Things that p*ss me off: driving

[DragonAttack]

How about a separate thread for certain specific irritants?  I am not talking about 500 topics, but certain aspects should have its own header.  I am sure that I could go back to page 63 and find the common driving/parking lot/lawbreaker idiot comment, but.....

so, if no one minds, we'll start here with driving.....speeders.......lolligaggers (sp?)..........pedestrians.......parking lo morons........

I swear, 3-5x a day now, I'm either hitting someone, or getting hit, because someone is totally clueless (ie...not paying attention, texting, being aggressive, etc).   It used to be about 3-6 times a month (and I drive daily on the Baltimore Beltway).  Parking lots are the worst.

Comments....

[El Barto]

Comments....

Yeah. Please stay the hell out of Dallas.

[KevShmev]

I don't get pissed off when driving - road rage is not my thing - but one thing that does irk me is when people park in the fire lane in the parking lot where a grocery store and other stores are.  Yeah, nothing like clogging up traffic because you're a lazy bastard who can't park in a normal spot and walk another 40 feet (and most of the time, it's somebody who probably could use a little walking...).

[Prog Snob]

I'm definitely an aggressive driver, but this is New York City. If you can't be an aggressive driver then stay the fuck home or at least get out of the way.

[pogoowner]

I don't get pissed off when driving - road rage is not my thing - but one thing that does irk me is when people park in the fire lane in the parking lot where a grocery store and other stores are.  Yeah, nothing like clogging up traffic because you're a lazy bastard who can't park in a normal spot and walk another 40 feet (and most of the time, it's somebody who probably could use a little walking...).

Used to see this about every 10 minutes when I worked retail. When you're dropping off or picking up the 85-year-old with a walker, it's totally understandable. Definitely not always what's happening, though.

[Adami]

I swear, 3-5x a day now, I'm either hitting someone, or getting hit, because someone is totally clueless (ie...not paying attention, texting, being aggressive, etc).   It used to be about 3-6 times a month (and I drive daily on the Baltimore Beltway).  Parking lots are the worst.

Comments....

You sound like a pretty bad driver, dude.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Nothing stresses me out more than driving. I try to do it as little as possible because within five minutes of me being in the car I'm screaming at the top of my lungs at people who are driving too slow or driving like idiots/assholes. By the time I park my car, my blood is at a boil.

[Prog Snob]

Nothing stresses me out more than driving. I try to do it as little as possible because within five minutes of me being in the car I'm screaming at the top of my lungs at people who are driving too slow or driving like idiots/assholes. By the time I park my car, my blood is at a boil.

Ahhhhh Staten Island drivers...      I wonder if we've ever passed each other on the road.

[wolfking]

I swear, 3-5x a day now, I'm either hitting someone, or getting hit, because someone is totally clueless (ie...not paying attention, texting, being aggressive, etc).   It used to be about 3-6 times a month (and I drive daily on the Baltimore Beltway).  Parking lots are the worst.

Your insurance company must hate you.

[Stadler]

My ire is well-documented.   I cannot STAND assholes in the left lane that think it's either a) their right to sit in the left lane and hold up traffic, or b) their obligation to control others from their due path on the highway.   MOVE TO THE RIGHT IF YOU'RE NOT THE FASTEST CAR ON THAT STRETCH OF ROAD.

I end up doing over 50% of my driving in the right hand lane, because everyone is clogged over in the left hand lane following some a-hole who's head is up their ass.  It's usually fine, but on the odd occasion you get the person doing barely 60 and, well, they're in the correct lane so it's up to me to move around THEM. 

The absolute worst is when you show respect, you don't tailgate, but you flick the lights - recognized around the world as the friendly, polite signal that "I would like to pass; please move over" and they brake check you and/or flip the bird and/or just ignore you until they're good and ready to move (usually just to get off the exit).   

[Adami]

My ire is well-documented.   I cannot STAND assholes in the left lane that think it's either a) their right to sit in the left lane and hold up traffic, or b) their obligation to control others from their due path on the highway.   MOVE TO THE RIGHT IF YOU'RE NOT THE FASTEST CAR ON THAT STRETCH OF ROAD

There goes Stadler, making everything bipartisan. Why do the people on the left have to change but people on the right are just always fine. Sad!

