Driving in London, Ontario
It was on a Saturday afternoon. Needing groceries, I stopped at the grocery store to buy food on my way home from work. Shortly after leaving the store, I needed to make a left hand turn at a traffic light. While I was waiting in the left hand turn lane, a driver behind me honked. Looking in my rearview mirror, there was a woman driving a SUV type of vehicle who apparently wanted me to move my car forward so she could get completely into the left hand turn lane. Her rudeness really annoyed me, and I initially had no intention of giving in to her demand until the car in front of me moved forward, and I decided to move my car ahead to let this rude driver in.
When it was time for me to turn left at the advanced green light, she was right on my tail for the turn. Way too close, I increased my speed to try to grow the distance between us. After I had made my turn, I switched to the right hand lane. Then the SUV came back into my lane and got so close to my car that I could not see the SUV’s headlamps in my rearview mirror. My speed had been reduced to the speed limit by now.
Having experienced this type of situation before, I knew that increasing my speed would just encourage her to drive faster too, and braking was not an option because this would cause the SUV to slam into the back of my Aveo car. Instead, I slowly, and gradually, let up on the accelerator, very slowly reducing my speed. She got off my tail, switched to the left hand lane, and promptly rode the bumper of another vehicle.
At first, I was enraged at this idiot driver. All the things I wish I could have done went through my mind. Frustration that I have seen these types of drivers almost every time I am on the road each day, and there is never a cop around. This is the reason auto insurance for drivers in London, Ontario, is higher than other cities. Too many drivers like the SUV driver who cause collisions, mixed with asinine Ontario government auto insurance legislation. I have never received even a ticket for my driving, ever, but my higher insurance rate is still based on where I currently live.
As I drove home, I cooled off as I looked around and I noticed all the good drivers around me that greatly out numbered the one bad driver I had encountered earlier. It also occurred to me the SUV driver’s insurance was probably high, she had been pulled over numerous times and ticketed by the police, and she would likely be pulled over again by the police. I also know that off duty police officers do drive on the roads in their private vehicles. All I should concern myself with is my own driving, and leave the traffic law enforcement to the police. Maybe think about installing a dashboard camera in my car as well just in case….
(c) Trevor Dailey