# Stupid drivers rant



## bill5 (Aug 6, 2021)

We've all been there. Many...many...times...but I'm curious: what is most common and / or drives you nuts the most? The don't use signals people? The slow in the left laners? The cut you off aholes because it's their world and it's OK for them to do whatever they want? The tailgaters? The brilliant turning right at a red light and just sit there with their finger up their butt forevers? Others? 

For me got to be driving slow in the left lane, esp when clearly there are people behind them wanting to get by. Easily the most common stupidity here. These people need to have their licenses revoked and a shoe shoved swiftly into their posterior. I have actually contacted our state govt more than once and begged them to put out ads (radio, TV, even mailers, anything!) about this. Yes, it is against the law. But i wonder if a ticket is EVER given.

Also for those who've lived or traveled extensively in diff areas, are there places that you felt were significantly better or worse? 

The best drivers IMO by far and easily are Germans. God help you if you drive slow in the left lane there. The worst is such a toss up of almost everyplace else I've driven, tempted to say the place I've lived the longest now, but I realize it's so biased.


----------



## Trash Panda (Aug 6, 2021)

People who can’t stay on their side of the road/parking lot when turning. No. I’m not going to back up to make room for you just because you’re too lazy to learn a proper turn.


----------



## bill5 (Aug 6, 2021)

ah related to that, people who come to a near complete stop when turning onto a side road. Hello McFly, anyone in there


----------



## Polkasound (Aug 6, 2021)

My #1 pet peeve is slow people in the left lane. Wisconsin is famous for left lane campers who are completely oblivious to their surroundings.

My #2 pet peeve is people who somehow got it in their heads that the laws governing the use of high beams don't apply to freeways. On two-lane highways, most people dim their headlights a mile away. But the second they enter the freeway, they throw all that courtesy out the window.

My #3 pet peeve is people who don't pull all the way into the parking/turn lane before making a right turn, forcing all the traffic behind them to slow down.

My #4 pet peeve is people who dilly-dally on green arrows when traffic at an intersection is heavy. The whole point of the arrow is to clear the intersection of as many cars as possible.

A few honorable mentions:

There is no law that exempts cigarette butts as litter. People who toss cigarette butts out their car window may as well be tossing out foam coffee cups and fast food wrappers.

Texting and driving. Over 50% of people under 25 do it, and even thought it's illegal, they don't even try to hide it.

Red light runners. When I was a kid, running yellow lights was daring. Nowadays, it's red lights. I can't count how many times I've slowed down for a yellow light only to have the person behind me zip around me and floor it through the intersection on a full red light.


----------



## dunamisstudio (Aug 6, 2021)

bill5 said:


> We've all been there. Many...many...times...but I'm curious: what is most common and / or drives you nuts the most? The don't use signals people? The slow in the left laners? The cut you off aholes because it's their world and it's OK for them to do whatever they want? The tailgaters? The brilliant turning right at a red light and just sit there with their finger up their butt forevers? Others?


d. all the above


----------



## chimuelo (Aug 6, 2021)

Best drivers I ever lived amongst were in rural Kentucky. Roads are narrow and wind around through thick foliage, so good training. Plus during Winter snows these hillbillies pour hay down after midnight. Sun comes up and melts the hay and snow together making a perfect mat for driving. 

But I do hate giant farming equipment that actually is so big traffic must turn around or find a side road and wait.


----------



## bill5 (Aug 6, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> My #1 pet peeve is slow people in the left lane. Wisconsin is famous for left lane campers who are completely oblivious to their surroundings.


I suspect this is nationwide.




> My #2 pet peeve is people who somehow got it in their heads that the laws governing the use of high beams don't apply to freeways.


I have long felt high beams should be illegal...or at least made to be a REALLY expensive add-on to cars. 99.99% of the time (at least) they are unnecessary...yet used by morons who have no clue how or why to use them. And of course many of these people can't be bothered to turn them off when traffic is approaching the other way.




> There is no law that exempts cigarette butts as litter. People who toss cigarette butts out their car window may as well be tossing out foam coffee cups and fast food wrappers.


