Today I’m directing my article towards those of you who, at
least to my line of thinking, have little patience for those of us who are in
the twilight of our lives and still have to live in your world. There was time
when I too, uttered an oath to my wife about the old fart in front of me on the
highway who was going barely the speed limit. “They should give him a ticket
for going this slow,” I muttered. To make things worse she didn’t always agree
with me.” You see for some reason I was living in my world and didn’t care to
know the reasons, this old fart was holding me up.
Most people drive the speed they are most comfortable at.
For some that is barely the speed limit and for others that is at least ten to
fifteen miles an hour over the limit. I’m not comfortable driving that fast, so
I’m an impediment to those who wish me off the road. I can either make you “the
speeder” happy and have an accident or I can make sure my partner and I get
there in one piece. I have when travelling tried to stay out of others way, but
that’s not always possible, as when you are on a two lane road. To be sure I
don’t want to be the cause of an accident either, so I do try to go the legal
limit, which I think in the eyes of the law, was supposed to be the fastest you
should go anyway and not the slowest you should go, before the guy behind you
has a melt down.
I tried once, as an experiment, to set my cruise control at
the maximum speed limit on highway 25 from Brainerd to Foley. Every person who
came up behind me passed me, including a patrol car. It’s not a safe road to
pass on in most places so I finally relented and kicked it up a bit before I
caused a wreck. I drove to Florida on Interstate 75, which is three lanes. I
camped out in the middle lane and everyone passed me on both sides. Until there
was a wreck and then we all sat still.
Now I know, I have all the time in the world, or at least
some people think I have. I get no credit for judging the correct amount of
time for my trip and leaving in plenty of time. I have noticed in my years of
driving that the biggest problems for traffic jams are accidents. Accidents
that would never have happened if people were driving safe for the conditions.
Now we all sit and wait because you were in such a big hurry.
Modern navigation systems make planning your route a whole
lot easier and have helped seniors a lot with their driving and especially when
you are driving alone. But technology is still no substitute for being alert
and aware of what is going on around you. Like the dimwit that is driving three
feet off your back bumper weaving in and out looking for the slightest chance
to pass you. He will be the one that will be right beside you at the next red
light you stop at.
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