Neighborhood Vigilante II

Dear Man in the White Escalade:

In case you don't remember, I'm the lady you saw this morning at the corner of R Road and C Drive, sometime just after nine o'clock this morning. At that point, you came barreling down our quiet residential road, at a speed I'm willing to bet was higher than the posted 25 mph. I saw you out of the corner of my eye, as I approached that particular corner. I wondered if you would give me the right of way, considering you had a yield sign and I did not. I glanced again to my left and realized that you were traveling far too quickly to yield, and yet, I had no intention of letting you go forth.

Hence, we both had to apply our brakes and thankfully, we both stopped. You looked at me and I looked at you. My window was up, but I pointed to the yield sign you so easily dismissed and mouthed, "You have a yield." Twice, I pointed. Twice you looked at me. And instead of a shrug of apology or a gesture with your hands admitting you were wrong, you simply waved me on.

Well, duh, I was going to go ahead anyway. I didn't stop to let you go, I stopped so that we would not have a collision. I've had that happen already in this neighborhood (a crash that was not my fault), and I'm done with all of that.  Besides, I had the right to go. You had the yield. But I'm guessing that maybe you don't understand what that means. So let me educate you.

According to SafeMotorist.com, a YIELD sign "calls on the driver to do the following: Slow down, defer to oncoming or intersecting traffic, stop when necessary, proceed when safe, and remain aware of oncoming vehicles." A yield sign looks like this:



While we're at it, let me remind you of another sign we have here in the neighborhood, because I would hazard to say you might disregard that, too. It's called a STOP sign. Again, the SafeMotorist site can help you with that definition. "The stop sign calls on the driver to make a mandatory stop and proceed when safe."

Furthermore, at a stop sign, "the purpose of the limit line is to prevent the driver from entering the crosswalk or intersection inadvertently or at an excessive speed and shows the driver where to make the stop before proceeding through."

And in case you need a refresher, "Rolling stops are not acceptable." The stop sign looks like this:


Be careful, Man in the White Escalade. I now have my eye on you. While I did not have the time to get your license number, I have been known to track down prey before. I will find you, and when I do, I will plaster that SUV with as many yield stickers as it takes to make you remember to obey the traffic rules. Or, I might not. But I bet you're scared now.