[cramx3]

I'm definitely an aggressive driver, but this is New York City. If you can't be an aggressive driver then stay the fuck home or at least get out of the way.

Yup, kill or be killed on the roads out here.  I'm always surprised there aren't mass casualties on the jersey turnpike during rush hour.

[El Barto]

I'm definitely an aggressive driver, but this is New York City. If you can't be an aggressive driver then stay the fuck home or at least get out of the way.

Yup, kill or be killed on the roads out here.  I'm always surprised there aren't mass casualties on the jersey turnpike during rush hour.

I guess that's one indication Dragon Attack doesn't live in your neck of the woods.

People in Texas tend to be pretty reasonable about yielding the left lane on the interstates. It's mostly in cities where you get people driving 65 in the left lane on Central (a 70 zone). In those cases there are always 3 or 4 lanes, so it's easy enough (and often times damned entertaining) to go around them. I've driven in states where it's the law to use the left lane only for passing, which doesn't make much sense to me. Use the entire damn road, but don't impede the progress of others. I recall that Wyoming was kind enough to put a passing lane every 5 or so miles.

[hefdaddy42]

My ire is well-documented.   I cannot STAND assholes in the left lane that think it's either a) their right to sit in the left lane and hold up traffic, or b) their obligation to control others from their due path on the highway.   MOVE TO THE RIGHT IF YOU'RE NOT THE FASTEST CAR ON THAT STRETCH OF ROAD

There goes Stadler, making everything bipartisan. Why do the people on the left have to change but people on the right are just always fine. Sad!

RT

[cramx3]

I'm definitely an aggressive driver, but this is New York City. If you can't be an aggressive driver then stay the fuck home or at least get out of the way.

Yup, kill or be killed on the roads out here.  I'm always surprised there aren't mass casualties on the jersey turnpike during rush hour.

I guess that's one indication Dragon Attack doesn't live in your neck of the woods.

People in Texas tend to be pretty reasonable about yielding the left lane on the interstates. It's mostly in cities where you get people driving 65 in the left lane on Central (a 70 zone). In those cases there are always 3 or 4 lanes, so it's easy enough (and often times damned entertaining) to go around them. I've driven in states where it's the law to use the left lane only for passing, which doesn't make much sense to me. Use the entire damn road, but don't impede the progress of others. I recall that Wyoming was kind enough to put a passing lane every 5 or so miles.

During my mini tour of Texas last summer I definitely noticed how people for the most part drove correctly by staying the left except when passing.  Same with driving through Arizona and Georgia this past year.  A huge difference from driving in NJ.  Even in Los Angeles with much more traffic and wide highways, I felt the driving was way more tame than NJ.

Also I almost got into an accident yesterday.  Right before the toll to get onto the garden state parkway, you can make a right and it allows you to go onto a side road that goes over the parkway and allows you to enter it if you are going south.  So I'm following a few people approaching the toll and two cars pull towards the right to make that turn and then the two cars directly in front of me pull to the left to go around them... well the person who first pulled left then decided he was actually making a right turn so stopped short and that was the closest I had gotten to a car accident in a really long time and sadly it would have been all my fault.

[DragonAttack]

Well, I deserve this.  I am leaving my original post as is, and, as Murphy Brown, firing yet another secretary.

Just now, I 'almost' missed that 'almost' was not included, and then I'm wondering, 'why the odd comments?'.


Corrected version:  'I swear, 3-5x a day now, I'm either ALMOST hitting someone, or ALMOST getting hit.....'

[Samsara]

I'm definitely an aggressive driver, but this is New York City. If you can't be an aggressive driver then stay the fuck home or at least get out of the way.

Amen. Born and raised here. Our unique driving skills are under-appreciated. 

[Adami]

One of my best friends is Brooklyn born and raised. When she moved to St. Louis (where I met her) she took the driving style with her. It was always funny talking to her on the phone while she was driving, cause beyond her road rage, she's the sweetest human being alive.

"Hey!! So nice to hear from you, we really need to F**** OFF TWAT KNUCKLE get together sometime soon"

[Kotowboy]

When I first started driving my 125 cc - someone warned me that other motorists do not give the first shit about you.

It's true.

They don't.

But it hasn't put me off riding because I love it.

[Prog Snob]

I'm definitely an aggressive driver, but this is New York City. If you can't be an aggressive driver then stay the fuck home or at least get out of the way.

