Your Driving Habits

[zioxide]

Also, I get immense pleasure from flashing people who've forgotten they've left their high beams on. Half because I'm never sure if it's just high beams or just bright headlights, and half because, it just feels good correcting people

this pisses me off so much. i drive a saturn, the front end of my car is really low. people in higher cars think i have my high beams on just because of the angle of the lights, when its' actually the regular lights.

when people flash their brights at me thinking i have mine on, i turn mine on and leave them on until they pass.

There is no such thing as minimum speed. Sure, driving 20km/h in a highway is very dangerous, but there is nothing wrong with driving 70km/h in 80km/h zone, especially if the weather is tricky

Here if the speed limit on the highway is 65mph, the minimum speed is 45mph.. and it is posted.

The main thing I've learned is that no matter how much people would like to "teach others a lesson" it doesn't work. At least in the US, there are simply far far too many poor drivers - there's always another idiot pulling a bonehead move down the road. On top of that, many of these driver are so poor at driving, they don't even know what they did to earn your ire.

75% of the people in this country should have their licenses revoked. We need to completely redesign our drivers education programs. Need to start by adding advanced/defensive driving courses.

* Not entering the intersection to turn left when the light is green. So many people stop short and sit behind the stop line even though they're supposed to be IN the intersection so they can turn given either a gap in oncoming traffic or the light turns yellow.

Good luck with that around here. You're going to be stuck in the intersection until the light is green in the other direction. When the light turns yellow, at least 5 more cars are going through. And usually one or two will go through after it turns red.

 

[yg17]

this pisses me off so much. i drive a saturn, the front end of my car is really low. people in higher cars think i have my high beams on just because of the angle of the lights, when its' actually the regular lights.

when people flash their brights at me thinking i have mine on, i turn mine on and leave them on until they pass.

Your headlights need aiming. They're supposed to be aimed down towards the ground, so an oncoming car that's higher than yours should not have them shining directly at them.

 

[quagmire]

You are actually the horrible driver in that case. If someone slows down, it's usually done to improve safety. Or will you just hit the throttle and hope everything goes well?

Yes, I'm in driving school right now. The worst drivers are the ones who don't understand that not every driver is as good as they are. The speed limit is the maximum speed you can drive. There is no such thing as minimum speed. Sure, driving 20km/h in a highway is very dangerous, but there is nothing wrong with driving 70km/h in 80km/h zone, especially if the weather is tricky.

If you want to be a good driver, then let the others drive on their own, don't make it any harder for them. The most dangerous part is when you concentrate on teasing the other driver and forget that you two aren't alone in the traffic.

Besides, it doesn't give me a license to bully you if I happen to be better than you at something.

Ah to be in driving school again. I had a similar train of thought when it came to speeders. " Why does everyone need to go above 30 MPH?" I always told my mom.

Six years later, I go 10-15 MPH above the limit( if speed limit is 55, I go 70. If speed limit is 30, I go 40 MPH, and if speed limit is 70 MPH I go 80 MPH). School zones and neighborhoods are different I generally go the limit if not only 5 above.

And in the US there is a minimum speed, it isn't posted a lot of times, but there is a speed you have to go.

I don't care if you want to go 55 MPH( the limit). But, do so in the right freaking lane. It's safer for me and you if you do so. It will reduce road rage. And if you want to move over in the passing lane, it is you that better speed up or change lanes when you won't be cutting someone going faster than you off.

For local roads, be a better judge of speed and be patient. I would be able to pay off the US's debt how many times people couldn't wait for me to pass by( with no cars behind me) before they dart on onto the road causing me to slam on my brakes. What gets me even more pissed off is that they floor it to get ahead of me, but then take their time to get up to speed and they settle at or even below the speed limit when I was going 10 above. They couldn't wait 5 more seconds for me to pass?

You will learn from experience of what everyone here is saying. Often times the person going the speed limit is often the one causing the unsafe driving situation than the speeders. The speed of traffic can be going 75 MPH, but there is one car going 55 MPH. Which driver(s) is creating the unsafe situation and could cause an accident?

And of course you drive appropriately for the road conditions.

Oh another thing that gets me are people who brake up hill.... Seriously??? You need to hit the gas to maintain your speed, but instead you're hitting the freaking brake pedal????

