Remember when driving meant DRIVING?

Now, it seems like DRIVING means EVERYTHING ELSE, BUT DRIVING.

You see people doing stupid things on the road - mainly because they are DISTRACTED.

Many years ago, when I took Driver Ed (1971-1972), it was taught that DRIVING is a very dangerous task and that you must obey the laws.

Today, it seems that the majority of people take driving for granted to the extent that it is secondary to all the other bullshit they are doing WHILE they are driving - Not to mention all the laws that are constantly being blatantly broken.

QUESTION:
JUST how did we get from that attitude back then to this attitude today? 

bbw, I agree.

If EVERYONE treated EVERYONE ELSE the way they would like to be treated (also known as the Golden Rule), then we would not be where we are today.

Today it is every wo/man for themself! 

 Yea hey 3b I totality agree with you I remember when I took driver ed a bout ten years ago one of the students was driving and talking to friends and crossing the soiled yellow line the instructor didn’t even say a ting to the driver! Back then I was 16 years old and now I’m 26 and still remember this day! I mean that day.

AH HA!  That is WHEN it all started! LOL!

AND  then it get wores from their! cel phone lane crossers etc etc!

I know, that's what I'm talking about.

NIght all! 

Back in the good old days it was a task. You had to "control that big boat". Then vehicles became driver friendly and cheaper. People found out if they wrecked their vehicle the insurance would take care of it. One fellow told me point blank, "I've got good insurance, they will buy me a new one." Then I ticketed him for to fast for conditions.

Then the monkey see, monkey do came about. I noticed this about the mid 70s. No one in their right mind would ever cut in front of a semi to make their exit. Because the motoring public had something, that got lost, a long time ago. It was respect and courtesy. Respect and courtesy for each other while driving. Now days, even without their metal shield, you don't see that.

Sheila and I went to the Wal-Mart super center this morning. As we crossed the marked pedestrian crossing in front of the store here comes a couple of young ladies in a neon. Ignored the stop sign and drove right into the crossing honking at people to get out of her way. A young couple with three kids oldest was eight we excited about "going to Wal-Mart". He was carrying one and the two oldest were out in front. I said, "stop and look, watch for cars". Both froze as she drove passed them. I pushed the cart I had right into her path and she hit it.

I walked over to the drivers side of the car and she rolled down the window. First words out of he mouth, "are you some kind of a nut?" "No, some kind of a law enforcer, and I am ordering you to move this vehicle over to the curb, put it in park and turn on your four way flashers until an uniformed officer gets here."

As the officer was taking my statement, another was taking a statement from my wife and a third officer was talking to the father with the three kids.  

Turns out she has only had her license for three weeks, already had one ticket, 41 in a 20 mph school zone and now this. She left in the rear seat of a squad car, (in tears) the car left on a flat bed wrecker and her three friends were left standing on the side walk.

Even though a announcement was made in the store by the manager referring to this incident, no one, not one person, came forward to talk to the officers about what they saw. That's pretty sad that our society has come to this.

Even in the store people were in their own little world. I got ran into three times , once by a four year old that was running away from his mother with a package of candy in his hand yelling, "I want this NOW!" She was running after him and had left her purse in the cart! Sheila helped her pickup the spilled candy as I stood there watching another couple concentrating on her purse left wide open in the cart. She moved towards the cart and I moved closer to her, and said, "if you do, you'll go to jail."

It's getting so bad even I hate going out amongst them.

spitfire

We got to this point because the majority of the population believe it is their God given "right" to be able to drive an automobile rather than the "privilege" that it truly is. 

Re: SpitFire

Wow Spit, that is quite the story
i honestly admire that you did that, and thats almost mind-numbing that the girl only had her Lisence for 3 Week that is really sad and pathetic
reminds me of a story when i was in highschool
(haha i say it like it was along time ago, i just graduated this year) but it was 2 Years
at the Marked Cross walk across a semi busy street where all the cars were stoped
except this sob in his SUV
he comes in blowin his horn with kids everywhere crossing the street
just out to pure immaturiy and because it was funny one of my friends i was with
decided to slap the back of his SUV as it went by with its Horn Blaring
the guy stoped rolled down his window to say somthing
but bascily everyone there was yelling at him too much for being such an asshole
it would of slowed him down a whole 2 Min to wait for all the kids to get safely accross the street

WAY TO GO SPITFIRE!  Hopefully, this will be the wake-up call that she seems to need.

"...ran into three times , once by a four year old that was running..."

I know what you mean.  Last year I had to make a trip to Home Depot.  While in the store, I noticed a guy trying to safely make his way across the center aisle while pushing a cart that was loaded with some LONG lumber.  Just as the front end of the lumber was about 1/2 way across, a kid about 3 or 4 years old came running down the aisle, right into the lumber and tumbled down the floor.  The kid's mother came running up, not to check on her brat, but to start yelling at the guy with the cart.  I stepped between them and told the lady (loud enough for a LOT of other people to hear) "Lady, this is Home Depot, not a playground.  If you kept that little bastard on a leash, he wouldn't be hurt right now."  The guy with the cart never said a word and neither did she....The applause from some of the other shoppers said it all. 

" I pushed the cart I had right into her path and she hit it. "

Tonight, tonight, tonight!  Friday night's challenge...  in the center ring!  

In one corner... it's The non-yielding a-hole.

In the opposite corner...  It's a Costco's cart filled with $300 in groceries!

Blace your bets!

Shopping cart will win! 

 Having taken drivers ed back in the 70's also, I think everything went to hell in a handbasket when they came out with the first cup holder.  The plastic ones that you hung on your driver side window.  You hit a bump...burned yourself and the rest is history.  I think the same cupholder contributed to road rage...caffinated driving :-)

This entire thing is Spitfires doing!

He didn't write enough tickets to keep folks in line...Oh by the way Spitfire did you ever dismiss that ticket you wrote me when I was caught in your speed trap?

salesman..in New Merxico 

 
Personally I think it started with the nation wide mandated 55MPH speed limit.

That was passed by a lot of fools in Congress who never drove more than a few miles in their life.  As people decided it was simply too slow and started going over the limit they started in on the idea that if they didn't like the law they didn't have to obey it.

The deterioration was slow at first because at first only the one law was regularly broken but as the children of that generation grew up they followed the example of their parents in a bigger way and now that many of those have children who are driving it's decending into full scale chaos.

Rational One

That makes the most sense so far!

I have three words that can basically sum up how we arrived where we are today.  "I'm More Important."

Sad but true.