Background: I’m back in Chicago after a few days in NYC. Every year around this time I go to NYC with my man because he needs to be there on business and I like to tag along.

In all my years I’ve heard stories of crazy drivers in NYC. I’ve been there a number of times and aside from the super fast cab rides I haven’t seen too much.

Well this visit, I finally got a glimpse of what can really happen. We were at a light on our way in the city from the airport. The cabbie decided to cut across 106th to 5th Avenue to head to Midtown. We were at a light on 106th, we were first and there was a car to our right. The light changed and I saw that guy next to us dart ahead and turn on his left blinker. I figured he was just merging into our lane (desperate need to be first). My mouth dropped open and I exclaimed “no way, that guy is not making a left hand turn in front of us?” when we had to slam on our breaks to avoid smashing into him, to which the cabbie replied “welcome to New York.”

Of course, the skill of our cab driver saved us from a car wreck, and I’m thankful we didn’t get smooshed.

Why are people in such a hurry?