I swear, people don't know how to @#$!$%^* drive anymore! I can guarantee you that every single time I get in my car and drive somewhere, even if it's only a couple of miles, some idiot in another vehicle will pull a stupid, dangerous, and/or illegal stunt right in front of me. It couldn't just be me noticing this. Here's a place for you to rant about the morons who share the roads with you and their latest antics.

Yesterday, I'm driving down a major boulevard (three lanes each direction); I'm in the center lane. Speed limit's 45 MPH and I'm doing exactly that. I can see up ahead that the right hand lane has about 15-20 cars backed up in it, since they're all waiting to turn right onto a freeway onramp. No prob, I'm going straight.

Then coming the other direction towards me is an SUV. He apparently realizes that he wants to be getting on the freeway with all those other people, so he commits a totally illegal U-turn in front of me (crossing a double-double yellow line median in the middle of a block), and then tries to get in the line of cars at the end. The moron misjudged where to pull his U-turn, however, and didn't leave enough space for his big-a$$ SUV to fit in neatly behind the last car... so now he's perpendicular to the direction of travel with his ass hanging out completely blocking my lane! Thank God I have a nimble car that was able to swerve neatly around him, blasting my horn the whole way. @#$%^& idiot.

Next!

three lane city main street type road this morning, with two lanes blocked off with construction so natturally theres some backup. Some idiot taxi driver weaves in and out of the construction zone just to keep getting ahead, and then blasts through a red light. Thank god i wasnt in the 8 coz id get real tense (in a rental...getting my tires rotated and wheels aligned).

I don't have a story, I think most of the drivers around here think i'm the asshat ;)

idiots that try to make a right on red when cars are coming, using their turn signal when it's far too late, getting into the middle turn only lane too slowly, driving in the left lane too slowly, making a right hand turn from the far left lane. that was just today.

So it's not just California issuing driver's licenses in cereal boxes, apparently! I swear, doesn't anybody know the basic rules of the road anymore? This morning on my way to work, one of the major intersections I pass through had the signal lights flashing red in all directions. This obviously means (for those of us who actually know how to drive, at least) that you treat the intersection like a four-way stop; when you reach the intersection you stop, wait for those who were there before you to go, and then you take your turn and go.

Traffic is of course backed up, so the car next to me in the adjacent lane and I are inching forward at the same rate. We both approach the intersection and now we each have only one car ahead of us in our respective lanes. The car ahead of me goes, and I slow down to come to a stop. The idiot next to me guns it and tailgates the car in front of him through the intersection instead of waiting his turn. Fortunately there was no cross-traffic entering the intersection, or this idiot would have caused an accident. He must've saved a whole four or five seconds of time by refusing to wait his turn. What a jerk.

Some guy in a pickup coming out of a parking lot. He sat there and waited until it was dangerous to pull out -- and THEN pulled out.

Driving along the 405 N in the passing lane with a carpool lane next to me. Since it's columbus day and monday, it's really light traffic so I was able to get close to 80, and probably faster if not for the asshole in front of me not wanting to move. So suddendly, the traffic comes to a screeching halt.

There was an SUV in front a few cars away so I couldn't see what caused the traffic but the lane to my right was moving, slowly. So I noticed this Light Green Celica, facing us and that SUV basically just stopped there.

The Celica for some unknown reason spun out even though it was a FWD car.. and then this SUV on the next lane, just sat there looking at him.. he didn't hit him or sustain any damage all the while creating a traffic jam...

I hate it when you are the only car on the road and another car pulls out in front of you, when they could have simply waited for you to pass by. They then of course proceed to drive slow causing you much hate and discontent.

Then coming the other direction towards me is an SUV. He apparently realizes that he wants to be getting on the freeway with all those other people, so he commits a totally illegal U-turn in front of me (crossing a double-double yellow line median in the middle of a block), and then tries to get in the line of cars at the end.

You know, I just don't get this. I see it all the time. People who realize they need to be in a spot where they aren't, whether it be to get on/off a freeway ramp, make a turn, and they can't just continue on and come back to do it right. I mean, pass the damned ramp and get off at the next one. I realize that in some cases you may have to go a bit out of your way to do so, but isn't that better than risking an accident or injury? Not to mention being polite???? Some people need to be slapped!

Oh another one, so I got on the 110, I was putting along at 70s or so in the lane to the right of the passing lane. I was simply following a car in front of me going the same speed. So this wench on my right decided to change lanes, without signally, in front of me. Changing lanes in front of me, that's fine, providing they signal and match my speed, but noooooooooooooooooooooo, she was driving 20 mph slower than I was!!! And another thing is, there's no cars in front of her!! So basically she changed lanes for no reason and making me slow down along with holding up traffic!! Why don't assholes like that have some courtesy to yield to faster traffic. She was going piss slow anyways and I could've passed her in no time.

^^^ That happens to me all the time! I want to scream at those people, "And you need to be in this lane because..???" It's almost as if they have some compulsive desire to be in a particular lane, regardless of the traffic in that lane or the fact that the lane they're currently in is moving right along and there's no need for them to get out of it. Weirdness.

