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Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

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Comments

  • bolivarbolivar Member Posts: 2,316
    Why not find the time to stop and talk to the cops?

    You had enough time to take the 'long' way home.

    The VW driver probably told the police about a crazed Harley rider that shot out of a side street and he took to the ditch and golf course to save that heathern's body an soul.

    Give the cops an outline of his previous driving. Give then your name and number. Agree to testify. Do something to get these type people off the streets!

    It's probably not to late to do this, since it happened last week.
  • spudgalspudgal Member Posts: 35
    "Long" way is actually quicker than the freeway at that time, and it takes me my whole lunchbreak to get home and back. I was on a mercy mission to incapacitated husband :) At the time, I didn't want to get into trouble for being away from the office for longer than my allotted time - I'd already got in late that day.

    I'll call Metro's traffic division after work. I'm not completely familiar with the legal system over here, so I wasn't even sure if the cops would want my testimony. There was one witness at the accident site - a couple in a pickup.

    Now I remember why I stay at work and surf the Edmunds site at lunchtime - it's too freaky outside!
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    with what? Finger? Key?
  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    the second one. if it was the first i wouldnt even find it worth mentioning here.
  • davv62davv62 Member Posts: 76
    Don't worry about it. The owner of that car deserved it. Maybe next time he or she will be a little more considerate.

    I hope the interview went well.
  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    Once i get medical clearance its off to Georgia for 4.5 months of law enforcement training at full pay and benefits. Ain't nothin like workin for Uncle Sam.
  • pat84pat84 Member Posts: 817
    The first thing you'll be given to investigate is who keyed the Escalade.
  • daysailerdaysailer Member Posts: 720
    How about law observance training as a prerequisite.
  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    Fair shot daysailor. I make no excuses for what I did, the only explanation being that it was a combination of frustration at almost being late because i couldnt find parking despite leaving home a half hour early and the fact that this is a long standing pet peave of mine. IT goes back to when I lived at school, and me and other friends on numerous occassions had to hoof it up to half a mile through poorly lit, untraveled, unsafe areas on a campus where night time attacks and muggings often took place to get to our campus apartments because a bunch of fools and airheads had parked carelessly in the student lots nearest the appartments. This guarenteed that their own cars would be conveniently close at hand but condemned late commers who werent adventurous enough to try to cram their cars into half or three quarters of a spot to park in the boondocks. I think that's what ticks me off about it. People's inability to look past their own laziness or their own desire to prevent door dings and consider that what they're doing may at minimum seriously inconvenience others and possibly even force them to park in an unsafe place and risk their own safety walking.

    Whether you take up two spaces intentionally or just are too lazy to pay attention to how you park, you never know if your lack of consideration for others may seriously screw someone else over.

    But again, I know what I did was a pretty bad thing and I think Ill be sticking to leaving hastily written notes on scrap paper under wiper blades. But i also take a little satisfaction in knowing Mr Escalade will think twice or maybe 3-4 times before he ever straddles the line in a full parking lot again.
  • daysailerdaysailer Member Posts: 720
    at those who use more than one space to park. I would not, however, violate another's property. An exception might be if they were to park without permission on MY property in which case I would probably call a towing service from the worst part of the city and hope that "fate" would intervene on my behalf. ;-)
  • verozahlverozahl Member Posts: 574
    I really like Daysailer's idea.

    Eharri, not good. NOT good. Even though I fully approve, it's just, I dunno, respect for property is important, even if you're confronted by an [non-permissible content removed] in an Escalade.

    My parking structure has been pretty good so far. I visited my uncle last weekend, and we used some car polish the rear of my car to take off some white paint (obviously, rear doors of a white SUV hit it multiple times... not any major dents, but left white paint on it).

    There's no excuse for that. I park my car squarely in space every time I park, because it only goes out once or twice a week (until at least I'm done with classes for the summer - my last exam's tomorrow morning). And then again, I was a valet, so I consider myself a parking bible. In between the lines with equal space on each side.