 

[Theclamshell]

I try to drive calmly and nice. I try to let people go as often as I can without holding up traffic and try to be a courteous driver. I don't really get road rage and don't ever really get mad while driving, people make mistakes and thats just how it goes. I really like driving too, its very enjoyable for me.

 

[S.B.G]

People Who Drive Slow in the Fast Lane

"I cannot even begin to describe how much i hate these idiotic people. They just enrage me. Anyone who has been doing 85mph+ on the highway and then has to slow down to under 70 knows what I mean.

<snip>

I seriously wish that .50 cal guns would be options on cars so that I could just blow up people like her."


Seasons Greetings

LOL, I know exactly how you feel and have been there myself; although I never actually done what you have. I've wanted to many times though.

Just this morning, I was thinking to myself that I must run into every moronic driver in my city in the 2-mile stretch to work.

 

[Capt Underpants]

I always try to pull up close to the car in front of me when I'm stopped at a red light, especially if I'm right next to a left turn lane. My biggest pet peeve is when people don't pull up, and as a result those who want to turn left can't pull into the left turn lane.

 

[rdowns]

LOL, I know exactly how you feel and have been there myself; although I never actually done what you have. I've wanted to many times though.

Just this morning, I was thinking to myself that I must run into every moronic driver in my city in the 2-mile stretch to work.

Um, you should probably click the link in my post.

 

[soco]

LOL, I know exactly how you feel and have been there myself; although I never actually done what you have. I've wanted to many times though.

Just this morning, I was thinking to myself that I must run into every moronic driver in my city in the 2-mile stretch to work.

lol post mis-understanding of the year. I love you SBG.

 

[S.B.G]

Um, you should probably click the link in my post.

lol post mis-understanding of the year. I love you SBG.

Ha! I did. Guess I didn't properly convey my sarcasm...

 

[quagmire]

I always try to pull up close to the car in front of me when I'm stopped at a red light, especially if I'm right next to a left turn lane. My biggest pet peeve is when people don't pull up, and as a result those who want to turn left can't pull into the left turn lane.

The reason why people don't pull up close to the car ahead of them is because if you get rear ended and your car hits the car ahead of you, you are at fault for hitting the car ahead of you.

Of course people who leave like 50 ft are annoying, but that is why people leave some kind of space between them and the car ahead.

 

[Aeolius]

The reason why people don't pull up close to the car ahead of them is because if you get rear ended and your car hits the car ahead of you, you are at fault for hitting the car ahead of you.

Also, when the car in front of you stalls out, you need enough room to be able to get around them.

 

[Shrink]

I drive as fast as traffic and road conditions allow. Sometimes that's 65 MPH on the highway, sometimes 90 MPH or more. (I can't afford another speeding ticket - it raises my insurance rates for 6 years!!)

I personally think dicing with another driver, "getting even", "showing them what it's like", brake checking, and other forms of retribution are dangerous, foolish, and ill-considered actions.

BTW: I'm over 40 years old (wwaaaaayyy over 40 years old), attended racing school as a 50th birthday present, and would be happy to take on any 22 year old in any test of driving skills in a safe setting.

 

[steviem]

Passing line is for passing, that I agree with At least in Finland, they teach you to drive on the right. I.e. the passing line (left in here) is only for passing. Can't say that it works in the real life though.



Now I can agree. You can also leave them there because they must dodge you

Don't you have to have a session on a skid pan whilst learning to drive in Finland? I've heard (from Top Gear so it may not be true) that learning to drive in Finland is very stringent.

Also, I have been a road user (moped, then car) since I was 16 and never for one moment have I come close to believing that I am a driver with nothing else to learn.

I think the moment you become complacent and believe the contrary is when you really start to pick up bad habits and the belief that you own the road.

 

[Doctor Q]

If I'm driving by myself and there are no other cars around, I stop at blinking yellow lights.

 

[zioxide]

Your headlights need aiming. They're supposed to be aimed down towards the ground, so an oncoming car that's higher than yours should not have them shining directly at them.

never knew that. my familys had 3 of these cars over the years, its happened when driving all of them. must be the crappy saturn design.

either way i'm hoping to get rid of this piece of crap next year.

 

[Mr. McMac]

I haven't had an accident in the 41 years I've been driving. That said, I'm a lucky guy because I'm aggressive behind the wheel, and I speed on a regular basis.

 

[steviem]

I drive as fast as traffic and road conditions allow. Sometimes that's 65 MPH on the highway, sometimes 90 MPH or more. (I can't afford another speeding ticket - it raises my insurance rates for 6 years!!)

