Several drivers that have angered/amused me this week

wbjones wrote: as I said (don't think you really read my post) if you come up behind me flashing your lights (yes I realize you're going faster than I am) and I'm *in a line of several cars that are passing others*

Didn't catch that part the first time 'round. Block-o-text syndrome. No worries.

I usually just move right a little bit so they can see that, yep, nobody's going anywhere because some dip is using their cruise control in the left lane, and nothing can be done about it.

Reference: I-71S through Morrow County in Ohio. Every time I drive through, there are trucks driving 64mph in the right lane, and cars driving 65mph in the left lane, stuck behind some self-righteous IN/PA driver.

Sad thing is, Morrow County is generally unpoliced, with excellent sight lines. USED TO BE one could easily average ~100-110 through there.

The winner this week for me happened yesterday morning. I'm behind some jackwad in a Honda Pilot that is just tearing down the road blowing stops signs & riding another guys bumper. The best was when at one stop sign he signaled right, only to floor it straight than cut left so hard I thought he was intentionally trying to flip the SUV. It wasn't till the next stop light that I realized it was I that was the jackwad as the driver was a little old Asian man, therefor making it not his fault for driving horribly.

mtn wrote: I disagree. I immediately think D-bag when someone flashes their lights at me. If they're behind me for a while, and I'm a bonehead and not getting over, then thats fine. But thats never happened. It always happens that I'm going (too fast) and they are coming up flying behind me and flash their brights before they even get to me. To me, thats a dick move.

It's the lighting equivalent of "Excuse me, may I get through?"

Until verbal vehicle-to-vehicle communications is perfected, it's the best we can do.

When some one behind me is in a hurry , I will let him/her know that as soon as I can I will move over. Either by obviously looking in the mirror or a wave. Most times they will back off. I occasionly flash my lights to ask someone to move over since I am going faster. Then there are those that are obliviouse, forcing me to pass on the right, which I don't like to do. I told couple of women in a min-van that they were #1 on my list,onetime.

instead of flashing my lights at some one I'll follow for a bit then do as iceracer said... I'll pass on the right.... with hand poised over horn in case they suddenly wake up and decide to finally move over...

I have scared the brown stuff out of a few who started over out of the blue...

Does anyone else keep checking this thread to see if people are talking about you yet?

I had a cop, lights OFF, run a stop sign and then blair his horn at the person that was LEGALY going thrue the intersection.

Two lanes merge into one. If I have the lead, I go first. If you're in front, I hold back. Simple.

But it never is. There's always some jerkwad a full car length behind, who decides to leap-frog ahead at the last second, running paint-scrapingly-close to my car, then slamming on the brakes from carrying way too much speed, all to gain one place. And that's what's been pissing me off lately .

Tom Heath wrote: Flashing lights to encourage others to clear a path for you isn't in any driving manual I've ever seen.

Nor is sitting in an intersection waiting to turn left, eating a burger while you drive, waving other people through when you clearly have the right of way, or speeding, and we all do those things.

Using the left lane for passing, and checking your mirrors frequently are in every driving manual I've ever seen, so I see the light flash is a courtesy move. A nice way of saying, you aren't paying attention. I'm here, and you are in my way.

The Ontario drivers handbook does tell you to flash your lights before you pass, to let the car in front of you know what your intentions.

Now, the latest ones that are driving me nuts, and I see this every time I drive in the city, is somebody sitting in the intersection, waiting for the light to turn yellow, or red, then turning left, or sitting at a red light, signaling a right turn (or not signalling - this is worse), then turning once the light turns green. You'd think they don't know it's OK to turn right on a red, but if (when) you honk at them, they turn.

There was actually a Letter to the Editor this week in our local (Memphis) newspaper, written by a woman who was ticked that a police car followed her bumper to bumper on a freeway. It seems this lady was "afraid" to get into and stay in the rightmost lane of a 3 lanes each direction freeway because traffic goes so fast she didn't believe she would be able to get into the leftmost lane when it came time for her to exit from the left. The cop stopped her and told her that even tho she was doing the speed limit, she was obstructing him and other traffic by not keeping right. 90% of the comments left in the online LTE condemned this woman for not staying right even tho she was doing the speed limit. The one person pointed out that traffic slowed and possibly even stopped for 2 red lights before she needed to make her left turn exit. The same 90% told this woman she needed to learn how to drive or else she should use "surface streets".

My biggest pet peeve about drivers in this area? They STOP at yield signs, and "sail through" stop signs when they believe there is no one to issue a ticket or they don't see/didn't really look for other traffic that they may hit.

