His Highness the TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher
2011-06-01 13:45:25 UTC
First, a CONCERNED CITIZEN exposes the problem, then my wisdom
follows. It's rule of thumb...
Posted by coach
With all the MDW talk about taking away people's freedoms (which is
ironic, given what holiday it is), I thought I would air my own gripe:
driving.
I think that fully 50% of the drivers on the road are essentially
incompetent and should not be allowed behind the steering wheel of a
vehicle.
Annette got rear-ended today. AGAIN. This is the second time in just a
few months.
Not too long ago a friend of mine was hit and broke her leg. WHILE SHE
WAS STANDING ON THE SIDEWALK. Her BF, who was actually inside the car
that was hit, had to have staples in his head.
Within a day of that, two other of their friends were involved in
accidents (not their fault).
We need to take back the roads from the morons. This is my solution
(seriously): If you cause an accident, you lose your car. Period. Of
course, you lose your license, too, but they take your car. You are
not allowed to drive for 3 years, to start with. If you are caught
driving during that period, you go to jail. No questions. Start with 3
months, and move up from there.
We need MUCH stricter driving tests. Right now they consist of turning
left and right and parallel parking. (WHY they include parallel
parking is beyond me.) I would include a segment where you have a semi-
truck barreling down on you, and if you do not react properly, you
don't get your license. Etc.
When I was younger, I had an old geezer run me off the road. I was
going south, he was going north, and he turned left right in front of
me. I managed to avoid him, but broke the car when I slammed into the
curb. Why? "Because he did not see me." I'm the only car on the road,
coming right at him, in broad daylight. A bright red Chevette. And he
didn't see me. Obviously someone who does not need to be driving, but
still had a valid license. What if I had been some older person with
slower reflexes.
Driving tests need to simulate more real and more dangerous
situations. And they need to happen much more frequently, maybe 3
years. And penalties for moving violations need to be much stricter.
It's ridiculous out there.
***
It is ridiculous. This is my approach:
1 ticket = 1 finger, first the pinkie.
This is the rule of thumb: You can lose up to 8 fingers till you lose
your thumbs.
...
Seriously: Require stick-shift car for renewals and new licenses.
Automatic is dumb so you get dumb drivers.
follows. It's rule of thumb...
Posted by coach
With all the MDW talk about taking away people's freedoms (which is
ironic, given what holiday it is), I thought I would air my own gripe:
driving.
I think that fully 50% of the drivers on the road are essentially
incompetent and should not be allowed behind the steering wheel of a
vehicle.
Annette got rear-ended today. AGAIN. This is the second time in just a
few months.
Not too long ago a friend of mine was hit and broke her leg. WHILE SHE
WAS STANDING ON THE SIDEWALK. Her BF, who was actually inside the car
that was hit, had to have staples in his head.
Within a day of that, two other of their friends were involved in
accidents (not their fault).
We need to take back the roads from the morons. This is my solution
(seriously): If you cause an accident, you lose your car. Period. Of
course, you lose your license, too, but they take your car. You are
not allowed to drive for 3 years, to start with. If you are caught
driving during that period, you go to jail. No questions. Start with 3
months, and move up from there.
We need MUCH stricter driving tests. Right now they consist of turning
left and right and parallel parking. (WHY they include parallel
parking is beyond me.) I would include a segment where you have a semi-
truck barreling down on you, and if you do not react properly, you
don't get your license. Etc.
When I was younger, I had an old geezer run me off the road. I was
going south, he was going north, and he turned left right in front of
me. I managed to avoid him, but broke the car when I slammed into the
curb. Why? "Because he did not see me." I'm the only car on the road,
coming right at him, in broad daylight. A bright red Chevette. And he
didn't see me. Obviously someone who does not need to be driving, but
still had a valid license. What if I had been some older person with
slower reflexes.
Driving tests need to simulate more real and more dangerous
situations. And they need to happen much more frequently, maybe 3
years. And penalties for moving violations need to be much stricter.
It's ridiculous out there.
***
It is ridiculous. This is my approach:
1 ticket = 1 finger, first the pinkie.
This is the rule of thumb: You can lose up to 8 fingers till you lose
your thumbs.
...
Seriously: Require stick-shift car for renewals and new licenses.
Automatic is dumb so you get dumb drivers.