiled on a daily basis a far as having to deal with traffic. The biggest traffic jam we have in the spring is when a mama duck decides to take her brood across the road to the next pond!

But - I learned to drive in California. I drove the freeways for 30 some years. I commuted from L.A. to the Pomona Valley during rush hours. I'm not a novice.

I complained to my kids about the freeways in Utah. Especially between Salt Lake and Provo. I apologise. Utah drivers have nothing on So. Calif. drivers. Holy crap! Six lanes of traffic and you get run over doing 65 in the far right lane! I mean - run off the road! I've had a CHP (California Highway Patrolman) pass me like I was standing still while I was going 70 mph - and he wasn't chasing anyone. No one slowed down.

The surface speed is one thing. I can handle driving 65-75 in a freeway situation. Straight down the road. But there are the "Ricky racers" weaving in and out of traffic, from far right to far left at super-sonic speeds! Cutting from the lane on your right, across your lane, into the lane on your left - with only inches to spare. I was afraid to roll down my window for fear one of them would try passing through THAT to get to a faster moving lane!

I used to say that no one in So. Calif. used turn signals. They consider them a sign of weakness! A REAL driver never declares his intentions ahead of time. That would give the other drivers the opportunity to cut you off. Which is exactly what happens. If there was an opening you wanted to move into - and you signal that you are moving over - I guarantee that the space will evaporate when the driver behind you sees your intention. In fact, he MAY just cut into the six inches in front of you just to show you who is boss and immediately slam on his brakes to keep from hitting the car ahead of him.

And never, never, never pull out in front of the speeding car coming up on your left - two miles down the road. For some reason it is a sin to use your brakes when your horn is still operational. No matter how much advance notice might be given.

There is this fundamental difference between Oregon drivers and Calif. drivers. It involves the use a lane that is being eliminated. The highway posts a "merge left" sign. In Oregon, at the first indication that the lane is ending, all drivers evacuate that lane. And God help you if you stay in it and try to merge at the point where it tapers down. They form an solid wall and you will wait until the line of traffic is past or until some Christian person takes pity on you.

In California, seeing a "merge left" sign is considered a free invitation to cut off as many people as possible. I have seen drivers go from the far left land to the far right lane, just for the chance to pass up the backed-up traffic. Doesn't matter if you planned on getting off there or not - a free lane is a free lane. And they use it down to the last half inch. If you try to stop them from cutting in front of you, there is the risk of getting your front bumper re-designed. It's their right! They plan to use every advantage to get ahead of you - even if it's only by two inches. He who arrives first wins.

I'm too old for this crap...