It’s time for an intervention. Your behavior has to stop. I am talking to you, “drivers who think you are being courteous.” You are not being courteous, you are being giant a-holes, and you probably don’t even know it. Well, I’m here to help.
Let me put forth a scenario. Last week I was driving somewhere, and I don’t mind telling you I was in a bit of a hurry. On the way I encountered a red light at which I was the third car stopped. As the light turned green, an obese older woman with a cane hobbled towards the curb and stopped to wait for the light to change. The first car drove through the green light, as the law would suggest he might. The truck in front of me, however, stopped and waved the woman across the street, even though we had the green light and she was waiting patiently at the curb. So she hobbled across slowly, and just as it seemed we might be able to go, her friend waddled over to the curb, and wouldn’t you know it, Mr. Nice Guy in the truck waved him along too. Right as the guy got to the other side, the light turned yellow, the truck pulled up to the white line, and stopped. And we waited an additional two or three minutes for the light to turn green again.
Now, I know that the guy in front of me THOUGHT he was being courteous. And he was being courteous, to two people. However, to the eight cars behind him, he was being a jackass. And this is what he probably did not think about. He saved two people maybe a minute or two of time, while costing 10-15 people six minutes of theirs. Do the math people.
Sadly, this happens all the time. Now, there are times when it is indeed courteous to cede the right of way to someone. If there is a car coming out of a driveway or side street with no light, and it is rush hour, and there are dozens of cars behind you with no end in sight to the traffic, then sure. It will save the poor car coming out several minutes if you let him in, while delaying everyone else mere seconds. That is being courteous. But if there are only one or two cars behind you, and you slam on the brakes to let someone cross, or to let another car out, you are actually being a jerk. That car or person will have plenty of time to cross or merge after those three cars go by, and they will have to wait but a moment or two to do it, but when you slow way down and let them out, you are costing the people behind you far more time than you are saving the person that you think you are helping.
So my point is this. If you feel like being nice when you are out there on the road, please take into account everyone on the road. Make your decisions based on what will benefit the greatest number of people. And by golly, if you stop at a green light to let old, slow people cross the road when they are standing at a crosswalk and will get a walk sign in 45 seconds anyway, I swear by all that is holy, I will ram you.