Observations on Driving Behaviors

Living near DC I have the following debate every damn day...

Do I tailgate the heck out of the person in front of me, or leave myself open to being agressively cut off with pretty much nothing in the way of clearance and nothing in the way of signal?

Yeah, drivers are that agressive down here...

In reply to aussiesmg:

I would expand your statement about trucks to include cars.

Apexcarver wrote: Living near DC I have the following debate every damn day... Do I tailgate the heck out of the person in front of me, or leave myself open to being agressively cut off with pretty much nothing in the way of clearance and nothing in the way of signal? Yeah, drivers are that agressive down here...

^ This is a DC metro area thing ^

..That bugs the E36 M3 out of me. On the way to work today (NA Miata, Rt lane of 270, 70 mph) a young woman in a Jetta drove up to me and parked it less than a car length behind me. A following interval of about .25 seconds. I moved left, let her by, she accelerates to the next car ahead of where I'd been and assumes the same (homicidal) following interval.

That car was going well under 70, so I passed them in a couple seconds.

She stayed back there. She wasn't following closely because she was in a hurry. She just likes to sit 10' behind other cars.

JoeyM wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: 'Spacers' really piss me off. The berkeleying idiot that feels it is necessary to have 1/4 mile of space between them and the rest of the world driving away way up in front of them.

There's nothing wrong with the two second rule. It is recommended behavior for driving.

amg_rx7 wrote: They sit there doing below speed limit when everyone else in the world is trying to do speed limit and get the berkeley around their dumb asses so they can get to work on time.

if they're below the speed limit, that's mildly annoying, but certainly not illegal. It would be best if they were at the speed limit. I suspect, though, that even this would cause you consternation.

I know the 2 second rule. I was not exagerating with the 1/4 mile distance.

amg_rx7 wrote: Another odd driving behavior - hitting the brakes to change lanes. I don't get it. Check your mirrors. No one coming? Hit your turn signal and change lanes maintaining speed. No need to hit the brakes before looking around...

I'm thinking that they're coming off cruse control ... and no I don't have any explanation for why they can't pass while on cc

JoeyM wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: 'Spacers' really piss me off. The berkeleying idiot that feels it is necessary to have 1/4 mile of space between them and the rest of the world driving away way up in front of them.

There's nothing wrong with the two second rule. It is recommended behavior for driving.

amg_rx7 wrote: They sit there doing below speed limit when everyone else in the world is trying to do speed limit and get the berkeley around their dumb asses so they can get to work on time.

if they're below the speed limit, that's mildly annoying, but certainly not illegal. It would be best if they were at the speed limit. I suspect, though, that even this would cause you consternation.

yeah, something that a lot of folk forget ... it's the speed limit, not the speed requirement

Vigo wrote: I dont like sitting behind things i cant see around. Assuming traffic is moving fast enough for it to matter, i will get out from behind things i cant see around. If they're not going faster than me, i'll pass them, even if they're going the speed limit.

That's just being smart. I do the same thing simply because I use cars 2-4 ahead of the car I'm following as an early-warning system. If a truck prevents me from seeing a few hundred feet ahead, I'm outta there.

That being said, I've always felt that overly cautious drivers are more likely to create unsafe driving conditions than somewhat aggressive drivers do.

You know, like the woman that is too afraid to take her turn at the 4-Way stop sign? She causes the other one two or three drivers to go simultaneously. (Ask me why I said "she"!)

wbjones wrote: yeah, something that a lot of folk forget ... it's the speed limit, not the speed requirement

20km under the limit will get you a ticket where I live.

Something to do with "undue care and attention".

It doesn't happen often but it should happen more often.

As for "spacers" I'll leave as much damn room as I please in a 50 year-old car with 4-wheel, unboosted drum brakes.

Vigo wrote: I do something that i think probably bothers a lot of people and has probably been characterized in a bunch of ways that are highly likely to be wrong. I dont like sitting behind things i cant see around. Assuming traffic is moving fast enough for it to matter, i will get out from behind things i cant see around. If they're not going faster than me, i'll pass them, even if they're going the speed limit. I'm sure tons of people have come up with all sorts of theories to explain my behavior and how it is somehow bad or makes me an shiny happy person. I'd be REALLY surprised if any of them guessed right about my motivations. I just dont trust the people in front of me. So far it's working out. I havent had any kind of incident on the highway in the 14 years ive been driving and my driving is HORRIBLY UNSAFE according to a lot of people. And i also just pass people because im a shiny happy person, right?

I grew up riding motorcycles. I think your driving is perfectly normal. If I can, I follow nothing that I cannot see around. Since I drive a WRX that is a long list.

I live in Ontario, the police pretty well ignore 20 km/h over on multi-lane highways and 10 km/h over on roads.

wbjones wrote:

JoeyM wrote:

amg_rx7 wrote: 'Spacers' really piss me off. The berkeleying idiot that feels it is necessary to have 1/4 mile of space between them and the rest of the world driving away way up in front of them.

