Thursday, December 13, 2007

Old people love getting hit by cars

I live in Hawaii, which leads the nation, currently, in traffic related pedestrian fatalities. I'm not lying, even with a fraction of the population of a large, mainland city and speed limits that rarely exceed 30 mph, even on the highway..... peeps are getting wacked. There are a few reasons for this.
1) Hawaii residents are the worst drivers on the planet. God's honest truth, the worst drivers on the planet. I've witnessed feats of stupidity that are hard to explain. On a busy road, I've seen someone slam on their breaks to let a car pull out from a side street. I've seen people stop their cars in the middle of the highway for a fender bender, well within sight of the giant breakdown lane or shoulder. A woman stared at a green light long enough, magically, it fucking turned red. Guess who was the car behind her??? Good guess. I lost my shit and probably broke a blood vessel in my brain or my anus. I could go on and on, but what is the point, this happens multiple times each day and it is almost routine for me to see a driver that I'd rather trust with a hair-trigger Uzi and high on crystal meth, than with an automobile.

2) Crosswalks are everywhere. Is that a good thing? No it isn't, I am completely desensitized to them, mainly because seeing a crosswalk is about as common as seeing a lane marker. They will be at random spots along each road, not associated with a signal, traffic light, stop sign, or anything. People use them too, and they think they are magical realms that defy the laws of physics. Apparently, most pedestrians think that when they enter a crosswalk it enables a car moving at 30 mph to stop in 10 feet. Oh yeah, it works better if you walk onto this crosswalk from between two parked cars, at twilight or dusk, wearing black and listening to an iPod.

3) Lots of old people. I respect old people, don't get me wrong. I'll be old someday, my grandparents are old, old people are fine. If you are in Hawaii and are old, you probably like getting hit by cars. Forget crosswalks, forget traffic lights and cars, I guess at a certain age, Hawaiians aren't aware of any of those. There is actually a commercial asking drivers to be aware of pedestrians. It shows some poor old woman trying to cross a busy street/highway, not at a crosswalk. If I'm driving down the highway, the last thing that I will be looking for is someone about to dart across traffic because it is the quickest way to the drugstore. It would be like going for a walk and always worrying about a piano falling on your head.

I've been driving on pitch black roads on the mainland and have seen deer wait until you are close and dart out in front, barely becoming a hood ornament. I imagine the same thing is happening here. Alot of old Hawaiians are waiting in the bushes all over the place, and just run out in traffic at random times. I don't know what is worse, the fact that people are getting hit by cars, or the fact that the cars don't swerve. Maybe it cancels out, but if my insurance goes up because USAA knows about these wild old people trying to run out into traffic, I'll be pretty pissed.

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