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Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Jogged by a fender bender maybe 30 seconds after it happened - Infiniti G coupe rear ended a F01 7er - significantly more damage to the Infiniti. Both drivers were standing outside talking on their phones.

    Light traffic volumes this afternoon, didn't see many yappers, and most people seemed to use their signals. Weird. Had a tiny young likely new driver woman in an GLK tailgate me for about a mile - I don't think she was being aggressive, just bad driving style - as the road wasn't crowded, and she had plenty of room to go around, and didn't appear to have any emotion or movement at all.
  • xrunner2xrunner2 Member Posts: 3,062
    Infiniti G coupe rear ended a F01 7er - significantly more damage to the Infiniti. Both drivers were standing outside talking on their phones.

    F01? What was that? A fighter jet of early vintage? What's it doing on a public road?
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    2009+ 7 series.
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    I personally find it easier to remember a year range and model name such as 2001-2005.5 A4's rather than B5 or B6 or worse E38, E45 vs. a year range and 330 or 325 or 335
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,756
    That's pretty insane. Yeah, like you're going to convince someone to get out of a vehicle by promising to pummel them. Riiiigggghhhht. :D

    It's too bad the video doesn't include the alleged incident that sparked the confrontation, but I've been in a situation like that before and the first thought going through your head isn't, "gee, I should film this for posterity."
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    For safety purposes, it's so worth it to beep that horn over speed bumps.
    It's for the children.
    (it's safer for a few of them to be awakened briefly than to be hit by cars while sleepwalking or whatever.)
  • eliaselias Member Posts: 2,209
    yes indeed, it's a Boston/NE thing. Hub of the universe.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Drove a bit today, a few dumb people out there. Got behind a Civic on a right turn highway interchange with its left signal on, going no more than 40mph, braking for no reason - went around it, funny hat driver had a death grip, I didn't get close to the speed limit and blew past, and could see others doing similar.

    Got behind a woman I won't describe, Honda Pilot, green turn arrow, she stops and dawdles so we miss the light, I honk (which apparently wakes her up), she lunges forward, then freezes, then tries to reverse - she gets back a little and then scares me with her lack of attention and awareness, so I honk again, she stops and I feel relieved.

    Saw several phone yappers/texters, and few turn signal users.
  • ronsteveronsteve Member Posts: 1,190
    Speaking of non-motorists being irritated, today I saw a guy on a bicycle being held up (and yelling, motioning) on a busy 4 lane 30mph arterial because the oldsters in a MPV in front of him randomly came to a stop to look at a building. Oblivious.

    One of my worst-ever encounters happened while I was on my road bike. This was several Aprils ago, in a beach town in NC. The middle section of this barrier island can get a bit congested, and my 16-17mph in the headwind actually kept me with vehicle traffic pretty well. A college-age female driving a CR-V with MD plates pulled out of a side street and forced me to brake... and then brake-checked me again.

    I gave her a well-deserved earful and invited her to return to MD when I passed her before making my left turn at one of two signal lights on the island.
    2015 Acura RDX AWD / 2013 VW Jetta 2.5SE
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited April 2013
    Seems to be a lot of that going around.

    Bikes Sharing the Road
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    She'd probably do the same to a car, too. Some younger drivers of a certain gender seem to think everyone should yield to them.

    A few dummies out today - 7er was going to turn from a fast street, changed its mind mid turn, slams on the brakes to a near stop and gets back in the flow - luckily the car behind it braked early. Saw a Civic make a fast and stupid right turn from the left lane, luckily the lane was free. A few crosswalk blockers while I was on foot.

