Dear Editor:
While heading home to Pittsburgh, Pa., for spring break, I was traveling on Interstate 57 North where I saw a car weaving in and out of traffic at an unsafe speed, and what seemed to be a party in the back seat as the occupants were moving to some sort of funky beat. I also noticed an SIU parking sticker on the car's back window. The car slowed down in front of me, so I changed into the left lane to pass the car, which unsuccessfully attempted to cut me off in the process. As we were side by side, the driver of the car made several gestures at me with her middle finger. I then let the passenger side window down, took off my sunglasses, and to my disappointment, recognized three of the students in the car. In a state of shock, they also recognized me and left the highway at the next exit.
A word to the perpetrators: if I had road rage, I could have taken my very large vehicle and forced you off the road and maybe your car would have flipped over several times and caught on fire. If I had road rage and a gun in my vehicle, I could have shot you and your middle finger, because your attempt to cut me off while in the passing lane posed a threat to me. If I had road rage, I could have taken my very large vehicle and rammed into the back of your "hoop dee" (a car at least 10 years old) and again, it could have caught on fire. If I had road rage, I could have endangered everyone in the immediate area by chasing you down the highway.
Surely, if the students in the car had known it was me, I would think that the incident would not have occurred. However, the point is that young adults are expected to behave in a responsible manner and they were no more responsible than the Carbondale High School students who left school premises for a joy ride during lunch recess and crashed on Chautauqua Road. Having the emergency rescue team cut folks out of cars is costly, time consuming, and usually due to recklessness.
Perhaps, I need not mention the stress imposed upon parents knowing that their child has been in an accident, the increased premiums or cancellation of automobile insurance policies as a result of poor judgment and peer pressure and possible bodily harm or death of innocent people. In any case, "Oops, Dr. Smoot, we did not know it was you," would have been a lame excuse for having caused me physical harm or my untimely death. I need to also mention that I did write down the license plate number of the vehicle in an effort to identify the vehicle's owner.
Dr. Pamela A. Smoot
Assistant professor, Black American Studies
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
