Some Bogalusans need to take a remedial driving course: You know who you are!

I can’t tell you how much I dislike driving in Bogalusa and the surrounding areas. I have lived in almost every area of the country, and I can say without hesitation, that Washington Parish has more bad and/or just plain rude drivers per square mile than almost any place else in the country.

Here are just a few of my pet peeves:

1. Stop signs are not just a suggestion. Everywhere I go in this town I have to keep my head on a swivel when I come up to a four-way stop sign, hoping that I won’t be the only driver to stop their car. Even worse is driving on a main thoroughfare past a cross street with a stop sign, knowing that somebody might just keep coming.

2. Yellow lights do not mean floor it through the intersection. It’s hard to imagine that there could be so many people who have an emergency of some sort and just can’t sit through a light. Maybe some of us are more important than others and should be allowed a pass. Not!

3. Why must I guess what the driver in front of me is going to do? I like to play games as much as the next person, but really, can flicking your turn signal up or down be such a chore?

4. Does getting to your destination 30 seconds faster warrant speeding around a couple of cars and jumping in front of the line? Aside from being extremely rude, it’s dangerous.

5. Talking on cell phones is going to kill someone before it’s over, one way or another. Have you ever been behind someone talking on a cell phone and watched your speedometer slow to a crawl? Have you seen an accident or a near-miss? Do you daydream about grabbing that phone and turning it into a projectile? In my opinion, talking and driving don’t mix.

6. What’s worse than talking on a cell phone while driving? Texting!! People, just stop it!

7. Eating while driving. See number 5 above.

8. Putting on makeup, reading or any number of other ridiculous activities I’ve seen people do while at the wheel of a car. See number 5 above.

What causes more anxiety than any of the things noted above is the fact that, since I’ve come back here to live, I have never seen anyone in this town, or parish for that matter, get pulled over and/or ticketed for any of these things. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but I sure haven’t seen it. If you travel to other places around the country, you’ll see that it happens a lot. Every time I read in The Daily News ( of course!) about budget woes around the parish, I wonder: Wouldn’t enforcing traffic laws bring in more money to help balance the budget? I’m just saying.

I have to admit that I am not without fault. I’m not a perfect driver, but I am a safe driver. We all need to realize that driving is a privilege, not a right, and to keep everyone safe, happy and sane, we need to drive the way we were all taught back in high school. Let’s all try to be courteous drivers. It’s contagious (I hope!).