Signal Intentions . . .

Previously known as “What’s the Matter With Atlanta Drivers? – Part 4

 

What’s the fascination with traffic lights here? I understand that when traffic lights change from green to red, we’re all supposed to stop, but why is it so important to slow, sometimes to a crawl, when encountering a green light? Is this phenomenon anything akin to that of rubbernecking, where drivers slow down, against almost to a crawl, so that they can get an eyeful of anything that’s already slowing down traffic, whether it’s an accident or a road construction gang? And often, they wait so long to start after the light changes from red to green, I’m certain they’re calling their parents – or their pastor – for guidance.

Here in Atlanta, drivers have some really nice cars. I rarely see a car more than ten years old, and I usually see cars that were made within the last five years or so. So perhaps the reason people drive so recklessly is that they know they’re driving safer cars . . . But it bothers me, it really does, that with all these nice cars, none of the drivers thought to get them equipped with turn signals! Especially when they so often need to cross four or five lanes of I-75 to make their exit!

I mean, come on now. When a driver’s actions are predictable, they contribute to a safer driving environment for everyone around! If the driver ahead of you on a two-lane country road starts signaling right, it’s a safe bet he’s going to start slowing down – and you’re going to be prepared for it if you’re driving along behind him. Compare that with driving behind some clown who decides, at the very last minute, to turn right, either slowing down without warning (or apparent reason), or slamming on the brakes at the last minute. Either is much more fraught with danger than signaling a right turn, gradually slowing, and making that turn.

And if you’re tooling along the Interstate and your exit’s coming up, be proactive and slide on over to the right lane beforehand. If you find you’re in the left lane and passing your exit, don’t slam on the brakes and try to veer across four or five lanes of traffic! Instead, bite the bullet and get off at the next exit!

What’s the Matter With Atlanta’s Drivers?

I arrived in Georgia in 2003, and so let the record show that I waited a good long while, learning the habits and practices of the natives, before speaking up and writing this article in May of 2007. The problem is, it was more than 2,000 words when I first published it – I didn’t know then how important brevity is in online work! So I’m presenting it here in a few different parts, to make it an easier read.

Part 1

Woodstock, GA May 9, 2007: Look, I know the technical term for someone like me is “damn Yankee.” I’m a transplant from New Jersey, been here for just over three years. But like most Georgians, I have a vested interest in staying alive. But it seems as if every time I turn my key in the ignition, I’m taking my life in my hands!

So what IS the matter with Atlanta drivers? And are these problems unique to the Atlanta metropolitan area, or are they universal? I’ll tell you what – if they drove like this where I came from, there’d be a lot more fatalities. See, I come from the New York City metropolitan area, where there are three times as many people, probably something like two to three times as many cars, and perhaps half the roadway (measured in “lane miles”). There are always accidents up north, but they usually involve injuries. Here in the Atlanta area there seems to be at least one fatality per week.

Where should I start? How about at the beginning?

Okay, getting into the car. Seems as good a place as any to start, huh? Now, I don’t hang out in people’s driveways or garages, and so I can’t testify as to how they get into their cars there, but I do see their behavior in parking lots. And I see how they get into their cars. And let me tell you, it’s scary.

If you know me, you know that of the places on earth you’re likely to find human activity, I think parking lots are among the most dangerous, and airport and mall parking lots are the most dangerous of these. Imagine – acres and acres of pavement, with vehicles of all sorts driving all over the place, looking either for a place to park or a way out of the lot. Add to this confusing mix a constant stream of pedestrians trying to remember where they parked their cars. Sounds like a place where you’d want everyone on their toes, right? So why is it that the pedestrians, upon stepping into the parking lot, immediately start looking not for their car, but for their cellphones? And those who haven’t actually dialed and gotten engaged in a conversation by the time they find their car will stop at the point of actually getting into their car, whip out their cellphone and start dialing before opening the door to get in.

Now they magically transform from pedestrians to drivers. We all know that in a mall parking lot, the road markings and signs (the ones that say things like “Left turn only” and “STOP”) are there for guidance at best. Most drivers think they’re there as landmarks (“How do I get out of the parking lot?” “Okay, run down this lane until you get to that funny-lookin’ red sign there and turn left . . .”).

Given this deadly mix, I honestly don’t know why there aren’t more fatalities in parking lots, especially mall lots.