Day 11

Something I hate?  Easy - being tailgated.

I'm not a scared, overly cautious, driving-5-under type of driver.  I do, however, make an effort to stay under 5 over, because I really don't need a speeding ticket to up my insurance premiums.  Let me say that this is often very hard for me - I LOVE to drive fast - but I just don't want to risk it, because I tend to get caught when I take risks like that. 

Everyone's been tailgated before, and some of you may even be habitual tailgaters.  If you are, let me just say it's not appreciated, and it's not going to get you to where you need to go any faster.  The most you're going to manage is an increase in your blood pressure and putting yourself at a significantly increased risk of creating an at-fault accident. 

My problem is that, being the tailgated driver, my blood pressure also skyrockets, and I start thinking of brilliant ideas like slamming on my breaks and screaming out the window, honking the horn and other such nonsense. 

I try to relax and tell myself it's not my problem, but if there's an accident (not because I slammed on my breaks to release my pent-up road rage, but for some more legitimate reason), it does become my problem.  It's all well and good that the other driver will get the ticket, but I still have to deal with the inconvenience of getting to work late, having to get the car repaired, dealing with insurance stuff, etc.  I've been there before - having my car hit by another car without me in it made for a pretty easy determination of fault, but was still a major headache I had to deal with.  I had to drive a broken car around for a week or so, then I found that the other guy's insurance booked the appointment with the rental agency for a week later than the appointment with the auto-body shop, making it necessary that I spend the next two weeks driving around in some stupid minivan.  (It's one thing if you have kids and you drive a minivan; it's another thing entirely when you're 21 years old, childless, and sporting a minivan as you drive around town.)

I was tailgated just a few months ago on Wasatch Blvd - right at the foot of the mountains - in the early morning on a very snowy, wet day.  Guess what the vehicle was?  A BUS.  Like it would have been no big deal for me to get slammed into by a city bus because the idiot driver didn't care to keep his distance - especially on a day when the road was slushy and icy.  I admit, I gave in to some of the road rage and slowly decelerated, then when we were going nice and slow, I stuck my arm out my window and waved it back several times.  Then I sped back up to the speed limit.  The bus came right up behind me again.  I kept driving for a little while and then the blood pounding in my ears made me decide I would try to get the message across again, but it didn't work this time either.  I'm not so full of pride that, had there been another lane to choose from, I wouldn't have moved over to let him pass, but there was only one lane.  I realize now I could have pulled over to the side of the road to let him pass, but that didn't occur at the time.  Made me crazy mad.  Next day I called in a complaint to UTA, giving them the time of day, the route, and the bus number. 

Clearly my potential for minor/moderate(?) road rage hasn't been eliminated, despite my efforts so far.  It's gotten a little better as I've gotten older, but I still have to force myself to settle down a little when stuff happens.  I better work a little harder.

Or maybe I should just do this with my car?  Apparently the guy who designed it couldn't be charged with anything, since this kind of thing is not against the law.....