The traffic situation in Backroads has deteriorated significantly over the past several years. People are batcrap crazy! There is no traffic rule they won't violate.
When I left Country Mart on Monday afternoon, with my $3 scratchers (won $60 on one of them!), I took a little road that joins Country Mart to the main road I use to come into town. I wasn't going all the way to that road. It's hard to get out, with the traffic backed up at the light. I was only going to Dairy Queen, for some soft pretzels with queso sauce. This little road is a shortcut.
It's a road that has a mini mall on the right, with a Chinese restaurant, then my pharmacy. On the left side is a Convenient Care that sent me to the ER when I was almost dying of The Virus. There's a little road that comes across there, beside my pharmacy, entering into the Convenient Care parking lot. On the other side of that little road is the Dairy Queen on the right, and a Hardee's on the left.
This road is used quite a bit. There's no stop sign on it. But there IS a stop sign on the road that comes across by my pharmacy. It's sometimes hard to see if you're on that cross road, because of cars parked at the pharmacy.
On my way to Dairy Queen, I saw a silver SUV smaller than T-Hoe rushing up that cross road. I'm a suspicious sort. I don't trust anyone on the roads. They have a habit of not using signals, darting out in front of me, crossing the center line as they approach me, and falling asleep at the stoplights when they are not running through red lights. So I hovered my foot over the brake pedal as I approached the cross road, keeping my eye on that silver SUV.
Good thing! It did not even slow at the stop sign! Whipped right out in front of me, headed for DQ or Hardee's. Not even rushing to the Convenient Care! No emergency health issue.
I LAID ON THE HORN!
It's a warning signal, you know. Though I don't know that it did any good, since the car was already in front of me, my brakes jammed on, T-Hoe's bumper almost kissing that white SUV's bumper. I gotta say, slamming on the horn at least made me feel better...
That silver SUV turned into DQ and pulled up to the drive-thru line. I followed. Because that's where I was going. The women behind the wheel ordered two mini M&M Blizzards. SHE HAD A CHILD IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT! I could see that when she handed a Blizzard to it, its small arms reaching for the treat.
Seriously, lady. It's one thing to drive like a maniac when it's just YOU. But to put a child in danger is reprehensible. She left the parking lot headed the same way I was going. Making a left turn, proceeding back to the cross road, another left, another left, and a left at the stoplight to head out the lettered highway past the prison.
Well. How awkward. I'm sure she thought I was stalking her. It's not my fault she pulled out in front of me, and then took the same route I use to get home. I bet she was getting nervous by the time she crossed the high bridge over the big river. I was kind of relieved that she kept going when I made my left turn onto our blacktop county road.
I hope my honkage at least made her contemplate the error of her ways. In the very least, it let her know that I KNEW she ran that stop sign.
There are reasons that children should not ride in the front seat and that is how it became a law, but you already know that! It makes me crazy when people act so stupid with the most precious thing in their lives. One of the Pharmacists I worked with had two small boys, her husband is a doctor and the husband's mother cared for the children. They did not originate in this country and she got an ear full from me. Her baby was in the mother-in-law's arms, in the backseat, but the older child (3?) was left to climb all over the car, front to back, back to front, kicking the driver in the head and the whole scene was chaotic. I told her that she should feel free to fire me if she chose to, but that she had better get out the carseats and buckle them in, because I had her tag # and every intention of reporting her. How can you be so stupid? I asked her that. To her credit, she blushed deeply and admitted that she knew it was against the law, but her older son was hard to control and her mother-in-law would get upset if she tried to make him sit in a carseat. I was spitting mad when I witnessed this! I went on to tell her to practice her excuse so she didn't sound stupid when she told it to the judge!
ReplyDeleteWhat if you had not been so vigilant and rear ended her? The air bag could have deployed and killed the child in the front seat!
I'm sure this child should have been in the back seat, and most likely in at least a booster seat. While I was in line, I was trying to see how many people in the car, to judge how long their order might take. I only saw the driver's head. And the reaching arms looked small, like maybe a 5-year-old or less.
DeleteI could understand if she STOPPED at the stop sign, and pulled out in front of me while not able to see me. But she didn't even slow down!
It might have been a culture thing with the doctor's mother. I see people riding scooters holding babies on TV! Like on food shows or house-hunting. Forget the helmets and the car seats!
Tsk Tsk, some people will do anything for a blizzard I guess. even endangering their own children. If she'd had an accident you can bet she would blame everybody else for it.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how she planned to eat that Blizzard while driving. Maybe she had TWO kids in the car!
DeleteYeah, she would have blamed ME, even though I had the right-of-way with no stop sign, and she had a stop sign that she ignored.