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Peeve Patrol
A few weeks back, Toronto Police Traffic Services Sergeant Tim Burrows asked Twitter and Facebook followers to submit their Top Ten driving pet peeves [PDF].
According to Burrows, motorists not using their signals was the top peeve (and we’d have to agree), with curb/shoulder lane-cutters butting into second place. The inexplicable and dangerous practice of tailgating also irritates Toronto drivers, along with unsafe lane changes, left-lane dawdlers, slowpokes, and “cyclists who disobey the Highway Traffic Act.”
In the sergeant’s policey way, his own peeves were slightly different than the public’s, with impaired drivers being at the top of his personal list, followed by speeding or aggressive drivers. In response to “slow drivers” being a top pick by respondents, Burrows disagrees, reminding you reckless speed-demons that it might not be that they’re too slow, but rather that you’re too fast. Like the respondents, however, late left-turn signals “drive [him] nuts too,” because it destroys traffic flow.
Interestingly, the complaint about disobedient cyclists seems to be dismissed by Burrows, who insinuates that it’s a “degree of lawlessness” that doesn’t compare to more egregious infractions, but it was included because so many drivers complained about it. Now, if only we could get those who park in bike lanes properly ticketed and fined. Perhaps a Top Ten list of cycling peeves is on its way.