When driving, every second really does count

Common wisdom has it that jackrabbit starts and racing from stoplight to stoplight end up being a waste of time. As the theory goes, a guy will just get stuck at the next light, and traffic will catch up after all. Those knuckleheads that intently watch for the light to turn green, accelerate quickly, and pounce on open slots in traffic? Fools, they say, fools!

Me, of course, I'm in the other camp. Not the damn-the-torpedoes, good-luck-to-the-pedestrians camp, but the proactive, opportunity-watching, hyper-engaged driver camp. And today my point was proven oh so beautifully.

There we were this morning, in line to leave the parking lot. My wife was first, then someone else, and then me. When my wife turned onto the street, the next person - looking at their cell phone - hesitated for a couple of seconds before pulling up, which resulted in their missing a window in the traffic flow, which resulted in my having to wait for the window-after-next, which resulted in my missing the left turn arrow at the next intersection, which resulted in a long wait ... and so on.

My wife and I were both driving to the same place. Those two or three seconds, magnified by a long series of red lights, ended up in my arriving nearly 10 minutes after her to the next location - just a few miles away.

So next time the knucklehead next to you in a black SUV gets excited when the light turns green, get out of his way. Please.