going on about "kids these days." (so what else is new)


Friday evenings driving home from work are generally the worst from a traffic congestion point of view. The hideous design and endless cycle of construction "improvements" on Connecticut highways are major contributors. But last night was worse than most. Turns out there were three accidents in about a five mile span. All three were caused by similar actions-a driver taking an unsafe action to resolve what to them was an untenable situation. Like potentially missing their exit.

The highway where this occurred is a four lane, limited access, divided highway. But this is Connecticut, not Montana. If one misses their exit, they are not required to drive another forty miles to find another, turn around, and go back. In most areas of Connecticut, it is not uncommon to have exits every half-mile. One or two miles between exits is the exception rather than the rule. Yet it is commonplace to see drivers attempting to exit the highway from the extreme left lane or even stopping and backing up rather than simply going up to the next exit and turning around. The risk/reward on actions like this is out of sight. As is the stupidity quotient. Yet it is a daily occurrence. Why? Is it actually possible that people reason that being 10 minutes late implies poor planning on their part, and hence blame, whereas being 5 hours late due to having a major accident is viewed as a being out of their hands and thus a legitimate reason?

Personally I think that anyone who causes an accident in this manner should have their driver's license revoked for a year. At least.