But the speed limits are for the safety of us all, drivers with unfamiliar lane changes and workers who would like to live to go home to their families at night. I do wish that the gentleman (I use the word loosely) who tailgated me on Saturday morning in the burgundy convertible, and then crossed the double yellow line to pass me as I was going the speed limit, is reading this column. One can only hope.
It's also important to keep your vehicle on your own side of the yellow line, double, striped, or polka-dotted. My heart was in my throat Sunday morning as a car approaching Wilmore not once, but twice was two feet into the oncoming lane as traffic approached. My husband laid on the horn to get him to pay attention. He swerved back into his own lane both times, narrowly averting a horrendous impact with oncoming traffic.
Must we also have a reminder that we need to pay careful attention when driving? When behind the wheel of a two-ton vehicle it's no time to gawk at the cows in the pasture at Sycamore Hills Farm. Will you think for a minute about the innocent people in the oncoming cars?
Now let's move on to white lines. A solid white line means, "stay in the lane you're already in." Don't change lanes in an intersection, and for goodness sake, don't invent a turn lane where there isn't one. I've seen several drivers using an imaginary turn lane going east from US 68 on 29 into Nicholasville. It's apparent that one is planned, but it's not open yet!
I had the sad misfortune of approaching that intersection on the first day it was open. Driving rain made seeing anything very difficult, and what seemed to me to be a lack of signage was confusing everyone. Traffic on 68 was barely slowing for the intersection, and 6:00 p.m. was the absolute worst time to be there.
On top of everything else, my car was overheating, and I had the heater on full blast. The windows were down, and I turned the car off every time traffic stopped. When after 20 minutes of crawling I finally reached the intersection, the confusion was overwhelming.
The last thing I needed at that moment was for a driver to cross the solid white line, ignore the orange barrels marking open lanes, and invent his own traffic rules. Since that heart-stopping day, I've seen several other vehicles being just as creative.
Creativity is not an asset when it comes to the rules of the road. I could stand a little boredom behind the wheel for a few weeks.
