When I got my driver's license, back in the age of AM Radios and windows that you had to crank up and down, I was confident in my abilities. I had gotten a perfect score on the written portion of the test and completed a behind-the-wheel program at my high school. I was ready to drive and eager to get my license.
And I did quite well … with one exception … and I'll never forget it. I turned left from a left lane into right-hand lane travelling in a different direction. Dude shouted "No! Don't ever do that!" as he slammed on his special brake on the wrong side of the car. "You must always turn from the left lane into the left lane. Then signal and move over to the right lane."
I thought he was full of baloney. I had read everything there was to read about passing the test. I knew, to the exact yardage, at what distance from an oncoming car one should turn off high beams for goodness sake! Surely I would have read that somewhere in my studies.
"Are you sure?" I asked the instructor.
He was certain. He was a retired police officer. Lesson learned. I got my license.
The experience also gave me the impression that police officers, who know all the rules of the road well enough to be trusted to enforce them, would would also be obeying the same laws.
It appears that's not always the case. In fact, some police officers often have very poor driving habits and are not the perfect examples that they should be. They exceed the posted speed limit. They don't come to complete stops at stop signs. They run red lights. They don't use turn signals correctly. And damned if they don't turn from the left lane into the right lane.
Am I the only that thinks police officers should set a good example on the roads?
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