I'm a pretty decent driver.
At least, I haven't had an accident since I was sixteen years old, and I've never scored myself a ticket; the only vehicular damage I've ever done is to fold back one of the folding mirrors on our cargo van a few years ago on one of the pillars at the bank's drive-thru.
That's not to say I don't make some driving errors: occasionally turning a little short or wide, more abrupt than necessary lane changes, or forgetting whose turn it is at the four-way stop. Occasionally.
Yesterday.
At rush hour.
Anyway. What I thought, as the driver in the car behind me laid on the horn, was that really, if we wanted to apply a balm to road rage, someone should invent a sort of vehicular twitter: a flashing message zone that would run around the bumper of your car.
It could be preprogrammed with set phrases, that would pop up at the push of a button, to say things like, "I'm so sorry! I'm a complete idiot; that was my fault."
Don't you think that would suck some of the indignation out of the other driver?
Or maybe even helpful phrases like: "Your dress is caught in the door." Or "Check behavior of minor(s) in rear seat."
Surely you've found yourself wishing there was a slightly more effective communication mode than blinking lights, blaring horns, and/or violent pantomimes. If only because when that other driver is already (justifiably or not) ticked, you dare not even make an apologetic wave lest it be misinterpreted as rage on your own part.
They can install GPS and DVD players, why not one little bumper billboard system?
It's the next big thing, I'm telling you.
May 5th, 2010 at 10:37 am
This is a superb idea. Actually maybe a form of sign language could be created, simple hand signals (we already have a few for driving language, after all)! 😛
I've done the goofball move, ones that when other people do them to me I assume they're being malicious. Seinfeld coined that term "the wave" when you thank another driver, I use that as an "oops, sorry about that" signal sometimes.
May 5th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
I have wished for this for a long time. But these days, with road rage, I sure would be afraid to post anything the least bit negative, lol!
May 5th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Oooh, I need to learn that… Isn't it funny, the motives we put on other's actions, when we do the same things ourselves without meaning to!?
May 6th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
if we did have those cool devices- we'd all have to go on Opra and pledge not to write too much to distract other drivers- and pledge not to read them- and pledge etc…