Do South Florida Driver Know the Rules of the Road?

I wonder sometime if people really know the rules of the road or read traffic signs.

Over the last week I seen four incidents that have added to this.

Coming home from work last Tuesday evening, an ambulance was coming in the opposite direction. The light was red and there was only one car blocking the left hand turn lane. The driver of car was on his cell phone, not paying attention. The ambulance pulled behind him, honked their horn for him to move. The driver could not figure out what to do. All traffic was stopped in all directions. He needed to make his turn and get out of the way. But he sat there continuing to talk until the ambulance honked again. The driver next me and I looked at each shaking our heads.

Saturday morning I’m riding my bike on A1A headed south. As you approach Sunrise Boulevard, there is a sign for cars turning right to yield to cyclists. A car pulled up behind me, honked, and flipped his finger at me. I guess he did not read the sign or the state statues on cars and cyclists on the road.

Saturday night, I am out with friends eating off of A1A. On the way, we are stuck in traffic. A guy on a chopper is fed and decides to use the bicycle lane for his own. He cut back into traffic and nearly got side-swiped by another car making a legal lane change.

On Sunday, I was getting off I-95 when a funeral possession was going through the intersection. The light turned green, but they were still going through. The women behind me laid on her horn. She then whipped her car around me to be greeted by a sheriff’s car stopping traffic. She immediately proceeded to backup to where she should have been.

Examples like these cause me to wonder about drivers. Do they really know what to do? Are they paying attention? Do they realize they are breaking the law?

These are probably the same people who wonder why South Florida has a reputation of bad drivers.