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Bad Drivers
- Thread starter eyoungren
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It's an exercise in patience to be in the car when one of the guys from work is driving. The slightest congestion and he'll change lane. Then he notices that the car that was previously behind us is now ahead of us. Change back to previous lane. Now the other lane seems to be faster. Change lane again!
Our roles were reversed the other day; I was driving and he was in the passenger seat. As predicted we hit some light congestion and immediately he's telling me that the other lane is faster. When I eventually changed to the left* lane he acted triumphantly, as if I'd given in and changed to "avoid the traffic". In reality it was because our exit was coming up in a minute or so and I wasn't leaving it to the last moment. He drove me nuts!
*Which would be the equivalent of the right lane for a lot of you.
Our roles were reversed the other day; I was driving and he was in the passenger seat. As predicted we hit some light congestion and immediately he's telling me that the other lane is faster. When I eventually changed to the left* lane he acted triumphantly, as if I'd given in and changed to "avoid the traffic". In reality it was because our exit was coming up in a minute or so and I wasn't leaving it to the last moment. He drove me nuts!
*Which would be the equivalent of the right lane for a lot of you.
The right lane is the place to be pokey. Drive in any other lane and you are obligated to at least drive with traffic and/or the speed limit.
As long as you are meeting the minimum speed laws in the right lane and are not impeding traffic I can agree with that.
But intersections, especially busy ones, are not places to sightsee at 10-15mph, which is what the guy in the Dodge Charger I am complaining about was doing. He could only see the line of cars behind me waiting for him to clear the intersection.
Yet he took what is at least a 290HP vehicle through the intersection at a slow walk.
The passing lane dictates the speed of traffic.
A new trend I'm seeing is drivers pulling into the passing lane to make telephone calls! Just yesterday I witnessed people passing such a driver n the slow lane, saluting (being nice) the driver/caller, and they continue at their own pace.
Maddening.
A new trend I'm seeing is drivers pulling into the passing lane to make telephone calls! Just yesterday I witnessed people passing such a driver n the slow lane, saluting (being nice) the driver/caller, and they continue at their own pace.
Maddening.
Coming home from vacation I encountered a group of 3 vehicles from CT driving on a 4-lane (2 each direction, divided) limited-access toll highway, doing less than the average speed of other vehicles, despite the signage stating "keep right except to pass".
On the same stretch a couple years ago I was coming up on and about to overtake a vehicle in the right lane only to have that vehicle change to the left lane for no apparent reason (no vehicles in front of them, no on-ramp).
People that don't understand "maintain your lane during your turn" when there are multiple turn lanes for one direction. One time had a cement truck (so a CDL driver that SHOULD know the laws) moving into my lane as we're both making a turn. I honked. We ended up next to each other and he's yelling at me through the window. The lane he was supposed to turn into was ending for construction 500-1000 ft after the turn and used that as a reason for his illegal lane change mid-turn and thought it was a legitimate one.
On the same stretch a couple years ago I was coming up on and about to overtake a vehicle in the right lane only to have that vehicle change to the left lane for no apparent reason (no vehicles in front of them, no on-ramp).
People that don't understand "maintain your lane during your turn" when there are multiple turn lanes for one direction. One time had a cement truck (so a CDL driver that SHOULD know the laws) moving into my lane as we're both making a turn. I honked. We ended up next to each other and he's yelling at me through the window. The lane he was supposed to turn into was ending for construction 500-1000 ft after the turn and used that as a reason for his illegal lane change mid-turn and thought it was a legitimate one.
Apply that to California freeways when someone realizes they are in the wrong lane for the interchange. I've seen people blow through six lanes to make the junction!My favorite is the multi-lane change without a blinker
YOU'RE on the wrong side of the road! Using those weird "miles" on your "interstates" and filling the car with that "gas" that's actually a liquid...LOL! The wrong side of the road you mean!
To paraphrase Bart Simpson, I can't get a straight answer out of your crazy hemisphere!
Fortunately I haven't run into that one too much, but it's always a heart-stopper when it happens!My favorite is the multi-lane change without a blinker
Yeah?YOU'RE on the wrong side of the road! Using those weird "miles" on your "interstates" and filling the car with that "gas" that's actually a liquid...
To paraphrase Bart Simpson, I can't get a straight answer out of your crazy hemisphere!
How do you shift a manual trans if you're right handed like most people?
To paraphrase Bart Simpson, I can't get a straight answer out of your crazy hemisphere!
It's time for a bootin'
You use your left hand. Because in this part of the world we know how to use itYeah?
How do you shift a manual trans if you're right handed like most people?
(that sounded a bit dirty...)
If there is anything that pisses me off is left lane blockers. If people followed lane etiquette the freeways would be 100% safer over night.
Generally, I find driving hilarious. People who ride with me think I'm weird because I'll randomly start laughing out loud when I see drivers doing stupid stuff. I love watch as 5 cars zig zag through traffic and get stuck behind a big rig trying to get around everyone. Hilarious.
I especially laugh when people go road rage mode on me. Yesterday I had an ass hole in a Lincoln Pick Up get mad at me because I had to get over in front of him because my lane was ending.(I used blinker and had plenty of distance, I know I didn't cut him off) All of sudden he zooms into the center turn lane just to pass me then cuts me off. I was laughing my ass off and clapping. "Bravo!"