I personally think dicing with another driver, "getting even", "showing them what it's like", brake checking, and other forms of retribution are dangerous, foolish, and ill-considered actions.

BTW: I'm over 40 years old (wwaaaaayyy over 40 years old), attended racing school as a 50th birthday present, and would be happy to take on any 22 year old in any test of driving skills in a safe setting.

I agree, traffic, road and weather conditions really do make a difference, so does the car. The british national speed limit of 70mph was based on a Ford Zephyr with drum brakes all round. Of course the performance and safety of modern cars should be accounted for, but they just don't seem to be (nice revenue stream maybe?).

I also agree on the dicing with other drivers thing. In the UK, not so much, but here, I am just a little bit paranoid that I am going to end up being shot at despite NY gun laws.

I'd love to go to a racing school. So many things I want to try or do!

never knew that. my familys had 3 of these cars over the years, its happened when driving all of them. must be the crappy saturn design.

either way i'm hoping to get rid of this piece of crap next year.

Yeah, In the UK, this is part of the MoT yearly test, equivalent to state Inspection. They put the car in front of a wall with markers and make sure the lights project below a certain line. You may have a switch on your dashboard that makes the beams go up higher in your car too (usually for if it has a heavy load in the boot (sorry, trunk)), perhaps they are too high at the moment and could just be a case of putting them to the lowest setting...

 

[Hellhammer]

Ah to be in driving school again. I had a similar train of thought when it came to speeders. " Why does everyone need to go above 30 MPH?" I always told my mom.

Six years later, I go 10-15 MPH above the limit( if speed limit is 55, I go 70. If speed limit is 30, I go 40 MPH, and if speed limit is 70 MPH I go 80 MPH). School zones and neighborhoods are different I generally go the limit if not only 5 above.

Personally, I don't have the under speed problem but I've been in a car driven by another student where it really was a problem (e.g. today). However, I still need to concentrate on not going too fast because speeding = automatic failure of driving test.

And in the US there is a minimum speed, it isn't posted a lot of times, but there is a speed you have to go.

We don't have such thing in here. Or at least that is what my teacher told me today (not to me but to the other student who had some issues).

I don't care if you want to go 55 MPH( the limit). But, do so in the right freaking lane. It's safer for me and you if you do so. It will reduce road rage. And if you want to move over in the passing lane, it is you that better speed up or change lanes when you won't be cutting someone going faster than you off.

Definitely. However, the problem is that we don't have that many roads with more than one lane. I can only imagine what the traffic is in the US.

You will learn from experience of what everyone here is saying. Often times the person going the speed limit is often the one causing the unsafe driving situation than the speeders. The speed of traffic can be going 75 MPH, but there is one car going 55 MPH. Which driver(s) is creating the unsafe situation and could cause an accident?

Technically the speeders as everyone should be going 55mph. 20mph is a huge speeding by the way, you would lose your card if you did it in here. In that case, you would really be causing danger.

Remember, kinetic energy is mass * velocity^2 so the speed is fairly important. If you drive at 75mph, your Ke will be 86% greater than if you were driving at 55mph. That's 86% longer braking distance.

Don't you have to have a session on a skid pan whilst learning to drive in Finland? I've heard (from Top Gear so it may not be true) that learning to drive in Finland is very stringent.

Yes. As a matter of fact, I was on the skid pan today. It was lots of fun, although the roads are starting to be icier than the pan

 

[Doctor Q]

I haven't had an accident in the 41 years I've been driving. That said, I'm a lucky guy because I'm aggressive behind the wheel, and I speed on a regular basis.

Generally I'm a very safe driver, but I don't know whether or not I've ever been at fault for an accident. Once, a few years ago, I hit the car in front of me when we were both in the leftmost lane of a three-lane street.

The car in front of me had changed lanes to the right, into the middle lane, then suddenly veered back because somebody from the rightmost lane had also been changing lanes (to the left) and pulled right in front of him in the middle lane.

Generally, the car that rear-ends another car is the one at fault, but it could also be said that he pulled right in front of me unsafely. The insurance companies decided in my favor, but I think what it depended on was something none of us could really say -- did he fail to make a lane change (making it my fault for hitting him) or did he make a successful lane change followed immediately by an unsafe lane change (making it his fault for pulling in front of an oncoming car)?

