NJ police explain why ‘nice’ drivers are a huge problem

I’ve been complaining about this for years. So satisfying to see at least one New Jersey police department is recognizing the problem of “nice” drivers. Sometimes good is bad. This is one of those times.

If you have the right of way, use it.

I wrote about this issue of drivers thinking they’re being kind by yielding their right of way to other drivers when it’s going to put someone in danger.

One thing we all need on roads is to be on the same page. Stick to the rules. It avoids confusion. It avoids miscues.

Another thing we need is predictability. We need to know the guy in the traffic circle who has the right of way is going to keep going and the guy entering the circle who has the yield sign is going to yield.

We don’t need the guy in the circle suddenly stopping dead and waving the guy at the yield sign on. That’s an accident in the making.

Now the Evesham Township Police Department is warning about being too “nice” on the road. While they certainly don’t want road rage and advocate for civility, their point is you must be judicious in how and when you let someone into traffic. They recently posted something on their Facebook page that literally illustrates the point.

Bravo, Evesham Township! More police departments need to point this out. There was a famous Boucher v. Grant case where Grant was waved into traffic by a third party and collided with Boucher because of it and the whole matter wound up in court.

This goes all the way back to the '90s, so this ridiculousness of waiving your right of way is nothing new. It can be dangerous and needs to be thought through.

I’ve seen my own mother stop dead on the busy four-lane road of Saint Georges Avenue in Rahway to let someone making a left out of a side street go.

Her car was dangerously blocking the driver’s view who I could see from the passenger seat was very annoyed and stressed by the whole thing.

People, again, sometimes nice is bad. Use your head. Rules are there for a reason.

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

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