Where you live in the country or world will certainly make a difference in my questions to you, or about others. When I moved from the Chicago to California, I was shocked for how bad the drivers were there. That did not prepare me for how bad they were in Portland Oregon. Which in tern, did not provide any insight at all at how awful drivers could be until I moved to the renowned (actually!) friendly city Of Tucson AZ. However, I do hear that things do not get much better to the northwest in Phoenix.

For this post, I am only talking about driving a car. There are certainly other differences as well.

TRUE FOR YOU TOO?

Nowadays in Arizona, it is not unusual to have cars come up behind you at night an never dim their bright lights. It is not just inconsiderate, it is physically dangerous, blinding the driver in front and making them have to possibly maneuver in position to avoid the glare. That takes concentration off the road ahead.

It might have been this way for some time, but it was not always so in the past. I imagine it is all part of the self centeredness running rampant in a culture that has many feeling they are all on their own to survive, who cares about the other guy. You might be on the phone or talking, doing more important stuff than watching out for one another where it is most relevant in the moment.

Tucson was something like the worst city for light running in the nation. One can often see 5 cars making a left after the light has already turned green for the cross street. Tucson has at least a 3 second delay from red to green to accommodate slow reactions. The amazing aspect of this phenomenon is; you can go from intersection to intersection and see the same thing happen just minutes later. What are the odds that only people who turn left, turn without ever knowing if the light has turned against them?

For some reason, it is implied that a possible majority of drivers will do this; follow the leader and hope for the best. I have seen this happen a hundred or more times and never was there a cop. I have often seen gross moving violations with a cop right in the front of the intersection, and still no action. In 40 years of driving, I have never gotten a moving ticket, (one parking ticket the first year I drove to visit a sister at college and got a parking ticket for parking in a way I did not know was wrong. Ignorance is no excuse)

Then there are those always bright blinding blue lights.