Drive Friendly, the Texas Way

This has been the motto of the Texas Department of Safety almost as long as I can remember, and before it was official, it was the unofficial motto of Texas drivers all across the state. Of late, I've noticed that with the influx of out of state transplants from more harried climes, the "friendly factor" on the road has lessened considerably, so I thought I'd write a tutorial in the fine art of driving friendly for those who are unfamiliar with the concept.

Doing such things as

• waving (just a finger or two off the steering wheel, though there are local variations) when you meet an oncoming car on country roads, whether you know the person or not
• letting someone merge into your lane if they are signaling that they need to
• if traffic is heavy and someone needs to enter the stream of traffic from a parking lot or driveway, when you approach the driveway and have to stop, stop just before it and wave them in
• when seeing a sign that says "lane closed, merge left", immediately signal and merge into the lane to your left
  
• generally being polite, considerate, and, yes, friendly to those with whom you share the road.

Not doing such things as

• when you see someone signaling a need to merge into your lane, making darned sure that they don't merge in front of you and scootching up as close to the car in front of you as possible to prevent that from happening; after all, you need to be in front, it's important;
  
• when you see someone who needs to enter the stream of traffic from a parking lot or driveway, make sure to stop in such a way that it is impossible for them to do so; after all, you were here first
  
• when seeing a sign that says "lane closed, merge left", immediately zoom as far forward in your lane as you can, bypassing the long line of traffic to your left and force your way in at the front of the line - after all, you're more important and deserve to be allowed to cut in front of everyone else
  
• generally acting as if you own the road and everyone else on it is, at best, much less important than you and, at worst, shouldn't even be driving on your road.
  

There's other ways of driving friendly, but this is just a sampling to give you an idea of the attitude that's involved. When in Texas (and, hopefully, elsewhere), drive friendly, folks. We like it that way, and eventually, you will, too!