“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?” Dubya’s thought crossed my mind last week when I was passed quickly on the freeway, on the shoulder on the right, by a car emblazoned with the slogan: “Be patient: student driver.”
No worries, I’m patient, but - is our children too impatient?
Sunday evening, I was driving north on Fair Oaks Blvd. in Carmichael, at the sharp turn just south of Marconi Ave., when I heard (and saw in my rear view mirror) the car in the left lane sideswipe the car in the right lane (and apparently bumping into a traffic island in the process). At first, given the noise, I thought I was involved in the collision, but apparently not. I pulled over, as a witness.
No one was hurt, even though both vehicles were full of people. Phone numbers and insurance info were exchanged. The sideswiped vehicle was still drivable, but not the sideswiper vehicle.
I talked briefly to the young driver of the sideswiper vehicle. The young driver didn’t have a driver’s license, but instead had a driver’s permit - a new driver. He explained that he didn't see the traffic island and that he was in a hurry. You could hear the urgency in his voice. I’m sure he had to go somewhere. And he was going nowhere. He seemed honest, entitled, and bewildered that he couldn't get what he wanted.
(According to the driver of the sideswiped vehicle, the young driver had tried to cut him off and couldn’t even keep his vehicle in his own lane before even reaching the sharp turn.)
There are various sharp limitations on the ages and number of people who may be driven by someone with a driver’s permit. The young driver had three or four other people about his own age in his vehicle. Every single limitation in the law appears to have been broken here.
Is our children too impatient?
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