And yes, using the turn lane in the middle of the street for a passing lane is catching on here, too. Considering how few folks use a turn signal or use it at the instant they turn, this seems to be a near suicidal move.

I-526 (Mark Clark Expressway), 7:45 AM, traffic is averaging 65-70, eveything is just fine. I know the traffic patterns and when to get in certain lanes and being the anal type I plan ahead. So here I am tootling along in the right lane approaching the Leeds Avenue overpass which is just before the long bridge over the Ashley River, here comes some yahoo in a beat up '80's Olds88/98/something like that who passes me in the left lane. Okay, he can do whatever he pleases but I am going to watch him carefully. I did notice from a quick glance over that neither he or his passenger are wearing belts.

Maybe 8 car lengths ahead there are two cars roughly side by side, both pacing traffic. Our hero decides that's not fast enough so he passes them on the shoulder, just below the overpass, and nearly drives into the drainage ditch as he does so. He is doing probably 80 when he does this. He then gets stuck in the 65 MPH traffic on the bridge, so all that was for naught.

Speaking of that bridge, it seems to bring out the stupid in people. A couple weeks earlier, some guy on a sportbike (military, he was wearing the digital camo and one of those green vests they have to wear) passed several cars on the shoulder of the bridge maybe 200 yards past where the Olds driver did his thing. The problem is, the shoulder there is littered with gravel, chunks of tires etc so here he is doing probably 80 in what's literally a minefield with a concrete wall two feet to his right and 65 MPH traffic two feet to his left. Bravo, dumbass.

I drove in downtown philly yesterday, it made my blood pressure increase quite a bit. So I got defensive and drove like the rest of them, except for flooring it from the lights. If the next light is red that is just wasting gas. Not getting you anywhere sooner.

Oh and If I am passing cars in the left lane, Im already over the speed limit by at least 15mph in PA, don't flash your lights at me, don't collect $200, chill the hell out. I'll flash my brake lights at you.

In bad weather if the left lane is the only one clear of standing water or snow then that's the lane I will be in. If you think the flooded lane is ok to drive in then you can drive in it to pass me.

This week I had to take an accident report for an accident between a van and bus. Some how the driver of the van turned into the driver's area of the bus. He insists that the bus sped up into his path, except that at the time of the accident the driver was in the back picking up a wheelchair customer, and if the bus hadn't been there he would have turned into a store in the middle of the block, he was nowhere near and intersection.

Nitroracer wrote: Oh and If I am passing cars in the left lane, Im already over the speed limit by at least 15mph in PA, don't flash your lights at me, don't collect $200, chill the hell out. I'll flash my brake lights at you.

OK, now we know.

It's YOU that decides how fast everybody can drive on the hwy.

zomby woof wrote:

Nitroracer wrote: Oh and If I am passing cars in the left lane, Im already over the speed limit by at least 15mph in PA, don't flash your lights at me, don't collect $200, chill the hell out. I'll flash my brake lights at you.

OK, now we know. It's YOU that decides how fast everybody can drive on the hwy.

Only ever happened to me once thankfully. Im checking my mirrors and I know you're there. Don't be a douche.

Nitroracer wrote:

zomby woof wrote:

Nitroracer wrote: Oh and If I am passing cars in the left lane, Im already over the speed limit by at least 15mph in PA, don't flash your lights at me, don't collect $200, chill the hell out. I'll flash my brake lights at you.

OK, now we know. It's YOU that decides how fast everybody can drive on the hwy.

Only ever happened to me once thankfully. Im checking my mirrors and I know you're there. Don't be a douche.

+1

This week something happened to a friend of mine on her first day living in Nashville. Her W203 C-class stalled at a traffic light. Usually it starts right up, but this time it would not restart and the light turned green. The driver behind her decided that his time could not be wasted and rammed her car repeatedly till there was enough room for him to get around her. Witnesses helped get her car out of the middle of the intersection, unfortunately no one got a tag number. Also there used to be a guy who cut through my neighborhood in his shiney F-350 crewcab. He would blow through the same 4 stop sign in front of me almost every morning. We happened to have a particularly nasty Econoline donated to us that was headed to Pull-a-Part soon. I opted to take it home for the night. The next day he was right on time. I pulled the van into the intersection as he approached the stop sign at a speed well above the posted 25 mph. I then came to a complete stop and braced for impact. The truck nose dived and nearly plowed into the passenger side of the van. I was surprised to see an old man instead of some punk kid, but I held my ground and refused to move as he blew his horn. Finally he throws the truck in reverse and backs up the block and turns on the main road. The best part. He never drives through my neighborhood anymore.