    Yesterday morning, early around maybe 0540, saw a tractor trailer on a city street - it was in a turn lane, so I made my turn. I watched it, and it breezed through and kept going straight, but I was blocks ahead by then. Then sped up - I got up to 40 in a 30 and he was closing fast. Then suddenly he slowed down, and was out of my line of sight as I returned to a normal speed. Weird.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited April 2013
    Out in the rain (AGAIN) this afternoon. Most of the drive was remarkable for the lack of traffic, many local arterials seemed to be relatively empty - maybe the cold and wet was keeping people indoors. But it couldn't last forever. Heading down a hill, 30 zone, I am going 35 tops, I am the only car on the road in both directions for the entire line of sight. From a parking lot, a middle aged woman in a Caravan pulls right out in front of me and goes about 14mph. And it gets better - a couple blocks later, the road merges with a major arterial (not really a merge per se, as the inverted somewhat-Y style intersection gains a lane, so no lane change is needed. The woman comes to a complete stop (no stop sign, no yield sign, no light), then timidly moves forward at well under 20mph. I hit the horn and get over, and notice her giving me the stink eye as I go past. It's clueless lowest common denominator garbage like that who scare me when I think about getting a bike.
  • xrunner2xrunner2 Member Posts: 3,062
    The woman comes to a complete stop (no stop sign, no yield sign, no light), then timidly moves forward at well under 20mph. I hit the horn and get over, and notice her giving me the stink eye as I go past. It's clueless lowest common denominator garbage like that who scare me when I think about getting a bike.

    Maybe get out of that sleepless "blue" state and try another blue state nowhere near as bad. Northern Illinois. Not Chicago. Yes there are many goofballs, drivers on cell phones, etc, but apparently nowhere near as bad as the Sleepless area.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Luckily, bad driving has nothing to do with political preference - visit the deep south or Floriduh for several days, all you have to do is sit back and watch the idiocy unfold. They do move along better than the slowpokes here, anyway (because local crime is so high, cops have other things to do than revenue enforce).

    The problem here is lack of speed, being timid, and being oblivious. It's probably no better or worse overall than the intentional jerkiness you get in the northeast or maybe southern CA. It'll be hard to find the ideal driving place, unless one moves to Germany outside of a big city.
  • slorenzenslorenzen Member Posts: 694
    "unless one moves to Germany outside of a big city. "

    BINGO!

    Only 1 of my trips to Germany, I got to drive the autobahn(north of Koln).

    I was in HEAVEN!
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    For me, a week or two in Germany with a decent rental car is the ultimate vacation. It's funny how high speed high concentration driving can actually almost be therapeutic.

    South of Koln is where I have experienced my fastest German train ride - 289 km/h according to the train.

    From Stuttgart headed towards the Swiss border, areas between Munich - Nuremberg, from Nuremberg north and west, and the 'bahn that runs near the "romantic road" all seem to have tons of "freier wildbahn" areas - long stretches of low density low construction smooth unrestricted road where anything is possible.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Two left turn lanes leading to the interstate, that was packed at 4 pm. Driver in a Hyundai sat through an entire light.

    Nothing inconsiderate but lordy, the freeway traffic in Seattle just keeps getting worse. After 2 miles of bumper to bumper, I was finally able to hit the HOV lane and get back south of town. At least the surface streets were okay.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited April 2013
    Sounds like Seattle, slow and oblivious.

    I was out in Bellevue after 7pm, ridiculous traffic on 148th, horrible light sequencing, dawdling "drivers" making it 100x worse. I was nice anyway, guy in a Sentra beside me needed in to the turn lane where I was sitting waiting for a negligently maintained signal (thanks, "engineers"! multiple times sat at red lights with no cross traffic) to change, I let him in.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited April 2013
    Drove up and down 405 today - fun fun fun. So many going 45-50 in a 60 for no reason. LOTS of phone holders, worst being a young woman I won't describe, left lane, slow, would keep a huge distance between her and the car in front of her, as car after car passed on the right, and she slowly filtered back. Needs to be a four figure ticket.

    While on foot, saw a couple little grey heads in a Chevy Captiva turn the wrong way into a bank drive-thru - and pressed on like it was nothing. I am not sure how they got out.
  • euphoniumeuphonium Member Posts: 3,425
    They had a withdrawal slip. ;)
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Good one!

