The Misadventures of Quinxy von Besiex truths, lies, and everything in between

Dangerous Driver

I watched this guy a week or so ago drive down a major local street, Lincoln Blvd., right in front of me and he was clearly having trouble in some sense.  He couldn't seem to stay in his lane, instead gradually meandered back and forth, drifting as much as a foot or two outside of his lane.  And he couldn't seem to keep up with the rest of the traffic, or comprehend what the transition from red light to green light meant.  His car was reasonably stuffed with things which no longer seemed worthy of transport, resembling papers and bags.  He may have been a hoarder, someone living out of their car, or perhaps just someone whose messiness had gotten way out of hand.  I tried to get safely along side (one extra lane over) to see if he looked compos mentis or perhaps had reaction times slowed with age.  He was no older than 50.  His face and demeanor didn't betray raving lunacy or too obvious to miss drug/alcohol impairment (but how much can you really tell glimpsing a person in a side view 15 feet away).  There was always the possibility that he was just a rotten driver, a little slow with his reflexes, driving a vehicle whose reflexes have slowed with age.  I contemplated calling the police but with the traffic as awful as it was, with him potentially taking any turning, and with me not actually observing him do anything so egregiously wrong, I ended up just taking a turning myself and heading home via the backstreets.  I had this awful thought, though...  a flash back from Spiderman...  I had been planning to head a sidecar ride with the dog as soon as I got home, and I suddenly if I'd meet up with this guy again, as a victim of his driving and my inaction, a la Uncle Owen.  Fortunately, that did not happen, or at least not yet.  I am ever watchful for that mature tan Jeep Cherokee, just in case...