Amen. Born and raised here. Our unique driving skills are under-appreciated. 

I didn't know you're a New Yorker.

[Snow Dog]

Stadler mentioned one of my pet peeves in people who endlessly camp in the left lane regardless if they are passing anyone or not.  If you're not passing anyone, move the heck over.

The others that will get me griping:

Tailgaters.  A-#1 way to cause my blood to boil.  It's aggravating, unsafe, and I'm usually travelling 5-10 miles over the speed limit, possibly even 15 depending on the location, as it is.  Just last weekend, I'm driving 35 MPH on an icy highway (thanks to Oregon's lack of snow/ice clearing) on the way to go snowshoeing and some douchebag crawls up my tailpipe 15 feet behind me.  Grrr...

Leap-froggers.  Pretty much all times on long drives on the freeway, I'll put the car on cruise control, usually again 10-15 MPH over the limit.  I'll try to pass someone, and they speed up.  This forces me to speed up to pass them, and once I'm beyond them, I'll slow back down to my previous speed.  Then the one I JUST passed blows by me in the passing lane, barreling down the highway for a few miles until they decide to slow down, and then I catch up to them again, still in cruise control at my initial speed.  Meanwhile, I'm just thinking "Pick a speed, dammit!"

One last one is more of an intrigue than a pet peeve.  I've noticed more than one driver here in southern Oregon cruise up to a semi on the freeway, and then slow down as they're passing it to where they are just barely moving faster than the truck beside them.  All well and fine, whatever.  The curious part is that once they're past the semi, they speed right back up again, going considerably faster than what they were seconds before.  Again, whatever, but if I'm passing a large truck, I'm fucking getting past that thing as quickly as I can...

[El Barto]

One last one is more of an intrigue than a pet peeve.  I've noticed more than one driver here in southern Oregon cruise up to a semi on the freeway, and then slow down as they're passing it to where they are just barely moving faster than the truck beside them.  All well and fine, whatever.  The curious part is that once they're past the semi, they speed right back up again, going considerably faster than what they were seconds before.  Again, whatever, but if I'm passing a large truck, I'm fucking getting past that thing as quickly as I can...

I've seen cops hide in front of semis. Saw one nestled between two a while back. Maybe they're looking for speeders, but in our case he was just running everybody's plates as they went by.

[Serah Farron]

Driving is pleasant where I drive. We are always so nice to each other and we are one happy family. The one thing that irks me is when a street or freeway is jammed, cars use the right side of the road to pass cars and sneak in while everyone is waiting. Thankfully where I drive when someone does that, a karma cop Is there waiting or a car slides to the ride to stop the lane cheaters.

[chknptpie]

Don't box me in dammit - that space you just took is my emergency lane change and I don't trust you not to crowd me.
The left lane is for passing - do not just hang out in it. If you see me coming up behind you, get over.

[Adami]

I'll just leave this here....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmQDoldiHjk

[CrimsonSunrise]

This topic is near and dear to my heart..   I am a seriously aggressive driver.  Like many of you NY/NJ guys, here in so cal if you're not aggressive your toast.  Funny how the asshat drivers (read as slow and oblivious to their surroundings) are the ones who's cars here seem to have the most wreck damage.

I've been in one wreck since 1982.  That one was my fault with a caveat...  Gal in front of me went to speed up to make a yellow light and I followed suit.  She then changed her mind and slammed on her brakes.  As far as road rage, I have a fairly decent case of it.  It really didn't manifest until I quit smoking 5 years ago.  Now, it doesn't take much...

[ReaperKK]

I'm a pretty relaxed driver when I'm in my car however when i'm on my motorcycle I'm usually cursing at people in my helmet. So many drivers don't pay attention to driving at all.

[Progmetty]

Women who adjust their make up in their visor mirrors while waiting for a left turn signal and waste precious moments not paying attention to the light turning green. It almost brings tears to my eyes..

[DragonAttack]

Glad I struck a nerve with you all (....err, 'almost' struck)

Tailgaiters (especially on wet roads)...one is supposed to give a car length per 10MPH, while on an expressway you are going 50-60MPH in the left lane, there are two-five cars in front of you, ten-twenty cars in the middle lane, and........someone rides your tail less than 20' behind, flicks their lights.......WTW do you want me to do, pal? 

