Automotive peeves

slowride wrote:

Ian F wrote: I generally try to merge into traffic at a higher speed than the flow of traffic, going on the theory a car can slow down to match traffic speed much faster than it can speed up. Scares the crap out of my passengers sometimes.

I thought that was how you're supposed to merge. People that are scared to merge correctly are another peeve of mine.

I guess. It's not something I was ever taught and very rarely ever see. You and I may be the only two people in the world who do it consistently... Of course, it's always fun when an @shiny happy person in the right lane decides to speed up because he just has to be ahead. I don't get that. Of course, I'm one of those courteous types who moves over into the left lane when I see cars merging in. If I see traffic merging ahead, I'll let off to allow cars ahead of me to move left.

merging ... so few people actually know how

I just love the self-absorbed idiots that don't ever look A: in their mirrors ... or B: out their side windows ...

sometimes there isn't any place to move over, and the idiots that are entering the highway just assume that they can move over anytime they want, instead of actually finding a whole in traffic

I've always marveled at how many wrecks there are on an Interstate .. everyone going the same direction at relatively the same speed ... and it's really nothing more than the lack of awareness of what's going on around them (that and distracted driving) and just merge/change lanes ...whatever ... without looking

Another variation are the bonehead mergers who think that because their turn signal is on, that gives them the right to pull left into traffic. Or, maybe it's "my signal's on, which means I'm moving over, better get out of the way." Yeah I guess...

I was coming down the on-ramp once and about to merge left into the slow lane when I noticed a car that had been slow enough to pull in front of, was attempting to "close the door" on me. WTF... speeding up, but only now? I don't think so, and moved left anyway... boy was he mad. I suppose the lesson he took from that was, "Next time I'll speed up earlier, to be absolutely sure I can cut off people..."

Reading all of these stories reminds me of something George Carlin observed, "Have you noticed how people driving faster than you are jerks and the people driving slower than you are idiots?"

There's a ramp I take every day that goes to a divided state highway which has one feed from the interstate and one from the surface streets. The traffic coming from the interstate has a yield sign. My blood pressure begins to skyrocket on that because while I'm waiting for the traffic with right-of-way to clear, the people coming from the surface street (that have right-of-way) will try to slow down and stare at me like I'm the moron for waiting for them and the people on the ramp behind me are nearly plowing through me because they don't understand the yield concept.

I hate to say it, but I've just taken a if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em approach to it... My thinking is that I'd rather have the traffic with right-of-way think they've done me a great favor by letting me in than get rear-ended by the twits coming up behind me.

kb58 wrote: Reading all of these stories reminds me of something George Carlin observed, "Have you noticed how people driving faster than you are jerks and the people driving slower than you are idiots?"

Extending that further then, you can make yourself smart by driving faster than everyone at all times. Everyone who isn't, already thinks smart people are jerks so it's a net win.

kb58 wrote: Another variation are the bonehead mergers who think that *because* their turn signal is on, that gives them the right to pull left into traffic. Or, maybe it's "my signal's on, which means I'm moving over, better get out of the way." Yeah I guess... I was coming down the on-ramp once and about to merge left into the slow lane when I noticed a car that had been slow enough to pull in front of, was attempting to "close the door" on me. WTF... speeding up, but only now? I don't think so, and moved left anyway... boy was he mad. I suppose the lesson he took from that was, "Next time I'll speed up earlier, to be absolutely sure I can cut off people..."

run into that a lot .... I don't understand being an shiny happy person just 'cause you can

Ahh, merging. A lost art. I still wonder why people think it's a good idea to try to get on an interstate highway going 20-30mph slower than the traffic. Especially when part of that traffic is Thirty Thousand Pounds of Bananas (RIP, Harry) going 70mph. I once had a non-enthusiast friend of mine ask me why I was on the throttle so hard on the on-ramp..I just pointed over my left shoulder between the upshift. She turned to look, saw the truck and was horrified..and then amazed that I'd simply sped up the car to slide into traffic in front of it. The entire concept was completely alien to her. I just said, "..the brakes aren't always the answer..", I hope she learned something about driving that day.

I have come across a new peeve. I know daily a Land Rover.. it gets E36 M3ty miliage and uses premium.. so I accelerate from a stop at what I call a "stately pace". Not fast, not slow.. when I bought the truck up in the Philly area.. that pace didn't bother anybody. Down here around Atlantic City, I have been given the finger more times than I can count.. which is funny because by the time they are doing that, the light ahead is already red. They would have missed it either way.. but not used the ton of fuel spent in accelerating from red light to red light

As my father calls it "Frantic City" Everyone has to do 80mph to get there -now- and if you aren't going that fast, you are going to get run over

if you'll blow them a kiss when they give you the finger ......

wae wrote: I hate to say it, but I've just taken a if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em approach to it... My thinking is that I'd rather have the traffic with right-of-way think they've done me a great favor by letting me in than get rear-ended by the twits coming up behind me.

