Driving in Miami Has Became A Life Or Death Endeavor
One of the most exhausting and time-consuming activities in Miami is driving.
Since Miamians deal with traffic on a daily basis, you would expect us to be more responsible drivers, right?
Wrong.
The truth of the matter is that driving in Miami is so reckless it appears people have assumed the daily chaos on the road as a license to break the law.
The worst thing is that the police—the ones meant to stop this behavior—are enabling it by ignoring speeders, drivers making illegal U-turns or engaging in those kinds of behaviors themselves.
Most students at Miami Dade College drive, so I’m sure you can relate to what I’m saying.
I recently started using I-95 for my daily commute. After some initial days of being stuck in conga lines of rush hour traffic, I figured out the best times to traverse the highway without much difficulty.
But just as I found a way to avoid the traffic, careless drivers started becoming a problem.
On one weekend, I was driving southbound on I-95 when I was cut off by a Jeep that was merging into traffic from an express lane.
As I avoided an accident by slamming on my brakes, I wondered why the Jeep’s driver had to make such a sharp entrance into my lane when he had more than half a mile of open road ahead.
In addition, the driver also switched into the passing lane while maintaining a speed that was obviously far below what I, or anyone behind me, was driving at. That further frustrated me.
It seems that in Miami, you are always guaranteed to have clueless drivers block the passing lane by driving on it below the speed limit.
You are also guaranteed to have drivers that leave you guessing when they will change lanes because they refuse to use blinkers or are distracted with texting.
Two years ago, Miami-Dade County accounted for more than 30 percent of traffic accidents in the state. And 117 of those accidents led to a fatality.
Everyday you drive in Miami, you are reminded of the stressful and dangerous driving culture we have in the sunshine state.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. All of us should be grateful we are able to do it. To show our gratitude, we need to follow traffic laws and ensure we are not a menace on the road.
Next time you are driving, take a second to think about the consequences of your actions. Your desire to arrive a few minutes early can be deadly.
Drive safe and remember there is always someone waiting for you to arrive at home. The last thing you want to do is become a Drive Safely sign on the side of the road.
