Red really does mean stop

Nothing about Zombies today but I swear they would be better drivers than what we have in Texarkana. The drivers in this town DO NOT understand the concept of traffic lights. A common misconception to many drivers in the Texarkana area is that a red light is shining for decorative purposes only. On a daily basis I see drivers shoot the intersection 15 or 20 seconds after the fact. Other drivers, like myself have adapted to the rule that the first person off the green light deserves what they get.

Another one is blinking lights. On the new overpass for University BLVD there are blinking yellow lights. For the entrance ramp, blinking red. I use this intersection daily and have watched driver after driver sit at the blinking yellow light and wonder what to do. Now I can understand a lot of their confusion because they probably figure if the fellow drivers in town shoot through a solid red light they will not even consider a pause for a blinking light. But still, red means stop, yellow means caution. Or in this town, yellow means look out and red means, brace yourself.

Then there is backing up. It is a rare sight to see a woman backing an SUV out of parking space without a cell phone to their ear.

And finally, my last gripe on the subject of my local drivers: parking lots. The lines and lanes of parking lots in TXK mean as little to the drivers around here as the red lights that order them to STOP!! So many times I will see a driver just cutting across a parking lot using the shortest distance between me and the front door is a straight line rule. They are cutting across lane after lane like a rocket car on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The only thing I can say about this problem is that I'm glad a driver's license only qualifies the holder to driver a car and not something as complicated as brain surgery, electrical engineering or fruit picking.

Weekly there is a photo of a wreck at an intersection or even just a straight line road because our local drivers do not anything more than look out for themselves, the other 60,000 plus citizens be damned and watch out.