When I leave work in the evening, I come to a light and turn left, then come to a red light, then come to another red light. Although this is clearly poor planning (or maybe evidence of some vast conspiracy against me), I have come to accept that the first two lights are always going to be red, and I plan accordingly. In this case, "plan accordingly" means that I don't accelerate to the full speed limit (40 mph) after I turn left, because why bother?
However, there is a white Mini that I see pretty frequently when I'm driving home. The driver of this car does not seem to share my philosophy. So here's how it goes:
1) I turn left and then my light turns yellow, then red. The other light turns green.
2a) I accelerate to about 30 or 35 mph.
2b) The Mini proceeds straight through the light that just turned green and accelerates rapidly until they are a short distance behind me.
3) The Mini passes me on the right at 50 or 55 mph, then pulls back in front of me.
4) The Mini slams on the brakes, as it is rapidly approaching a line of cars waiting at the first red light.
5) I stop behind the Mini.
6) Once the light turns green, the Mini is stuck behind a line of cars and can't accelerate as much as they would like. Sometimes they try to pass the cars in front of it, either on the right or the left.
7) The Mini moves into the left turn lane at the next red light. I pull up right next to them and we both wait for the light to turn green.
I guess I should probably be more charitable, but the best I can manage is a kind of irritated amusement. Still, better than road rage, right?
