Georgia Driving

Many people think of American cars, and see the General Lee, the the Mustang from the Gone in 60 Seconds or Knight Rider's KITT. Yet the real king of the US roads, certainly in this part of the US, is the pickup truck. If only people knew how to drive one...

My very first post, almost a year ago, looked at the difference between deaths by terrorism, and deaths by road accidents. Big and nasty as 9/11 was, it wasn't even the biggest killer in September 2001, and yet we've had two wars, billions of dollars, mass government spying, and a wholesale suspension of our liberties. The thing which topped it, road deaths, gets very little notice or awareness (except by cops as a way in to stop cars and search them)

Driving standards in the US are pretty lax. Since my first visit to the US in 1999 I've been to a few states, and seen a lot of driving, and I can understand why the fatality numbers are so high. There is no real driving test to speak of. In fact, to be blunt, even the cops wouldn't pass the driving test in the UK from what I've seen. There are countless pursuit videos online (and TV shows made of them) showing poor car control, and lack of sound judgement. I've frequently been tailgaited by cops too (if it's so hard to read the license plate without getting so close, LETS MAKE IT LARGER.

However, pickup trucks are the kings of the US, with the ford F150 being the most popular car ever made. Georgia even has special laws for them, such as exemption from seat-belt laws.Of course, not everyone is able to wear a seatbelt. The guy in this video certainly isn't.

You might think the driver was lucky he wasn't caught, but that's not true either. This was filmed right after a 3 mile tailback on Interstate 20 (I20) between Wesley Chapel Road, and I285 (which is the interstate that rings Atlanta, like the M25 does London). There were at least 4 county deputies, and one state trooper there, and it seems they were either asleep, or had no problems with this (or maybe they just didn't notice the beer in his hand)

Either way, it's criminally ignorant. Instead of throwing billions into airport scanners that don't do anything new, hiring high-school dropouts as security screeners, or any other massive waste of money in the name of 'making us safe from terrorists', let's deal with the terror-inducing people that kill thousands every month - Bad Drivers!

Let's make the driving test worthy of the name, rather than just an 'open-book test' as it currently is. Remember, cars don't kill people, the moron behind the wheel does!