Always Watching…
I honestly had no idea what I could’ve done to offend.
Driving through Hartford on a Saturday night on I-84, a car was riding my bumper so close the headlights were almost obscured. I switched to the middle lane, he switched. I moved to the right lane, he moved. I shifted into the exit lane right and he moved so close I thought he was going to hit me.
Then, in a flash, he hit the brakes and was gone.
Maybe he felt he made his point, whatever it was. Maybe it was some kind of high-speed Saturday night antics. Or maybe he saw the drivecam mounted on the rear windshield and projected a future in which a video of his driving created an unwanted level of distress.
I’ve got a great video of it.
Whether it’s road rage, distracted driving or the insane, reckless, grand-theft-auto speeding that has become commonplace on Connecticut highways, driving has become disturbingly high-risk lately. Combine that with an increasingly more litigious society, and you might reach the conclusion I did, that it could be useful to have video in the unlikely but not impossible event some reckless idiot has caused an accident.
Of course, these kinds of things can’t be anticipated so the camera has to run the second the car starts until the moment it’s turned off, which means your driving and anything you do or say could come under scrutiny.
I’ll give you an example: My newly driving-permitted daughter has been putting in her hours behind the wheel. My wife, who, despite the overwhelming urge to reach over, seize the wheel, and climb over her own child to apply the brakes, has been (for the most part) a model of patience and encouragement as her daughter learns to drive. Thanks to the drivecam, we have this humorous video during one of these drives where my wife says several times “you’re doing great, you’re doing great” to which, my daughter replies “thanks… but are you doing ‘great’?”
Knowing the possibility of family members finding proof of bad driving, incidents of poor behavior or attempts at hitting the higher notes of “Don’t Stop Believing” humorous enough to share with the world has the effect of tempering one’s driving habits. It kind of puts a spin on the old adage “get there safe and sound (and with a shred of dignity).”
That said, sometimes you can’t help yourself. As my daughter was practicing driving on her way to school last month, she lingered too long at the light at South Main and Suffield Streets. The driver behind us landed on his horn and tailgated us until he decided to race past us over a double-yellow, doing at least 60 mph in a 25-mph zone.
I lost it, and while I didn’t yell anything stupid the drivecam could pick up, I did communicate my anger and frustration with a single universally understood hand gesture.
Fortunately, the camera didn’t catch it, but it did catch the Honda running the stop sign at the railroad overpass.
I’ve got a great video of it.