i've figured out, finally, one of the primary reasons why i feel so uncomfortable when travelling in san diego, by foot, bicycle or car, and it has to do with the way drivers come to a stop: you're approaching a familiar intersection with no one in front of you. the light is red, but, knowing the signal or being able to see the signal for cross traffic you feel pretty confident that by the time you reach the intersection it will have turned green, so you try to maintain as much speed as possible in order to avoid coming to a stop and then accelerating again immediately. every once in a while you get it wrong; you've misjudged or misremembered the signal cycle or it has been changed or there is some other extenuating circumstance. in this situation you end up making a rather hasty stop: not slamming on the brakes, but certainly a more rapid halt than you'd make with your grandmother in the back seat. you're wondering if you'll be able to stop by the stop-line and hoping your tires won't squeal, but there is no imminent danger.

there is a portion of san diego drivers (say 25%?) who make this sort of stop EVERY TIME they arrest their car (or truck.) it's as if they expect every red light, every traffic back up, every stop sign to be on the verge of turning green. in addition to faster deterioration of brake pads and worse fuel economy, it puts me on edge because you're never sure if they've actually seen that there's a reason to stop, or if they're about to rear-end you or run you down in the cross walk. i find it hard to imagine there's any benefit to driving this way: perhaps in a situation where seconds literally counted you might reach your destination a few moments earlier by maintaining a higher average speed and triggering smart lights sooner, but this hardly seems worth it.

i swear this site will not be entirely devoted to posts on the poor driving habits of san diegans (though they are an endless source of grief.)