And fined about $1000 per incident, if only it was easier to catch these trailer park slugs...this goes for all trash tossed on the roads btw. 



> Texting and driving. Over 50% of people under 25 do it, and even thought it's illegal, they don't even try to hide it.


Total lobotomy cases. Frankly I feel little compassion for anyone who is injured in such an accident waiting to happen. Yeah why pay attention to actually driving your car? Sending an "lol" to your BFF is more important. 



> Red light runners.


I confess I think this is a question of degree. There is a difference between zipping under it right at the split second it turns red vs plowing through it long after it's red. Still definitely err on the side of caution.


----------



## Jeremy Gillam (Aug 6, 2021)

I heard RME drivers are good.


----------



## Henu (Aug 7, 2021)

Not using an indicator, my #1 annoyance. The second slot is for people who cut in lines, followed by right-lane hoggers. Basically the more rude or self-centered driver, the more pissed I get. Accidents happen, but an asshole is just an asshole.


----------



## Arbee (Aug 7, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> My #4 pet peeve is people who dilly-dally on green arrows when traffic at an intersection is heavy. The whole point of the arrow is to clear the intersection of as many cars as possible.


This!


----------



## Morning Coffee (Aug 7, 2021)

I hate drivers who tailgate on single lane roads because there is no overtaking lanes for them. I usually drive to the speed limit or slightly above, so if a speeding driver tailgates me, what do they expect, that I just speed up and risk getting a speeding fine? Will the tailgater stop and support me if that happens?! HA! In the past I used to slow down to a crawling pace just to piss these drivers off , but with the rise of road rage, I try to resist (but I really want to!).

At the other end of the spectrum, drivers who drive a considerable amount under the speed limit, but when you decide to overtake them (where legal) because of their slow driving, they decide to put their foot down on the gas!


----------



## Martin S (Aug 7, 2021)

The examples mentioned above are all pet peeves of mine. In my day job I drive between 5-700km‘s every day, and one thing I’ve noticed is, that the absolutely worst drivers by far, are middle aged men driving big and expensive Audi’s, BMW’s or Mercedes’s. Their driving has this ‘The-rules-don’t-apply-to-me-‘cause-I’m-an-individualist-and-succesful-businessman-and-the-roads-belong-to-me-so-all-you-pathetic-riff-raff-can-f***-off’ attitude. I’ve dubbed them ‘Prick Cars’…

The funny thing is, if it’s their spouse driving the very same car, the traffic rules are being followed to the letter. And it’s ONLY with these three German car brands, I see this happening. If it’s a Land-Rover, Jaguar, Tesla, or other hugely expensive top-tier brand, their owners usually drive nicely and according to legislation and the circumstances.


----------



## Jimmy Hellfire (Aug 7, 2021)

Martin S said:


> the absolutely worst drivers by far, are middle aged men driving big and expensive Audi’s, BMW’s or Mercedes’s.


That is SO true.  Middle aged fucks in german cars. Oh man, those get me going. Meet me on foot, big guy. Let me bring the gravity. Haha!

Other than that, I just generally get really annoyed with bad or complacent driving. People really can't drive for shit. You'd think that doing something for years all the time would automatically make you improve at it. But people don't have a mental openness to change or improvement in general, let's be honest - and car traffic is just the perfect top view of that.

A lot of times I get really pissed about how incredibly slow people are going, but actually this is a sign of insecurity. So actually thank God they're creeping about. Terrible things would be happening a lot more if these folks thought they needed to step on the gas. The arrogant and aggressive drivers are far worse in this regard.

And then there's the usual pet peeves:

Inability to stay in one's lane (especially when turning)
inability to take a turn without basically coming to a near halt
inability to overtake a slow farming vehicle, dragging a rat tail of 10 other cars behind them
not using turn signals
waiting until the light is actually green before they even start thinking about putting the vehicle in any kind of motion
stepping on the brake all the time for no fucking reason
needing over a minute to reach the allowed limit for no fucking reason
crossing trail rails at almost pedestrian tempo (giving the train some extra time to plow you or what?)
speeding and tailgating
taking up more than one parking space and generall parking like a dumb asshole (national sport)
GODDAMN PHONES!!!!

