As calm and collected as I try to be, there are several things that really irritate me. One of the biggest is people deciding that they do not have to pay attention to traffic laws.
We have an intersection in Munster that is being governed by a flashing red light at the present time. It will be a stoplighted intersection when the road is complete but, for now, it has a flashing red light.
Flashing red light does NOT mean continue at normal speed. Flashing red light does NOT mean slow down but keep on going. Flashing red light means STOP. It truly is that simple. A flashing red light is the equivalent of a stop sign. You don’t just roll through those, do you? Well, okay, a lot of people do.
Tell that to the jerk that almost rear-ended me when I stopped for the traffic light before turning. He screeched his brakes and almost came into the back of my car. He then passed me illegally (in the inside bike lane) while prominently flipping me off and shouting obscenities at me (it was such a beautiful afternoon that my window was down and I heard him loud and clear).
Why did he do all of that? Because I followed the law and came to a complete stop while he wanted to break the law and rush the light. That really concerns me because when that becomes a through street, there are going to be so many people who are used to turning at the red without stopping that they are going to blow the light and cause accidents.
Sorry for being such a downer tonight. I feel a little better for getting that off of my chest. Just one more time: Red means STOP.