Quick Takes

It's become part of the routine for me to start or end a month of posts with a few Quick Takes. So, five days into the new month, here goes:

-- Vindication for Clackamas. In my last post, I perhaps went over the top in describing Clackamas County's often-sullied image. Today's front page story in The Oregonian spoke to the accomplishments of Clackamas High School, which became the largest high school in Oregon to reach every performance target during the seven years under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Read more in Betsy Hammond's story here.

-- Vindication for George. Readers of this blog know of my impatience with overly polite drivers in Portland -- the ones who insist on yielding the right of way, the ones who stop for pedestrians nowhere near a crosswalk or traffic light, even it means surprising the driver behind them. Krista, an occasional reader, wrote me yesterday to commiserate:

The issue is one of my biggest frustrations with living here! I'm known in my family for my reactions to this alarming trend. When other vehicles at an intersection "politely" motion for me to go ahead, even though they have the right of way, I stoically wait, often refusing to make eye contact, until they move. That said, I've also laid on the horn, New York style, when drivers waffle on an on-ramp, creating a dangerous situation for all. Some family members think I'm rude. My grandpa, who was raised in New York state, simply nods his approval at my actions.

I rest my case.

-- A bad week for listening to the GPS. From This Week magazine comes news of two Swedish tourists headed for the Italian resort of Capri. They misspelled the name in their GPS device and ended up in the industrial town of Carpi, 400 miles away, where they were very puzzled by the absence of a beach. “It’s hard to understand how they managed it,’’ said a Carpi official. “I mean, Capri is an island.’’

D'oh! Whatever happened to reading a map? Or am I the only one who still does that?

Portland's polite drivers

You've probably already seen the story.

New York City replaced Miami as the most road-rage filled city in the United States, according to a survey commissioned by AutoVantage of 25 metropolitan areas. Miami had "won" the top spot the past three years but slipped to No. 7 this year.

And how did Portland do?

We topped the list of cities with Most Courteous Drivers. Like you, I'm shocked -- just shocked -- at the ranking.

I mean, come on, this is a city where drivers at a four-way stop burn a gallon of gas waiting for someone to actually proceed through the intersection.

Please, you first.
No, go you first.
Oh, I insist.
No, really..

It's also a city where, as I've noted previously, drivers are apt to stop in the middle of the road -- even though there's no stop sign, no crosswalk, no bad weather -- to let someone cross the street.

Doesn't matter if other drivers have to suddenly brake to avoid a rear-end collision. Doesn't matter if the pedestrian is a healthy, physically capable adult. Heck, doesn't even matter if you're on a four-lane street with a green light. I was traveling west on Hawthorne Boulevard when two eastbound drivers decided to stop to let a dude and his dog cross. Good thing for them they didn't step into the crosswalk cuz I had no intention of stopping. Hello? That's what a red light is for.

Listen, I'm happy to live (and drive) in a city where motorists are civil to each other. New York, Dallas, Detroit...they deserve their high rankings for Most Road Rage. But when it comes to common sense, there is such a thing as being too polite.

Read the press release and see the complete rankings here: http://www.autovantageroadragesurvey.com/

Read a blog post by The Oregonian's Joe Rose on the survey findings at OregonLive.com

Photo by Jamie Francis, The Oregonian