be nice or just drive?

I live in a community where a lot of poeple try to be nice in the way they drive. They let other people into traffic when that person is waiting, they motion to you to go first at a four way stop when it's really their own turn to go. You get the idea. Granted there are times when it's nice to be let into a long line of traffic when you're sitting in a parking lot waiting to go. Still, what I prefer though is that people just drive. People, just drive. Follow the rules of the road. Don't make up your own rules--flashing your lights to signal to someone that you are doing some nice traffic related thing, motioning people to go, to turn, to go first, or to do some thing that you think the other person wants to do.

I prefer that people jsut follow the rules of the road. The rules of the road are perfectly good rules (laws in fact) that are tried and tested and work well. If someone has the right of way they should just go about their business and forget all the nice little traffic inventions that thwart safe and sane driving.

Half the time I miss out on someone else's nice gesture because I'm minding my own business, observing the rules of the road and I'm not reading someone else's mind who has a desire to do something nice.

Also, it amazes me how often someone wants you to do something and they don't even know what you have in mind. Our turn signal doesn't reveal everything after all. What if someone's turn signal just burnt out. I've seen many times when if you followed the directions of the kindly person motioning to you to come on ahead, you would get into an accident because the kindly soul hasn't taken everything into consideration.

What would the officer say if you told him, "I wasn't gonig to go but this person motioned to me to come on ahead, and that's when I got T-boned by that other car who had the right of way."

So just drive. Just follow the rules of the road. If you have the right of way do what you're supposed to do. If you don't, wait until it is safe to proceed. We'll all get along fine. We'll be just as safe if not safer.