Driver and Brake Pedal, A love story.

I am of the opinion there is too much brake dust in the world. Drivers are always slowing or stopping for the wrong reasons.

Take the person who drives with both feet, the brake lights are on whether you are speeding up, slowing down, turning, maintaining the same speed or stopping. Do you understand how confused the people behind you are? And what happens if a squirrel runs in front of your car and you decide to come to a sudden stop. POW! and according to the insurance the two footed monster is not to blame. Why is there not a law that allows the CHP to pull these morons over, remove their drivers license and have the vehicle towed for the safety of everyone else on the road. There should be.

The next version of the Brake Pedal lover is the person who seems to be in a hurry to go nowhere, you have seen it before. Gas - Brake - Gas - Brake, etc. They speed up and close the gap on the car in front to less then one car length and then have to brake vigorously to avoid running into them, and then the second they have slowed enough for 2 car lengths to form they are back on the gas again, closing that gap. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a fan of aggressive driving and closing the gap to keep someone from cutting me off, but performing this inchworm move forward and back is merely and exercise in futility. I want to be able to have a conversation with this driver and ask exactly what they are trying to accomplish.

I must admit, I do love my brake pedal, especially when charging to the apex of a turn on a tight mountain road, or when some depth perception challenged driver swerves into the lane I am currently occupying. But I do not love my brake pedal just for the sheer exhilaration of creating brake dust and causing those behind me to slow as a result.

I have a theory that much of the traffic patterns of slowing are caused by braking when not needed. What I see is one person does this, and then 10 people behind him react as if there is a REASON he slowed to begin with, which we have determined there was no reason. And then 10 more behind them slow, causing a chain reaction around 3 in the afternoon that stays until about 7pm on most of the major freeways.

This kind of behavior is hard to punish, but if we are to believe that those in charge are really concerned about saving the environment, this should be punished as a top priority. The more cars are forced to slow and go, the more pollution and waste they create.

I say make love affairs with the brake pedal in this unnatural fashion a crime against humanity.