240211 Driving

Driving is a privilege and it seems to be a necessity these days.

The cost of purchasing a car, maintaining it and feeding it with gasoline is a big chunk of the average person’s budget. It is something to consider in terms of one’s overall budget costs.

Here in my world, when I drive I constantly see people driving at high speeds to get wherever they are going. Even a trip to Walmart is hazardous. People careen into the parking lot and drive over 20 mph down through crowded parking lots where a car can back out in front of them in the blink of an eye. They fly down the exit lanes going to the store. They cross diagonally over lanes going after a closer parking spot. I never know what to expect. I see people barely slowing down at a 4 way stop in town. Everyone is in a hurry as if it was life or death on a simple trip to a store. When they come to a red/green stoplight in town, if they are waiting in line more than a few seconds, the cell phone comes out and their attention is on that instead of watching to see when the light turns green. Someone behind them has to blow their horn to wake them up and instead of 8-10 cars going through the light, there’s barely 4 that gets through the green light. As you may think, this practice is annoying to me. We have a new roundabout right near the Walmart store. At first people did not understand how it worked so they were cautious. Now the roundabout is like a stock car race going into the final turn of a race and they are only going to Walmart! When it is a close call as to who goes first, they gun their engine and will cut you off.

I’m beginning to be, no I am already afraid of driving in my town and Springfield traffic is even worse. People drive everywhere like they are on a life or death mission and their hair is on fire! I’m wondering if I should quit driving and have been considering this for more than a year. No one wants to surrender his or her driver’s license, but too many should and won’t do it. My eyes and my attention span are not what they once were. There are too many gadgets to observe and still keep eyes on the road. My driver’s insurance is getting higher every year, not because of my driving capability, but my age. I don’t know if I’ll save any money by not driving and having to take cabs when I can’t walk as far as a trip entails. I may get myself a bicycle to go to the grocery store or just tool around the neighborhood.

Everything is up in the air at the moment. At my age anything or everything is in play. I trust I will make the right decision.