Seems like I basically hate everyone on the road other than myself. I'm sure all of these other fucks feel the same ...


----------



## Dirtgrain (Aug 7, 2021)

George Carlin once asked, have you ever noticed how everyone driving faster than you is an a#@hole and everyone driving slower than you is a moron? It's a great metaphor for life and all sorts of situations.

I agree with a lot of the pet peeves (and beyond) mentioned above. I'll add that I hate it when people insist on turning left onto a road where there won't be an opening for an hour, it seems. Just turn right, and turn around down the road--much safer. Instead, there are those that pull out into the road, blocking a lane(s), while waiting for an opening in the lanes going the opposite direction. 

Similarly, I've seen it go wrong a number of times where people, during rush hour, in multi-lane roads, stop short to leave space for such a left turner. We should do something to prevent this.

People racing past cars to merge at the last possible second. I know that traffic experts point out that merge lanes after a traffic light allow more cars to get through, but it sets up such awful experiences.

My number one pet peeve is four-way-stop intersections. I get a stressed out feeling as I approach them. There is too often someone there at the same time who doesn't understand the rules of order. I wish for traffic circles everywhere in the place for four way stops (although, when a traffic circle was put in near my house, I got to witness a number of people going around it in the wrong direction--and people who stop in the circle, thinking they are supposed to let people in).


----------



## Martin S (Aug 7, 2021)

A few months ago I spoke to a retired driving instructor and he said that you’d be surprised how quickly people begin to make up their own traffic rules, then believing those self-made ones to be the actual rules and drive according to those. He told me the driving instructors association had made their own little survey. It turns out, that already three months after a person passes the driving exam - whether it’s the first time, or an experienced driver having to re-exam - they’ve made up their own rules. Three months after having rigorously studied the theory + practical on the road experience !!! No wonder so many people drive with their heads firmly parked in a certain part of their anatomy


----------



## MartinH. (Aug 7, 2021)

My #1 pet peeve about drivers is that most are still humans. Self driving cars are the future. They don't have to be perfect, they just need to be a fair bit less shitty drivers than humans are in general, and they've probably been good enough for that for many years.


----------



## chimuelo (Aug 7, 2021)

Odd that on a Pluto channel for old cartoons (which I love the music, the Jetsons, etc) I stumbled across Mr. Magoo, which sounded familiar, never remembered the cartoon that seemed to be about a driver always hooting and hollering at other drivers. Thought of this thread. Also thought what a weird cartoon for kids in the 70s. No wonder I couldn’t remember it other than the name.


----------



## Martin S (Aug 7, 2021)

Regarding older people driving slow..It’s actually proven that the older you get the perception of time changes. Meaning that older people think they’re driving faster than they actually are. Some scientist checked this on a busy pedestrian street, giving people of all ages and genders a blinded stopwatch and having them press the stop button when they believed a minute had passed. The younger the person, the earlier they pressed stop, sometimes already after 15-20 secs. The older the person, the longer it would take before they pressed stop, sometimes several minutes.


----------



## Jimmy Hellfire (Aug 7, 2021)

Martin S said:


> Regarding older people driving slow..It’s actually proven that the older you get the perception of time changes. Meaning that older people think they’re driving faster than they actually are. Some scientist checked this on a busy pedestrian street, giving people of all ages and genders a blinded stopwatch and having them press the stop button when they believed a minute had passed. The younger the person, the earlier they pressed stop, sometimes already after 15-20 secs. The older the person, the longer it would take before they pressed stop, sometimes several minutes.


Probably true. My father, who was a road dog and a very experienced driver, always had a swift driving style. In the last years before his (untimely) passing, I was amazed how much he had slowed down. He never mentioned any change for himself and in fact often talked about how a lot of guys his age basically totally regress in everything and how he was still "on" in comparison. And in many things, that was true. He never felt his driving regressing, still went on long trips etc., but as an outsider, you could clearly tell how much longer it took him from A to B ... 