    I suspect they were somehow able to wedge their way into a u-turn.
  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,250
    edited April 2013
    This morning passed a couple of staties parked by the side of the interstate. Radar guy and a chase car.
    I was going about 65, same as everyone else, but I don't know what the speed limit was.
    Maybe the candy red Fiesta made me stand out from the crowd.
    The chase guy looking pretty eager, like waiting for the word 'go'.
    After we passed them, I see the chase guy coming up from behind.
    The strange thing is, his car is spewing a ton of white smoke from underneath.
    He went by, then pulled right in front of me, and a couple of seconds later he yanked the car into the break down lane and stopped.
    Maybe he looked in his rear view mirror and finally saw the smoke? Strange.
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    I don't know if there is anything douchier than a red F430, annoying chrome wheels, and no turn signal use. Makes me wonder.

    Saw a local cop make a right turn on red, oncoming left turn had a green light, he just barged out and forced his way in front of an oncoming car - no lights or sirens. Must be nice being both very well paid and untouchable.
  • ronsteveronsteve Member Posts: 1,190
    I think I hit the trifecta yesterday afternoon... I figured I would take my bike to Seneca Park after I got off work. Two laps of Seneca and the almost-adjoining Cherokee Park was about the distance I needed, and it was on bike-friendly roads (light to moderate traffic, 25mph SL, bike lanes in a lot of places... and it's a PARK... where many people bike and run). But as bike-friendly as the roads were, the drivers sure weren't.

    At the start of the ride, I was on one of the roads with a bike lane, still just getting into it. Traffic from a side street out of the adjacent neighborhood has a stop sign, but the driver of a 2nd-generation Chrysler LH (from that angle, the Concorde, 300M and LHS all look the same) didn't understand the need to yield to cross traffic, and I had to brake to avoid ending up through a side window and into the back seat.

    And then about a half mile from the end of my ride, coming back into Seneca from the other direction, the road that leads back to where I parked does not have a bike lane. An upper-middle-aged woman in a Cadillac also chose not to yield to the cross traffic that does not stop as she entered from the left, to go in the same direction I was. I was riding in aero, and not sure putting myself behind her would have been any bargain. I was maybe 6 inches from the edge of the pavement, and she missed me by a foot, certainly less than two with the front corner of her car.

    I don't get this town... they are too incompetent to get their brain around two drivers making non-conflicting movements at the same time at a 4-way stop, yet they don't know how to yield to cross traffic when they are the only one with a stop sign.

    And then for good measure, there was the idiot trucker at the Watterson/71 merge as I was driving home from the parks. Traffic on 71 was slow, probably from someone running someone else out of road at the end of the half-mile merge lane. As I was getting on, this trucker wasn't letting anyone in front of him. The car in front of me fell back and blended in behind the truck. When the lane cleared, I was too sick of all the BS of the day to let 2000 feet of good pavement go to waste, so I (necessarily) gunned it to get by the truck (he forced me half way onto the shoulder) and then blended in when I approached the real end of the merge lane.

    Hopefully I can get through Derby Day next Saturday without facing too much more idiocy, or without completely going off on someone who deserves it.
    2015 Acura RDX AWD / 2013 VW Jetta 2.5SE
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    I particularly get peeved when hundreds if not a thousand feet of perfectly good merging lane pavement gets wasted by people who insist at merging at a crawl or far below the speed limit. You have vastly more room to merge at speed; why settle for slowing down and backing up traffic?
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    In SoCal this week, driving a Sonic (the almost-car, not the drive-in). Was at a four-way stop this morning. I stopped fully, had left turn signal on, just starting to turn. An E Class with a middle-aged woman driving does a rolling non-stop on my right, and my thought is, "She isn't going to stop." Nope. Without coming to a stop, she starts turning left... on a collision course. Normally I'd stop to avoid a collision. But this is a rental... a lowly Sonic at that. She has a late-model E Class. So I think, "Go ahead... make my day." I keep turning, albeit slowly and watching her. She slows a bit, then keeps going. I keep going. Finally she stops and give me an embarrased "my bad" look. At least she didn't give me the finger. Then I would have had to ram her.

    Oh, like most luxury cars sold in SoCal, this E Class didn't have turn signals. Must be a CA thing... they pay for the extra pollution controls by taking out features like turn signals.
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    I've decided a driving error plus + another unacceptable action related to that error gets a honk from me every time.

