Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

yesroh

I have one...
Yesterday I was riding my bicycle down a two-lane road which I've ridden for some 36 years, coming back from church. I ride to church some time to do my part in the energy crisis. There is one section with a blind, sharp right bend which also goes downhill. I heard a car approaching me from the rear and could hear a car approaching from the front but the car behind me apparently couldn't. He passed me on a blind curve which had no room for both of us and nearly took out the car in front of me.
Had I not heard the car approaching from the front I wouldn't have been prepared to brake for this goon and his girlfriend who were just stupid. Why do people pass on blind curves when they know there isn't enough room for them and the person they are passing and if a car comes around the corner they will have to decide? It was only a few hundred feet and this person would have had a long, flat stretch of road and plenty of time to pass me but he thought he had to do it on this dangerous curve.

xrunner2

He passed me on a blind curve which had no room for both of us and nearly took out the car in front of me.

Thankfully, there was no contact with cars/bike and thus no injuries. But, if there were, bicycle driver might be found liable in our sometimes crazy court system. Consider questionable decisions in courts around the country. Vehicular incidents different from product liability, but remember that McDonalds lost case when a woman spilled hot coffee in her lap and blamed McDonalds.

shiphro

OffTopic:

XRunner2, I would recommend doing a search on "McDonalds Lawsuit Coffee" and reading unbiased, professional opinions on and evaluations of the infamous McDonalds Hot Coffee lawsuit. The media, McDonalds and the insurance companies have declared the lawsuit a travesty of our suit-happy culture, but that might not be the case. I suggest you read and decide for yourself.

OnTopic:

This morning I was commuting to work via the PA Turnpike and saw this gem: An empty vehicle trailer (two level car carrier) aggressively changed lanes from left to middle to right and back to middle in one big swerve at 90mph. In heavy traffic. Meanwhile the empty trailer was flinging grit and stones in its wake. Inconsiderate doesn't begin to describe it.

210delray

I've observed that some of those car carrier truckers are about the worst (especially when the trailer is empty).

xwesx

True true true. Any place in the roadway where lane markings (or lack thereof) result in the need for driver discretion and interpretation cause headaches. The best examples of this that seem ooooh so obvious to me, but yet people do all the time are with wide (~20') common left (suicide) lanes. We have one spot in particular where there is heavy traffic use from both directions, with a bias toward the south-traveling motorists. In my analytical mind, the safest and most courteous way to use this lane is to enter it when necessary and stay all the way to the right of the lane, without remaining in the lane of travel, until actually taking the left turn. This way, the lane can be used by both directions of travel simultaneously with minimal interference.

90% or better of drivers enter the lane far earlier than they should, travel all the way (or close to it) to the LEFT of the lane, and end up getting in the way of each other so that you have drivers stopping in travel lanes to wait for the left turn to clear or playing "rutting bull moose" until one driver gives up and goes around (usually to the LEFT!) the other driver.

All I can do is smack my forehead and wonder "WHY???!!!?" Technically, the drivers can use any part of the lane they want, but with a lane that is so wide and can easily be used by two lanes of traffic, why not do your part to allow things to flow smoothly? Oy... some things are better left unpondered.

mark156

I was driving back from a five day trip (1,000 miles) and while it was a very uneventful driving experience I noticed that while I was a passing an 18-wheeler, he was tailgating a late model Dodge full size truck. Just as I was coming up on the side of the big rig, the Dodge truck's brake light started flashing in a fast and consistent rhythm. He must have put on a switch to do this as I don't think he was braking (his speed seemed consistent and not dropping). The big rig started to brake and not tailgate. I thought, "good for the Dodge to be prepared".

Mark

carlisimo

In the residential streets around where I live it's the same way. There are two lanes but no lines, just the occasional blue Bott's dot. The street's wide enough for cars to parallel park on both sides of the street, and still have two full-width lanes.

And yet, everyone gravitates to the middle. Even when I'm driving towards them!

