My morning and afternoon commutes have really brought out my distaste for American drivers. I simply wasn’t driving as much before to notice it. Here’s a few things that I’ve noticed recently.

• Guys in pickup trucks who have their right arm slung over the back of the passenger seat like it’s their home sofa or a date at the movie theater.
• People who hang their left arm out of the window at the elbow for no reason. Today I saw three cars back to back who had drivers doing this.
• People who don’t use signals when switching lanes fast at 50 mph.
• People who don’t look in the adjacent lane before switching onto it. If they happen to see a car in the lane they’re switching into at the last minute, they speed up to pass them and then get in their lane.
• People who race in traffic by swapping lanes as often as possible ― while not looking and signaling ― only to end up at the same place as you at the same time because of traffic.
• People who ride in the bed of pickup trucks and then spend the entire time staring at you. These are the same people who sometimes get upset at the fact that you’re staring back at them and begin talking about you or making gestures at you. I can’t help to look forward at the road in front of me, Joe-Bob!
• A single person inside a huge Hummer or similar SUV.
• People oblivious to other on the road as they turn from a fast food restaurant going about 15 mph directly in front of me while I’m going about 45 mph and force me to slam the breaks and beep the horn. No surprise, their car always is covered with scratches, dents, holes, paint chips, and sometimes has a paper bag for one of the four door windows.

Did I forget any other popular driving habits? I’m sure there’s more but these are the ones I’ve run into the fast couple of weeks. Oh yeah, if you’ve identified yourself with at least two of the mentioned things I hate, stop it! It’s pissing off the rest of us on the road. I enjoy the act of driving a lot, it’s just the others I have to share the road with.