DEAR ABBY: You asked readers to share their pet peeves with you. Mine is careless drivers. I am a single mother who supports her children. I can't afford to be killed or maimed on the road.
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This afternoon I was behind a woman who was driving erratically. She rolled through stop signs, sped up and slowed down for no apparent reason, and switched from lane to lane. When I was finally able to safely pass her, I saw that she wasn't drunk as I had suspected -- but was driving her van down the crowded freeway with her elbows on the wheel because she was using both hands to hold the hamburger she was eating. Abby, the woman was doing 70 miles an hour. All she needed to do was sneeze once to lose control of her vehicle.
I am angry with people who drive while talking on a cell phone, eating, applying makeup, reading, searching through purses or briefcases, or playing with pets on their laps. People who are behind the wheel have the power to end not only their own lives and the lives of their passengers, but also the lives of every driver, passenger and pedestrian they encounter in the blink of an eye.
Please, America! Clean up your act. If you don't have both hands on the wheel and your full attention on the road, then you are not driving responsibly. Maybe your family doesn't need you alive and healthy, but my kids need me! -- CINDY IN MINNEAPOLIS
DEAR CINDY: Something as simple as paying attention and observing the traffic laws would prevent many injuries and death. To do anything less is to invite a tragedy. Every evening there are news reports about perfectly healthy people in the prime of life who lost their lives because of the carelessness of another driver. When commuters are behind the wheel, it is vital that they keep both hands on the wheel, their eyes on the road and their minds 100 percent on the task at hand.