“TAILGATING, Turn Signals and Driving Slow in the Passing Lane”
I learned to drive 55 years ago. I have never had an accident that was my fault, and I finally got a speeding ticket after 23 years of “never getting caught”. I had a Five Star rating with nearly 6,000 Lyft rides. I used to say that Colorado drivers were great drivers and not like the aggressive maniacs I had encountered driving in LA or Texas. That is no longer the case. I am not sure whether it is the influx of “foreigners to Colorado” or “too many rats in the maze”, but we no longer have any claim to being superior courteous drivers.
I began to notice during my Lyft career that driving began to feel more like one of those arcade video games where you careen through the streets of a city trying to survive. I now drive three days a week— a 122 mile round trip to Greeley where I get to play “Frogger” on I-25. If I want to take my spiritual temperature all I have to do is listen to my self talk as I am commuting on toll roads, interstates, and county roads. I will start with my biggest issue:

1–TAILGATING— The #1 offender of folk who roar up behind you when you are already going over the speed limit are over sized pick-up trucks. They come within four feet of my rear at 80 miles an hour. They put on their brights and basically say “Get out of my way I am an important white guy”. I am just a geezer with Pioneer Plates. I know this is a stereotype, but one I will stand by. The other tailgaters are often driving those road racing cars with overly loud exhausts. I admit I love to ‘pin them in’ and pace myself with the car on my right where they have to wait until I decide to let them by. Yes, it is ‘passive aggressive’ and I enjoy it.

2–TURN-SIGNALS—They are an amazing invention. They are to be used when changing lanes, making a turn or entering or exiting the road. I am amazed that some folk never learned to use them. They draw a bit of my WRATH and ire when they think I can read their mind. It’s impossible to read the mind of someone who has no brains.

3–DRIVING SLOW IN THE PASSING LANE— By this I don’t mean going the speed limit or a bit over. I mean driving in the left lane at 60 when the speed limit is 75. They act oblivious if you pass them on the right, which if MK is with me, will draw her ire at me.

So I am trying my best to “stay in my own lane” and not let these other drivers mess with me. I have taken a pledge—when the tail-gaiters race up behind me— move gently over and pray for them. The other folks are just “mindless Kadooblers” .
Onward and Upward, Mark