One Way

I think we, as a society, should start being harder on people who disregard one-way signs.

Anyone can make a mistake and go the wrong way, and I’m not talking about people who disregard a one-way sign in an empty parking lot or something, or someone who sees the error and backs up right away. It’s the defensiveness by the wrong-way drivers that kills me, especially when their car comes face-to-face with someone driving the right way. What kills me is when a driver going the right way honks the horn at someone coming at them and the wrong-way driver makes that face that says, “What’s your problem? I don’t know what I did!”

You know what you did? You weren’t paying enough attention to see red signs that were specifically designed to catch people’s attention. Maybe you’re the one with the problem, not the person going the right way who is warning you away from trouble. One-way and do-not-enter signs weren’t designed to mess up your drive; they were put there for people who are inattentive or dumb. Anyone can make a mistake but maybe, drop the attitude when someone calls you out on it? And back up—back all the way up—rather than making someone else do it.

My holy crusade against these people reminds me of awhile back when I was driving out the one-way driveway out of the Y when someone drove in the wrong way. I honked my horn (I know you shouldn’t honk your horn in anger but I think it’s OK to warn people they could cause an accident) and I got the hands thrown up and the “Well, excuuuuse me!” expression from the guy. Not only does this Y have the official do-not-enter signs, but there are also special signs that the Y made saying things like “do not enter” and “entrance is next driveway” with arrows and stuff. He missed it all.

Paying enough attention to road signs for your own safety seems like something in the (crowded) category of “It’s not that hard but you just can’t do it.”