Annoying Drivers: The Five Most Annoying Habits

The only time I could consider make-up as an art is when someone is doing it while driving. How can they concentrate on the road and on getting their multi-tone eye shadow symmetrical on both eyes? They must be artists. Unfortunately they are not driving artists. While they may walk into work or class looking like a knockout, they probably knocked out a few cars (or at least their bumpers) along the way.

If I could rewrite one entry in the Oxford English Dictionary, I would list the forth definition of rude as “a driver who regularly cuts off other drivers.” (Perhaps I would also list this under the definition of “dangerous.”) Nothing says more about a person’s character than if he cuts someone off on the road. Whether it happens when someone is changing lanes on Grand Ave or when someone is going 75mph down I-80, a cut off seems to instantaneously incite a flare of anger. And unfortunately, this anger is contagious, as wronged drivers try to recut other drivers, creating an environment that is as hazardous as the I-80 summit in a snowstorm.

Every morning I wake up to whatever bluegrass music my duplex neighbor feels like. And when I have been up till 2am studying, his 7am music needs make me groan and grab for my ear plugs. Unfortunately, my early-morning music wake-ups have only heightened my dislike for loud music, and there are no ear plugs when I am sitting at the stoplight on the corner of Third and Grand. While I enjoy most genres of music (indie to jazz to techno) and can tolerate others (rap and country), what I dislike most is the volume of the music. Even the best song, when over played at a high volume, can become an annoyance.

Drivers are not supposed to mimic the extreme weather they drive in. Whether driving too slow or too fast, a driver can create yet another hazard in an altogether too hazardous situation. Obviously, the best solution to winter driving is to not drive at all in certain conditions, but sometimes the allure of the slopes at Steamboat or a special shop in Fort Collins can prove too tempting. Most people would much rather deal with a slow, inexperienced snow driver than a fast one; however, I have also followed a Georgia-plated vehicle through town going a whopping 5 miles per hour (needless to say, I took a side street). Nevertheless, the other extreme can be terrifying. Being passed by a big F-250 in nearly white out conditions on a curvy, single-lane road can make a driver wish she would have pulled over and let him pass.

Growing up right outside Minneapolis/St. Paul, I was never further than ten miles from an interstate or double-lane highway. Consequently, the first time I had to pass someone was when I moved to Wyoming. At first, I was terrified of passing people, especially because of the winding canyon roads and mountain passes. However, I soon learned that even more terrifying was being passed. At least when I passed people, I made sure there was plenty of room and a striped, yellow-center line. When other people passed me, I never knew if we were going to meet an oncoming car around the corner or coming up the hill. Sometimes I wonder if I missed some sort of telekinetic power that lets me know if there is an upcoming car. I also get passed a lot, since my little, four-cylinder, 1997 Honda moves like my grandma. Of all the annoying drivers, the solid yellow line passer is by far the scariest.