It’s Chaos I Tell You

Am I the only person in the United States who feels that our citizens have forsaken the basic traffic laws that we’re supposed to follow? Surely not. During the course of my travels for business and pleasure I’ve seen plenty of what I call “traffic law negligence”. I’ve seen a great erosion in people’s observance of traffic rules. Lord knows we’re not as bad as some places I’ve been, such as Buenos Aires Argentina, Kingston Jamaica, and in the border cities of Mexico. Now that I think of it I might as well include good old New York City drivers in that bunch too (especially the taxi drivers). Thankfully, the majority of us are not in the same league of crazy drivers as those places. The joke in some of those places is that traffic rules are just a suggestion.

Probably we’ve all been guilty from time to time of executing a “rolling stop”. In fact in nearly every state I’ve been to usually people refer to those as a “(insert state) stop” or a “(insert state) roll-thru”. The turn-on-red-after-a-stop came out many years ago (first in California maybe) and over the years I’ve observed that our society has eroded that rule down to no stopping whatsoever (be very aware Mister pedestrian!!). And of course our obeying speed limit signage is, shall we say, lax at best. As our police are super busy trying to reduce major crime they seem to spend less and less time catching speeders and we’re taking advantage of that for sure by flying thru neighborhoods (like mine for instance) at blinding and scary speeds.

Maybe it’s our society’s youthful exuberance that’s fueling this high flying, fast paced, driving free-for-all. Or, better yet, maybe I can blame it on Vin Diesel’s latest movie, “Fast & Furious”? Or maybe our drivers are driving around stoked up on coffee, or the multitude of high energy drinks that have flooded the market the past few years?

I’m certainly not the pot calling the kettle black here, we all bend or break traffic laws quite often, there’s no doubt about it. But it seems that as more and more cars are on the roads these days I see fewer people obeying the traffic laws and extending common courtesy in general. I also see more in-car distractions in existence (such as talking on cell phones or texting while driving). As my son and daughter will attest, my favorite saying any more is, “it’s chaos I tell you” when I’m referring to driving.

Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, my wife and I had a brush with disaster while we were on the road. Less than a mile from home I was driving us to our favorite park to hike. I was second in the protected left turn line on ultra-busy Bandera Road ready to turn into the park. As we got the arrow to turn left we followed the first car. As usual I was trying to scan the traffic facing us to make sure they were stopped when all of a sudden I saw it…a late model Toyota Tundra pick-up truck barreling thru the red light from one of the two non-turning lanes facing us. I slammed on the brakes and the Sable’s anti-locking brake system kicked in and did its job. We quickly and jerkily came to a sudden stop and the Tundra flew by us, just inches (literally) away from our right front side. I blew the horn and watched as the person driving the truck grimaced as if we were going to crash (they never stopped or slowed down). Obviously they mistakenly thought that they had a green light since there was a protected left turn on their side (and that lane had moved). I didn’t notice if they were on a cell phone or were distracted in some other way. All I know is that as Barbara and I started up thru the intersection completing the turn I saw the faces on some of the other cars facing us and they were as shocked and relieved that no accident had happened.

As we headed into the park Barbara said a prayer thanking God for his mercy. In just an instant we could have been in a bad collision. We’ve made that turn a thousand times but it could have been a really bad scene. Who can say what distracted that driver in the truck? Were they in deep thought, on the phone, or who knows what? Is our society that busy and in such a hurry?

When we first arrived in San Antonio in 1995 I remember saying that I had never seen so many people running red lights. San Antonio has a wonderful road and highway system but there are many intersections where one has to sit thru a few cycles of the red light when traffic is heavy (and with 1.6 million people, it’s always busy). So many drivers try to beat the lights and occasionally we end up with accidents due to running the lights. I’m sure it’s the same all over, San Antonio can’t be any worse than anywhere else.

Thank God for his grace and mercy for saving us from disaster yesterday. It’s very sobering to face disaster in that manner and be spared. Our walk at the park was especially super sweet after that close encounter.

Now my friends, more than ever, slow down a little, savor the life you’ve been given, be ever vigilant as you drive, and let’s remember to say a prayer when you head out on those chaotic roads.