Also laugh when people tailgate for zero-reason. The passing lane is going 80 mph and decently passing traffic, stop being an ass hole and enjoy the drive.
Overall, I try to be a legit safe driver.(Not like when most people say "Oh I'm such a safe driver!" *proceeds to cut off car without blinker*) I like to drive at a faster pace, but I always try keep good following distance, use my blinker, yield to passing traffic, and be courteous.
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Here in So Cal Prius'(Priuii?) blocking the passing lane are an extremely common occurrence. Every time I drive to work there is always one. In fact, there was one this morning. I'm not exaggerating.
Generally, I find driving hilarious. People who ride with me think I'm weird because I'll randomly start laughing out loud when I see drivers doing stupid stuff. I love watch as 5 cars zig zag through traffic and get stuck behind a big rig trying to get around everyone. Hilarious.
I especially laugh when people go road rage mode on me. Yesterday I had an ass hole in a Lincoln Pick Up get mad at me because I had to get over in front of him because my lane was ending.(I used blinker and had plenty of distance, I know I didn't cut him off) All of sudden he zooms into the center turn lane just to pass me then cuts me off. I was laughing my ass off and clapping. "Bravo!"
Also laugh when people tailgate for zero-reason. The passing lane is going 80 mph and decently passing traffic, stop being an ass hole and enjoy the drive.
Overall, I try to be a legit safe driver.(Not like when most people say "Oh I'm such a safe driver!" *proceeds to cut off car without blinker*) I like to drive at a faster pace, but I always try keep good following distance, use my blinker, yield to passing traffic, and be courteous.
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Here in So Cal Prius'(Priuii?) blocking the passing lane are an extremely common occurrence. Every time I drive to work there is always one. In fact, there was one this morning. I'm not exaggerating.
I did the I-10 from Cherry Valley, CA (it's just east of Yucaipa, Calimesa) to Ontario, CA drive for seven years when I worked for UPS at the Ontario Air hub.
Plenty of bad drivers to observe during that time. Got to see a move once that I hope I will never have to copy though.
Muscle car in the right lane moving through Redlands, traffic is fairly slow, but the car ahead of this guy slams on his brakes hard because traffic is stopping. Driver of the muscle car has only a split second to react or he's going to rear-end this guy so he swerves on to the shouder and misses the guy by inches and also prevents himself from having to slam on the brakes too. That would have caused a chain reaction of rear-end collisions.
I was behind and to the left of the muscle car at the time so I observed this spectacular car-saving move. It was frighteningly impressive.
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I always try to let tailgaters pass for this very reason. If I can't, I give my self extra following distance so I can just let off the brake if traffic slows down.
One thing I quickly learned is that unless you see a good opening, constantly changing lanes gets you no where. Sure, the other lane is going fast right now, but that just causes a bunch of cars to change to the faster moving lane which causes it to slow down again and vice versa. Rinse and repeat.
I had a muscle car try to run me off the road at an on-ramp last week. Despite him swing across and constantly changing lanes through near-rush hour traffic, I still ended up passing him a couple miles later as I cruised along. His face was hilarious.(I drive an Alien Green Kia Soul with Texas plates [my dad lives in Texas and gave me the car after someone hit my old car] living in So Cal, so he definitely knew it was me.
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It's for this reason I learned to drive like the truckers. I drive in the second, third or fourth lane (depending) and give extra space in traffic. Moderating my speed by letting off the accelerator keeps MY car moving and evens out the flow behind.
It's also courteous for other drivers, giving those who need my lane plenty of space. I've found that it tends to stop this panicky lane change thing when drivers are quickly looking to see if they have enough space to move over.
Also saves on the brakes as well as giving me enough time and space if someone ahead of me has to stop quick or rear-ends the car in front of them.
I recall one person years ago thinking I was insane for driving a rear wheel drive car in light snow going up a mountain at moderate speeds. I couldn't be bothered to pull over and put chains on before it got too dark.
If you know the roads, you know where the dangers are.
Being down the mountain when it starts to get dark has it's own dangers.
This is why, on the off chance I take the main highway in my area during rush hour, I get in the left lane and just stay there if traffic is heavy. Exits are every mile or 2, as much as maybe 4 miles on the section I'd be driving. I'm usually going 10 exits, ~15-20 miles, so I get to the left lane in the traffic until I either HAVE to be over to get off or until things clear up and it's not an issue. Doing this I don't have to worry about people entering or exiting and since traffic is going 30 MPH at most there's little worry about not going fast enough for the guy behind me.
Yes, that can be dangerous, because it's pitch black. It's not as common as it used to be, but there are roads here that are usually empty and pitch black once you get outside the major counties. The PDs there are fine with people using highbeams to get around unless there are other drivers. Even the brightest OEM headlights won't help unless you turn your highbeams on.
That said, infrared camera systems haven't really strayed from the higher priced German vehicles to other cars. It isn't a necessity yet, but don't be surprised if DOT regulations require them in 10 years. I'd say we're getting closer to HUDs being a requirement on new vehicles.