I think I'm actually noticing that myself already, turning 40 next year. I don't really enjoy playing too fast anymore. When I record something that in my experiece is at a high tempo, when I compare it to some recordings of similar passages, I realize I'm falling back to a noticeably more relaxed pace. Playing faster kind of started feeling like pushing, like being 10% above efortless quality. Perhaps it's because I'm starting to become slower in the head. 

Or perhaps it's because nowadays, I like to "taste" the tone and timbre of notes more so I naturally tend to slow things down a bit? The faster stuff gets, the more it become just about pure information and less about "flavor" ...


----------



## Henu (Aug 7, 2021)

Morning Coffee said:


> I hate drivers who tailgate on single lane roads because there is no overtaking lanes for them


I have the habit of flashing my brake lights for them. Usually scares them quite nicely to take a few meters back.  

Also here in Finland, the road law is very strict in this and in a rear-end collision situation it's always that person's fault who drove behind that first car. So if I choose to suddenly brake in the middle of the road and the car behind me bumps into my car because of that, it's always that someone else's fault for not having enough space between the cars.


----------



## Martin S (Aug 7, 2021)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Probably true. My father, who was a road dog and a very experienced driver, always had a swift driving style. In the last years before his (untimely) passing, I was amazed how much he had slowed down. He never mentioned any change for himself and in fact often talked about how a lot of guys his age basically totally regress in everything and how he was still "on" in comparison. And in many things, that was true. He never felt his driving regressing, still went on long trips etc., but as an outsider, you could clearly tell how much longer it took him from A to B ...
> 
> I think I'm actually noticing that myself already, turning 40 next year. I don't really enjoy playing too fast anymore. When I record something that in my experiece is at a high tempo, when I compare it to some recordings of similar passages, I realize I'm falling back to a noticeably more relaxed pace. Playing faster kind of started feeling like pushing, like being 10% above efortless quality. Perhaps it's because I'm starting to become slower in the head.
> 
> Or perhaps it's because nowadays, I like to "taste" the tone and timbre of notes more so I naturally tend to slow things down a bit? The faster stuff gets, the more it become just about pure information and less about "flavor" ...


Yeah, I can definitely feel the slowing down thing, too. I’m 48 and if I have to wait an hour for, say, a late train, it’s like: ‘whoa, it’s already here..geez, did an hour really pass so quickly?’. Where as in my 20’ies, it’d be more like: ‘Arghferfooksake; a whole hour?! - that’ll be a lifetime before that train gets here..’  

I also frequently find myself just staring blankly, mind occupied, thinking only a few minutes have passed. When I look at the clock, it turns out I’ve been sitting like that for 45 minutes


----------



## Morning Coffee (Aug 7, 2021)

Henu said:


> I have the habit of flashing my brake lights for them. Usually scares them quite nicely to take a few meters back.


Yes, I occasionally like to flash, usually in shopping centres, and I get the exact same results!


----------



## Ukena (Aug 7, 2021)

Jeremy Gillam said:


> I heard RME drivers are good.


That's what I thought this thread was going to be about, too!


----------



## mscp (Aug 7, 2021)

I'm zen on the road. There's absolutely no point in getting agitated over other people's lack of skills (especially road traffic), unless of course I wanted to deliberately curtail my lifespan.

I often tell people "Tantrums often gives out how stupid you are. Don't be a jackass."


----------



## Martin S (Aug 7, 2021)

Phil81 said:


> I'm zen on the road. There's absolutely no point in getting agitated over other people's lack of skills (especially road traffic), unless of course I wanted to deliberately curtail my lifespan.
> 
> I often tell people "Tantrums often gives out how stupid you are. Don't be a jackass."


It’s not their lack of skills that gets me agitated. It’s when their lack of skills put other people‘s life at risk, I tend to get quite miffed. Especially as these situations could so easily have been avoided if said person was paying attention to his/her surroundings, rather than solely their own perspective.