Aratinga - your second and NomisR's first posts sound EXACTLY like what every intersection is like here. People always BLATANTLY run redlights, tailgate through stop signs, suddenly slam the brakes and swerve into turns, pull out in front of people and block traffic, all that stuff. It's not like you see it once a day or anything, you see things like that several times in every few minutes of driving. It's absolutely ridiculous around here.

A few weeks ago I was driving on the interstate, right lane, Kia Shoebox in the middle lane a bit ahead of me, nondescript SUV driving alongside the Kia in the left lane. So I'm driving along and suddenly WHAM the Kia just decided that turning into the SUVs door would be a pretty great idea. It's not like this guy couldn't see the hulking SUV that was right next to his drivers side window. It is a hulking SUV, after all. We seriously need to make licenses a priledge and not a right. (How else would these people be permitted to drive?)

Driving home the other day, making my way around a single-lane but fairly large (i.e., you can't see across it - trees, etc) roundabout at about 10.30pm. The car ahead of me brakes, swerves, and beeps. A split second later, I see a car heading towards me coming the wrong way round the roundabout! I accelerate out of his way, beeped, etc. Then, I and the car in front followed his trail of destruction (cones, signs knocked over) around the roundabout.

Oh, and another roundabout that has a two-lane through section, like this:

http://www.dot.state.ny.us/reg/r9/cur_project/circle/images/finished_201sb.jpg

I was exiting in the inside lane, and the woman in the outside lane next to me is cutting my lane a bit, so a give her a quick beep to let her know I'm here, and she swerved away from me and almost crashed into the barrier! I overtook her, and she looked completely shocked - didn't know what was happening at all.

So yesterday I went to target to buy some mini-tables for my apartment. When I got into my car, I pulled out of my parking space to leave the target parking lot. Now I am not sure if everyone knows that you are not supposed to block an intersection or not but apparently, in San Diego, that is not common knowledge. So I am trying to pull out of the lot to make a left turn when this woman in one of those scion lego-block cars pulls into the intersection totally blocking it, then she gives me the finger like I am wrong for wanting to make a left turn. Geez I was soooo pissed that I had thoughts of ramming my car into her or getting out of my car and bursting her windshield. But I just let it go and waited for this idiot to move out of the way. I have lost my faith in drivers in San Diego.

Well, we call them circles around here, but it appears the level of stupidity behind the wheel is universal. There's one circle about a mile from my work that I travel almost daily. People invariably make their right turns from the far left lane and vice versa. It's gotten to the point that I expect it, and I'm proven right almost every time. I can't count the amount of time I would've been side-swiped if not expecting it.

Also today on the way back from lunch, there was a lady who's inattentiveness could only be matched by her lack of driving skill. I was traveling down a one lane street, perhaps slightly over the posted limit of 45MPH, and she decided that her best course of action would be to blow the stop sign (I fully expected that already - in NJ stop signs are regarded as suggestions). So I get hard on the brakes hoping- nay expecting- the woman to speed up quickly, as she has already demonstrated her rush. Nope. Fifteen miles per f*cking hour. Oh, and she was only going about a quarter mile down the road.

There was a fun website "way back when" called "highway 17 page of shame (jerque du jour)". The dude would catch numbskulls in the act with his camera and post them on his website. Things haven't changed... The site went defunct almost 10 years ago but you can still see it courtesy of the Wayback Machine

http://web.archive.org/web/19981205073631/http://www.got.net/~egallant/the_road.html

Didn't happen today... happened a month ago or so.

I'm exiting the freeway. There's a light. I'm on the left turn lane right behind a Volvo. The light turns green. The Volvo turns left. I wasn't paying attention so I'm a little slow and I start turning left...

A Nissan Maxima going really fast PLOWS right through his red light coming right before me and right after the Volvo. He steps on his brake and ends up stopped pretty much right through the intersection.

Yep, the second time with my RX-8 where if I had been faster I probably would've gotten killed. And both times involved some guy flat out running their red light. It was funny I didn't realize how close I was to getting killed until I was telling this story to someone else and I was like "huh, he came from my driver's side. huh, if he had hit me it would've probably pushed my car at least 10 feet. holy crap that could've been bad!"

Another time that I saw someone do something absolutely absurd was...

I was in the left turn lane. A guy was in the lane right of me that was supposed to go straight. What does he do? He makes a U-Turn from his lane. A U-Turn from one lane right of the Left turn lane. He didn't signal or anything. Just suddenly turned left and through the left turn lane.

Lane blockers -- another example of people who either (a) have no clue what the rules of the road are, or (b) know, but don't give a @#$%. How hard is it to wait to enter an intersection until you know you can make it all the way across when traffic's backed up?

