Is It So Wrong?

It's no secret that Mrs. HM is not a fan of the UTVs (Utility Terrain Vehicles) that seem to be the latest trend in Hillmomba. They are sometimes called side-by-sides. They have two seats, sometimes four. Usually a roof. They are a minimal step up from 4-wheelers, which have no roof, and carry two passengers, and are used for riding in rough terrain. 

These UTVs don't require the licensing of a car. They don't carry the same insurance requirements. They are cheaper than actual cars. I don't know the safety requirements in their construction, but they do not have roll bars, or reinforced doors. Most of them don't even have doors. They might come with seatbelts. I don't know. I have not observed people in them wearing seatbelts.

Anyhoo... I do not like these UTVs on the road. I think they are a safety hazard for the people in them, and for people on the road with them.

Since the last flooding, the main low-water bridge has been quite rough. The sign proclaiming BUMP was washed away. The most recent repair where the pavement is gone has made this bridge even rougher than before the current application of blacktop. A couple times, I have almost knocked myself senseless, while daydreaming about my scratcher plan, or how The Pony was getting along in bad weather on his route. The section of the bridge that meets the blacktop county road must be approached slowly, to ease all four tires of the vehicle over the rough "steps" that formed when blacktop washed away.

On the way home from town this week, clueless people had parked a car next to the area that requires easing. Two of those people were sitting on the edge of the bridge, dangling their feet over the side, fishing with poles. Another gal was walking from the car to them, using prime center real estate on that bridge for her path. Of course I slowed down. I knew that drop-off was there, and I didn't want T-Hoe bouncing along with clueless people so near.

I looked in T-Hoe's mirror, and saw a UTV that had not been there at last glance. I have no idea where this UTV came from. I had not seen one in any driveway, waiting to pull out. It must have been following me from the county lettered highway. Which means it was going WAY too fast for the county blacktop road. Mrs. HM herself drives quite quickly there. She knows the road.

Anyhoo... as I eased T-Hoe off that step-ledge, the UTV was almost on top of me. I went across the bridge, still watching in the mirror. That UTV did not slow down! It hit the step-ledge way too fast. 

Is it so wrong that this observation gave me great pleasure? I'm pretty sure the driver of that UTV had his head rattled, and his teeth knocked together from the impact. I figure this was not a local person. That UTV blazed past T-Hoe when I turned onto our gravel road about a half mile past the bridge. I hope a lesson was learned about speeding in a UTV, but it doesn't seem that was the case.