Impatient drivers cause impatience in others
by Shannon Harrison, ne news editor

     Driving to school recently, I was once again sitting in a traffic jam. How familiar I was with this scene—the third I had encountered that day, each worse than the last.
     Nothing in this world can be as irritating as driving down the highway with the road clear, thinking I have plenty of time to get to my destination, then suddenly having to slam on my brakes as I come to an abrupt stop. From that point, time slowly ticks away.
     It could happen at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. The time of day doesn’t matter; traffic jams are everywhere. Even when you think you can escape with a different route, you wind up smack dab in another that may be worse. I have been in so many traffic jams that I have put them in categories.
     Let’s begin with the basic category one. These annoying traffic jams occur when too many cars decide to take the highway at the same time. Then, because drivers do not want to let other drivers in, for fear they will be delayed, that lack of courtesy actually causes these category one traffic jams. If drivers could act more courteous, we might not wait in line so long.
     Next is category two. Almost as irritating as the first, this traffic jam occurs when someone is pulled over on the side of the road, which means out of traffic’s way. But nosy drivers slow down to see what is going on. Soon, you are once again stopped, and all because some people with no lives of their own have to stick their noses, if only briefly, into someone else’s life. It would be somewhat understandable if it were a disastrous car accident, but not when a person is stopped for speeding. Maybe, these people will now understand how much of an annoyance they are and instead of looking over their shoulder, will look straight ahead.
     Category three is the can’t-help-it traffic jams, caused by accidents. Now, I fully understand these situations aren’t planned, but not only are drivers disorganized in getting around the accident, but police officers are too at times.
     The few drivers who aren’t gawking at the scene, causing traffic to move even more slowly, are thinking of ways to short-cut through traffic and escape in a hurry. Wake up people; it’s not going to happen. If everyone would slow down and compromise, traffic could run more smoothly.
     The final, yet most irritating, is category four. This one happens when people cannot read or follow directions. When you’re driving down the road and a sign clearly states your lane is ending, it means merge into the other lane. It does not mean, drive all the way to where your lane ends, and viciously maneuver your way into the other lane.
     These people are the ones who cause the most traffic jams because they don’t care about the rules of the road. You are not in any more of a hurry then we are, and you are not more important, so follow directions. Otherwise, one day you’ll be the accident that people are gawking at.
     I was going to end here, but today I got in my first double whammy traffic jam on 820. For 10 minutes, I sat hoping there was a good reason for this standstill. Then, on the horizon, I noticed an arrow sign telling these wonderful morning drivers to get over. Immediately, I was over, but my fellow drivers did not care.
     When it was finally my turn to be next to the arrow, a driver tried to push himself in front of me, but I stood up for myself. I was not going to let him in. If he had followed the instructions, painted plain as day in front of him, he would not be stuck where he didn’t belong.
     Relief started to take over my body as I began to think that this was the end. However, the god of the road had another surprise in store for me. I still wasn’t moving. I couldn’t believe it; I saw a car accident on the right hand side of the road.
     It suddenly dawned on me that if you take categories 2, 3 and 4, you get a different category. So, just when I thought that I had run out of categories, I discovered the combining of categories. I hope I won’t come across one of these again, but with my luck, I’ll be stranded in one on my way home.