Driven

Thursday, November 02, 2023

I live in one of the fastest-growing small cities in the U.S. Its growth is a fairly recent phenomenon that’s evolved quickly. I’ve been assigned to work during late shifts recently and have been driving home in darkness.

For me, night driving in this city becomes a nutty business because most of its roadways are very dark. I have experience in driving on the roads and know how they’re laid out, but am challenged to identify safe spots for shifting into other lanes and for accurately turning onto adjoining streets.

I am less challenged by daylight driving, but it brings headaches, too. Our roads, built for a community of farms and ranches, inadequately support increasingly heavy traffic. Not to mention evermore new roundabouts. Driving through any roundabout calls for experience, and often sheer luck, to move safely into a circling lane that goes toward the wanted exit.

Recently in Home Depot, some customers and I shared our distress about driving on dark and confusing roadways. One woman explained that at night she couldn’t see where to turn to get onto her own street. Her solution was to tear a roll of illuminated tape into strips and glue them onto the post supporting her street sign. Now, her headlights reflect the tape, and she knows exactly where to turn.

I’m from L.A., which has plenty of confusing roads, but with key ones well-lit at night. Unlike here, where they’re dark and challenging. As to the roundabouts, they take practice to navigate safely.

Dear Friends: Changing workplaces might mitigate my night driving. Diana