    Why don't people realize this? Maybe when you realize that those who lumber into the space, get out, and run are the same types that hog left lanes going under speed limit... hey, put the key back in your pocket! Yes, they are probably the same nitwits!
  • ed_scott0013ed_scott0013 Member Posts: 64
    ...those doors that open up rather than out? I've seen some cars with them before (old ones, like the DeLorean, and some new ones, like that new Mercedes (prototype?)) and I would think that would reduce the chances of smacking another car when getting out...
  • pbhattipbhatti Member Posts: 87
    Sliding doors like mini-vans would be better. There would be no way you could hit someone elses car and they couldn't hit yours. The front door would open towards the engine and the rear door would open towards the trunk. The gullwing doors would be hard to close once your seated; you'd have to reach up or if your short you'd have to get up and close them.
  • justfind6justfind6 Member Posts: 30
    Try parking there...not only are the spots at Dublin airport about six inches wider than the cars, but they also have concrete pillars all over the place. I swear, there must be people climbing out the windows of their cars to catch flights.
  • justfind6justfind6 Member Posts: 30
    Maybe instead of Social Insecurity, we could just get the gummint to give us all a Lamborghini Murcielago. No door dings with those babies...
  • pjyoungpjyoung Member Posts: 885
    today as we approached the closed left lane in one mile area. Trouble is, they "unzipped" and got in the left lane to get around everybody before they tried to "rezip". Dang that burns me up.
  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    I know everybody gets tired of my I76 stories, but I see the rezippering quite a bit. AFter all, rush hour on 76 lasts from 7am every Monday to 8 am the following Sunday. It gets especially bad right around the 202 intersection, where people zipper in to the right and then right as we're approaching where you veer to the right to get to 202, they just seem to say 'screw it' at the last minute and jump back into the left lane to pass 2 or 3 cars in that last 50 yards or s. And they do this only to get back to the right at the last second, but those at the head of the line mistakenly think they're just unfamiliar with the exits and wave them in.

    It's funny, for all that effort they put fourth to jump back to the left and try to dart a few cars ahead, I still end up next to them again within a few minutes and they look pretty stupid.
  • oldharryoldharry Member Posts: 413
    Heading in to Rock Falls this evening on "30" I was running a true 67 MPH in the 55 zone when a Dakota 4X4 with two young men comes up on my tailgate. They pulled out to pass (it"s a two lane road) with bare minimum space, so I slowed to let them in. After pulling in they proceeded at 63 MPH. They rushed up to pass me so they could slow me down.

    Are they friends of our LLCing friend, the retired insurance man?

    Harry
  • pat84pat84 Member Posts: 817
    I have many dings on the side of my minivan from others. They can and do hit my doors when they are closed. I had some body work done because a hit and run SUV gauged the side of my van with a running board. Both doors and the rear quarter panel. BTW I was dead center in the parking lines at the time with plenty of room to spare.
  • beachnutbeachnut Member Posts: 291
    I think pbhatti was trying to say that if *every* car had minivan-type doors, we'd never have dings. Front sliders too? Hmm .....

    I know I feel a little better parking next to a soccer mom with a gaggle of kids in a minivan vs. the same troupe in an SUV. But I'd rather park and walk when necessary. The good spots are in the hinterlands ;-)
  • ranaldranald Member Posts: 147
    It would help but parking lots would still be dangerous places. You'd cut down on door dings, sure, but there are so many other ways for people to damage your car.

    My car has been keyed, elbowed, hit by a baseball (I can think of no other way to explain the size, shape, location or associated discoloration of the damage) in an *industrial park*, had a pickup park on top of it (yes literally, parked head to head in a lot his front bumper on top of mine, left a *nasty* gouge in my bumper), been sideswiped (ugly horizontal gashes plus paint on the corners of my bumpers)... and my car is *small* and I never park in spots where the cars on either side are too close, I'd rather walk a little farther than take the risk.

    The way to elimitate parking lot damage is not to eliminate swinging car doors, but to eliminate people.
  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    What do you drive that a pickup could roll over, just out of curiosity. Does the license plate say "Mattel"? Hehehe sorry, couldn't resist, but please do tell.
  • ranaldranald Member Posts: 147
    I drive a Civic coupe.