Occasionally the lane-blockers DO get busted... I saw it happen last week. There's a main road near my work that is having some major construction and has been narrowed down to one lane from its normal three in the west-to-east direction. As a result, during certain times of the day the eastbound traffic gets very congested and backed up. I have to turn right (east) onto this one-lane part of the road at a signal-controlled intersection, but half the time I can't move even when I have a green light because some selfish eastbound dolt has entered the intersection with no hope of being able to clear it before he loses his green light -- so he blocks passage through the intersection for everyone going north.

The other day when this happened, a CHP motorcycle officer happened to be northbound along with me and all the other blocked people.... he zoomed up between lanes, stopped his bike inches off the idiot's front bumper, and did the "YOU! PULL OVER NOW!!" gesture to the driver. I gave the officer a big thumbs-up as I passed. :D

Lane blockers -- another example of people who either (a) have no clue what the rules of the road are, or (b) know, but don't give a @#$%. How hard is it to wait to enter an intersection until you know you can make it all the way across when traffic's backed up?

Occasionally the lane-blockers DO get busted... I saw it happen last week. There's a main road near my work that is having some major construction and has been narrowed down to one lane from its normal three in the west-to-east direction. As a result, during certain times of the day the eastbound traffic gets very congested and backed up. I have to turn right (east) onto this one-lane part of the road at a signal-controlled intersection, but half the time I can't move even when I have a green light because some selfish eastbound dolt has entered the intersection with no hope of being able to clear it before he loses his green light -- so he blocks passage through the intersection for everyone going north.

The other day when this happened, a CHP motorcycle officer happened to be northbound along with me and all the other blocked people.... he zoomed up between lanes, stopped his bike inches off the idiot's front bumper, and did the "YOU! PULL OVER NOW!!" gesture to the driver. I gave the officer a big thumbs-up as I passed. :D

Unfortunately, there are times when it's hard not to be the one that blocks the flow. You wait your turn and you can't go because either someone's still in the intersection or you will be the one stuck there. You wait another cycle and the same situation presents itself. Now people behind you are ready to kill you. At some point you have no choice but to forge ahead and pray that traffic will clear. If we all waited our turn it would be fine. But the selfish ones change the game so that everybody has to play by their rules. :(

1. People that dont know that YIELD means you have to stop for the vehicles on the main right of way. I pass thru an entrance to I-76 here in NJ every day and those in the YIELD lane just keep on coming like they have the right of way. Although twice that I remember, cars have made a left at the yield and came up my ramp toward traffic, too.
2. When the green left arrow goes off, you cant turn left anymore. It doesnt mean if you saw the green arrow half way down the block, you can still turn with cars coming at you.

Seems to be a local compulsive behavior here to all of a sudden slam on the brakes and come to a complete stop for no reason whatsoever regardless of traffic. Happens to the guy in front of me at least once a week.

Others seem to be unaware that two big chunks of matter are incapable of occupying the same space at the same time. These are generally the 70+ crowd, and women driving SUVs with no passengers while talking on the cell phone.

The good part about my insane driving experiences here, is the look on those offenders faces when the 8's extremely effective horn starts blaring. It reminds them, Hey you're driving a friggin' 8000lb vehicle, pay the f' attention (sometimes aided by my vocalization out of the window), and embarasses the crap out of the women for some reason. :D

Unfortunately, there are times when it's hard not to be the one that blocks the flow. You wait your turn and you can't go because either someone's still in the intersection or you will be the one stuck there. You wait another cycle and the same situation presents itself. Now people behind you are ready to kill you. At some point you have no choice but to forge ahead and pray that traffic will clear. If we all waited our turn it would be fine. But the selfish ones change the game so that everybody has to play by their rules. :(

Never really got stuck in an intersection but sometimes, due to poor timing or some lights compounded with assholes who doesn't know how to accelerate at a decent speed creates having to sit at a light for a long time. What makes it worse is that you try to get though a light into the next section of the road which has long backups due to short timing, and then there are other cars on the crossing traffic making right or left turns on to it. So basically, everytime your light turns green, you can't get across because it's full of cars. So you're screwed either way.

But I just hate cars in those short light intersections that accelerates slowly that makes everyone and their mom have to wait multiple lights because their stupid ass doesn't know how to accelerate their cars at a decent speed. :mad:

My brother and I almost got killed several months ago when this Mercedes ML320 ran a red light from our left and crossed a few feet in front of us at ~60mph when we were making a left. We were in a 89 Mazda B2200, which is not the safest car to be t-boned in :eek: . I don't understand how he didn't see the red light, there were many other cars stopped in the other lanes. He chose the only open lane to run!! What the hell!??

people who take left hand turns at 2 miles per hour.

Same people probably hate the jackass in the blue rx-8 that rides their bumper all the way through. :D

People that don't pull forward on solid green left turn lights drive me absolutely INSANE. I sit behind them and gesture for them to move forward and sometimes start giving them words of encouragement.

