We all deplore reckless or drunk driving, but timid drivers, I feel, are the worst of all. By this I mean slow, overly cautious, indecisive, scared of the shadow of their own car. Any way you slice it they’re infuriating. One of the glorious things about rumble-hogging is that I can easily go around these stooges. But sometimes they get you anyway.

The night before last I making a left turn at a traffic-lighted intersection on Fountain Ave., which is a four-laner. The light was green so people behind me were good to pass. My left-turn signal was on, of course, and I was positioned as far as possible on the left side of the left lane. Nonetheless a white coupe (Accord or Jetta) behind me was stopped, seemingly waiting for me to make my turn before proceeding. And of course three or four or five cars were also stopped behind him/her. All because the Accord/Jetta was too chicken to make a move. All this lily-livered driver (and the drivers behind him/her) had to do was swerve very slightly to the right, which would have been simple because, as noted, I wasn’t blocking the lane but sitting on top of the double line. Plus the Fountain Avenue traffic was mild with openings here and there. But the Accord/Jetta just sat there.

Par for the course. Timid drivers slow things down and make many of us crazy. Sometimes people get so impatient that they wind up making a mistake and then wham. Not that this has ever happened to me but still.