Driving as a Contact Sport

I went to my sister's house in Massachusetts today.  After helping her with a few odd jobs she needed done, my friend and I set out to run a couple of errands.  This required covering Weston, Waltham, Arlington, Somerville, Cambridge, Wayland and Natick, all suburbs of Boston.

When I tell people that I drive into New York City, they are usually amazed that I am so brave or foolhardy (depending on whom I'm talking to), but I always tell them,  "I used to live in Boston.  Driving in New York is a piece of cake."

And while driving in New York is challenging in its own way, driving in Boston is nothing short of training for the demolition derby.  The most amazing thing I ever saw in my 39 years of driving actually happened in the allegedly staid and stuffy Back Bay.  I was stopped at a red light at Clarendon or Exeter Street (I'm not sure which, it's been a long time), about to cross Commonwealth Avenue.  There was a cab behind me at the light and apparently when the light changed to green, I did not move quickly enough for the cabbie.  He proceeded to pass me on the right by driving up on the sidewalk to get ahead of me.  Only if you know the Back Bay well can you truly appreciate that.  Also in the back Bay one day as I was riding my bike to work, a Boston driver ran a red light at Fairfield and Commonwealth when I had the right of way.  I saw my relatively short life pass before my eyes and didn't ride a bike again for over twenty years.

My friend who was riding with me today has her own issues with driving after losing her brother in a car accident.  She is a nervous passenger, but trusts my driving ability enough to rein in her panic at drivers doing stupid things.  But today was her first time riding around in the environs of Boston and I think it set her back a bit.

I could not take the time to jot down all the license plates and details of all the bad driving we encountered this afternoon, but I'd like to give a special shout out to the two lucky winners of today's
"Dented Fender Award".  First of all, the young lady driving the huge boat of a car in Teele Square in Somerville who took the opportunity to force her way from a side street into the lane of traffic simply because I was not tailgating the car in front of me could have won for that selfish boneheaded move alone.  But running the red light and making the right turn on red where it clearly said "No Right Turn on Red" a few minutes later earned MA plate 22S T81 the honor in spades.

And then we come to the bald, more than middle aged driver of the blue BMW convertible (mid-life crisis/penis substitute, anyone?) with MA plate 987 WDC on Rte 20 about 12:20pm who looked me right in the eye as he pulled out in front of me without even attempting to pretend he stopped at the stop sign.  Our second winner of the day.

I love Boston and but for a twist of fate or two might have ended up living there permanently, but if the drivers in the Portland area annoy me on a daily basis, I suspect that driving in Boston every day for the last 30 years might have made me homicidal by now.

By the way, I'll be driving intop New York at the end of the week.  Piece of cake.