For the past years in Denmark, the Road Safety department has had several ad’s promoting the slogan : ”Kør bil, når du kører bil” (Drive, when you’re driving)





Being on the road - literally - 10 to 12 hours a day, you won’t believe the amount of stupidity and selfish behavior I witness in traffic every day.


----------



## sostenuto (Aug 7, 2021)

All of above ( mostly covered by sad humanoids with smartphones imbedded in their skulls 24/7 ) 👿


----------



## Loïc D (Aug 7, 2021)

In the past, I had a hot arguments with ASIO drivers.


----------



## Dirtgrain (Aug 7, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> Red light runners. When I was a kid, running yellow lights was daring. Nowadays, it's red lights. I can't count how many times I've slowed down for a yellow light only to have the person behind me zip around me and floor it through the intersection on a full red light.


In the US, there is variance by location. I have lived in and around Ann Arbor my whole life. When I visited a friend in Denver, I was driving and slowed down for a yellow light. He shouted, "WTF are you doing? You'll get rear-ended doing that here." Apparently, in Denver, yellow means speed up.

In Michigan, there is variance by region, too. When I drive in Canton/Westland on Ford Rd., it seems that pulling out into the road out of a subdivision or strip mall, cutting off a driver who has to slow down from 55 mph to 10 mph to avoid collision, is the norm.


----------



## Dirtgrain (Aug 7, 2021)

Loïc D said:


> In the past, I had a hot arguments with ASIO drivers.


Me too--so many types, and I could not figure out the right one, crash after crash after crash.


----------



## Gerbil (Aug 7, 2021)

Tailgaters have wound me up in the past, but these days I either pull over and let them go past if it's a winding country road (I'm in England) or just wait for them to step on it and go round me on a straight. Getting angry is a pointless drain on my health and sometimes these people are in a genuine rush - delivery drivers or late for work - and I rarely am.


----------



## Trash Panda (Aug 7, 2021)

I feel like we need some Russians to weigh in so we all feel better about our fellow drivers.


----------



## Wedge (Aug 7, 2021)

Where I'm currently living everyone stops in the middle of the road and then turns really slowly. I don't understand stopping to turn right, it drives me fucking crazy. Move over, slowdown, turn...it's not that hard.


----------



## jmauz (Aug 7, 2021)

Anyone driving a Mercedes or a BMW is my pet peeve because they consistently drive like morons.


----------



## Henu (Aug 8, 2021)

Trash Panda said:


> I feel like we need some Russians to weigh in so we all feel better about our fellow drivers.


Nah, at least in Finland they drive very nicely. Estonians on the other hand seem to have a default turbo boost in their cars. :D


----------



## Arbee (Aug 8, 2021)

Oh yes, my other pet driver peeve is those who need to pull out to the middle of the road before they turn into a side street or driveway, as if they're driving a massive road train 🤣🙄


----------



## Ivan M. (Aug 8, 2021)

About tailgaters, I watched some old american tv series on driving, and they recommend keeping extra distance from the car in the front, so that when you have to break you can do it slowly, and the tailgater can do so too without hitting you


----------



## Martin S (Aug 8, 2021)

Ivan M. said:


> About tailgaters, I watched some old american tv series on driving, and they recommend keeping extra distance from the car in the front, so that when you have to break you can do it slowly, and the tailgater can do so too without hitting you


Yes, this is my top pet peeve. Tailgaters Here in Denmark it’s a traffic offense and will be fined by the police.

A good rule of thumb is: You must, at all times - regardless of speed, keep at least 2 seconds (preferably more) between yourself and the car in front of you. A lot of accidents could’ve been prevented if people followed this simple rule. So keep the distance; it ain’t rocket science..  And tailgating won’t bring you faster from A to B; neither will speeding, btw (you’ll only consume more fuel, not get you there any faster).


----------



## easyrider (Aug 8, 2021)

Make sure any drivers you install are the latest ones and for the correct OS version….

