Another sign that I'm no longer a "not-brash-enough" teenager is my travel habits. It used to be that no matter what time it was or how bad the traffic was, if I wanted to head out somewhere, I went then and zipped through city traffic in third or fourth(OK... 5th more often than not) or took a number in the jams.
I had passed this lost man on the way to Intrex today who was using the turn lane as a "I'm taking a call" lane(CRV still in motion), thinking, "Either arrogant or terminally absent-minded, he's going to be a problem to someone". About 0.5M later, I got into the turn lane, not even thinking that the 60mph phonebooth might still be around. I was watching the oncoming traffic passing me on the left. I don't know what drew my attention to the rear, whether it was the rear view or the side, but I saw that same champagne CRV not coming up on me, but in my back seat, reaching to change the station! The driver's head, turned 90 degrees right, had no idea where he was going, in more than one sense of the word.
It was one of those moments where you tense up and relax at the same time. "Holy crap" and "My computer's in the trunk(still has unresolved issues). I never thought of hitting it with a light SUV...." I remember taking my eyes off the car and looking straight ahead, waiting for the impact.
Next thing I know, a champagne blur passes inches me on the right, and that #$%@ $#@&@ is still on the #*@)$ phone!!! It was one of those moments where you swore the car must have phased through yours, because there's no way it could have passsed that close and not hit you. But I checked the car afterwards, nothing. I made a note to check it's rear for license plate, decorations. No fish, "god is my co-pilot", election stickers, Car Talk cell phone bumper sticker, or out-of-state plate. It did have a purple paw print for some school, but nothing discernable. It was an older gent, less hair on his head than I, and peppered.
[yule-tide rant]
What kind of... mental deficient... rides the turn lane for over HALF A MILE TALKING ON HIS CELL! I was almost more mad that he hadn't hit me, create another statistic that the vast majority of people(myself included) cannot drive safely, hold a cell phone to your head, and carry on a conversation important enough to ruin your(and very possibly someone else's) holiday.
Times like this makes me want a more standardized celluar system. I don't know if the EU's GSM has anything in this respect, but it'd be great if the FHA could mandate vehicles to carry a hands-free system that would use a standard interface for users to communicate. Mercedes and BMW has had it for a while now, and I think I saw an Acura ad for it as well.
If the celluar system can get to a point of maturity where having such a system wouldn't seem so much as a frill as a necessity, and people can converse on such a system with the same ease and familiarity as talking to someone next to them, maybe-maybe-maybe the FHA can think about developing a standard for all manufacturers to follow.
...Then the traffic let up enough for me to make my turn and my mind that I'm waiting till tomorrow to go home.
Merry Christmas!
Posted by Jeffrey at December 24, 2004 10:50 PM