Some idiot today just stopped right in front of me...at a damn green light! Gimme a break.
Now once, back in college, I was with one of my roommates, we were between classes, driving around, and we came to an intersection. We were in the right-turn-only lane, when he decides that he wants to go straight when the light turns green. So all 3 people he just cut in front of are blaring their horns, and then he sticks his arm straight up out the window and shows them all his Mister Digit hand puppet, because, they had no right honking at us! What the Hell were they thinking, huh. So as this fool speeds off, I look back and see this gold Ford Explorer tearing over the median after us. Wonderful. This guy proceeds to chase us, and my roommate said," This guy's gonna f*** me up!" I was thinking yeah, you deserve it, you nimrod. BTW, we're in his new girlfriend's Ford Probe. What a prince. This guy gets, in front of us, and motions forcefullt to pull over. We do, then take off after he opens his door. We took a turn that was a little too sharp for him to take at speed, and we lost him. Lucky me.

People that don't pull forward on solid green left turn lights drive me absolutely INSANE. I sit behind them and gesture for them to move forward and sometimes start giving them words of encouragement.

Amen to that. Also, people who apparently have telescopic vision who will ABSOLUTELY not pull out untill it's clear for like, 12 miles or so. Sometimes I add a honk of encouragement to my words and gestures.

Amen to that. Also, people who apparently have telescopic vision who will ABSOLUTELY not pull out untill it's clear for like, 12 miles or so. Sometimes I add a honk of encouragement to my words and gestures.

As much as I hate being behind the non-mover-uppers, I do get quite a kick out of watching them from across an intersection. I just love watching them go BLASTING off from the light just so they can barely make it through a mile wide gap in traffic. Pulling forward just a few feet makes it so you don't have to make that mad dash all the way across the road. Not quite sure how that works, but it's so much more relaxed to just make the move forward and then proceed across.

One of my roomies says they don't do it because "it blocks traffic." What traffic? The traffic that won't be going until well after you've cleared the intersection?

2. When the green left arrow goes off, you cant turn left anymore. It doesnt mean if you saw the green arrow half way down the block, you can still turn with cars coming at you.

There's an even funner game that drivers play now. I'd never seen it until a few years ago and now I see it all the time. Light turns green for traffic in both directions. Some self-centered asshole jumps out and completes a left turn to "beat" the oncoming traffic. There is a special place in hell for these people.

A VERY special place. I think it's right below the place for those people who see you coming up the lane, and then they sloooowly pull out right in front of you. I mean, if they're in such a no-hurry, why couldn't they wait for you to pass?

Everything y'all are saying here just reaffirms what I've come to believe, and that is that most so-called drivers have no clue how actual DRIVING is supposed to be done. They are pathetically ignorant of the most basic rules of the road, they are self-centered beyond belief, and they haven't the faintest clue of the physics and dynamics of the thousands of pounds of steel, rubber, and plastic they're caroming around in.

I think that at every intersection, in addition to traffic lights, we need to have those scrolling digital signs that drivers waiting at the red light are forced to read.... reminding people to "Hang up and @#$%^ pay attention!", or "Red means STOP, moron!" and maybe "There ARE people behind you who would eventually like to get where they're going!" :D

Just a thought....

SOME ASSHAT THREW HIS CHEWING TOBACCO OUT THE WINDOW AND IT HIT MY CAR TONIGHT YESTERDAY I HAD FULLY CLAYEd AND WAXED THE ENTIRE THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fortuntately the fresh wax coating was a shield and I wiped it off clean with some quick detailer but still...

next time I'm gonna hunt down and from the great line by Anthony Hopkins in 'The Edge'... "I'm gonna Killa the motherfucker" :D


/jk!

pssst... Magellen.... he didn't THROW it. :D :p

I had that happen to my white Miata too... I'd spent the day at Disneyland and when I returned to the car in the parking lot some stupid redneck had spewed his chaw all over my car. Thank God I'd put up the top and rolled up the windows.

Man, I'm so glad I grew up in a family that takes pride in great driving and car care. I couldn't even imagine being one of those idiots who just drives around brainlessly yapping on their cellphone while careening across lanes with no regard to other drivers. I'll admit that I talk on my phone in the car from time to time, but I keep it as short as possible, I prioritize driving over talking and if it's going to be long, I find somewhere to pull off. I really don't see what's so hard about that.

There's really nothing hard...it would just be too much like right. Consideration of others? Come on, man! Next thing you'll be telling us is that the world would be a better place of people stopped treating each other like crap. ;)

I have an idea Aratinga......

When the morons are eventually pulled over after one of their patented moves, instead of ticketing them or taking away their license, give them a special restricted license.

This restricted license would only allow them to drive a moped or motorcycle, for two years.

