Drivers that brake for green lights _____ (fill in the blank) ...

Drivers that brake for green lights _____ (fill in the blank) ...

This is my Seattle drivers rant.

I started writing this post a few months ago in response to Ken Schram's silly and sarcastic brush off of a legitimate issue that affects public safety, cell phone use while driving ...

I spent several years working auto insurance claims - cell phones were regularly the problem and the direct cause of accidents leading to serious injuries, even fatalities ...

I am a firm believer that laws should only be passed regarding behavior that places others safety and lives in jeopardy; the screaming "Fire!" in a crowded theatre example. I think anti-smoking laws count. Cell phone driving, especially text messaging, counts; this is not an example of government holding our hands. Cell phone use does not just effect the driver, it causes and creates dangerous situations. Drivers should be driving. I am not talking about always having hands at 10 and 2, but to be holding something that takes away attention from the road is dangerous and cars are lethal weapons. I will fess up to being guilty about using my cell, but I put it on speaker or use an ear piece when available.

My rules of the road rant:

"Try!" This is what I yell at cars that stop for green lights and stare at green arrows.

Yellow flashers are not red flashers. I got really mad at a car that wouldn't pass a public bus that was pulled onto the side allowing for a passing lane - public buses are not school buses that you can't pass by law due to flashing red lights. Public buses put on yellow flashers as a warning and pull to a separate lane in order for you to go past them because they are not supposed to hold up traffic.

Turn signals equal intent, they do not give a car actual right of way.

On that note, if you have ROY, use it, if not yield it - waiving people on is not being nice, it is confusing. People think that they are being nice. "Nice" is to drive the way you are supposed to. This especially applies to crossing lanes, when one driver stops and speaks for another lane, where they cannot see or tell what is going on, causing t-bone accidents. The car that waves people on do not get hurt and are not legally accountable, yet they are the ones who are actually responsible in the real world sense.

Double turn lanes are not that hard to understand.

I don't expect people to speed, I expect them to be interested in getting to their destination.

A car stopping or slowing to 20 on Highway 99 while looking at stores is dangerous. The car going half the speed is as dangerous as the car going twice the speed in that instance.

I am fed up with the cars that don't understand 4 way stop rules ... 4 way stops slow down traffic so badly it is not even funny, I take alternate routes to avoid them.

When it is foggy don't use your brights.

My biggest pet peeve though is the car that goes around another while merging, preventing the front car from merging easier and essentially cutting them off. It is something that bothers me more than almost any other driving situation ... although the car waiving a car across traffic and speaking for a lane of traffic that driver is not in is a very close second place ...

I am done ranting for now.