Five Things Oklahoma Drivers Hate

I know this has happened to you. You're driving along, you come to a stop sign and you get there about the same time as another motorist. As a gesture of kindness, you waive that other motorist on... but then they waive a "go ahead" back at you.

Don't get me wrong, driving friendly is the only way to drive, but there are rules of the road. Here's how it's supposed to work.

If you arrive first, you go first. If you arrive second, you go second. If you arrive at the same time, the person on the right has the right of way, they go first. If the other driver is to the left, you go first. It doesn't have to be this hard.

Traversing the Oklahoma roads can go two ways. You either get tangled in traffic and catch every red light along your way, or just the opposite. There's no in-between. Do you know why? Because some smooth-brained mouth breathers like to drive under the speed limit in the left lanes.

In the far right lane, you're allowed to drive slowly. It's the slow lane and a designated turn lane. The far left lane is supposed to be the "fast" lane, but it's also often a turn lane. A middle lane is there to allow traffic to flow. If you're impeding traffic, momma says you're the debil.

While I wish I could sum this up in a generic statement about lazy civil engineering, I can't. Have you ever counted how many traffic lights are between your home and your destination?

Regardless of the town you're in--OKC, Tulsa, Norman, Lawton, Hollis, Guymon, etc... the light or lights seem to always be working against you.

While I'm sure cities have tried to get the timing right in most places, as time goes on, they get out of alignment with each other.

While we're on the subject, how many times have you been sitting at a red light and watched it turn green, but you're unable to travel because the oncoming traffic is still turning across your lane?

Out of every little annoyance, this is my personal pet peeve. It drives me so crazy, I'll cut out in front of a car turning on red just to catch their finger of displeasure.

What are they going to do, hit me? "Six million dollars your honor!" I've found in my twenty years of driving, most people will do anything to avoid crashing into another vehicle.

There's nothing worse than realizing you've been driving behind some simp that suddenly slams on their brakes and makes a turn without remembering their turn indicating signal.

Honestly, it's a one-hundred-year-old standard feature and legal requirement of every automobile, how does someone not know to use them?

Granted, I understand how you can space out and forget where you're going... but that's the beauty of roads. All roads lead to all other roads. If you missed your turn, go to the next street and circle the block.