Dear Mr. Asshole Driving the Jag

This has been a tough summer for runners and cyclists.  Michael Fontes (written up in my blog post;
"A Father and Runner Lost") and TJ Doherty; were both struck down this summer by cars while doing what they loved to do which was running.

This weekend, I was ironically headed to a 5K race ten minutes from my house when some old dude (yes...older than me) completely blew through a stop sign to make a right turn right in front of me.  This was no, "California Stop."  This was a "no brakes applied, blow through a sign" right turn.  It pissed me off, as I braked to avoid hitting his crappy convertible Jaguar.  This was also within a mile of the spot where another runner (Sherry Lynn Peters) was fatally struck down in Highlands Ranch.

Not his real license plate, but it should be

I blew this off as an isolated incident and went off to run my race.  The incident with Mr. Jag(off) came up again at dinner with the family.  As I explained the incident, and described the driver, my wife concluded that the same jerk had cut her off more than once pulling the same kind of stunts.  Cutting people off...running red lights for right turns.  Are we talking about a really crappy driver, old dude run amok, or just a narcissistic asshole?  You be the judge.

Over dinner, I joked with the boys that we should track this guy down, and leave a nasty note on his car.  We went through all kinds of literary suggestions...many too inappropriate (these are teenage boys) to list here.

Literally, the next morning, (I'm not making this up,) I pull into my recreation center for my morning swim.  I had planned to apply what I'd learned in my swim lesson this last week (Water Works) and practice some more on my flip turns.  I had some successful time in the pool and as I'm walking out to the parking lot, in flys Mr. Jaguar with Mrs. Cougar.  He pulls into a parking spot two spots away from me.  Before I could form any words in my head, he bolts indoors and leaves his car unattended.

I proceeded to leave a teenage son-inspired note on his windshield.  "Please do all of Highlands Ranch (area I live in) a favor and SLOW down and obey stop signs.  You have 'cut off' 3 members of my family on the road.  This is not the Autobahn and you aren't driving a Porsche--it's a crappy Jaguar.  Thank You!"  I added "I now have your license number" after I snapped a photo of the priceless note.

While I can't say he will learn anything from my sophomoric note, or change his behavior, I can at least hope he might slow down or actually obey the traffic signals and signs in my neighborhood that's loaded with runners, cyclists and children.  I'm not saying he's going to kill a runner or cyclist, but I can say that his odds are much higher than the average Joe that he hits someone.  Slow down, you move too fast, you gotta make the moments last.