Road Rage: Part I- The People

In almost every geographic location, horrible drivers and horrible driving conditions can be found. Whether the circumstances are blamed on the weather or not, it can be incredibly frustrating to find yourself stuck behind the individual who is driving twenty miles below the speed limit. From the time I first found myself taking residence in the area I was impressed by the great number of wildlife and natural conditions. What I did not realize was that the area of Aroostook County is also heavily saturated with terrible drivers and driving conditions. To begin this short series regarding the wondrous conditions of driving in Northern Maine I touch upon those who take to the roads daily, seemingly in effort to irritate the heck out of all those who share the road with them.

There are several "types" of drivers who can be easily spotted roaming dirt roads, interstates, and town roads alike. They are the ones who pull over at the slightest inconvenience. Usually they are seen pulled to the side of the road (breakdown lane), still driving, as if it were an actual lane to be used for regular traffic. Sometimes it is rainfall that causes them to sideskirt, other times it may be snow or sleet, but often it can also be caused by fear in general. An older woman becomes frightened by the rapidly increasing number of cars following closely behind her, as she drives fifteen below the speed limit. In a storm it makes it much more difficult to swerve around unsuspected cars that slightly loom into the lane.

My least favorite type of driver in Maine is the person who rides an inch from your bumper the whole way home. A friend of mine from out of state pointed this out incredulously after dwelling in the area for a few months.

"I've never seen anything like it!" He said, "there are miles and miles and miles of open road, but the only TWO cars on it MUST ride on top of each other?"

Yes, I'm the terribly spiteful car in front of that driver who taps the breaks to scare the daylights out of them. Although I do not recommend this practice for safety reasons, it has proven to be immensely helpful in providing a hint. They usually back off for fear of ending up in my back seat. :)

On a side note the way people park in the winter time is quite ridiculous as well. Just because there is snow does not mean one can not use common sense when parking a vehicle. Instead, when pulling into a parking lot, it appears that chimpanzees were responsible for parking the cars. Several vehicles end up diagonal, spread across three lanes. It is excruciating to see many many parking spaces that are just barely not wide enough because someone couldn't park slightly to the left... a foot perhaps.

I don't mean to sound like I believe the driving customs of Aroostook County are anything severely profound. These drivers exist everywhere, annoying thousands of other drivers like myself. Perhaps, if we work together, we can rid the roads of these terrible drivers by encouraging them to revisit driver's ed, or take the bus or taxi. As one mass, we have the power to change the world of driving, one parking space at a time.