Last friday I stood my ground in front of an approaching minivan that's always driving in the middle on my street, and I kept to my side of the street but to the left of my lane. The minivan had more space than on a large 12ft-lane highway, but without lines separating my lane, her lane, and the parked cars to her right, she didn't know what to do. She slowed to a few mph as we passed each other.

I'd feel bad for her, but I've had to squeeze between her and the parked cars too many times before. I'm hoping she gets the hint.

xwesx

Hahahah.... that gave me a good chuckle. That's the way of things with gravel roads.... probably everywhere! Everywhere I've lived, anyway. People always drive right down the middle unless another car is coming, then they begrudgingly slink off to the side and slow to next to 0 mph as they pass because there is soft gravel on the sides and they feel uncomfortable. Argh.... if folks would just drive with a stay-to-the-right bias all the time, there would be two clearly defined lanes and the soft gravel issue would virtually disappear.

whahappan

Last night at rush hour, heading south on Rt. 1 in central NJ. Some bozo in a new red malibu passes 4-5 cars on the shoulder just after a traffic light. He proceeds to drive in an aggressive manner.
I'm following my dad, who's a few cars ahead of me. At another light, the Malibu passes on the right, as that lane opened up a little from people making right turns. A pickup turns onto the highway in front of the Malibu, so he cuts off my dad in the left lane. I found out later that my dad hit the high beams when the guy cut him off.
Here comes the good part. The guy in the Malibu didn't like getting high beamed, although he must have known he deserved it. I'm sure he gets honked at, high beamed, flipped off on a regular basis with his rude and dangerous driving. Anyway, he slows way down, then comes to a COMPLETE STOP in the left lane of a major highway, during RUSH HOUR! Of course, when my dad went around him he floors it and roars off.
In this case my dad high beamed him when the guy cut him off, but I've had several occasions where people pull rude, dangerous stupid maneuvers, then get mad at other drivers. I've had people pull out in front of me, cut me off, etc., then give ME the finger, shake their fist or make other gestures, without any provocation. I didn't honk, high beam them, nothing, and they're mad at me :confuse:
As I ask in the title, what's wrong with people?

xwesx

Well, the answer is really quite simple. It is not them, it is everyone AROUND them that is the problem. :P

xrunner2

I've had people pull out in front of me, cut me off, etc., then give ME the finger, shake their fist or make other gestures, without any provocation.

Understand. We have all encountered these types and share the aggravation of it all. Know it is hard to do myself, but I try and remember in these situations, as suggested by some on this board - "Let it go". Unless police witness and stop the violator, don't think anyone can change their behavior, driving habits.

snakeweasel

As I ask in the title, what's wrong with people?

Don't you know? They own the road, and how dare you be on their road.

210delray

Yeah, it's like when I'm waiting to make a legal left turn, and Mr. Impatient behind me toots his horn because I have the audacity to block his progress!

snakeweasel

Coming into work today I was approaching an intersection with a green light. In the left turn lane there is this car that suddenly gets out of the left turn lane back into the left through lane. This idiot then turns on her left turn signal and sits at the intersection when the light is still green blocking traffic.

I guess she realized (after a while) that she was blocking traffic and started to go through the light, but she did so a a slow pace for about a block until she was able to make a turn into a parking lot.

euphonium

Your Drive Plan could include a departure time earlier than usual enabling you to be patient with others who, for whatever reason, are not as "with it" as you are.

For every time period on the road, leave 20% earlier and label it the goofy factor.

snakeweasel

There is a difference between being not as "with it" and being totally out of it. I have patience with goofy drivers (I drive through downtown Naperville during rush hour and if you know that area you know what I mean) but coming to a complete stop at a green light is a bit beyond goofy.

BTW I usually get to work a half hour early.

snakeweasel

Ok I am driving my wife to the airport (every husbands dream) going to O'Hare airport off of I-294. Well the exit ramp off the toll way onto the expressway going into the airport merges into one lane then right afterwards merges with another on ramp going into one lane before entering onto the expressway going into the airport.

