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Stupid is as stupid does with some driversStupid is as stupid does with some drivers |
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Sunday, 27 May 2007 |
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By Brian Hawkins I don’t like to use the term “moron” or “idiot.” More often than not, those words are spoke in an intentionally demeaning fashion.
But sometimes, use of those terms is justified, especially when I see something as bone-headed — not to mention downright dangerous — as what I witnessed a few minutes before noon Saturday.
After what I saw a certain pickup driver do, I feel compelled to classify him or her a moron of the first degree. This person should be given a diploma for achieving such a level of idiocy.
Why should this driver be given such a dubious designation, you might ask?
When he or she blatantly runs a red traffic light when all the other vehicles traveling in the same direction are stopped and nearly collides with another driver attempting to make a left turn, the designation of “moron” definitely applies.
That’s what happened at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Highway 12 West and Stark Road/Airport Road.
I was stopped behind another SUV at the traffic light — which was clearly RED — when all of a sudden, this insane driver in a bright red, more recent model pickup — a Ford Ranger, I believe — comes barreling toward — then through — the intersection like a bat of you-know-where.
Another gentleman in a forest green pickup was beginning to make a left turn from Airport Road west onto Highway 12 as the idiotic red pickup driver comes charging through the intersection.
Luckily, the gentleman in the green pickup was driving defensively and stopped just short of hitting the red pickup broadside. The driver of the red pickup swerved a bit to avoid being hit, but kept charging like a juggernaut east on Highway 12 as if daring any other driver to cross his or her path.
My heart skipped a beat as I witnessed this.
Having recently covered a fatality wreck and published pictures of another crash in the newspaper just the other day, I just knew I was about to see a whopper of a crash.
By the grace of God, that didn’t happen. However, I think it shook up every driver sitting at that intersection for a few moments.
The driver of the green pickup who narrowly missed seeing his truck made into mincemeat likely felt the same. After pausing a second after the moronic red pickup driver left the scene, he shook his head and completed his turn onto Highway 12.
I was grateful that I didn’t have to witness what likely would have been a serious crash. But there would have been no question of fault in my mind.
If there had been a crash, I would have told the responding police officers, “It was the moron driving the red pickup.”
In fact, this driver was going so fast, I didn’t get the red pickup’s tag number. If I had, the Police Department would have gotten a report of a reckless driver from me, and I would have been very happy to do it.
What’s ironic is that this is Memorial Day weekend, which a representative of the Mississippi Office of Highway Safety told me is the weekend where the highest volume of accidents — particularly fatality crashes — occur each year.
But some drivers continue to insist on operating their cars, pickups or SUVs like they are on the run from a dinosaur like that scene in “Jurassic Park” where the Tyrannosaurus Rex chases Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Co. as they try to escape in a jeep.
While I sometimes tend to have a lead foot myself, I also know to be careful and try not be like the moron in the red pickup on Saturday. Use some common sense on the road and be safe.
Driving like you have ants in your pants is not going to get you where you’re going any quicker. What it could do is cost you thousands of dollars in car repairs and medical bills — yours and another driver’s.
Worse, I could have to write about you dying in a crash. I don’t want to do that.
It may seem to some of the newspaper’s regular readers that I am harping on this subject, especially after a related column this past week. If I stop someone else from doing something stupid on the road, however, I’ve done my job.
So let me leave you with a quote from the late, great Dr. Kent Sills — beloved former director of the Mississippi State band that he used to say in his annual speech at the start of band camp, usually admonishing all of us to be careful driving around campus and in Starkville.
With his deep Southern drawl, Dr. Sills would say: “Don’t be dumb. When you’re bein’ dumb, you’re showing me, the band and the whole world that you just don’t care.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself, Doc.
Let’s hope the rather idiotic driver — whoever he or she may be — of the red pickup on Saturday gets a clue.
Brian Hawkins is editor and a columnist for the Starkville Daily News. The opinions expressed in this column are his and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Starkville Daily News or its staff.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 May 2007 )
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