This is what happens when one of those jackasses actually connects. I was passed on the left, as I was turning left, on a double yellow. Hit by your typical suburban nitwit housewife in of all things, a Suburban. She was doing 55-60 when she hit me....in a 45 zone. Her excuse, in a hurry for a Dr. appointment. Also screwed up my shoulder in this. Lawyer is having a field day with her. On top of this, the repair was half assed. They wrote the repairs for used parts but I sprung for a new 1/4 panel and fender. The doors (used, new were $1000 each) were not prepped right and are all wavey, 1/4 glass is not aligned, hatch doesn't close right, and they got the bright idea of using window caulk to hold my mirror cover on....it sticks out so much you can fit your hand under it. I'm filing a complaint with her company again and am prepared to get a lawyer for this also. The car was flawless and has only 30k on it.

BTW, if you think these driving habits are bad, ride a bike. I cycle 20-30mi a day and you won't believe the E36 M3 I see.

I ride a bicycle all the time.. the nit wits out there scare me silly. I like the ones what drive with the DRIVER in the middle of the lane and the passenger wheels over the white line that seperates the driving lane from the shoulder. Especially fun with a bigger suv.

Like the Shanghai video posted elsewhere.. two years ago I was riding down the shoulder of the road when an older gentleman turned right in front of me to enter a parking lot. I ran right into the back passengerside fender with no change to even touch the brakes. Left a small dent and a HUGE scratch down the side of his olds...

He got out and started yelling before I even got off of the ground. I was good..stayed calm.. and when his rant was over and I was certain my bike was not damaged or I was bleeding.. held my cell phone out to him and told him to call the cops if he thought I was at fault.

He left quickly

Yeah the most rampant thing in my town at the moment is the whole running through after the turn arrow turns off and the oncomming people have a green. The other day i saw a car, obviously too far away but speeding towards the intersection to try to make it, run through a couple seconds after we got the green. I saw the idiot comming but the semi in the lane next to me hit the gas when the light turned (completely reasonable as this car wasn't even entering the intersection yet) and nearly slammed into the cell phone wielding lady in the car. She looked horrified when the guy hit the horn and the brakes, missing her by maybe 2 feet. I almost crapped myself laughing. It was a good day.

to bad his reactions were so quick... people like that need to be weeded out of the gene pool...

Oh it happens every so often here, but a semi vs. old intrepid would've been the best match up by far.

Around here if you aren't tailgating, the idiots in the fast lane never will get over. It's like the blind leading the blind. If you aren't exceeding the speed limit, passing someone or stacked up in a line of cars I will be on your a$$ and after a mile or two you will get the high beams. I flash them once and a mile or so later I turn them on and leave them on.

You can tell a left lane cruiser when you come up behind them. They never check their mirrors, and they never check the right lane. They are usually on the phone. I give them no slack. Rear window full of blue oval and brights. You can also tell a responsible driver when you come up behind them. They will see you coming, and as soon as they see you they check the right lane. They get time to get past whatever is next and get over. And they will because they are responsible. Just because you're going ten over doesn't mean you aren't slow traffic.

Special circumstances for rain and other hazards apply. In the case of a flooded right lane, I will pass you on the right. BTDT. Most drivers still get pissed. They assume just because they can't drive in the rain you can't either. Then they blow the horn and crowd the right lane to try to keep you from passing. It hasn't worked yet, but they still try. There are advantages to a 8000 pound van on skinny tires. Standing water isn't much different than dry pavement.

If people don't like the way I drive, my cell number is on both sides and the back of my truck, they can call me and I will be glad to tell them what they were doing wrong. I think everyone should post their cell number on the back of their car. Then I could politely tell people that learning how to drive isn't hard and they might want to try it some day. I drive between 70 and 100 thousand miles a year. In the last million or so miles I have only hit one cell phone idiot that ran a stop sign and haven't pissed off the police. I have seen more stupid people on the road than you can imaging. I don't have much patients for them. Learn how to drive or stay home. Some of us actually do have somewhere to be in a timely manner.

TJ wrote: Does anyone else keep checking this thread to see if people are talking about you yet?

Good observation, TJ!

I'll wager everyone who has read/contributed to this thread has been, is or will be guilty of the sins committed by the dumb masses.

Lets also have a word of applause for all the douchebags who like to sail by me at 70mph on the way into a one lane merge to beat my truck towing a 22' race car trailer into the line that is only moving 10mph. One of these days I'm not going to have enough brakes to save them. I wonder sometimes if they have any idea that they get to live only because I anticipate these assclowns. Its straight-up hero work on my part I tells ya.