Also update your BIOS ! 😂


----------



## Polkasound (Aug 8, 2021)

If someone is tailgating you when you're in the middle or right lane of a freeway, speed up about 5 MPH, hold it for about ten seconds, then coast back down to your previous speed. The tailgater, once he's tasted that faster speed, will not be able to tolerate slowing back down and will promptly pass you. This is effective nearly 100% of the time.

I don't condone tailgating, but when there's a car in the left of the freeway impeding traffic from passing, patiently closing the gap behind them can serve as a gentle nudge to yield right. When that doesn't work, give the hi beams one quick flash. If the car still will not yield right, then it's obvious they either don't know what they're doing wrong, or they have issues and are intentionally impeding traffic. Either way, there's nothing more you can do except wait for the first opportunity to pass them on the right.

Yesterday I took my band on a road trip to the other side of the state and encountered two left lane campers. The first was an Amazon delivery truck going exactly the speed limit. She would not move for any car for any reason, causing about eight cars to jam up in the left lane behind her. Everyone had to wait for opportunities to pass her on the right. The second left lane camper was a car driving _under_ the speed limit as it was raining out. He finally yielded right, but it took him about five minutes to do so. As I zipped past him on the left, he flipped me the bird.


----------



## bill5 (Aug 8, 2021)

Morning Coffee said:


> drivers who drive a considerable amount under the speed limit, but when you decide to overtake them (where legal) because of their slow driving, they decide to put their foot down on the gas!


That drives me insane. wth dude it's not a race; are you in a hurry or not? Which reminds me of another one, people who can't decided whether to go slow or fast. I've passed people going pokey on the road and then suddenly a mile or three later they're flying by me. ?? Did it just dawn on them they're late for something?




Dirtgrain said:


> George Carlin once asked, have you ever noticed how everyone driving faster than you is an a#@hole and everyone driving slower than you is a moron?


It was "maniac" on the speedsters actually, but the point stands. 




Martin S said:


> Regarding older people driving slow..It’s actually proven that the older you get the perception of time changes. Meaning that older people think they’re driving faster than they actually are. Some scientist checked this on a busy pedestrian street, giving people of all ages and genders a blinded stopwatch and having them press the stop button when they believed a minute had passed. The younger the person, the earlier they pressed stop, sometimes already after 15-20 secs. The older the person, the longer it would take before they pressed stop, sometimes several minutes.


eh - I don't think perception of time changing means people think they're driving faster than they are mostly, esp when the speedometer is right in front of them. The stopwatch doesn't really prove anything IMO.




Henu said:


> I have the habit of flashing my brake lights for them. Usually scares them quite nicely to take a few meters back.


Yeah I don't poke on the road, so if someone pulls that, I gradually go slower...and slower....usually they get the point sooner or later.  One ahole one night decided to hit me with his high beams. But I have a black auto shield thing I can put up with a push of a button in my rear windshield that mitigates that. I bet he wasn't happy to see that, lol. Also I came to a full stop so he finally decided to turn them back off and ease off.




Polkasound said:


> If someone is tailgating you when you're in the middle or right lane of a freeway, speed up about 5 MPH, hold it for about ten seconds, then coast back down to your previous speed. The tailgater, once he's tasted that faster speed, will not be able to tolerate slowing back down and will promptly pass you. This is effective nearly 100% of the time.


Why go to all that trouble? I just keep slowing down until the clue bird poops on their head and they go around.




> I don't condone tailgating, but when there's a car in the left of the freeway impeding traffic from passing, patiently closing the gap behind them can serve as a gentle nudge to yield right.


Exactly...if you're farther back, they assume you don't want to pass. Of course why they're in the left lane in the first place is one of life's great mysteries, but there's never a shortage of stupid.

What gets me is sometimes they STILL don't take a hint.

Don't they even teach driver ed any more? I think if I was retired I'd volunteer to do this for free just to clue in the clueless.

A few more I thought of:

- speeding in a school zone. I don't mean a few mph over, I mean really speeding
- (unnecessarily) parking so close I can barely get in my car
- taking a parking space you were clearly waiting for (loved that scene in Fried Green Tomatoes)


----------



## bill5 (Aug 8, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> It's generally a smoother lane.


uh

what?