There's nothing wrong with the two second rule. It is recommended behavior for driving.

amg_rx7 wrote: They sit there doing below speed limit when everyone else in the world is trying to do speed limit and get the berkeley around their dumb asses so they can get to work on time.

if they're below the speed limit, that's mildly annoying, but certainly not illegal. It would be best if they were at the speed limit. I suspect, though, that even this would cause you consternation.

yeah, something that a lot of folk forget ... it's the speed limit, not the speed requirement

I take umbrage - perhaps the rest of us have other things to do or places we'd like to be besides parked behind some slow poke. It would be fine if it happened when one could make one's way around, but invariably it happens in heavy traffic and lane changes are prohibited by the mile long line of cars in the next lane passing said slow poke.

From time to time I find I am the perpetrator of this awful behavior, and upon realization, immediately correct to the speed limit or flow of traffic so as not to be a complete azz to my fellow drivers.

Nothing wrong with being courteous.

OldGray320i wrote: Nothing wrong with being courteous.

That goes both ways.

this is only one of the many reasons I'm glad I live where I do ... the traffic problems are such that most of y-all would ROFL ... I can drive my F150 at the speed limit (rt. lane) and still actually need to pass others ... and not cause the "speeders" any problem ... sometimes in the truck I'm even under the speed limit ..

other times in the Integra, when I'm "flying" ... figure 5 - 10 over, I sometimes have to wait for someone to finish their pass ... then if they don't move over, I just move rt. and pass ... no problem

not any real traffic 'til I get to the Winston-Salem area going east, or Knoxville going west, and Greenville/Spartanburg going south ... don't know how far north I'd have to go to find the type of problems y-all keep talking about

Most of my driving is on two lane roads, so I don't get caught up in the multilane, traffic jam thing very often. biggest problem is a slow poke driver and waiting for an opportunity to pass. Most traffic cruises along at 5 over.

bravenrace wrote: Among a long list of driver behaviors, I've noticed through imperical research two types in particular when it comes to lane discipline. The first type of driver focuses on maintaining a constant speed, and will change lanes in order to accomplish that. The other type of driver focuses on not changing lanes and will adjust speed in order to do that. I've tested this theory by observing the first kind, and by testing the second. I do this when someone comes up behind me and then slows and stays behind me. They will stay there seemingly forever, but the moment I change lanes they suddenly speed up and pass me. Now I'm not talking about a situation where I'm blocking a lane - That's not the case. This is when I'm not in the passing lane. They may tailgate or not, but they'll just stay there unless I move over. Lately I've tested this theory on about 20 drivers, and every single one of them has done the same thing. Does this agree with your experience?

Yeah it seems people just want to fill up my mirror until I slide over-- then they blow by, even if the other lane is free to them. And I don't know what it is about MN drivers, but the vast majority I have the displeasure to interacting with drive 5-10mph under the limit and take forever to get up to speed. They also merge at 15mph under. Then you have the people in their big trucks and SUVs who think the highways are the Autoban or something.

On the bright side, I get to feel like a driving prodigy/savant every time I witness their ineptitude.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to aussiesmg: I would expand your statement about trucks to include cars.

While I do agree with you, I can argue with a 3000lb car not so much with an 80000lb truck.

I follow nothing that I cannot see around. Since I drive a WRX that is a long list.

Yup, long list here too, my DD is an 1800 lb Honda hatch.

Vigo wrote:

I follow nothing that I cannot see around. Since I drive a WRX that is a long list.

Yup, long list here too, my DD is an 1800 lb Honda hatch.

So you're the guys who absolutely -must- pass my truck with a slide-in camper which is already going 10 over, then slow down to below the speed limit when you get in front of me.

In reply to Vigo:

I'm the same way, if I can't see around it, I pass it. Speed limit be damned, end of story.

Edit: I maintain the pace from before though....

if I caught up with you ... (I'm also one that can't stand being behind something that I can't see around) then it's obvious that I'm going faster than you... so no I don't pass and then slow down

In reply to wbjones:

I'm sure you don't, but many people do.

yeah ... I've experienced that ... what's nearly as irritating is someone that catches up with you (I'm in the rt. lane, they're in the left) and then just sits right off my left rear quarter panel ... and doesn't continue on past ... I'm usually loitering along about 5 - 10 over ... which often means I'm on cruse control in the rt. lane ...

now we're coming up on slower traffic ... the shiny happy person in the left lane just sits there .. so I have a choice to make ... turn the cc off, or speed up and pull in front of said shiny happy person ... then pull back to the rt. lane .. then they do the same thing ... tends to piss me off ... (in case you haven't figured that out by this semi rant LOL )

In reply to wbjones:

That's the perfect opportunity to use your turn signal and get the moron in your blind spots attention. They normally blast past you so you don't get in front of them...

oh I use the turn signal ... but I use it as I pull out in front of them

So you're the guys who absolutely -must- pass my truck with a slide-in camper which is already going 10 over, then slow down to below the speed limit when you get in front of me.

Not unless you bothered me somehow.

on another annoyance.. when did people stop hitting the brakes and start hitting -just- the horn? I swear people think that hitting the horn puts their car into god mode or something