Well it is slow moving bumper to bumper traffic going into the airport. At the first merge I was behind a BMW 5 series that would not a Nissan merge in front of him. The BMW road the bumper of the car in front of him so the Nissan couldn't merge. I let the nissan in front of me. Well when we started to merge with the other on ramp the BMW shoot over the lane markings into that on ramp in order to get ahead. Oops it didn't work as traffic in that other ramp was moving at the same speed as us. So the BMW didn't get anywhere ahead and now was blocked by the Nissan riding the bumper to keep the BMW from merging in front of him.

I just had to laugh at the whole thing.

xwesx

Ugh..... For the life of me I cannot figure out why people will do this. What difference does it make if the vehicle merges in front? Does the driver behind really lose any position? The only loss in the whole thing is the speed, which slows dramatically for all the lanes when people perform these selfish stunts.

To illustrate, do you feel that you arrived at the airport later because you considerately allowed the Nissan driver to merge in front of you, snakeweasel?

LOL.... I would have found that "turnabout" highly amusing as well.

redmaxx

There really is only one situation when I will not let another driver merge in front of me. That being s/he has a big truck or SUV. I do not like having those vehicles in front of me, since I can't see around them. Inevitably, they wait until the last minute to slam on their brakes and I can't start braking early since I can't see around them. :mad:

snakeweasel

Actually what was really funny is that I made it to the airport before either one. As they both got on the road going into the airport the both jumped into the left lane which came to a complete stop. I stayed in the right lane which continued to move and went right past both of them.

stickguy

got caught in a traffic jam yesterday on the PA turnpike (thanks to the 3 inconsiderate boobs that decided to run into each othre). Anyway, when we were close to the accident, the left lane (where it was) was closed, forcing traffic into the right lane (where I was). But, the semi ahead of me was leaving just enough room so that the left lane was streaming ahead of him, with the right lane pretty much stopped dead.

That is, until one of his friends behind us decided to straddle the center. Voila, no more left lane traffic! They had to merge behind that truck, but we finally got past.

Also had one dope in a Camry decide to run up the shoulder (hey, it was good enough for the trooper, ambulance and tow truck, so why not!) Shortly after that, the car in front of me (a jeep) decided to straddle the right lane and shoulder. Nasty looking guys too, so it would have been ugly if someone else tried to run the shoulder! I really wanted to see a cop nail the Camry, but no such luck.

eharri3

Stickguy... I'm starting to wonder if Big Rigs in PA have been deputized. I was in the big jam on 76 last week when the big rig overturned and spilled fuel near the 320 exit. I kept watching people fly by on the shoulder, thinking how much it sucked that honest citizens have to be inconvenienced waiting in line for another hour and a half while some people just whizz by on the shoulder that's supposed to be only for emergency vehicles and jump right off the nearest exit. Next thing I know this big rig in the right lane next to me got tired of it. He started straddling the right lane and the shoulder and moving over only for emergency vehicles. Those people were mad. And the big rig driver yelled out to me that he knew it and was loving every minute of it. So now they're stuck beside the big rig unable to pass everybody and none of the cars behind him want to be nice and let them back in after they tried to jump ahead in line.

I also saw one do something similar on 95 the other night when the construction was going on. When the left lane was starting to close he moved over and blocked out all these cars who were trying to fly straight to the very end of the lane and merge at the last possible minute, forcing them to get in behind him.

loncray

I had a guy in a Chevy Duellie pickup do that to me the other day - but he was blocking a working lane of traffic (that was merging). So, I went around him. He flipped out - he drove up the shoulder next to me yelling and screaming - I smiled and waved at him. It's fine to block shoulder runners, but he was blocking an actual lane of traffic.

imidazol97

A few of these guys in big trucks get an ego on them, don't they!!!

Power. Power. POWER!!!

