Morons in our Midst

This morning I was driving Sox to work, and the kids to daycare. We were heading along Catherine St to Esquimalt Ave. A car pulled up to a stop sign on a side street. I watched as the driver looked to her right, then proceeded to go all the while talking to someone in the car. She never looked left, the direction I was heading from.

I hit the brakes, and hit the horn. Visibly she whipped her head over to my direction and looked shocked. Yet she never hit her brakes, nor slowed. Glad I scared her.

Later today I was near Mayfair mall and I was wanting to turn right. The car in front of me wanted to turn left desptire two signs saying right turn only from 7am to 6pm. I honked and he glanced in the rear view at me. I hinked again and pointed right, then pointed to the sign. He pointed that he wanted to go left.

I know you want to go left, but you aren't supposed to buddy. It doesn't take a moron to see what you want. If you want to go left against a sign and noone is behind you, then I personally have no problem, but to hold up traffic while you make an illegal turn is moronic.

Jan 1 saw a new law introduced in BC. It is now illegal to drive and use a handheld device. To use a cellphone while driving, it must be completely hands free.

Today I saw a perfect example of why this law was needed. In a parking lot near a grocery store a car ran a stop sign, and almost got t-boned by a much larger mini-van. The car pulled over and stopped while them mini-van continued to honk. The driver of the car was on her phone the entire time, and completely oblivious to what had just happened. She never looked at the mini-van, and never put down her phone.

Yikes.

I see lots of morons while I am out driving. The clueless people scare and incense me. The truly idiotic almost put me into a rage.

On Esquimalt Ave there is a lot of construction these days. Where Catherine St meets Esquimalt Ave we've gone from a 3 lane road with a left turn lane, down to two lanes using lots of traffic cones. The traffic heading into downtown must pass through the left turn lane, which alway trips the advanced left turn.

The other day the Esquimalt Ave traffic had a red light. Since I was heading downtown I knew our traffic would get the go ahead due to the advance arrow. Sure enough, light goes green and my lane of traffic starts to go.

But so does one lone car from the on coming traffic! Totally oblivious, the lady ran a red. She went because she saw the oncoming traffic go. Thankfully nobody was turning left. She was the clueless person.

The car behind her pulled up to the stop line, stopped, looked around, then ran the red. What? I'm guessing they thought the lights were broken? This was the truly idiotic. Again, thankfully nobody was turning left at the time.

To the moron in the car on the Johson Street bridge tonight:

You were following way to close to the cyclist. That just isn't safe. I know she was riding slow, and I know she was hugging the right hand side of the lane instead of riding in the center, but that doesn't mean you have to badger her. Chill out.

To the lady in the Pathfinder-esque vehicle:

Not only were you too close to the cyclist on the bridge, but you looked like you were trying to pass. You were encroaching on my lane! I honked at you, and yet you didn't slow down and move over. What is wrong with you? Besides, what were you going to do if you had passed them? There was a long line of cars in front of you. See moron #1 above.

I don't know why, but when I am out on the roads, I seem to come across lots of morons.

Yesterday I saw this guy on a scooter running a red light. More than once. He turned right on to the road I was on without slowing down at all. I know he had a red then. He approached another light that was also red (the instersection of Head and Old Esquimalt). Instead of slowing, he turns right, then noticing there is no traffic, pulls a u-turn so that he is on Head, facing Old Esquimalt. He guns it and turns right to get back on to Old Esquimalt. The same a running a red.

Today while riding to work I was moving along at a pretty good clip and some car pulls out of a driveway to get into traffic. Only there isn't room so they hit the brakes and end up blocking the bike lane. I then have to hit the brakes and weave around them. A little later some truck stops in the bike lane and double parks so he could drop off his wife. I wanted to give him a mean look (oooooh), but he was shielding his eyes with his hand. He knew he was doing something he shouldn't.

On the way home today I was coming down a hill to an intersection and I had a green light. A cyclist decided to try and zip across the red, and through the traffic, nearly t-boning me.

Finally, as I was climbing a hill on Esquimalt Ave, a red and white taxi blew past me pretty quickly at less than a foot from my shoulder. There was a whole other lane they could have mover over in to, but no, he had to stay in his lane.

After experiences like this, it's

no wonder more people don't cycle commute.