LESSONS LEARNED:  DRIVE DEFENSIVELY

Driving on the highways around San Diego can be nerve-wracking.  There are usually six lanes of traffic going in each direction, but if you are in the far-right (or left) lane it may suddenly merge into the lane to your left (or right) without any warning, or at least none that you have glimpsed.  Conversely, that lane and the lane to your left (or right) may suddenly become “exit only” lanes, and if you don’t manage to get out of them before it is too late, you are in for a long detour. 

Alternatively, you may be in the far-right lane so you can turn onto the next exit, but then a merging lane appears and becomes the exit lane, so you must quickly move onto it while other traffic is trying to merge from that lane onto yours.  It can be quite a dance.

Similarly, you can be in a middle lane when your GPS instructs you to exit right, even though you thought you were not yet supposed to turn off the highway.  If possible, you get over to make the turn as commanded, only to realize you were indeed not supposed to turn right until the next exit.  Why the instruction could not be voiced a few seconds later, after you had passed the incorrect exit that you just risked life and limb to turn onto, is a mystery.

The purpose and necessity of bicycle lanes is another unknown.  I have never seen a single bicycle in any of them.  Ever.  You would have to be insane to make yourself a target as traffic zooms by you.  But what I have frequently seen is a vehicle suddenly appear in the bicycle lane beside me, determined to get into the turning lane a few seconds sooner rather than wait until the lane actually begins.  It’s wild.

A couple of days ago I was with a friend, driving in one of the two right-hand lanes that were exiting off the highway.  Apparently, the driver to my right suddenly realized that he (or perhaps she… their face was a blur) would be forced to exit if they could not get out of their lane, across mine, and into the lane to my left.  So, without warning, and in a burst of speed, that is exactly what they did. Fortunately, they managed not to hit us, and the lane beside me had space for them to enter, but if they had misjudged any of the many factors involved, the result could have been deadly.  Still, I could not be angry about it because I totally understood their dilemma. 

We have all heard instructions from our GPS to make a U-turn when we have failed to make a necessary turn and it is recalculating, but in the San Diego area a U-turn is often required as part of the normal route, because there is simply no other way to get to where you are going. 

While California tax dollars are being used to save the planet, the roads are in an increasing state of disrepair.  Dodging potholes, watching your speed, ensuring you are in exit lanes only when necessary, and looking to see if your lane might be about to end or that no one is coming up beside you where no lane exists, takes considerable skill and the ability to multi-task.  If you’re able to do all of that while keeping an eye on your GPS and carrying on a conversation, you’re probably a woman.  Just sayin’.