 

[an-other]

Pet peeves

More and more I continue to see the "it's not a public motorway" it's "my private path."

Example 1: Driving on a two lane road with a posted speed limit of 35mph. Guy stops in the middle of road, to let a passenger out. I honk (scared to death someone will ram me from behind.) Driver turns around and tells me I'm number 1 twice with both hands. I just kept thinking what he would've done had I done the same to him (the stop or the gesture!)

Example 2: On the interstate driving in the middle of a 3 lane road. Drive ahead of me needs to exit. Slows down to 36 mph (literally!) in a 65 mph zone to finally pull over to the right hand lane.

Example 3: driving a two lane road with a posted speed limit if 45 mph. Driver in front of me doesn't know where to turn. They brake hard before every cross street. Causes the 4 other cars behind me to do so aggressively, too. You don't know where you're going? No shame, you can always turn around once you miss your turn as opposed to inflicting your stupidity on 5 other people.

I'll give out of town licence plates a small benefit of the doubt for 2 and 3. Local ones, no wiggle room. Know where you go. Prepare to exit in advance.

One last one: You can do whatever aggressive manoeuvre you want with one caveat: don't make me brake or hold me up.

Example 4: Two lane road, 45 mph limit. Aggressive manoeuvre to pull in front of me. Then you proceed to drive between 35-40 mph. There's a special place in hell for you.

 

[yg17]

More and more I continue to see the "it's not a public motorway" it's "my private path."

Example 1: Driving on a two lane road with a posted speed limit of 35mph. Guy stops in the middle of road, to let a passenger out. I honk (scared to death someone will ram me from behind.) Driver turns around and tells me I'm number 1 twice with both hands. I just kept thinking what he would've done had I done the same to him (the stop or the gesture!)

Example 2: On the interstate driving in the middle of a 3 lane road. Drive ahead of me needs to exit. Slows down to 36 mph (literally!) in a 65 mph zone to finally pull over to the right hand lane.

Example 3: driving a two lane road with a posted speed limit if 45 mph. Driver in front of me doesn't know where to turn. They brake hard before every cross street. Causes the 4 other cars behind me to do so aggressively, too. You don't know where you're going? No shame, you can always turn around once you miss your turn as opposed to inflicting your stupidity on 5 other people.

I'll give out of town licence plates a small benefit of the doubt for 2 and 3. Local ones, no wiggle room. Know where you go. Prepare to exit in advance.

One last one: You can do whatever aggressive manoeuvre you want with one caveat: don't make me brake or hold me up.

Example 4: Two lane road, 45 mph limit. Aggressive manoeuvre to pull in front of me. Then you proceed to drive between 35-40 mph. There's a special place in hell for you.

Depending on the car, I don't give out of town plates any benefit. When I see a $50,000 luxury car from out of state and they have no idea where the hell they're going and stop at every street, my immediate thought is that they could spend that kind of money on the car, but they couldn't spend a hundred bucks on a portable GPS unit?

 

[quagmire]

Example 4: Two lane road, 45 mph limit. Aggressive manoeuvre to pull in front of me. Then you proceed to drive between 35-40 mph. There's a special place in hell for you.

That annoys me too as I wrote in my first post. Its like they believe once they are on the road, the person they cut off and anyone behind them isn't his/her concern and we should just deal with it.

Hearing stories about other drivers and seeing themselves myself, I am happy that we don't have flying cars and hoping we never see them in the future...... I would not want to share the skies with them. I like flying around in a C172 with relatively peace of mind compared to driving......

 

[yg17]

That annoys me too as I wrote in my first post. Its like they believe once they are on the road, the person they cut off and anyone behind them isn't his/her concern and we should just deal with it.

Hearing stories about other drivers and seeing themselves myself, I am happy that we don't have flying cars and hoping we never see them in the future...... I would not want to share the skies with them. I like flying around in a C172 with relatively peace of mind compared to driving......

Heh, that's my thought too. Flying cars would be awesome. But next time you're out driving, look at the average driver. They're futzing around with the radio with one hand and typing out a text message with the other. Do you really want them flying? They can't handle looking left, right and ahead, they're not going to be able to look up and down too

 

[BigPrince]

alls I know is that I am the best driver on the road.

 

[Doctor Q]

Flying cars would be awesome.

Will the "fast lane" be the leftmost lane or the uppermost lane?