Danger on the Roads

Do you drive a distance to get to work?  Do you consider yourself a "road warrior"?  If so then you probably have seen some of the worst drivers imaginable.  Some of these folks probably make you say "wtf".  Even if you aren't a long distance driver you have probably run into (not literally...or maybe you have) those drivers who just seem to be anywhere but in the driver's seat.  It never fails, everyday on my drive to work I always seem to find at least one driver who has their head up their butt.  I wonder what is going on inside their minds at that exact moment.  It definitely doesn't appear to be driving.  Have we as a society become some consumed with ourselves and our daily activities that a task such as driving now takes backseat to everything else?  It scares me that there are so many people wielding a weapon so large with what seems to be no regard for the safety of themselves let alone the safety of the other folks on the road with them.  It is not uncommon for me to get behind someone doing ten mph less than the speed limit on an interstate highway.  What makes that situation even worse is that typically they are pacing someone else driving close to the same speed.  The end result is that traffic backs up and no one can go anywhere.  Then there are the people that are too busy doing whatever besides driving that decide that their exit is getting ready to pass.  Instead of them doing the right thing and going to the next exit and turning around, they come to an almost complete stop in the far left lane and then cut across 3 lanes of traffic just to cut off everyone that was already in the exit lane.  OH and let's not forget the drivers who appear to have no concept of an acceleration lane.  It is called an acceleration lane for a reason; to accelerate up to the speed limit or the speed of traffic so that you can merge without causing a disruption of the flow of traffic.  Many times these folks will maintain 35 or 45 mph until they are already on the interstate before accelerating to the acceptable speed.  And lastly, I saw a bumper sticker that sums this up perfectly:  "Shut up, Hang up, and drive".  Seriously, we should all practice that.  If your conversation is so intensive and important that it is worth endangering your life as well as the others around you, then pull over to talk, otherwise get off the dang phone.  Now I'm not an angel behind the wheel.  I will be the first to admit that I can have nasty bouts of road rage, but I at least realize this and try to calm myself down and think about what I am doing.  And by no means am I perfect on the roads.  This is just some of my observations and can probably be applied to all of us.....maybe we should all be more aware of what is going on around us especially if we are the ones behind the wheel.