    For example, a truck pulls out right in front of me to turn left onto a residential road with the perfectly imperfect timing of forcing me to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him (they were coming out of a driveway on the right from a condo complexes parking lot).

    I was just going to stare them down silently as he drove by, but since he had his hand up to his ear with a cell phone I had to honk at him. He honked back amazingly, so I honked again as we went our separate ways.

    For someone to make two horrific driving mistakes in the last 4 seconds to honk back at me shows some real gall.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,756
    edited April 2013
    Oh, those weren't mistakes, guys. Those were you two getting in the other drivers' ways! :P
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,756
    Okay, so this is the last time I put my summer tires back on the cars in mid-April! I even waited until the latter part of "mid", not having swapped them until 4/22 since this month has been so ridiculously cold. But, despite the cold, the 18+ hours of sunlight every day finally melted all the roads of ice, so I figured there was no harm in doing it.

    Well, starting the day after the swap, the weather turns cold and we've had three separate snowfall events in the last week! This morning, the temp was about 30 degrees, so that snow slicked the roads up in no time. I debated plowing the neighborhood again, but after I got my little Fiesta up to the main road with its summer tires, I didn't have any sympathy for my neighbors any longer. :P
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • euphoniumeuphonium Member Posts: 3,425
    Sounds (honk-honk) like you were outgalled as you don't command respect. ;)
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,729
    One of these days when I'm very old and very well insured I'll ram one of these fools right in the driver's side door, then claim the "stand my ground" defense.
    '15 Audi Misano Red Pearl S4, '16 Audi TTS Daytona Gray Pearl, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132
    edited May 2013
    Downtown Columbus: A little old lady in her CRV in 2nd lane from right of 4 lanes on I670. The far right lane is peeling off and ending so she moves over in front of me at 10 mph below my speed at 65 in the 3rd lane from right.

    . Gave about 2 blinks of turn signal and over she came. Her lane still had about 3/4 mile to go before it would end: only the rightmost lane went off to a surface exit.

    She didn't try to speed up. It was just "Hello," here I am. Sheeesh. As I passed I see a librarian or retired teacher (stereotype alert) with 3 other ladies stuffed into the vehicle all peering out their windows as if they are afraid for their lives. PS, traffic was very light at 8:30 am going away from downtown. I looked for a "I love Seattle" sticker on rear to see if she was one of those timid drivers that Fintail sees in Seattle..

    I was very nice and only tooted twice. However she slowed down to about 45 after I passed. If someone can't drive on the freeway, stay on surface streets. That's what one of my wife's friends does here around Dayton. Scared of freeway.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Ha, that really does sound like Seattle. It is the worst IMO on 405 east of the city. At virtually any time of day, you will find "drivers" going 45 or so in a 60, traffic whizzing by, death grip on the wheel, as they venture on to the scary and dangerous freeway. A lot of these drivers are of similar demographics, too. Nicest thing I can say is that they usually have good lane discipline and keep right - but this still causes bottlenecks.

    Gotta chime in about the horn honking from earlier, too. When an idiot honks back after a poor maneuver, it really shows their mentality.
  • euphoniumeuphonium Member Posts: 3,425
    I always thought the number of stickers on the car showed their mentality.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132
    edited May 2013
    >Ha, that really does sound like Seattle.

    Your excellent descriptions paint pictures in my mind of various people types when you describe them. This driver had straight hair down to collar with a mixture of gray and black. Glasses with plastic frame.

    She had to be in a panic when the 2 lanes on left of 4 end up merging onto I70 on the left side. So she found herself in the middle of fairly busy I70 traffic, in the third lane of 4 lanes after the I70 pair merged on the right.

    Of course I'm probably wrong and they were heading to Hollywood Casino, new in town and Ohio, to game for a while and have lunch.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    There's probably a negative correlation between the number of bumper stickers, and driving skill. Political stickers of either party especially, and even more especially long after the election is over.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited May 2013
    There's a big casino some distance north of me, almost always a back up on I5 around it - but lots of surrounding stores probably add to that as well. The thought of gambling and maybe a face stuffing buffet seems to addle some peoples minds :shades: Always a fun mix of little grey heads and new resident types to make driving fun.

