Hit the brakes

Every Tuesday and Thursday, I walk to the IRC to go to class and I never fail to witness some truly ridiculous shit. 

The big parking lots where people park if they need to go to the Business building, the IRC, Timme or Top Taggart seems to be a haven for terrible drivers. Just last week, I witnessed at least four near collisions in that lot. I would blame the bad weather but this seems to be a year-round event. 

What seems to be the biggest problem is people thinking they can simply pull out of the parking lot onto West Drive without even looking to see if anyone’s coming down the road. I mean, I know there are no stop signs present when pulling out of that parking lot but isn’t it common sense to look before you just decide to pull out onto a road? Maybe that’s just me. I’ve literally seen people swerve into the oncoming lane to avoid being hit from people coming out of those lots. 

Then there are the people that do stop before pulling out but then decide that they’ve been waiting too long and just decide to risk it and pull out in front of a car that’s half a centimeter away from them, causing the other person and everyone behind them to slam on their brakes. 

Seriously, what’s the deal? Have I just uncovered that business majors are paying driving instructors to pass the road test? Are caffeine levels in the Starbucks drinks at the IRC so high that people get too jittery and begin to drive sporadically? 

I realize that West Drive is pretty narrow and it can be difficult for people to pull in and out of the parking lots, causing traffic to move slowly but the solution is not to get reckless. 

Whatever it is, I suggest Ferris start handing out those old Michigan Driving Manual booklets we all got in driver’s training so people can brush up on their right-of-way knowledge. Perhaps it would even be cheaper to just install stop signs at every single exit lane in those lots. 

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