Adult Bumper Cars     
    
   There are three subjects we especially like to write about:
1. Safety
2. Safety
3. Safety (see yesterday's advice on swimming pools)

   Today: highway safety ... how wild our roads are becoming.

   Many years ago, we were riding with a man we'd just met, a relative of a relative. He spotted a driver waiting to turn onto our road from the right side. 

   From at least 50-yards away my new "friend" shook his fist and swore a blue streak at the other driver, who showed no evidence he would pull in front of us. Wow! Road rage without a cause. 

   What would my ex-relative rage - with cause - at the people who are speeding and cutting me off these days? 

   Two adult drivers engaged in motorized combat on a bridge last week, at 7 a.m. no less. Searchers found the missing driver in the bay a couple days later.

   Get this: AAA says nearly 80 percent of drivers admit to anger, aggression or road rage in the previous year. 

   More than 50 percent of respondents (104 million drivers?) admit to purposeful tailgating. About 8 million U.S. drivers engage in extreme road rage, including ramming another vehicle.

   Safe drivers can't control others, but we can control our own actions, an AAA spokesman reminds us. 

   The majority of drivers in the AAA study believe aggressive driving is worse than ever. Troopers don't issue tickets, unless there is a connection with, for example, DUI. 

   Common sparks: Drivers not responding to a light turning green, slow driving, tailgating, cellphone use, or cutting off another car while merging. 

   Let's keep our cool. For you guys out of control: back to the Bible.

Tampa Bay Times

       Jimmy