    On the way home today, saw a Corolla make a free right turn. Unfortunately, the young woman driver turned wide into the left lane (4 lane arterial, center turn lane), and a BMW 5er GT was already there, moving along at maybe 35. BMW guy quickly hit the brakes, swerved, and honked. City revenue/law enforcement officer was sitting on the other side of the intersection, didn't blink an eye. At that time was behind a Lexus RX doing "the creep" - pulled up at the light a ways behind the car in front of it, and every several seconds would move up maybe half a foot. Why do people do this? Then while on foot saw typical downtown idiocy - lots of phone yappers.
  • whahappanwhahappan Member Posts: 69
    I've told this story before, but a while ago and it fits the sentiment of your last sentence.

    Anyway, one time I was coasting up to a red light in the right lane on a 4 lane (2 each direction) street. This bozo pulls out right in front of me from a gas station, so I change lanes to the left lane. So does he, cutting me off for a 2nd time within 2 seconds, forcing me to hit the brakes again. Then he proceeds into the left turn only lane. Then swerves back again into the leftmost straight lane, where I was, forcing me back into the right lane. All within ~ 150 ft. I finally hit the horn, just a quick 2 second honk, nothing excessive. The female passenger rolls down the window and gives me the finger with and yells at me with an enraged look on her face.
    BTW, this was in Canada, home of the most polite people on earth :P
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Not on the 401. :D

    We need more of these:

    Where ‘Share the Road’ Is Taken Literally (NY Times)
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Amazing the kind of infrastructure you can fund when you aren't off being the policeman of the world, or subsidizing the ill gotten gains of the top few. Would never work in any suburban here.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Certainly no greater driving ability north of the border. It's America Jr in that regard.

    I've rarely received a finger from a honk, but have received a honk back. That will usually prompt me to lay on the horn, especially if I am in my old car which has a horn louder than modern cars. In that war, I win :shades:
  • xrunner2xrunner2 Member Posts: 3,062
    That will usually prompt me to lay on the horn, especially if I am in my old car which has a horn louder than modern cars. In that war, I win

    Here's a horn that will draw some attention. Especially if put on a Mercedes Benz. How would the sleepless drivers react.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfwH37gv0Wc
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Ha, my friend who lived in GA told me I should put something exactly like that on the new car - to see the reaction it would get, esp at the dealer. He also wants to put a locomotive horn or maybe a fog horn in his own car - something that will break windows, not understanding that it would also break his own windows :shades:

    I wonder if a musical horn would wake up the stupid, or if they'd just tune it out even more. Not uncommon to see dolts do nothing when an ambulance or cop with a screaming siren (very loud here) comes up behind them.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Never been there but the shared idea is apparently liked on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Mass.
  • xrunner2xrunner2 Member Posts: 3,062
    Ha, my friend who lived in GA told me I should put something exactly like that on the new car - to see the reaction it would get, esp at the dealer.

    Maybe you would need a 3rd vehicle that would be more appropriate to that horn. A jacked-up, beater pickup. Or a Charger.
  • euphoniumeuphonium Member Posts: 3,425
    That horn playing "Dixie" would be sounded late at night while having to roll over several Speed Bumps in the upscale neighborhood. :P
  • euphoniumeuphonium Member Posts: 3,425
    "subsidizing the ill gotten gains of the top few"

    This statement appears every once in a while & reflects the author having a large degree of envy &/or jealousy. Why not be happy for the success of others? ;)
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    When the success is actually earned, I couldn't be happier. But you know as well as I do that it often, if not usually, is not.

    "Jealousy" is a lame red herring style accusation made to distract or deceive, IMNSHO :P
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Not exactly the average American street, then. It's a fun idea, but more suited for places that have actual working public transit and better relationships between workplace centers and residential areas - which isn't most of the US.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Or a Rolls Phantom Cabrio :shades:

    And yes, a good one for speed bumps - we must stay safe!
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