Vehicular Musings...

I love sleeping with the windows open, letting the cooler night air in, hearing the last birds and frogs settle into sleep, and even the hushed hum of a random car going by is soothing. Until it's not so peaceful.

Eleven o'clock last night, three separate deployments of emergency vehicles streaked by, lights and sirens in full blare. There went sleep for quite some time. I understand I live on a main road, and I also applaud a quick response to emergent situations, but omygoodness... the sirens. Usually, it's only lights, and I don't notice, but sirens that late? The sirens are, I thought, to warn folks to pull over out of the way, but at that hour, there's usually no traffic at all. Whatever the case, I hope all is well with the situation. 

There's been a lot of MVC reports this summer; some have been due to poor roads after the heavy rains, and at least one lately was a collision with a moose. The others, crashes and roll-overs, are not so easily explained. I've seen how people are not paying total attention while driving; it's not just the texting issue (though there's still plenty of it, and it's not young folks, either). It's people in cars and trucks just heading in whatever way they want, regardless of whether it's safe or even possible. I was on Main Street the other day, and traffic was super slow due to some paving and so on. Main Street does not fully bifurcate until much closer to the lights; there's parking along both sides, and it's one-lane for most of the way. That said, some dimwit from Massachusetts in a white minivan just pulled out of her parking spot and decided to ride next to me. There was not a lot of room, but I accommodated as best I could-- and this is only one of the weirder incidents. U-turns, backing out of a side street into traffic...those "oops, I need to make a better decision" moments are rampant. Defensive driving is the watchword.

I'd like to say that this is all due to summer heat, people being tired or stressed, or the ongoing construction or paving, but it's not, really. Yes, those things are part of the overall issue, I'm sure, but people have been driving in willy-nilly fashion for quite some time. I noticed a real uptick in this type of thing during and right after the Covid lockdown; it's like people forgot how to drive, and just went. It's a general lack of both civility and common sense, and it's not young people who are just pointing their cars and hitting the gas. If a person is not capable of paying full attention, then they ought to stay home, find a friend to drive, or call a cab. I don't want to be part of someone else's bad decisions. 

I don't have answers, but I sure hope we are all a lot safer on the roads. To be honest, most of the time, I'm happy to not go where the masses are headed-- I lose my temper and it ruins my outing. That all said, I finally settled back to sleep last night, but I had slightly sad and confusing dreams, none of which are likely, and none of which, in the early light of day right now, matter. I'm a little bleary, but coffee will help. I have no real plans to go anywhere today, and that's fine. 

Maybe coffee later. We'll see.

C