I noticed while driving long-haul* last Wednesday that it was International Shit-Merger Day.
Hint #1: on a busy 3-lane road, there was an old codger in a massive tank - one of those ones you see the drug dealers driving round Queens in those 70's US cop movies - drifting into my lane. Now, I always give old people the benefit of the doubt just in case they're in the middle of dying so I wait to see if they slump over the wheel before cursing them and their pitiful driving. I'm patient if nothing else. He didn't veer into the median and clutch his heart as I watched him continue his "merge" in my rear view mirror, but he very nearly missed the Tardis as I went sailing past (a little faster as I saw his whale edging onto my side of the road). No checking his mirrors or over his shoulder, certainly no indicator - and he used it later to turn off behind me so it was working. Without so much as a buy your leave, he just decided he needed to be in the right lane. Invitation accepted, sir. Apparently.
Hint #2: just..... don't pull out onto a busy freeway in a 110 zone if you see any cars in sight and don't think your car is up to setting a cracking pace. Okay? (and no, it wasn't me)
Hint #3: the oldie but the goodie - a sorry-arsed attempt at merging via an onramp to join freeway traffic. Isn't there always someone who either merges almost before the point where the bitumen of the onramp has melded with that of the emergency lane on the freeway, or alternately (but just as dangerous) the driver who runs out of onramp lane and hasn't yet matched any of the cars in the adjoining lane?
This day, I saw the latter. And what resulted was *almost* a bad and unnecessary accident. Oh there was horn blowing and car shaking. And that was just me, stupefied at what I was seeing.
So I hope it was a Happy Shit-Merge Day for you too. I trust you all recognised the day with a piss-poor merge into the thoroughfare yourselves, wherever you were.
* this to me is anything over 30 minutes these days and was in fact a 4+ hour return trip with the LGBB, replete with the grumbles, so it felt like 15 hours.
1 comment:
My sister has had the same woman nearly cause her (my sis) to have an accident on the freeway. Both times, she was doing a Shitty Merge (the woman, not my sis). Ah, personalised number plates can come in handy. Especially when you happen to go shopping and see it in the car park. I was going to leave a nasty note but my sister said nah. I'm the vindictive one ;)
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