They would be forced to become good defensive drivers, or become dead. People that practice bonehead moves on two wheels have very short lifespans.

some asshat in an 80-something corolla was about to plow right into me if I hadn't slammed on the brakes....I swear, people with crappy cars don't care what happens to them

I think sometimes people in POS cars WANT to get into a wreck for some reason. I don't think they take into account that they're IN THE CAR :rolleyes:

Either that or they're such shitty drivers, they've crashed themselves into only being able to afford total piles.

i had to deal with a woman going 18mph on a 35mph road early in the morning with a string of people behind obviously trying to get to work or to the train station to get to work. Wasn't even an old lady driving, a woman in her mid 30s out to do some errands, as if theres no one else in the world. This kinda thing makes me furious, because it makes me late and forces me do things like run and jump onto moving trains...and if you've ever tried to do this, you know just how hard this is.

last night after the hockey game, i was driving down a single-lane community road. speed limit is 60 (kph) and i was doing about 75. some guy in an SUV came up on me like i was standing still and proceeded to ride my ass for a good 5 minutes. the whole time, i can see him staying as close as possible and hitting his brakes every so often to try and avoid hitting me while attempting to scare me. normally i would just slam on my brakes as hard as possible, but i had people with me, so i didnt.

anyways, further down the road, a cop passes the other way, and pulls a u-turn and pulls the guy over. i stopped too, and the cop told me he was nailing him for dangerous driving. and since i had 2 other people with me, we all told him that this had been happening for 5 minutes, so the cop wasnt going to accept an 'i just caught up to him' excuse :D

oh, I got another one....this morning as I was driving in to work (dark, because the sun hasn't come up yet, and raining fairly hard, on a 65mph road going 75mph) this woman in an impala came flying up behind me then started flashing her brights trying to get me to move over when there was no room to move. Also this was the same point at which the median had started to flood and looked like it was about to go into the road. AND I WAS BEHIND A COP!

so eventually i got out of the idiot's way, then she proceeded to ride the cop's ass


some people

last night after the hockey game, i was driving down a single-lane community road. speed limit is 60 (kph) and i was doing about 75. some guy in an SUV came up on me like i was standing still and proceeded to ride my ass for a good 5 minutes. the whole time, i can see him staying as close as possible and hitting his brakes every so often to try and avoid hitting me while attempting to scare me. normally i would just slam on my brakes as hard as possible, but i had people with me, so i didnt.

anyways, further down the road, a cop passes the other way, and pulls a u-turn and pulls the guy over. i stopped too, and the cop told me he was nailing him for dangerous driving. and since i had 2 other people with me, we all told him that this had been happening for 5 minutes, so the cop wasnt going to accept an 'i just caught up to him' excuse :D

Man, you made my day! I'd love to see the focus change from speed enforcement to citing idiots like the guy you encountered -- people brandishing their vehicles as weapons.

Here's my contribution to the thread, happened a few days ago...

I was making a right turn and a lady in her SUV was waiting to leave the gas station she waits till I'm just about there and then jumps out in front of me, fortuantely there was no one in the next lane over and I was able to get over, it is so cliche but yes she was also on her cell phone... :rolleyes:

Hm k, well apparently everyone in the entire Las Vegas valley drive like theyre from Cali (no offense)...

There are 3 roundabout circle things by my house...and if I go in the direction, I have to go through all 3 to get to the interstate...So im drivin on my way to school and go through the first one, and have to swerve cause some idiot thought it would be ok to use a round about to do a uturn, against traffic. In the second one, I have to slam on my brakes because someone who was supposed to yield obvisouly didnt...and in the third one (it has 2 lanes) the guy next to me decided he wanted to get out of the round about (where he wasnt supposed to) and almost swiped me.

It also pisses me off when im in the front of the line at a stop light, it turns green, and im starting to go (0.2 seconds after it turns green) and some idiot honks at me to hurry up. If there is no one behind him, i'll wait until its yellow and go...leaving him to wait until it turns green again.

Grr...Im about to leave for school and I bet i'll have 3 or 4 near accidents because of stupid people before I get there (its only like 8 miles away from my house)

Man, you made my day! I'd love to see the focus change from speed enforcement to citing idiots like the guy you encountered -- people brandishing their vehicles as weapons.

ive always believed that speed isnt the problem, its the stupid moves people do on the road that kill (although speed is/can be a factor at times)

i mean, i can drive down the road at 120, and not be a problem to anyone else, but the person that cuts me off without looking is the problem... or as my example from yesterday, if i had been someone to get nervous with something like that, i could have done something stupid as im now only focused on whats going on behind me... dangerous driving is far more dangerous than speeding (speeding is just a bigger cash-grab and easier to prove, hence the more enforcement)

Well, we call them circles around here, but it appears the level of stupidity behind the wheel is universal...

Ah yes, Joisey circles... shiver...

The main one in Flemington is especially fun and chaotic. Drivers make up the rules as they go, varying them for interest from exit to exit. Sometimes the merging traffic stops, sometimes they think they have the right of way. You have to "go with the flow," illegal or not, or get nailed.

ive always believed that speed isnt the problem, its the stupid moves people do on the road that kill (although speed is/can be a factor at times)

i mean, i can drive down the road at 120, and not be a problem to anyone else, but the person that cuts me off without looking is the problem... or as my example from yesterday, if i had been someone to get nervous with something like that, i could have done something stupid as im now only focused on whats going on behind me... dangerous driving is far more dangerous than speeding (speeding is just a bigger cash-grab and easier to prove, hence the more enforcement)

Well, while that person's driving isn't too great, seeing your post about how you would brakecheck people doesn't make you any better than he is though. Plus, going 45 in a 40 mph zone you're driving wayyyyyyyyyyy slow. If it was an empty road with no traffic, pedestrians, parked cars and not likely having animals while being well lit, I could've been going 60+ on that road but without knowing the actual conditions, I won't judge on that.

