Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Traffic Death Trap

I will be the first to admit that I am not the greatest driver. I will also be the first to admit that I used to talk and text on my phone while driving. But today, I think I've been reformed. On the way to work, my roommate and I were stuck in a traffic jam.

No, not this kind of traffic jam. Although I think I would like to try it (do you notice how it's red, yellow, and green? The flavors change too as you work your way through the jar, although I hope the flavors aren't gravel, exhaust fumes, and gasoline.). Our traffic jam was more like this:


As the passenger, I discovered a very entertaining game as we mosied along. I called it: "Safe or Not Safe." I would label each driver I saw as safe or not safe. It was an exciting game. Keep in mind that we were not in stop and go traffic, just an agonizingly slow crawl, so all the cars were still moving forward. Drivers in neighboring cars were moving forward as they performed many various acts. There was one activity that outnumbered them all. Ill gve u 1 hint:


Aside from texting and talking on the phone (not with an earpiece), people were eating, smoking, reading books and work reports, putting on makeup, playing with their gps, reaching around to their backseat, and many were doing several of these at the same time and EVERYONE was doing them while STILL MOVING! My Safe to Not Safe ratio was approximately 1:7. That's one driver who was choosing to drive as his only activity compared to the next seven drivers who were choosing to drive as their second or third activity. As I considered this ratio, I slowly began to realize that I was in a death trap. A 5 mile per hour death trap, but a death trap none the less.




So this is my public apology to any passing driver (or passenger) that I have ever helped feel nearer to death by my absent-minded driving habits. It is also my public promise that when I drive, I will simply drive.