And if there is a sudden stoppage in front of me......I won't hit that stoppage, but axehat behind me will ram into me.  No one seems to take into account the FACT that slick pavement will not allow breaking the same as dry pavement.  As is...I hate tailgaiters.

Less deadly, but almost as stressful:  shopping mall parking lots.  Start to pull into a spot, and some jerkoff crosses the horizontal line from the other side into the space you are pulling into.

Or, as you open your door after being parked, some jerkoff is crossing the horizontal line from another driving lane to park next to you.....because they are to frickin lazy to back out of their 'legal' spot after shopping.  My wife almost got hit a month ago exiting the passenger door, and someone blew through the 'handicapped walking lane' that we were parked next to.

Diagonal lines, horizontal lines.............no one cares anymore. 

Anyone go to a shopping center, carefully go into their correct lane behind some SUV.....the SUV makes a sharp left to park, you start to go around them......and then have to slam on the breaks?!?!  Why?  Well,  because numbnuts is now backing up into a spot on the right side of your lane.  And then pulls ahead.  And then backs up.  And then pulls ahead.  And then backs up.  And then the nose of their oversized vehicle sticks out about 4' into the driving area.

All the while......ten open spots exist about twenty feet up the lane, but....

oh, btw, I am not 'perfect'.  I want to make that clear.  I have caused one very minor fender bender in my life, and one rollover as a passenger because my buddy had to show off for his girlfriend and her friend.  I was also about car #20 in a 125 car pileup south of Grand Rapids back in '98 due to a white out (I crouched in my car and thought I kissed my axe goodbye, .....while of all things, Led Zeppelin's 'In My Time Of Dying' was playing in the cassette deck.  I sh*t you not).  It was right after the Clinton 'impeachment' vote.

Somehow, after living in metro Detroit, driving to Florida 6x, and NYC a dozen times, back to Michigan a handful of times, and 3 hours north of Toronto 3x, it's been 20+ years since I've had so much as a parking ticket (more observant, and a couple of good breaks due to others not screwing me over due to MY mistakes).  After all, I AM human.  I have also saved dozens from their errors, and I can tell when they simply messed up.

It is just getting worse. 

btw...I saved this draft to my email.  And then I edited it.  And then I went to take my wife to her 2x a week part time job. On my way back, in my small community, someone blew through a 4 way stop.  It's only 20MPH speed limit, but they were going 30+.  When I brought her home, someone blew through the same intersection from a different direction.

Fortunately, I am back at work hours later, and able to finish this.

Two lessons I always carried from a great HS driver's ed instructor:

'Always leave yourself an out (train tracks, intersections)' and, most importantly...............

'It is always best to be cautiously wrong, than to be 'DEAD' right.'

[Chino]

Left the office at 11:30 yesterday due to the storm. Highway was moving alright, but visibility was shit with the wind whipping. I'm behind a lady in her jeep cruising down the fast lane, keeping my distance, and this d-dag rips up the center lane with his monster truck. Dude was driving an F-250 or an F-350 that had to have had at least a 10" lift on it. We were doing 75mph and he went by us like we were standing still. He made a ridiculous dust (snow) cloud as he tore down the highway, so much so I lost site of woman in front of me. Next thing I know, I see her headlights spinning around horizontally (I counted 3 full spins), and she ends up slamming into the Jersey barrier. I understand that that dude's truck could handle the weather and was probably wicked stable at those speeds, but have a little courtesy to those around you if the weather is that bad.

[cramx3]

Geeze, yea I always hate when someone flies by in a storm and throws snow or water into your windshield so bad you can't see without a care in the world for anyone around them.

This morning on my way to work, there was some traffic going through the toll to get off the turnpike.  This is fairly normal.  To get off where I need to, you need to go through one of the three toll booths in the middle of the whole plaza (the left continues on the turnpike, the right then goes onto rt3 to the Lincoln Tunnel and into NYC).  So sometimes there is a lot of traffic going into one of those three booths while the other sides don't have traffic.  It's fairly normal to see someone drive along the left side of the traffic appearing to go towards one of the booths on the left and then cut the line right at the front.  I get pretty annoyed by this.  So some guy in a Tesla this morning tried to cut in front of me right before the booth, granted he also cut in front of the truck trying to do the same thing behind me so this guy went really out of his way to cut the line.  He was right next to me and I looked right at him and he looked back at me and just shrugged  I hit my gas just enough to cut in front of him before he could get in front of me and then he honked 

[chknptpie]

Geeze, yea I always hate when someone flies by in a storm and throws snow or water into your windshield so bad you can't see without a care in the world for anyone around them.