The mature thing for you to do would have been to scoot closer to the shoulder and signal for him to pass you. Brakechecking is not only dangerous but worse than what he was doing if you had done so.

I had an asshole that tried to brakecheck me once because he was holding up traffic in the carpool lane and was driving slower than all the other lanes. So he slams on his brakes and actually lost control for a sec.. Of course I had enough distance where engine brake was actually enough for me to slow down without much drama.. people like that shouldn't drive.. :mad:

not today or in front of me, but about as boneheaded as you can get:

BMW drifter learns Darwin's Theory the hard way (http://www.flurl.com/uploaded/BMW_Drifting_641.html)

Plus, going 45 in a 40 mph zone you're driving wayyyyyyyyyyy slow.


:confused:

:confused:

I'm speaking of empty road with no traffic etc. 75 in a 60kph zone sounds fast but in reality, it's only 5 mph over the speed limit which is more likely set artificially low in order to generate revenue. It happens... A LOT. It means that road's more likely capable of safe travel of 55mph but depending on conditions. Again, without seeing the road, I can't judge, but knowing Canada, I wouldn't be too far off.

Not really a bonehead, just an old lady. She's in front of me at lunch today. She drives a whopping 25 mph with her foot on the brake for a good 2 mile stretch and she stopped whenever anything else was going on - a car was sitting waiting to pull onto our road from an offstreet and she stops DEAD in the road. I nearly busted her in the ass. This guy waiting to pull out has no idea what to do, he starts to pull out and granny decides to continue on. Really irritating but also dangerous. She pulled off at a beauty salon. No doubt going to have her hair "set."

I'm speaking of empty road with no traffic etc. 75 in a 60kph zone sounds fast but in reality, it's only 5 mph over the speed limit which is more likely set artificially low in order to generate revenue. It happens... A LOT. It means that road's more likely capable of safe travel of 55mph but depending on conditions. Again, without seeing the road, I can't judge, but knowing Canada, I wouldn't be too far off.

Yea but, regardless, you can't fault people for driving at the posted speed limit. It might be frustrating, you might get impatient, but you have no right to EXPECT them to exceed it.

Reminds me of the time someone passed me, via the oncoming traffic lane of an intersection, because I had dared to slow down for the orange light. The fun part was he blasted his horn at me the whole way past... like *I* was wrong.

Yea but, regardless, you can't fault people for driving at the posted speed limit. It might be frustrating, you might get impatient, but you have no right to EXPECT them to exceed it.

Reminds me of the time someone passed me, via the oncoming traffic lane of an intersection, because I had dared to slow down for the orange light. The fun part was he blasted his horn at me the whole way past... like *I* was wrong.

I don't fault people for driving speed limit as they're brainwashed to think speed = dangerous. But I do fault people for driving side by side with another car going the same exact speed to prevent people who desires to drive away from all the congestions to do so. Not the same situation as the case I initially responded but it occures too often on the road, failure for the driver to keep right except when passing.

Well, while that person's driving isn't too great, seeing your post about how you would brakecheck people doesn't make you any better than he is though. Plus, going 45 in a 40 mph zone you're driving wayyyyyyyyyyy slow. If it was an empty road with no traffic, pedestrians, parked cars and not likely having animals while being well lit, I could've been going 60+ on that road but without knowing the actual conditions, I won't judge on that.

The mature thing for you to do would have been to scoot closer to the shoulder and signal for him to pass you. Brakechecking is not only dangerous but worse than what he was doing if you had done so.

I had an asshole that tried to brakecheck me once because he was holding up traffic in the carpool lane and was driving slower than all the other lanes. So he slams on his brakes and actually lost control for a sec.. Of course I had enough distance where engine brake was actually enough for me to slow down without much drama.. people like that shouldn't drive.. :mad:

im not one to argue about going over the limit, BUT in reality, if i was doing 60 on that road, with a posted limit of 60, he should not be riding me in any way shape or form. i am abiding by the law, and if he doesnt like it, he should find another route. the fact that i was going OVER the speed limit gives him even less reason for riding me. and on a single lane road, im not about to move over so he can pass me. again, if he doesnt like it, he can find another route.

i was talking to my buddies about that afterwards, and i told them that if im driving along a road, im usually 20 over the limit, its my comfort zone. if i come up on someone going slower than me, but still at a decent speed, i wont even come anywhere close to what would be considered 'riding their ass'. why make them uncomfortable? theyll just panic and do something stupid.

as for the 'brakechecking', i'll give them a warning (tap of the brakes without slowing down) to tell them to back off. second time, i'll probably slow down a bit, but not anything they cant handle. after that, im stopping, fast, and going to get out and tell you why you done bad. and if you hit me, its your own damned fault for being that close. ive done it before, even admitted it to cops (when i got out, the lady freaked and called the police thinking i was going to hit her or something), and they have never issued me a ticket or warning or anything.

i never hold up traffic (or at least try not too. i havent to my knowledge). i dont ride in the passing lane if im not passing. if someone like the above mentioned idiot needs to go even faster than 20 over the posted speed limit, and there is a place that he can pass me safely without me having to do anything, then i let him. otherwise, it aint my problem. let him get all mad, i dont care. its people like THAT that cause problems on the road. the ones that are so damned impatient and think everyone on the road should abide by their rules and do what they want them to do.

