Are Charleston Drivers worse than others? Some observations.

First of all, I am no great driver.  Luckily, I have not caused an accident.  Lately, I have noticed a lot more horns being honked at me.  Do horns actually honk?  Anyway...here is the deal.

Most of us are in a huge hurry to get wherever we are going.  I run late and am guilty of rushing.  I am not patient and tend to get angry at other drivers.  I also tend to talk to other drivers in somewhat unpleasant phrases.  My father was the same way.

I have observed that people don't particularly like you to drive the speed limit in front of them.  They also don't care for you to change lanes and get in front of them.  I had an experience recently where I was not driving slowly and had signaled to change lanes.  Obviously it did not make the driver behind me very happy.  He accelerated until he was right on my bumper.  I guess he was trying to intimidate me.

Another thing I have noticed is that drivers hate to wait on pedestrians even in a crosswalk.  Few drivers will stop and let you walk across.  Some will motion to you as if "allowing you to cross."   I don't walk slowly when crossing at corners so was very surprised when I had one driver come within a few yards of me.  It is my understanding that SC law requires motorists to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.  I guess the technicality is "in a crosswalk."  In Charleston, if you step off the curb into the crosswalk, you can only hope that the next driver has heard of this law and intends to stop.

The final thing I want to address is red lights.  In some areas of the US, it is customary and the law that you must stop at a red light.  It is only in Italy that you are not required to stop at a red light.  There it appears to merely be a suggestion.  Here. in the good old US of A, it means stop.  Too many injuries and deaths are caused by people running red lights.  Lately, meaning the past 40 or so years, I have noticed that more and more Charlestonians are using the Italian DMV rule book.  I, myself,  am bad about running some yellow lights.  I try very hard not to run red lights.  Around Charleston, I see many people, everyday, who casually run red lights when they could have easily stopped.  We are in such a hurry we just don't think of the consequences.  If you run a red light and badly hurt or kill someone, you will have the rest of your life to regret it.  Think about it. 

Okay, that is a bit heavy so I will end this with something  lighter.

Again, mainly around Charleston, I have noticed that a large number of people back into a parking space with the front of the car pointing out.  I have always wondered if this was a regional custom that I was not aware of.  Maybe they are going to rob a store and want to be sure to make a clean getaway.  Or maybe, using Occum's Razor, I have deduced that people feel they can see better backing into a space when they park than they can when trying to back out of a space.  What do you think is the reason? I dunno.

Michael Kaynard is a local photographer who lives in West Ashley.  His photos can be seen at http://kaynardphotography.webs.com.  He can be reached at mkaynard@gmail.com or 843-412-2299.