So, having grown up in a laid-back beach community, I am not exactly what you would call an aggressive driver. My only traffic altercation came when encouraged by a passenger in the Passat to make an illegal u-turn, resulting in a “warning” ticket. I come from the school of using your turn signal, letting other drivers in, and – perhaps most importantly – the courtesy wave. Upon moving to DC, I came to learn very quickly that not everyone adopted the same train of thought when it comes to operating their vehicles. I thought it was an unwritten rule that if someone lets you in on the highway, or even if you cut them of, you give them a quick flash of the hand as a friendly acknowledgement., but apparently city-drivers missed that lesson in driver’s ed class. I still make a point of implementing the courtesy wave whenever deemed appropriate and today on the Beltway I experienced it from another driver for the first time in months! I was pleasantly surprised at this relative civility on a normally hostile roadway….until I realized that the driver’s license plate indicated that they weren’t even from the DC area. Nevertheless, I am going to continue to wage my campaign to bring the courtesy wave to the roadways nationwide, and encourage you to join!
fls
You have to wave, it's an essential element of driving.
ReplyDelete