5 mph under the speed limit isnt wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slow...slow maybe, but not wayyyyyyyyyyyyy slow...that would be doing like 15ish under the limit.

Anyways, I have more too add...like I said, I would get into some close accidents on the way to school because of idiots...and I was proved right. I decide to stop for gas since im on empty lol, and as I pull into the gas station, some idiot pulls up RIGHT behind me...on my ass...and almost rear ends me when I have to stop to let another guy through...thats 1. On my way OUT of the gas station, theres like this lil hill u have to go down to get to the street, some guy in a caddie decides (after he is already at the bottom...waiting to make a right onto the street) that he wants to back up...right into me. So I have to shift real quick and back up at like 15 mph just to get out of this idiots way. Thats 2. After the caddie movies, some stupid guy in his SUV pulls out in front of me to get down the hill before me, almost swipeing (sp?) the nose of my car in the process...thats 3. So FInally I get out of this deadly gas station and im heading south on summerlin parkway and some idiot cuts me off...im late for class at this point so im doin like 80ish...they cut me off and force me to slow down to about 55...i almost rearended him...thats 4. In the school parking lot some guys stoppped me to ask if I had jumper cables, which I didnt...and when I start to drive again, some idiot (who thinks im still stopped) speeds around me and almost hits one of the guys and the nose of my car...thats 5. And its only like, with the gas stop, a 20 minute drive ta school. Thats effing rediculous.

O and another one, while I was parking, I signeled (omg thats spelled wrong) to let this girl know I was going to back up into this spot and she just sat in my way so that I couldnt...so I go a lil around her and start to back in and she takes it. I parked a few rows over and embarrassed the hell outa her when I got out. omg I was so angry. Then her bf (I assume...who was with her) starts yelling at her because she coulda caused an accident and he "doesnt think that a 'tight ass' Rx8 should have dents because a stupid blond doesnt know how to park" :) lol. Twas amusing.

wow, didnt realize how long that was...sry lol

Then her bf (I assume...who was with her) starts yelling at her because she coulda caused an accident and he "doesnt think that a 'tight ass' Rx8 should have dents because a stupid blond doesnt know how to park" :) lol. Twas amusing.
now that right there is awesome

Here's one I see everytime I drive to work. There's a local freeway extension that is 2 lanes but narrows down to 1 lane as it merges onto another freeway (which happens to be a bridge at that spot). Now, 95% of people travelling that route in the morning KNOW what's coming up. But they will stay in the rightmost lane until the bitter end, or worse try to enter that lane for a last-second "leapfrog". Then they act as if the concrete retaining wall is "pushing" them into my lane -- i.e. they don't have to wait till it's safe to merge because they've run out of room and there's "nothing they can do about it".

Now, admittedly it's a stupid-ass design for a highway; one of counless examples of "Caltrans Engineering". You're supposed to be going around a curve, looking to merge onto another freeway, AND one of your two lanes is DISAPPEARING at the same time that the shoulder has become a concrete wall because you've just landed on a bridge. You'd think they'd merge the damn traffic down to 1 lane IN ADVANCE of all the other things. Do you know about "cockpit workload", (Caltrans) boys and girls? I didn't think so.

But, if you go through it every morning, why act like "OMG the lane is ending!"? sheesh!

Some douche in a white suv ran pushed me into the shoulder because he decided he really wanted to be in front of me. When there was nobody behind me. I ended up right next to him at a light, I just ignored him. My lane moved faster than his and I could see him throwing a damn fit about it. I just laughed to myself while he was having an aneurysm.

I don't fault people for driving speed limit as they're brainwashed to think speed = dangerous. But I do fault people for driving side by side with another car going the same exact speed to prevent people who desires to drive away from all the congestions to do so. Not the same situation as the case I initially responded but it occures too often on the road, failure for the driver to keep right except when passing.
Uh, speed DOES = danger. Sure, YOU might be able to react fast enough at certain speeds but it doesn't mean everyone has the same reflexes you do. The elderly naturally have slower reflexes and even some young people do.

If someone is doing the speed limit, I might get annoyed, but I don't ride their bumper or get pissed because they ARE going the speed limit. It may be because they're not paying attention, they're not comfortable with going faster, or because they don't want a ticket. I can't fault them for that. But on the other hand I do get pissed when someone goes the speed limit in the fast lane when all the other lanes are open to traffic. If someone is behind you obviously wanting to go faster and you CAN go faster, GET OUT OF THE FAST LANE. Change back into the lane as soon as the people who want to pass, pass if you need to, but let people through.