"He who hesitates, waits" is my motto. 4-way stops at non-rush-hour times can be annoying... It's odd how people who drive during rush hour times tend to learn what to do, whether they do it consciously or not. But from 10-3, all the "Sunday drivers" emerge... Few things can muck up traffic flow like a "non-commuter" who is out on the road after 4pm.

You can sum it all up - people in general are morons without the capacity to operate a high speed motor vehicle when 100% of their limited capabilities are focussed on the task, and when they are chattering on a cell phone, or texting, or just being inattentive to the task (which happens frequently given that most of them have the attention span of an average hamster) their danger quotient skyrockets.

They have a few particularly idiotic habits that make my blood pressure go up. Running red lights or stop signs. Texting. And the more subtle habit of coming up behind your old sports car on a steep hill where you are stopped and halting the thickness of a coat of paint off your rear bumper.

Yesterday coming back from my wisdom tooth removal, my mom was stuck behind a 604hp Mercedes CL65 AMG doing 25-30 on a windy 45mph road. Fortunately, I was on Vicadin.

kb58 wrote: Another variation are the bonehead mergers who think that *because* their turn signal is on, that gives them the right to pull left into traffic. Or, maybe it's "my signal's on, which means I'm moving over, better get out of the way." Yeah I guess...

I do get annoyed when people (driving over the speed limit) don't move over for merging traffic when there is an open lane to their left.

Understood, and agreed. However, "merging" to me means that the "mergie" is responsible for fitting into the existing traffic flow. It drives me nuts when someone going 37 mph pulls in with no effort to actually have first come up to a matching speed. Causing everyone behind them to slam on their brakes is apparently not their problem... Yes. it. is.

Oh, oh! Here's another one. The strange habit of assuming that no matter who we are, we are by definition superb drivers, better than everyone else. So THAT means that they automatically merge into the freeway and continue straight over to the fast lane where they deserve to be. The fact that they're going 52 mph is apparently not part of their assumed superior driving ability... nor the fact that there was no one to pass.

Dunno why, but I keep seeing this family of four in a blue finback Mercedes...

Almost forgot my real #1 peeve.

Cash strapped states selling the roads to private equity companies who turn them into for-profit businesses via tolls.

This just isn't right

Carro Atrezzi wrote: Almost forgot my real #1 peeve. Cash strapped states selling the roads to private equity companies who turn them into for-profit businesses via tolls. This just isn't right

267?

I have often said, there are drivers and there are operators. the drivers being in the minority.

Six speed manual transmissions. I've never yet driven a car that needs that many gears. Volvo v50- 100 kmph- 4th gear 3000 rpm, 5th gear 2500 rpm, 6th 2100 rpm. Why?

Overdrive ratios in general, but specifically on "performance" cars- RT Neon has a 3.91 final drive, and they shorten up OD ratio. Why? I could have performance in the first 4 gears, and economy in 5th, but no, I'm doing 3200 rpm at 110 kmph.

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

I think it depends on the car. The 6 spd in the Vette seems to make sense - 6th is a like a crazy-tall o/d that allows the engine to lope along at hwy speeds at a low rpm, thus giving the Vette a high 20's mpg rating.

Other cars? yeah... I tend to agree. Having spent a fair amount of time in both, the real-world gearing difference between the 5 spd and 6 spd in the MINI isn't much.

Trying to get the NC DMV to title a car if anything at all is wrong with the title.

mouth-breathing shiny happy people that run along behind me, and suddenly speed up and pass, just so they can take the exit 1/10 of a mile ahead ... especially if they have to jam on the brakes to keep from running over the car in front of me ... berkeleyers

Ian F wrote: In reply to Streetwiseguy: I think it depends on the car. The 6 spd in the Vette seems to make sense - 6th is a like a crazy-tall o/d that allows the engine to lope along at hwy speeds at a low rpm, thus giving the Vette a high 20's mpg rating. Other cars? yeah... I tend to agree. Having spent a fair amount of time in both, the real-world gearing difference between the 5 spd and 6 spd in the MINI isn't much.

I always thought a car with a tiny engine could benefit from a 6 speed with closely stacked ratios and a normal O/D. This would allow for normal acceleration in most circumstances and an O/D for loping along the highway.

Seems not to be the case for most car makers

iceracer wrote: I have often said, there are drivers and there are operators. the drivers being in the minority.

"On the Interstate Highway system, there are two separate but equally interesting groups. The Civilians, who mindlessly use the system, and the Enthusiasts, who can actually operate their machines properly. These are their stories."

I'll bet y'all heard it in the narrator's voice..