I would have just ignored him completely during his rant. If he was out-of-place I pick up cell phone and call local police with his plate number.

lemmer

I park in a parking deck that has a one way entrance and exit. In the middle of the entrance and exit is an ATM and bank drive through. A lot of people leave the bank area and try to go back out through the entrance. That happened this morning when I was pulling in, and I ended up bumper to bumper with a 20-something man in a Honda Civic Si. He refused to back up. So did I (in my defense, even though I could have backed up, I did have cars behind me).

I finally ended up getting out of car (always a bad idea) to explain the situation to the misinformed young fellow:

Me: you are going to wrong way down a one way street
Him: OK, so?
Me: that is illegal
Him: OK, so?
Me: you are blocking traffic and you need to move
Him: OK, so?

Sensing that we have reached an impasse, or possibly even a Mexican standoff, I get back in my car. He glares at me for about 30 seconds. By this time, people are tired of the two idiots and start backing up and entering through the exit. Then the young man finally backs up enough to let me in. But once I am next to him, instead of leaving through the exit, he revs the engine and squeals his tires past me before the car behind me can get into the entrance.

Now, twenty minutes later, I wish I would have just backed up and let him out, but I am not a morning person and he got to me before my morning coffee.

I hope he doesn't come back and key my car.

snakeweasel

I had a similar situation many years ago. There is this shopping center on the west side of a north/south street with many entrances and exits. Well one of those was set up so only traffic going south could make a right turn into the shopping center and traffic leaving could only make a right turn going out, no left turns. Moreover the lanes are curves more like entrance and exit ramps with a raised triangle shaped medium separating them.

Well one time I was exiting out this way when some hotshot decided to make a left turn into the shopping center using that "exit" lane to enter the shopping center (to use the entrance lane would have required basically a U-turn). So there we stood face to face with him blocking not only the exit lane but south bound traffic on the street.

But I decided to be the better man and let him in because not to would have held up traffic on the main road. Not to mention that there was a cop in the gas station watching this yes sometime faith is restored.

xwesx

Ugh. You're not the only one. I found myself smack dab in the middle of a situation that outright confounded me. I wanted to let it go, but apparently the other driver did not (did not look to see whether male or female).

In retrospect, there are many things I could have done to end the conflict sooner, but there's far more time to ponder it in hindsight.... I am not even sure I should recount this story because I'm sure it will make me look as bad as it was. :sick:

----

Okay, after some consideration, I will recount it because the feedback is more valuable than saving face.

xwesx

So, I was turning onto the entrance ramp to a local highway. This was a left turn for me. There was another driver in an 198X Chevy S10 Blazer turning onto the same ramp from the right. This ramp is set up such that right turning traffic YIELDS to left turning traffic (not a merge here, an actual yield). As I start up the ramp, I realize that it does not appear to me that this driver is actually yielding. Sure enough, no yield. We are pretty much next to each other at this point, so I swerve to the shoulder (the only time this winter I have been glad that we have almost no snow yet) to avoid the collision, and then have the choice to either brake and let him in front, or just accelerate to get in front. I chose to move in front. No big deal in my mind, though I received an earful from my spouse about how I should have braked to not be on the shoulder as long and put her in danger. Point taken, I should not have.

The rig behind is riding my tail a bit close, but since we were only going about 30 or so at this point, I was not overly concerned. The vehicle in front of me, it turns out, was not interesting in speeding up to match highway speeds, so I made it to the "dotted line" section of the merge zone at about 40. I decided to access the left lane (2-lane divided highway) of the highway and pass this slow mover. I signal, enter the right lane of the highway, then signal and enter the left. In the meantime, the Blazer behind me whips across the solid white divider all the way into the left lane.... Again, this vehicle is riding my bumper. I accelerate to 60 (my chosen speed on all days on this road), pass the intended vehicle, and signal/reenter the right lane. The Blazer zooms past me. Then, predictably, the driver cuts in front of me about 20 feet off and SLAMS on the brakes. Considering what it was driving, this was a feeble effort if the driver really wanted to make something bad of it, but I had anticipated its antics and had already dropped the accelerator so did not even need to hit the brakes before the driver of this other rig slammed the gas again and picked up the vehicle's speed to about 52. Being somewhat annoyed at the antic, I provided a dose of my driving lights (mounted on the roof of the car)for about 5 seconds just after this "brake check." (my second mistake) We continue down the road, the other driver holding seady at 52.

