Road Rage

Having discussed the joys of American car park etiquette a couple of days ago, my attention now turns to the roads themselves. Now, before i begin, let me first say that there are a number of bad drivers on the roads in the UK - and, i'm sure, in almost every country that has cars. This post is not intended to point the finger at American drivers and say that they are an exception to the rest of the world; it is intended to be merely some observations on American drivers in general. Having said that, i don't think i have been in a country where so many people use their cell phones and drive at the same time. Some of you may recall an earlier post where I recalled a number of near misses because of drivers to busy talking and not paying attention to the fact that i was crossing the road. Believe me, the same holds true when you're behind a steering wheel as well. Not only that, there are a good deal more people prepared to run red lights here - in the three weeks i have been driving regularly, at a number of junctions (sorry, intersections for all US readers), i have had to pull back because of people who think the red light doesn't apply to them.

The same can also be said for speeding. Whilst speeding is also rife in the UK, there are at least a couple of measures to crack down on it (speed cameras) - even if they are just ways of generating revenue for the government. Over here, there is nothing - and there seems to be little general enforcement of it (at least in the immediate Charleston area) but rather a couple of spots that are well known to the public are targeted instead (such as the Cooper River Bridge). One thing that ALWAYS struck me as crazy and dangerous (even BEFORE i got a car) was the number of people who seem quite happy to go out for a few drinks and then hop behind the wheel to drive home. On my walks to and from the downtown area, there were often some cars where the driver was clearly 'a bit tipsy'. In short, there seems to be an air of 'if you can get away with it, it's okay' in terms of driving in Charleston. As for me, given that my insurance was pretty high anyway (being an 'alien' and all), i'm certainly not going to be pushing the envelope as far as this is concerned. I'll just have to restrict myself to cursing loudly at anyone who cuts me up. At least it gets rid of my aggression!!