I’m sitting on the Mystic Valley Parkway in Medford this morning. The light is green and the traffic is jammed on the other side of the intersection. I know there’s a good chance it will turn red before I get through. So I wait leaving the intersection free, as you’re supposed to do. It’s the law. The car behind me starts honking in annoyance. He sees that there’s space between me and the guy in front of me and he’s not happy about it. It is rush hour in Boston, after all.

As he’s leaning on his horn, some space opens up and I move through the intersection to the other side. There’s room for my car alone. Behind me “honker guy” and all the cars behind him move into the intersection. The light changes, as everyone knew it would, and now they’re all blocking the intersection.

Gridlock! Now, no one can move.

I can’t assume that all of the cars behind me intentionally blocked the intersection. Maybe they weren’t paying attention and made a mistake.

But, is there anyone that doesn’t know that blocking the intersection is illegal? Is there anyone who isn’t annoyed when it’s done to them?

Why do we do it? Should we be less bothered that it was done by mistake? Could that many people really have made the same mistake at the same time?

Now obviously there are times when we occasionally get stuck, make a mistake, and get caught. I’ve been there too. But you and I both know that most of the time people do this, the mistake is due to either inattention or rudeness. Neither is excusable.

We take it as a point of pride the Massachusetts drivers are bad. We talk about it at parties like we talk about the Red Sox, the Pats or the weather. People laugh it off as “awww, it’s just the way we drive in Boston”.

Why??

I called Fred Garber, the owner of Arlex Driving School in Arlington. He says it’s because enforcement is weak. “People are aware of the rules, but they know they can get away with it.”

Personally, I don’t disagree. I think police should enforce all laws. But I also know police have limited resources to do everything they need, including fighting bigger crimes.

Here’s our question: Do you block the intersection? Why? If not, why not, everybody else does?