    It was one of the bigger pickups, I think it was an F250. The bottom of his bumper/grillwork would ordinarily have slightly overlapped the top of my bumper, but he pulled forward too far and his car rode very slightly up on top of mine, left a nasty gouge in the top surface of my front bumper.

    Unfortunately I was prevented from teaching Ford boy a 4 d-cell lesson in courtesy (a carry a large Maglite in the car for several reasons) because I had passengers.
  • pbhattipbhatti Member Posts: 87
    Watch out for the upcoming Nissan Quest. I read it's gonna have SEVEN doors (3 on each side and one for the rear). Just imagine coming out of the store and having a mark on your front door, rear door and rear-quarter panel.
  • hammersleyhammersley Member Posts: 684
    eharri: Do they polygraph candidates for your job? Just wondering...
  • verozahlverozahl Member Posts: 574
    Ranald, did you decide to just let eharri walk over you, or am I missing something?
  • ranaldranald Member Posts: 147
    You're missing something, I think.

    He made a really bad joke, I ignored it, we moved on.

    I thought eharri might appreciate the situation, actually. People parking badly seem to get his goat. ;) Imagine if you drive some friends to dinner, park the car, go eat, come back to the car and find a pickup truck parked on top of your car. Screw the keys, time to get the Maglite and pop that [non-permissible content removed]'s big, expensive-looking foglights. The only problem was my friends were too nice, I couldn't let them see me doing that.
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    ...especially when it comes to posting notes about committing acts of mayhem on other's property, OK?


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  • pat84pat84 Member Posts: 817
    Since you are going into law enforcement, isn't mayhem an act on people. Vandalism is on property, right ? .
  • oregonboyoregonboy Member Posts: 1,650
    I always have an inexpensive camera in my car... a disposable would do. You never know when it might be useful to document just such an incident.

    A few clear photos showing the critical details sent to your insurance company and trucky-boy can reap what he sows in the form of a black mark on his insurance record.

    -james
  • ranaldranald Member Posts: 147
    Quite right, I really should carry a disposable camera in the glove compartment.

    Talking about insurance- another reason why, despite sometimes being incredibly tempted, I've never given in to the urge to touch anyone's car in an unfriendly way is that in the end, it'll wind up (at least in some small statistical way) raising my own insurance premiums. Something to keep in mind.
  • scotianscotian Member Posts: 1,064
    Not if the cost to repair is under his or her deductable...
  • kinleykinley Member Posts: 854
    but I believe you did NOT key note the Cad because that's not like you. I do believe you thought about it and wanted to and have written that you did, just to get reactions from others.
  • beachnutbeachnut Member Posts: 291
    I thought the same thing myself, but if we see a pissed-off Escalade owner on one of the Care & Maintenance boards wondering how to get scratches out of his clear-coat, hmmm......

    If you did do it eharri, shame, shame ;-(
  • verozahlverozahl Member Posts: 574
    I-696. Midday. Left lane. Aztek. Under speed limit. All lanes going slow. Aztek. Left lane. Block. Bad. Vero: not happy.

    In other news, new invention has been discovered recently by some Detroit drivers! It's called "turn signal" and it's the state-of-the-art. Make sure you get it on your next car and/or luxotruck.
  • scotianscotian Member Posts: 1,064
    http://money.msn.com/articles/insure/basics/9775.asp?special=msn

    "Do you hate driving behind SUVs or other large vehicles that obstruct your view?" -- I don't know how this makes one a bad driver, except that maybe "hate" leads to road rage.

    "And 90% say they've told a "little white lie" to protect someone's feelings." -- What's this got to do with anything?
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    Pretty small focus group, but I will certify that they represent a LARGE number of drivers in the Boston area, LOL.
  • haspelbeinhaspelbein Member Posts: 227
    ...sometimes it's fun to watch them.

    I was driving home in my 4 cyl. BMW Z3 using one of the busiest highways in the Bay Area. I drive that route all the time, it was congested as usual, but I have a good feeling for which lane is going the fastest, so I pick it early on.

