Finding people’s stories of how some people drive like they are the only people on the road is very easy. Lots of people see impatient maniacs every day. Just today, while driving from Beacon to Glenham at 8:30am on Old Glenham Road, a small SUV was driving the speed limit, followed by a black sedan, who wasn’t having it. The black sedan was tailing the small SUV, who casually just kept driving like a normal person. Presumably to Glenham Elementary school (which, it ended up, was where they were going).

The sedan couldn’t take the 30 mph speed limit, and passed the small SUV by crossing the double yellow line. This was just before passing Laby’s Pizzeria, where the sedan raced to turn right, after passing the small SUV across the double yellow line.

The small SUV also turned right seconds later, albeit calmly. The two vehicles drove down the road, and the sedan had stopped to turn right at the beautiful creek view over the bridge across from Petticoat Lane. The sedan who broke the law had gained no time by passing the small SUV, who by then, turned left down Petticoat Lane, and into the Glenham Elementary kid-drop off, which has its own situation and requires total 100% acceptance of calmness to surrender as cars and buses sit in the road, waiting to advance. Morning coffee of course, makes people a little jumpy. Self-summoned zen-vibes are key to a golden morning.

Common Double Yellow Line Crossing In Beacon

Just don’t. Drivers breaking the law and endangering others are locals and visitors. Here’s what happens on the regular on Main Street. There are often no painted lines on the back-roads and side streets. But this even happens near Sargent Elementary school on soccer mornings as parents rush to get to a game, and drive around each other.

Pedestrian Crossing: A person is crossing the street at a cross-walk. A car has stopped. The car behind it beeps at the car in front of it, angry that the first car is letting the person pass. Sometimes, that second vehicle drives around the first stopped vehicle, and crosses the double yellow line.
School Bus Stops For Kids: The Beacon City School District routes buses to drop off kids at street corners. Could be a group of kids, or one kid. On Cross and Verplanck, at 4:10pm, a bus was approaching one such stop. The bus driver put on the yellow flashers, put out the red stop sign, and a tiny Pre-K kid started to step down the stairs to get off the bus. Two cars drove around the bus as this happened. No cars stopped going the other way. It was chaotic as not one person recognized that the bus was letting out a child. Rather, they recognized, but didn’t care. Normally at that time, a weekday at 4:10pm on Verplanck, the traffic is local.
Parallel Parking: It’s annoying to stop and wait for someone to park. Even worse, it is for the person doing the parallel parking, if they can’t do it. Their nerves are on over-drive, as they feel the pressure from the people waiting behind them, and sometimes in the other oncoming lane if their car is nosing over the double yellow. Which is why passing them - whizzing by them in anger - is even worse. Don’t pass people over the double yellow line when they are parallel parking. Just wait. I know it’s hard. I do it too.
Even WORSE: Is if a person is waiting for the parker to finish parking, and the car behind is so impatient, that they jut around both cars to pass on the double yellow. If you do this, you have a greater chance of hitting a person who took that moment of paused traffic to cross the street. Get patience. Don’t go around stopped cars.

Readers Respond

Some readers have responded with their own stories recently:

nicole__tori: “Some a-hole crossed the double line today as a mini school bus was coming the opposite way. It was a very close call as they passed over the double yellow played chicken with the school bus and then cut the the driver off in front of them. Small oldish gray car.”

wellnessformakers: “So true, I can’t believe how fast drivers go on Verplanck near the Middle School. Especially while so many students walk to school and have to cross such a busy road at the light without a crossing guard. What’s the rush?”

glassoverboard: “Not just Beacon. This happens every where. I was in Newburgh local road speed 30mph and a car went over the double sided line passed by only to stopped by the red light and I was behind me.”