This morning on my way to work, there was some traffic going through the toll to get off the turnpike.  This is fairly normal.  To get off where I need to, you need to go through one of the three toll booths in the middle of the whole plaza (the left continues on the turnpike, the right then goes onto rt3 to the Lincoln Tunnel and into NYC).  So sometimes there is a lot of traffic going into one of those three booths while the other sides don't have traffic.  It's fairly normal to see someone drive along the left side of the traffic appearing to go towards one of the booths on the left and then cut the line right at the front.  I get pretty annoyed by this.  So some guy in a Tesla this morning tried to cut in front of me right before the booth, granted he also cut in front of the truck trying to do the same thing behind me so this guy went really out of his way to cut the line.  He was right next to me and I looked right at him and he looked back at me and just shrugged  I hit my gas just enough to cut in front of him before he could get in front of me and then he honked 

Are these people using an available, open lane of traffic and then merging later? If so - then good! Thats how traffic should flow!! If not... then disregard lol

One of my pet peeves - USE THE ZIPPER METHOD!
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2014/07/the-beauty-of-zipper-merging-or-why-you-should-drive-ruder/

[cramx3]

Are these people using an available, open lane of traffic and then merging later? If so - then good! Thats how traffic should flow!! If not... then disregard lol

One of my pet peeves - USE THE ZIPPER METHOD!
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2014/07/the-beauty-of-zipper-merging-or-why-you-should-drive-ruder/

lol nah its not a merge, its a line for the toll.

[Stadler]

Geeze, yea I always hate when someone flies by in a storm and throws snow or water into your windshield so bad you can't see without a care in the world for anyone around them.

This morning on my way to work, there was some traffic going through the toll to get off the turnpike.  This is fairly normal.  To get off where I need to, you need to go through one of the three toll booths in the middle of the whole plaza (the left continues on the turnpike, the right then goes onto rt3 to the Lincoln Tunnel and into NYC).  So sometimes there is a lot of traffic going into one of those three booths while the other sides don't have traffic.  It's fairly normal to see someone drive along the left side of the traffic appearing to go towards one of the booths on the left and then cut the line right at the front.  I get pretty annoyed by this.  So some guy in a Tesla this morning tried to cut in front of me right before the booth, granted he also cut in front of the truck trying to do the same thing behind me so this guy went really out of his way to cut the line.  He was right next to me and I looked right at him and he looked back at me and just shrugged  I hit my gas just enough to cut in front of him before he could get in front of me and then he honked 

Are these people using an available, open lane of traffic and then merging later? If so - then good! Thats how traffic should flow!! If not... then disregard lol

One of my pet peeves - USE THE ZIPPER METHOD!
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2014/07/the-beauty-of-zipper-merging-or-why-you-should-drive-ruder/

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!

I've been saying that for YEARS and I usually get a similar response as if I said "Hey, cats make a great stir fry!"  I'm pretty sure I got into a (friendly) argument here, shortly after I first came on board, on this very topic.   Nothing worse than the ass-wipe that thinks he's doing a public service by straddling the merge lanes a mile before the merge actually happens.  I usually still go past with my freak flag flying (i.e. the middle finger).   

[hefdaddy42]

Left the office at 11:30 yesterday due to the storm. Highway was moving alright, but visibility was shit with the wind whipping. I'm behind a lady in her jeep cruising down the fast lane, keeping my distance, and this d-dag rips up the center lane with his monster truck. Dude was driving an F-250 or an F-350 that had to have had at least a 10" lift on it. We were doing 75mph and he went by us like we were standing still. He made a ridiculous dust (snow) cloud as he tore down the highway, so much so I lost site of woman in front of me. Next thing I know, I see her headlights spinning around horizontally (I counted 3 full spins), and she ends up slamming into the Jersey barrier. I understand that that dude's truck could handle the weather and was probably wicked stable at those speeds, but have a little courtesy to those around you if the weather is that bad.

No mention of a cone.  Sad!