-OPINION – By Blake Stender

Before you read this piece, please note that I am not saying that I am a perfect driver.  Like most high school students I have no doubt made my share of people mad while driving.

Here are a few things that drivers do that personally grinds my gears:

Tailgating – People that tailgate are asking to rear-end somebody.  Tailgating is especially annoying if you are mad that I am going slow, because the person in front of me is going slow.  You can only go as fast as the person in front of you.  Take a different route to wherever you’re going.

No turn signal – Honestly, common courtesy.  It is so frustrating to sit at a stop sign waiting for a car to pass and have them turn right beside you.  People just assume that if you don’t have you’re turn signal on that you aren’t gong to turn.

Leaving turn signal on – If you are going to turn but change your mind, turn your turn signal off.  No one wants to follow someone for three blocks wondering when and if they are going to turn.

Leaving your brights on – If a driver is so zoned out that they forget to turn their brights off when they see someone coming, they need to switch drivers or pull over.  It is hard enough to see when they don’t have their brights on but when they do, it’s blinding and out of hand.

Taking more than one space in a parking lot – If someone is afraid of their car getting door dings, park away from all the other cars.  Don’t take up two spots.  It makes them look selfish.  If most people park by a nice car or truck, they probably will try not to hit it with their door when they get out of their vehicle anyway.

Going under the speed limit – Some drivers may not be in a hurry, but others have things to do and places to be.  If someone drives under the speed limit and other people have somewhere to go, I think I am speaking for most people when I say that it is really frustrating.

Driving too cautiously because you don’t know where you’re going – If somebody doesn’t know where they’re going, they need to pull over, get their composure back, and ask somebody for directions.