Texting and Driving Is Stoopid!

Some people are stoopid*. And dangerous. Stoopidly dangerous!

Don't text and drive! Especially if you have a flip-phone.
(Photo courtesy of the website Pixabay.)
(I did not take a picture of the woman who was texting while driving, because I was actually paying attention to the road.)

Yesterday I was driving with my family. We went on a little weekend getaway and were on our way back home. It was a long drive, and we all just wanted to get home safely. Since we had all six of us in the van, I was driving in the carpool lane.

There are two solid lines that separate the carpool lane from the rest of the flow of traffic. Posted frequently along the freeway are signs that say, "Do Not Cross Double White Lines." There are not signs that say "Do Not Straddle Double White Lines," because that really should go without saying, shouldn't it? There are also no signs saying, "Do Not Weave In and Out of Double White Lines" for the same reason. And yet....

We were almost home when we came upon a black Volkswagen Passat that was straddling the double white lines. Then the car would ease back into the lane where it was supposed to be traveling. And then it would veer back over one of the double white lines. Then both white lines. Then back into its lane.

We followed this vehicle for a few miles, then I decided I wanted to get around it and get some distance between it and my vehicle, before it wandered into me. I waited until one of the moments when it was actually in its proper lane, then attempted to pass it. Of course it immediately drifted back over one of the double white lines, and was almost at the second white line when I honked my horn to let the stoopid driver know I was there. The Passat swerved back into its own lane again, and I was able to get around it.

As we passed the Passat, my wife took a look at the driver. (I would have looked, too, but I've found that while I'm driving it's usually better if I pay more attention to the road than to what the idiot who almost crashed into me looks like.) According to my wife, the driver of the Passat had her cell phone in her hand and, even though I had just honked at her to get her out of my lane, was paying as much attention to her phone as she was to the road.

Passat: Without the p, second a, and the t, all you're left with is an....

I sped up to put a little distance between me and the Asshat Passat for safety purposes. Over the next several miles, I occasionally glanced at the Passat in the rear view mirror. Yes, sure enough, she continued to weave out of her lane and straddle the double white lines several more times. Eventually she drifted over a couple of lanes in the other direction and exited the freeway. I was glad to see her go.

It all seems kind of humorous now: the driver of the Passat was an idiot, and I got all angry and wrote a story about it. But, it wouldn't have been so funny if that irresponsible jerk had actually hit another vehicle because she was more focused on texting than she was on driving!

So, don't be stoopid! Put the damn phone away and drive!

(*Yes, I realize I've been spelling "stoopid" incorrectly. I'm not that stewpid!)