Musings: Be careful out there on roads

I can spot aggressive drivers before they have tailgated or cut us off and have taught my children to avoid these drivers, since it is not their job to pursue or in any other way try to “teach them a lesson.”

Nearly every time I get behind the wheel, it seems a driver tries to make an illegal U-turn across two lanes of traffic and a double yellow line. If not that, there’s a driver who makes a right turn from the left lane, cutting off a driver trying to go straight.

Speeding and weaving seem to be the norm for more drivers than I can ever remember. Add to that the distractions of other drivers playing music so loud that it vibrates into my car or that they’re texting, and it’s not hard to see why it’s dangerous to enter one’s car.

Civility seems to have suffered since COVID-19, and driving is simply one manifestation. The police will have their hands full for a long time, and it’s impossible for them to be all places at all times. There will always be those drivers who evade detection.

It’s best to be your own advocate and drive defensively.

— Richard Peters, Merrick

When I was first driving 50 years ago, the police presence was everywhere. You couldn’t even roll through a stop sign without fear of getting pulled over and ticketed.

Nowadays, I regularly see cars stopped in the right lane of traffic so the driver can get out and go into a store or the post office to conduct business, instead of parking in a proper space.

Some drivers who do not hang tags for disabled parking spaces take those spots anyway or squeeze their cars into the space between disabled parking spaces.

Drivers of all ages cut off other drivers or refuse to let vehicles merge in an orderly fashion. There is little common courtesy on the roads, only selfish preoccupation and dangerous distraction. Where are the police?

I suggest more enforcement, with stiffer penalties.

— Joseph Bua, Valley Stream