And much bad driving ensued
We finally got what I consider to be a substantial snow yesterday. It's the first time I've seen proper snowfall all winter. It's been mostly bitter cold and windy, or raining and damp. Needless to say, I was very excited. There's even enough left on the ground now that sledding would be feasible.
Unfortunately, snow in Virginia seems to transform normally passable drivers into elderly grandmothers. It took me twice as long to get to class as it normally does. I grant that you should not speed when there is snow on the road, but even the hill that I live on wasn't bad enough to merit traveling below the speed limit. Over-cautiousness is as likely to create an accident as recklessness.
But maybe that's just the New Yorker in me talking.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:11am
Driving is one of the most common and seemingly mundane, yet potentially unsafe things we do. Many Virginians are just not very skilled at driving. Hey, I got it, when it snows ANYWHERE snow is rare, that can create a problem. It's the same in many Southern states. I am from Colorado and many people have the same problem there on the first couple of snows of a given year.
There are other problems in Virginia:
- Turn signal use. The "thing" on the left side of the steering column is a turn signal. Many Virginia drivers are either afraid or unaware of this device.
- Passing on the right on interstate highways and tailgating. Isn't this illegal in a lot of states? Many Virginians that want to pass you simply tailgate you rather than move over one lane to the left. Many pass ONLY in the right lane. You know, the right lane, the one we all use to go slow, get on and off the highway, right?
- Speeding. Yeah, everyone speeds, but here travelling 15-20 mph over the speed limit seems pretty common.
- Virginia is a "Southern" state with "Southern" hospitality so, if you explain to a Virginian how bad many here drive, they'll immediately "blame-shift" it elsewhere to out-of-staters, people from DC, or aliens from outer space for that matter. The simple truth is that many of these people lack simple driving skills and driving etiquette.
Wow, it felt good to get that off my chest--doesn't even matter if it gets read!
Virginia, you're a grand old state with lots of history, but you people SUCK at driving!