Everyone’s NJ drivers license needs to be suspended (Opinion)

I spent Labor Day weekend witnessing such horrible driving that I’m completely convinced we need to start from scratch. Seriously. Revoke every single New Jersey license and have us start all over again.

I mean, did they cover what a yield sign is for on the written test? Is knowing what a double yellow line is important anymore?

If this fantasy could be fulfilled (of course in reality, MVC couldn’t even handle reopening after the pandemic) I would confidently take any written and road test they give me. Many of you could. The rest need to sell their cars and get on NJ Transit. The quiet car please. No one needs to hear what dumb sounds like.

The latest was my five minutes in a QuickChek parking lot Monday trapped by someone who I still have no idea what they were trying to accomplish. There were gas pumps to the left, parking to the right. There we were in no man’s land when this car just rolled to a stop in front of me for no apparent reason.

After half a minute, a blinker came on to indicate they wanted to either go left to a fuel island or to the parking lot exit. But they did neither. They moved forward one foot, and stopped again. I was finally going to go around them when they suddenly lurched hard to the left then stomped on the brakes.

Should I back up and literally go behind the building? Oh wait, now HE was backing up. Straight at me. Evasive maneuvering followed. After I made room for him his right blinker was activated. Was he trying for a parking stall? But he was in a better position for that before backing up.

The driver decided to move forward five feet then stop at an angle blocking me from going and also blocking anyone coming the other way. Why wasn’t a gas attendant seeing this and tearing them a proverbial new one?

In the end, I backed up and altogether abandoned my mission of stopping at this store. That’s how moronic this was. This driver was not elderly. Nor were they a kid. They were just stupid.

This weekend I saw Garden State Parkway traffic do the Jersey Slide to their exit risking multiple lives, one of them mine. I saw people who missed an exit backing up against traffic. I saw people in traffic circles stop dead when they had no yield sign. I saw it all.

I swear to God something must have gone wrong somewhere. We need to rescind every license in New Jersey and start all over again and figure out who can actually drive. I seriously think 1 in 5 drivers don’t even know what the rules are. Ever see what decisions are made at a four-way stop? How the hell did they pass the exams?

Make them harder. Make them annual. Do something. Do anything. I’m supposed to start teaching my daughter how to drive in January. My first rule is don’t assume anyone knows what they’re doing.

Hey, you’ll be correct half the time!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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