Some of y’all can’t drive.

In recent days, I’ve spent some time driving across Covington, and I have a message for my fellow drivers: We need to undergo a refresher on driver’s ed.

Look, I came from Milledgeville, and though Millyvegas doesn’t have the greatest drivers (the left lane is the slow lane and the right lane is the fast lane there), Covington’s traffic density really exacerbated the issue.

Let me start with my first and most frustrating complaint: four-way stops.

I drive through that four-way stop at the intersection of Elm Street and Williams Street every day, multiple times a day. And you people have got to do better at waiting your turn.

When you arrive at the intersection, all the cars that were there before you get to go before you go—not just one or two of them. You should yield to any vehicle that was there before you.

However, I can’t tell you how many times I arrive at this particular intersection, and something like this commences: The car directly across from me takes its turn. The car to my left goes. The car to my right goes. Then, when it’s finally my turn, the new car directly across decides they’ve waited long enough and are going to go ahead and go. 

It happens so frequently that I’ve started to anticipate these interactions at four-way stops.

Yesterday, it happened to me at two different intersections in one journey. At both the aforementioned four-way and the intersection of Newton Drive and Mill Street, I encountered impatient drivers.

And let me go ahead and say that I’m not one to dawdle at the intersection. This isn’t the result of my taking too long to go. But if someone’s crossing the intersection across from me. I can’t very well get an early roll started, which apparently prompts other drivers to think they can just cut in line.

It gets under my skin like nothing else. So much so that I feel the need to address the community. Please. Please! Wait for your turn. Or one of these days, you’ll get hit, and you will be at fault, buddy.

Since I wanted to address this grievance, I figured I’d lump in a few other driving observations I’ve had. Though these irk me as well, none are as chief as the four-way stop deviants.

Whether you call it the turn lane or the chicken lane, there seem to be two kinds of people in this world. People who (incorrectly) think it’s acceptable to use it as a merge lane when turning left onto a major road, and those of us who (rightly) know that it’s only for those turning off.

If you’re at the local Dunkin’, and you are trying to make a left-hand turn onto 278, first of all, good luck. You’re going to be there for a second. But if you try to expedite this process by turning into the yellow-marked turn lane and sitting until you’re able to merge into passing traffic, please, please stop.

First of all, it’s just illegal. I have a friend who was pulled over for doing this once. The center lane is for those trying to slow down and exit the roadway, not to merge or accelerate in. 

Secondly, there are a lot of cars on the road, so you may be sitting in an awkward place trying to move. 

More than once, I’ve needed to get into that turn lane to make a left turn, and I’ve had to navigate around sitting vehicles blocking my way. Not every turn lane is used just at a lighted intersection—I just need to turn into Starbucks, but because you didn’t want to wait for an opening in traffic, now you’re in my way. Thanks a lot.

Here’s another merge-related complaint: When you’re driving in the far right lane on the interstate and you pass an on-ramp, it’s courteous to go ahead and move into that center lane (if you’re able to do so safely) to give the ramp traffic a smooth merge. We all know it can be stressful to merge onto a packed interstate. Just give people the room to do so if you can.

Ooh, I’ve got another. This one I’ve only seen once or twice. 

You know those yellow signs in the center of the road near Downtown Covington and the Cricket Frog Train that say we need to stop for pedestrian traffic? And they even have a little red stop sign on them? 

Yes, please always stop for the pedestrians. They have the right of way.

But there have been a few times I’ve seen people treat them as regular stop signs, with no pedestrians in sight. While the overabundance of caution is nice—and I’ll certainly take it over all the other actions I’ve described—just know you only have to stop when there’s a person to yield to. Not 24/7, or they’d just put up a regular stop sign.

Well folks, hopefully I’ll see some improved driving around Covington. All eight of you who read this far, we’re going to be doing some five-star driving this week.

Kate Verity is the news editor of The Covington News. She can be reached at kverity@covnews.com.