In the situation where two people go side by side at the speed limit, I get pissed at the guy in the fast lane, not the slow lane. I mean I assume the guy in the slow lane is going as fast as he's comfortable going. The guy in the fast lane shouldn't be in the fast lane unless he's going faster or turning left. If the guy in the fast lane wants to go the same speed, then he should be behind the guy in the slow lane.

And for those of you talking about bad road design...

Try stretches of the 110 freeway in Los Angeles. You have a stop sign, which is right in front of the entrance to a free way. That means you have literally 1 foot to go from a complete stop into merging to 55 (supposedly) mph freeway traffic rather than most entrances which give you like 1/10 of a mile to get up to speed and then merge into traffic. 80% of the entrances on this freeway are like that. It's an accident waiting to happen.

A Bone head is anyone in an SUV talking on their cell phone and driving like they are in a race car. They lack simple skills like merging, they are incapable of stopping or manuvering and they block the view of the road for everyone around them.
Ban all SUVs!
Fine anyone who does not yield the passing lane to faster traffic.
Pull over people who impede traffic with their total lack of skill.
Shoot anyone stupid enough to tailgate a sportscar!
Thats my rant.

oh my this just reminded me of something i saw last weekend.

this would be a lady driving an suv...
merging into the freeway...
talking on her cellphone...
AND SMOKING AT THE SAME TIME!

tonight, on the highway. in the slow lane. someone on the onramp wanting on beside me. i cant move over, someone there. lots of room BEHIND me. NO room for a car in front of me. person merging on, speeds up, cuts me off, almost hitting me. and then on top of that, proceeds to slow down to a pace slower than i had been doing. cuts over to the passing lane, almost hitting someone else. no signal, probably didnt even look. i sped up to make sure they would not be in front of me (even if i do hate passing on the right).

In rush hours traffic. An SUV in front of me in the far right lane. A big comercial truck was traveling next to it in the left, signaling to merge right. This SUV back off a little, the truck start to merge. When the truck is half way into our lane, this SUV mofo in front of me decided to speed up not letting this truck merge causing the truck to swirl back left, then this SUV swirl to right. Only then, probably realized how small his SUV compared to this big truck is, he then decide to back off and let the truck merge right back in. A very close call and this SUV driver was on the cell phone with one hand on the wheel. :confused: Just imagine if the accident did occurs, I'm sure the damage will be ugly and probably will take a few cars behind with them. :eek:

Uh, speed DOES = danger. Sure, YOU might be able to react fast enough at certain speeds but it doesn't mean everyone has the same reflexes you do. The elderly naturally have slower reflexes and even some young people do.

If someone is doing the speed limit, I might get annoyed, but I don't ride their bumper or get pissed because they ARE going the speed limit. It may be because they're not paying attention, they're not comfortable with going faster, or because they don't want a ticket. I can't fault them for that. But on the other hand I do get pissed when someone goes the speed limit in the fast lane when all the other lanes are open to traffic. If someone is behind you obviously wanting to go faster and you CAN go faster, GET OUT OF THE FAST LANE. Change back into the lane as soon as the people who want to pass, pass if you need to, but let people through.

In the situation where two people go side by side at the speed limit, I get pissed at the guy in the fast lane, not the slow lane. I mean I assume the guy in the slow lane is going as fast as he's comfortable going. The guy in the fast lane shouldn't be in the fast lane unless he's going faster or turning left. If the guy in the fast lane wants to go the same speed, then he should be behind the guy in the slow lane.

And for those of you talking about bad road design...

Try stretches of the 110 freeway in Los Angeles. You have a stop sign, which is right in front of the entrance to a free way. That means you have literally 1 foot to go from a complete stop into merging to 55 (supposedly) mph freeway traffic rather than most entrances which give you like 1/10 of a mile to get up to speed and then merge into traffic. 80% of the entrances on this freeway are like that. It's an accident waiting to happen.

Speeding does equal to less time to react however, driving at higher rate of speed close to the optimal speed of the road which is typically at the 85th percentile for most freeways and 95th percentile for rural highways, means safer conditions for everyone. Driving at higher rate of speed lets drivers concentrate more on the road than on other tasks. Giving the drivers an artificially low speed limit only gives the driver a false sense of security making them think it's safe to do other tasks like shave, apply makeup, talk on the phone, etc.

Now with that said, I don't get pissed at drivers going the speed limit provided that they're not driving in the passing lane (fast lane) simply for the hell of driving there. If there's in any other lane, I don't care. Typically, when I drive, unless when I'm passing, that way I don't block anyone that would want to drive faster than I do.

However, there are people who drives 45mph on the freeway in the farthest right lane and they're dangerous as well, even truck drivers high beam them and passes them. Those drivers are really common along the I10 and 60 freeway. :D