Monkey See, Monkey Do

My daily route to the freeway takes me past the front of my local fire
station. And morning rush hour traffic is usually crawling as I pass
by. So, I get to the limit line before the driveway of the fire
station, stop, and wait until traffic in my lane has advanced far
enough that I can cross the driveway without stopping.

Today, like most mornings, drivers in some of the other lanes don't
have the good sense to do what I do, even though it is now required by
the (CA) vehicle code.

While I'm stopped waiting for my clear space, a driver in the adjacent
lane saw what I was doing (stopping with a few car lengths ahead of
me) but clearly did not understand why. So he stopped in the middle
of the fire station driveway, even though there was enough clear space
ahead of him to proceed beyond the driveway.

He was mimicing my action, but with no understanding of the reasons
for my action.

Monkey see, Monkey do.

wrote:

> My daily route to the freeway takes me past the front of my local fire
> station. And morning rush hour traffic is usually crawling as I pass
> by. So, I get to the limit line before the driveway of the fire
> station, stop, and wait until traffic in my lane has advanced far
> enough that I can cross the driveway without stopping.
>
> Today, like most mornings, drivers in some of the other lanes don't
> have the good sense to do what I do, even though it is now required by
> the (CA) vehicle code.
>
> While I'm stopped waiting for my clear space, a driver in the adjacent
> lane saw what I was doing (stopping with a few car lengths ahead of
> me) but clearly did not understand why. So he stopped in the middle
> of the fire station driveway, even though there was enough clear space
> ahead of him to proceed beyond the driveway.
>
> He was mimicing my action, but with no understanding of the reasons
> for my action.

I believe that people who drive like that have no license, couldn't get one
if they tried, and have never even seen the Driver's Handbook much less read
it. Has anybody ever seen any reliable statistics about the number of
unlicensed drivers on the road? My guess would be something like 20% in
some areas.

--
Cheers, Bev
-----------------------------------------
"Not everyone can be above average so why
shouldn't we be the ones to suck?"
--Anonymous School Board Member

The Real Bev wrote:
> I believe that people who drive like that have no license, couldn't get
> one if they tried, and have never even seen the Driver's Handbook much
> less read it. Has anybody ever seen any reliable statistics about the
> number of unlicensed drivers on the road? My guess would be something
> like 20% in some areas.

I don't know how many drivers are unlicensed (though I'm sure the number
is going up, both because of illegal aliens and because states now take
licenses away for several non-driving-related reasons). But according to
the insurance people, 40% of all drivers are uninsured, and another 50%
carry only the minimum (15/30/5 in CA, the lowest of any state, and it
hasn't gone up in the 30+ years I've been a licensed driver). Be afraid,
and be sure to carry enough uninsured/underinsured coverage on your policy.