Death on Wheels

Driving, GTA III Style

Let's get some of the cliche's out of the way, shall we? Almost everywhere you go, people are bound to say that their drivers are 'the worst'. Having driven through multiple states on multiple occasions, I have seen a fair amount of bad driving, and just different driving styles in general. The lazy dust-bowl cruisers. The drive-or-die Westerners. Southern Californians are notorious for speeding in rush hour. The whole pack is going 90 mph, and by god, you better go with the flow or get demolished.
In the state I nervously learned and honed my driving abilities, Utah, people seem to forget that it snows several months out of the year, and with that knowledge goes their winter driving abilities. I honestly know this is a fact, I work in the automotive repair industry, and we are coming up on our busiest time of the year. The snow dumps and people freak out. "Wha-what is this? It's like some sort of crystallized water is falling from the sky! But-but I need to get to work 5 minutes late like usual! Goddamn you, old man winter!" Those normally unsafe triple-lane-changes at 75 mph get a little interesting when it's 30 degrees and it snowed the night before.
I gained a whole new appreciation for defensive driving when I began seriously riding motorcycles. After my first brush with death, I learned to wait at intersections and eyeball those cell-phone users more seriously. I have also become unusually acquainted with people changing lanes into my personal space, apparently unaware of the inconspicuous bright blue, roaring bullet-of-death upon which an equally shiny, bright-blue, six-foot-three rider sits.
And will someone please tell me why in bloody, murderous hell they haven't outlawed texting in cars? Cell phones are bad enough, but this brings an entirely new meaning to distraction. Can't you people go without picking up that damnable device for 15-30 minutes? Jesus wept.