Pay attention to the road

I swear I’m aging a lot quicker than I’m supposed to. 

On a daily basis, I witness rude, moronic, and downright stupid driving in Regina.

It’s remarkable how frustrated I get with all of the horrible drivers out there today. Maybe it was the hot summer sun that got to me, but come on, does anybody know how to signal? Stop? Learn the rules of the road? Even go the speed limit?

I’d hate for this article to be a recap of how to drive for people, but sadly, some need it.

First, let’s talk about signaling, quite possibly one of the most frustrating and dangerous acts some forget to do while driving. You don’t flip your signal light on to remind yourself which lane or street you’re turning onto. Signaling is intended to let other drivers know where you’re going. Oh, and the split-second signal and cut-over on the Ring Road doesn’t count. Also, just because you signal, it doesn’t mean you’re automatically entitled to claim that spot in the lane as your own personal driving property. 

I’ve personally experienced this danger while driving.  One day, a truck decided to signal and automatically move over, forcing me to slam on the breaks and decelerate from 50 to 30 just to avoid getting hit. Another time, I was driving on the Ring Road and a vehicle was stuck behind a semi. Instead of signaling and waiting for me to pass on the left, the van insisted on cutting over blindly at 60 to cut me off, yet again, forcing me to hammer on my breaks.

The signal lever is right behind the steering wheel. I don’t understand what’s so hard about signaling. This should come as naturally as putting on your seatbelt on when you enter your car. I just can’t seem to grasp what is so hard about flipping a lever up and down. 

I also can’t grasp what is so hard about coming to a complete stop. You can go for your license when you’re sixteen; you don’t need Physics 30 to operate and stop a vehicle, although some sure as hell seem like they do. When you see that big red sign with bold white letters that says “STOP’,, it’s quite simple – fucking stop.

Every day, I witness people failing to come to a complete stop and trying to race other drivers through the intersection. Four-way stops and stop signs are intended to guide traffic through a mildly-busy intersection. It’s like these people see a stop sign as a yield sign. I have no idea where people have to go that they can’t take three-and-a-half seconds to come to a complete stop and wait their turn. 

Oh, and apparently a yellow light, which is an indication to quickly proceed through the intersection if possible or stop, apparently means to some people, “Speed the hell up through the busy intersection.” This is not only dangerous, it’s pure stupidity.

Moving on.

I drive from northwest Regina to the U of R every day There’s an unspoken rule that the left lane is the fast or passing lane.  There’s always one bad driver who feels the need to go 80 in the left lane. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, except more times than not, the driver ends up essentially blocking off both lanes to pass.  What tends to result from this happening isn’t the slow driver acting like a moron, but the aggressive driver deciding to ride the ass of the slow driver, hoping to get them to move out of the way.  You’re a car lengths distance away from the driver in front of you going 100 – do you really think you can stop in time?

If the slow driver wasn’t completely oblivious to their surroundings in the first place, the driver would learn to check their rear-view mirror once in a while and get in the right lane

Then there are school zones. Can’t anybody actually slow down to 40 when a sign clearly states it?  People have their doors open and children don’t know any better and can run across the street. Some people need to ease off on the wannabe Ricky Bobby persona for a kilometre or two and get their heavy foot off the pedal.

One last thing.

What I’m about to talk about next is hands down my Number 1 pet peeve to witness while driving. Brace yourself, because this bugs me a lot.

Texting while driving is illegal. There is a law in place since Jan. 1, 2011, clearly stating you cannot text while driving. While I drive, I look around at the other drivers to see what they’re doing and, honestly, I feel the most unsafe driving around someone who has their head buried in their lap, looking at their phone. 

Regina is not that big. In fact, it isn’t big at all. It takes 15 to 20 minutes, maybe 25 max considering construction, to get from one end to the other. I just don’t understand why somebody can’t wait till they’re at least parked to text or make a phone call. At lights, I can see that little bright light shining in someone’s car and, as the traffic begins to move, they have a delayed reaction time, ultimately holding everybody back behind them. This has got to be one of the dumbest, ignorant, and absolute facepalm resulting things someone can do while driving.  If the text or call is urgent, then pull over.

Now, despite the anger, rambling, and rule- citing, I truly feel like people quite underestimate the amount of danger they put themselves and others in while driving. But, I must say, not everyone is a bad driver. And hey, I don’t know what happened during someone’s day that possibly put them in a bad mood to drive horribly. Just think before you get behind the wheel if this is the case. Who knows, maybe you can avoid giving me another batch of grey hair at a young age.

These rules aren’t made to make someone’s life miserable, they’re made to keep you and everyone around you safe.

And, if you choose not to follow the rules of the road, possibly an out-of-window middle finger will remind you.

Colton Hordichuk
Contributor