    So...a BMW M Roadster is stuck in one of the slower lanes. I smile, just smile, as I pass, and watch the driver in the rear view mirror.

    It's almost like reading his mind, as I can tell from his face that he is stewing.

    About a minute later I could watch him blow through the emergency lane and an exit lane at about 50 mph next to standing traffic....nice, very nice !
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    Doesn't take four wheels to be inconsiderate. In a 4 mile long no passing zone, going 5-7 MPH above the limit, I was tailgated by a motorcycle with two riders that would go up to high revs and blast right up behind me, drop back and do it again. Had his double high beams on (for visibility, which I understand, but it was still annoying given the circumstances) and was generally being a pain in the neck.

    Amazing how much a car that downshifts and slows up without brake lights coming on will get your attention when you're being an idiot...LOL

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  • kenjabikenjabi Member Posts: 76
    That article you posted was one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Just another example of someone in the media trying to prove a point by only gaining the facts that benefit their side.

    So we're to assume that if a person listens to music while driving, exceeds the speed limit, and tells little white lies, they're a bad driver? Please!! Hey, here's an idea, how about asking a group of GOOD drivers the same questions? You'll probably find the answers to many are pretty similar. For instance, I'm quite sure that 100% of all car drivers, whether a bad driver or good, hates being stuck behind an SUV or truck and not being able to see around them.

    And the truly scary thing is that a company is using this information to help insurance companies determine rates. I swear, if my rates go up just because I listen to music in the car or I don't get 8 hours of sleep a night (and am therefore deemed "sleep-deprived"), I'll be plenty ticked off!
  • scotianscotian Member Posts: 1,064
    I was wondering if there's also a shoe-size correlation with bad drivers...
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    hat size?...

    /;^)
  • kinleykinley Member Posts: 854
    So when you don't chew, you rates are lower for insurance for you don't have to take your eyes off the road to expectorate.
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    That's what the rubber floor mats are for...
  • kinleykinley Member Posts: 854
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    Not once they dry...
  • jaserbjaserb Member Posts: 820
    Jerk in his late model Bimmer is weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, etc. - you know the drill. He ends up rear-ending a Dodge minivan, which loses control and ends up in oncoming traffic. Husband is killed, wife in critical condition. Bimmer jerk (who didn't get a scratch) has been arrested and charged with DUI and vehicular homicide. He was driving on a suspended license, BTW. I hope he goes to jail for a long, long time.


    Here's a pic of the van (yes, that was a Dodge minivan..)

    http://www.sltrib.com/06212002/utah/747137.htm


    -Jason

  • eharri3eharri3 Member Posts: 640
    When you drive drunk you consciously put yourself in a position to endanger the lives of others by not making sure you have alternative transportation before taking the first drink. Should be considered 2nd degree murder in my opinion.
  • jimbeaumijimbeaumi Member Posts: 620
    I love the Aztek story. My theory has been correct about minivans, that if traffic slows down or backs up needlessly, there is a minivan at the head of the line. Many many times I could have made money on those bets.

    Glad to hear Detroiters are using signals. I am also glad I learned to drive in the metro area, because it sharpened my skills and made me a very aware driver. No accidents in all these years. Now that I am in Grand Rapids, I have discovered the birthplace of road rage. Left-lane dwellers, many surrounding x-ways have LEFT exits(!!), and on streets the traffic lights are all timed so you hit each and every red light.

    I'll take the driving of Detroit or Chicago any time. At least the drivers are in sync. God, I miss 696!
  • verozahlverozahl Member Posts: 574
    Watch out, I hit 696 in a few hours (after some good sleep)! Yes, I hope to not encounter any Azteks, although if I do, I don't have a Bimmer, so I won't be pushing them around.

    Jason, that's not "inconsiderate" in the way that not slowing down or changing lanes for freeway-entering traffic is "inconsiderate."
    There is a different between 'inconsiderate' and 'flashy' and 'moronic' and 'being a homicidal maniac.'
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