LEONARD GRAY

Driving should be a real pleasure Where do people learn how to drive around here? Mind you, I did grow up around here, and my own driving skills and manners are not 100 percent. However, it blows my mind, seeing some of the goofy, weird and dangerous things other drivers do. I’ll see people zoom past a line of cars on a two-lane River Road with a blind curve ahead. I usually toot my horn and if I’m lucky, they’ll acknowledge my irritation with a rude gesture. As I was taught, you have to pass one vehicle at a time. This morning, a pickup truck zoomed by me in Ama and in the middle of town, with a slew of side-streets every 100 feet, passed two large dump trucks. And that was done with a school bus coming in the other direction. Sorry, I don’t buy the explanation that they overslept and were running late for work. I’d personally rather be late than “late.” Phones in cars are a pet peeve for many people. I admit I sometimes use my phone while I’m driving. However, sometimes I’m on the interstate and have to make a phone call and it can be difficult to find a place to pull off the road. One isn’t supposed to pull onto the shoulder unless it’s an emergency. State troopers don’t recognize phone calls as an emergency. I get people rolling past me on the shoulder, to pass me and go through a red light at the intersection of Paul Maillard Road and River Road in Luling. I see that at least a couple of times a week. I’d call that extremely dumb. At the intersection of Main Street and Airline Highway near our office, it’s illegal to pull off the shoulder and cross the solid white line to make a right turn. One should stay in the lane. However, I’ve nearly been broadsided many times because I made my right turn how I was supposed to, only to have some bozo on my tail from four cars back, rumbling along the shoulder. Then they complain I “cut them off.” Sorry, I’m going to continue doing that. Get used to it. Forget about turn signals. Apparently, most people have no idea it exists, or what it’s proper function is. I thoroughly enjoy driving. I like taking long driving trips, sometimes taking the “old road” instead of the interstate, just to see the scenery. I’m still trying to talk my wife into taking a drive to San Antonio, Texas on U.S. Highway 90, instead of Interstate 10. She insists it will add an extra day to the trip. I say it’s worth it. U.S. 90, for those who don’t know, runs from St. Petersburg, Fla. to San Diego, Calif. Along the way, there’s all kinds of scenery, old main streets and new discoveries, off the high-speed super-highway. One day, I’ll try it. LEONARD GRAY is assistant managing editor for L’Observateur.