I learned how to drive in drive in New Orleans.  Needless to say, we have a very different style of driving down south than the driving here in Monroe.

If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, you know that we are very aggressive and fast drivers.  We know where we are going, and we are going to get there as quickly as we can. I knew coming up to Monroe that the driving would probably be different, but I didn’t know how different.  While I’m used to a faster pace of getting to where I’m going, drivers up here seem to enjoy the slower approach to driving.

I used to get really mad at people driving around Monroe.  I would get really angry and yell at everyone, even though I knew they couldn’t hear me.

Recently though, I went down to New Orleans and to my surprise I was met by the same type of driving.  I had never run into that kind of driving back home, and then I realized the problem isn’t New Orleans vs. Monroe; it’s just that everyone is driving like a bunch of jerks.

I don’t know if it’s all of the new teenagers that have been learning to drive, the distractions of cell phones and iPods or if it’s a problem that’s been getting gradually worse, but it’s almost like everyone on the road nowadays had the same driving instructor, and that instructor was the bad guy from an action movie with lots of car chases.

Now I know what you’re saying, “Steven, I don’t drive like an idiot,” but yes you do.  We, myself included, are all guilty of driving like idiots at some point, but fear not, there is hope.

The first step to correcting any mistake is knowing what you did wrong. So I’ve compiled a few of the biggest and jerkish driving offensives and easy ways to remedy them.

The first, and possibly worst offense, is texting while driving. This, aside from drunk driving, is the most distracting and most dangerous thing you can do while driving.

There is nothing worse than sitting behind someone at a green light for a few seconds and then passing them to see that they are on their phone.  Whenever you get in your car, that phone should go somewhere where it won’t be a distraction.  Put it in your pocket, your purse, in the glove box or wherever you can put it so that you won’t be tempted to tweet in rush hour traffic.

Another massive driving offense is driving ridiculously slow under the speed limit.  There is no reason to be driving 25 mph in a 45 mph.  We know you may like to be cautious, and you may not be a speed demon, but you are holding up the rest of us who have places to go.

Also, the use of the blinker has dwindled in recent years.  In case you didn’t know, that stick on the side of your steering wheel is there for a reason.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been waiting to pull into a street and then had to wait unnecessarily on a driver who neglected to use his or her blinker.

Perhaps the most heinous offense of all of the bad driving is bad parking.  A parking space is meant to fit one vehicle without parts of that vehicle crossing over into the road or other parking spots.

Most of us drive vehicles small enough to fit into parking spots with room for at least one foot of leeway on each side, that way the person you parked next to doesn’t have to climb through a sunroof to get in and out of their car.  And if your vehicle is too big to fit in the parking spot properly, find somewhere else to park.

I guess it all comes down to common courtesy.  If we would all realize, and again I emphasize that I am grouping myself in with this, that we are not the only drivers on the road and that the lane is not exclusively ours, then maybe there would be less road rage, idiotic drivers and other pains associated with driving.