Road Irrationality (Sub Title: Let's Complain A Little)
Irrational Fear: Driving next to a huge truck.
This is a two fold fear. One is that the driver of the truck won't see me, swing into my lane and smash me against the guardrail like a tin can. The other is that a tire wil explode and though I am not sure exactly how this will lead to my car exploding as well and also my demise. I hate driving next to trucks! If one is near my I will drive as fast as possible to get away from it. I know the liklihood of any of those things happening is small but hey, it's called irratiional for a reason.
Irrational Anger At: People who stop in the Fast Lane at the Tolls.
It's called a "FAST" Lane beacuse you dont' have to STOP. I'm not saying speed on through at 60MPH. But to wait in line to go through the fast lane defeats the whole purpose of it. Slow down, sure. But the sign says "15MPH" not "come to a complete stop as if you were going to pay a toll, it's fun I promise".
Irrational Annoyance At: School Buses
I know this makes me a bad person, but being stuck behind a school bus is pretty much the worst. I plan my morning commute so that I am off the back roads before the dreaded yellow buses appear. But when I am running late, and then get stuck behind a school bus that stops every other block on my very long street? I can't say that it doesn't make me hate life a little.
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13 comments:
After commuting to Boston for the past year and a half, I have a list of these annoyances as long as my arm. I totally agree with you about driving next to trucks - except my fear is that the truck will suddenly jack-knife, crushing my Toyota like a soda can. I'd be killed, and the truck wouldn't even have a scratch.
I hate school buses too.
I also wish death upon people who double park in the middle of the street (why don't they ever seem to get ticketed???) and now (thanks to Bostonians) I also hate pedestrians. Sorry, pedestrians, but if you run out in front of my car and I have the green light, I'm running you over. You have to obey the traffic lights just as I do. When I'm the one walking across the road, I look for cars because I don't expect them to look for me.
Agreed on the driving next to trucks. HATE IT. I have a bad habit of hallucinating that they are coming toward me and then freaking the F out. You know, for nothing.
No way dude it's not for nothing. Those trucks want to KILL US!
right?
This is *not* going to help but...
I was hit by a truck (way back when) on Rte. 128 in the exact way you describe. I was LEGALLY in the breakdown lane and he just 'faded' into me as I was right at this back axle. I was almost pushed over the side onto the train tracks below but my superior Honda (at the time) brakes pulled me back and saved me. Both mirrors blown off the car and damage down both sides-thankfully, car still driveable and I had to swerve and honk behind said truck to get him to stop, he didn't even know he hit me.
So, again, sorry-this isn't helping but I have the fear and I don't call it irrational. You're NOT irrational, you're smart to bomb on by them!
(PS When I did get him to stop he was like, "What?!!" I said, "Uh, you almost killed me!" Then he said, "Uh, can you not report me?"
Yeah, NO.
State Police arrived and he was cited...and I was ok.
I was once a passenger in a car and the driver didn't know how to use the Fast Lane. He basically stopped and the car behind us was going 60 mph and crashed into us.
So I am on board with that one!
holy crap ladies! you guys are making me feel way better about my "irrational" (or not so much so!) fears!!
have you ever been on the highway near a truck when it blows a tire? b/c holy shit, it will nearly give you a heart attack. i was on 95 coming back from maine in college when it happened, and luckily the truck was a good 500+ feet in front of me - but wow, it is loud and the tire gets shot up in the air like a fricking rocket. i'm sure it happens all the time, but damn it is scary!
I hear you on the trucks. I drove to Worcester yesterday afternoon - in the rain - and there were lots of them sharing the road with me. I, too, drove fast, as I'm always afraid they won't see me and change lanes.
Even though, most of the time, I'm in the passing lane.
I hate the Pike period, only because my arms are so short, I have a hard time tossing $ into the buckets/giving it to the collectors.
The first time I took the Pike, I misjudged the distance of the bucket and actually had to OPEN MY DOOR so I could get the change in. I bet the car behind me LOVED that!
As a teacher, I shouldn't even feel this way, but I hate it, too. Especially the stopping at every. single. house.
Jeez...when I was little, we had ONE bus stop for a large group of kids. What? Do they not want kids getting ANY sort of physical activity these days?!
Kate - I havent seen one explode BUT I have seen the exploded tire remnants on the side of the highway and they freak me the f out. some of them are like 1/2 the size of my car!!
BEG - I do the same thing in parking garages where you have to take the ticket! ha!
Hate the trucks (my irrational fear is being in front of one in traffic and that they won't stop and will come crashing into the back of my car so I'm a crazy lane switcher if I see a truck in my rear view), hate the fast lane stoppers and DEAR GOD the school buses. Seriously, what is with the stopping at every damn driveway?
re driving next to trucks: you should try that on a narrow german highway at about 75-80 mph ;) but i think in germany the mandatory checkups of the tires (trucks and cars btw) are a lot more serious and i honestly don't see half as many remnants of blown tires here as opposed to the US.
I totally hear you on the truck thing. My Jetta got crushed one day when a tractor trailer turned right (from the left lane) from the old Surface Artery onto Kneeland St. The guy didn't even see me, nor was he aware that he took out half my car.
Great blog, BTW.
I don't feel that any fear is irrational (expect Monk's fear of milk), so feel free to be afraid of trucks. I remember when I was learning to drive and had to pass a truck, for the first time, on the interstate with my driver's ed teacher. I white knuckled it and when we got past my instructor (40-something) said, "I hate passing them too."
When I get stuck behind a bus on my way to school they usually pull over to let me pass. But that is rural living. What I hate is getting stuck when the short bus is picking a kid up, because they never wait till the kid is at the door to turn on their lights and the kids are never ready on time.
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