----------



## Martin S (Aug 9, 2021)

@bill5 Speed and time (incl. the perception of it) is perpetually intertwined. Ask any astrophysical scientist. Regardless of what it says on the speedometer, an 80 yr old person will feel the speed is faster than what it actually says on the dial, and will be more inclined to back of the speed. 100km/h is perceived differently (faster) by an 80-yr, than it would to a 20-yr old, because their perception of time is different.

The stopwatch example is perfectly valid, even if you don’t agree.

https://qz.com/1516804/physics-explains-why-time-passes-faster-as-you-age/


----------



## Dirtgrain (Aug 9, 2021)

bill5 said:


> uh
> 
> what?


Less wear and tear.


----------



## Dirtgrain (Aug 9, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> Yep. I hate it when a left lane camper has an "enabler" which is when the car behind them leaves a safe gap, so the camper feels no pressure to move over. You can't flash your brights at the enabler because they're not the one impeding traffic.


We are mortal. A safe distance should always be maintained. But yeah, drivers who aren't showing that they want to pass (by flashing lights) should get over.


----------



## Stringtree (Aug 9, 2021)

Tailgaters. I live in the AK-Corral, so I don't do brake-checks; I invent some way to let the rage machine pass, and then I return to careful driving.

"Imagine Grandma is in her Sunday best with a crock pot of gravy on her lap in the backseat."


----------



## bill5 (Aug 9, 2021)

Dirtgrain said:


> Less wear and tear.


huh. Maybe where you're at...I've never noticed this any place I've driven. Probably because of all the idiots using the left lane improperly.


----------



## mscp (Aug 9, 2021)

Martin S said:


> It’s not their lack of skills that gets me agitated. It’s when their lack of skills put other people‘s life at risk, I tend to get quite miffed. Especially as these situations could so easily have been avoided if said person was paying attention to his/her surroundings, rather than solely their own perspective.
> 
> For the past years in Denmark, the Road Safety department has had several ad’s promoting the slogan : ”Kør bil, når du kører bil” (Drive, when you’re driving)
> 
> ...



I leave it to the authorities (DMV, Road Patrol, ...) to promote safety (educating citizens) and punish those who don't abide to it. They're the ones who collect taxpayers' money for a very important reason. They must do something about it. Who's going to pay my medical bills if I suddenly have an stress-related heart attack? me.


----------



## bill5 (Aug 9, 2021)

Phil81 said:


> I leave it to the authorities (DMV, Road Patrol, ...) to promote safety (educating citizens) and punish those who don't abide to it.


Wow does that happen where you're at?


----------



## Polkasound (Aug 9, 2021)

Dirtgrain said:


> A safe distance should always be maintained.


Yes, you are 100% correct. The "enabler" is simply obeying the law and driving safely, and one can't fault them for that. (Although, if they were observant, they'd notice the train of cars behind them, understand why that train developed, and move over to help relieve the congestion.)



bill5 said:


> huh. Maybe where you're at...I've never noticed this any place I've driven. Probably because of all the idiots using the left lane improperly.


If you're a driver who keeps right except to pass, I commend you for that. But in some states, such as Wisconsin, it's neither posted nor enforced, so I travel almost exclusively in the left lane, yielding only to faster traffic. And I'm perfectly at ease with any other driver who does the same thing. Truckers and other people who spend a lot of time on freeways will concur the left lane is generally a smoother ride due to less wear and tear.



Martin S said:


> @bill5 Speed and time (incl. the perception of it) is perpetually intertwined


Yes, and besides old age, there are stimuli that can influence one's perception of speed. A good driver regulates their speed well no matter where they are, but less-acute drivers are too easily influenced by things like the width of the road, hills, roadside distractions, other vehicles, the tempo of the song playing on the radio, etc.

When I was growing up, both my parents drove gigantic Cadillacs from the 1970s. These were cars in which you felt like you were floating down the river in a barge, making it extremely easy to speed. So early on I developed the habit of regularly checking my speedometer, and I'm thankful for that. I travel over 20,000 miles a year, and haven't gotten a speeding ticket in 24 years.


----------



## Dietz (Aug 9, 2021)

Martin S said:


> absolutely worst drivers by far, are middle aged men driving big and expensive Audi’s, BMW’s


^^^^^^^^ This.


----------



## bill5 (Aug 9, 2021)

Driving to the grocery store reminded me of one I don't think has been mentioned and happened twice today...someone is waiting on a side road to pull out. You're driving by and too close for them to do so comfortably...but they do it anyway, because his Royal Highness' time is more important than yours, even though it would have taken literally just a few seconds more of waiting until you were by and then go. 

Double bonus points for doing that...and then crawwwlinnng along. Again, are they in a hurry or not? The second time it happened I had no problem whipping around the rocket surgeon.


----------



## mscp (Aug 9, 2021)

bill5 said:


> Wow does that happen where you're at?


Here's a scenario:

# Driver cuts me off.
If I yell at the infractor, I get stressed out, and he most likely won't learn anything from me. (Will probably do it again at some point to someone else by accident or else)
If I stop the car to sort it out in a verbally aggressive manner, things could escalate, and someone could end up in jail for battering/assault.

Again...what's the benefit? Zero.

Dealing with stupid individuals requires an awful lot of time, and patience. When I have both, I try but in a positive manner. When I don't, I assume others would take the roll. Convoluted debate.


----------



## bill5 (Aug 9, 2021)

That's not what I meant...I mean do the authorities really educate citizens and punish those who don't abide to it? It seems mighty sparse here.


----------



## Thundercat (Aug 9, 2021)

When someone pulls out in front of you from a side road, going 2mph and you have to slam on your brakes or slow down significantly because "they have arrived on scene."

Not signaling when changing lanes. People don't realize how insanely dangerous this "innocent" slip actually is - because we judge what we are doing based on what we think the other drivers are doing.

I have lots and agree with many posts here.

Not mentioned - this the fault of the car makers:

Normal beams that are blindingly too bright. Forget high beams, many cars' normal beams nowadays are insanely too bright.

Not having national standards on headlight height - think a big truck behind a regular car, and their headlights blaring into the normal cars' rear view mirror.

Nice thread.

Mike


----------



## bill5 (Aug 9, 2021)

Thundercat said:


> Normal beams that are blindingly too bright. Forget high beams, many cars' normal beams nowadays are insanely too bright.
> 
> Not having national standards on headlight height - think a big truck behind a regular car, and their headlights blaring into the normal cars' rear view mirror.


ugh yeah those obnoxious white ones. As for big trucks, hate those for many reasons, most of which are driver related. Apparently owning a truck the size of a Sherman tank means you can do whatever you want.


----------



## mscp (Aug 9, 2021)

bill5 said:


> I mean do the authorities really educate citizens and punish those who don't abide to it?


Depends on where people live and how much they actively care about where their tax money go to... The difference is shockingly noticeable in different parts of the world.


----------



## rgames (Aug 9, 2021)

I always wanted to write an app where you fly around and blast the crap out of cars blocking traffic. That would be *soooooooo* satisfying.

I firmly believe that slow drivers are the reason we haven't yet found a cure for cancer. The cumulative effect of their societal impedance delays the next great human achievements. Sure, any particular one is not a big deal, _*but when you add them all up...*_

rgames


----------



## GtrString (Aug 9, 2021)

Slow drivers and the Police are the worst (says white dude in his late 40s)


----------



## John Cena (Aug 9, 2021)

GtrString said:


> Slow drivers and the Police are the worst (says white dude in his late 40s)


That's what a slow driver would say.


----------



## John Cena (Aug 9, 2021)

rgames said:


> I always wanted to write an app where you fly around and blast the crap out of cars blocking traffic. That would be *soooooooo* satisfying.
> 
> I firmly believe that slow drivers are the reason we haven't yet found a cure for cancer. The cumulative effect of their societal impedance delays the next great human achievements. Sure, any particular one is not a big deal, _*but when you add them all up...*_
> 
> rgames


Agreed


----------