I, preferring to go 60, signaled to the left lane and went to pass after it was apparent that the other driver had no intention of going any faster (assuming/hoping the other driver had got this upset under control). No. About 5 feet ahead of me, it cuts me off and holds at 52. Now I think that there is no way this driver is going to just let it go. So, considering that it IS winter, the roads ARE icy-ish, and this person is driving a 198X Blazer, I gun it to the right lane (my third mistake), zip past it, pick up the speed to about 85 for 1/2 mile (no other vehicles on the roadway ahead during this period), then slow back to 60 and settle into traffic. Soon enough, this driver comes whipping up and pulls along side me. What?! What IS it????

We are both approaching a red light at this point, my lane (right) with significantly more traffic than the left lane. As I come to a stop in the right lane, the other driver gets far enough ahead that it cannot possibly enter the right lane until through the intersection.

My wife, significantly annoyed by this whole event, suggested I take a different road. I agreed and thanked her for the suggestion, then snuck over to the right turn lane (I was way past the entry point for that lane) and took a different, though somewhat longer, route into town. (In retrospect, my one good decision!)

I was blown away by the whole thing from the brake check forward (I would like to think that the original near-collision was just one of those understandable mis-calculations) and am just glad that in the end, nobody was hurt. Definitely a lesson learned... I should have stayed out of the way of that vehicle at the first sign of aggression. :sick:

smoot

Yeah, gotta love those people...maybe this'll make you grin...
I was on La Brea in LA during rush hour...which isn't too much fun. I was driving in the middle/right lane as there were still some cars parked on the right hand lane. I see this white souped up Civic screamin' behind me on the right lane, obviously trying to overtake as many cars as possible before reaching the parked cars ahead. With about 3 inches left, he narrowly misses my bumper as he butts in in front of me. Of course, the blood rushes to my head in a mixture of tension and also frustration at not being able to locate the exact pinpoint of the horn on the steering wheel.
So I let it go.
I see him weaving in and out of slow traffic like he's the only one who has to actually BE somewhere. I turn right to get to the lights at the I-10 on-ramp...he's there waiting, behind a 4 Runner for the lights to change {hah! BIG hurry huh!}...So there we are , me ahead of him, the lights change, the 4 Runner and I are in our respectful lanes tottering along...when I hear the scream again...the Civic is beeping and flashing his hi's at the 4 Runner, I see the 4 driver startled and trying to gain speed, there's about 1 foot gap between me and the 4 when the Civic, once again, barely misses hitting me, just to get in front of me!!
Ok, there I am fumbling to find the horn to give him the honking of his life, I see him and his teen-gang passenger smiling at me as the drive off.
Well, about 2 minutes later, after much death-defying weaving...Civic boyz get pulled over by two cops who are now checking the trunk There I am driving by nice n' slow in bumper to bumper traffic. I find the pesky horn, beep...they look up from their car on the hard shoulder and I wave... and smile back ....ever so nicely

grbeck

This story appeared in a recent edition of the Harrisburg Patriot-News...

A driver passed a pickup truck...apparently, the pickup truck driver was miffed at being passed, so at a traffic signal up the road he bumped the back of the other vehicle, and then drove away.

Somehow the driver of the bumped vehicle was able to get a photo the offender's license plate number on his cell phone. He called police, who used the evidence to arrest the 64-year-old driver of the pickup truck.

euphonium

Briefly - I was in the process of exiting a private parking lot when a smart [non-permissible content removed] tried to drive into the lot using the exit. We endured the impasse for about a minute when he got out of his pickup, came over to me, red faced, and looking for a fight. I said O K, O K, I'll let you in and backed up so he could drive over the protruding spikes that flattened his tires. Instant Justice.

snakeweasel

OK its like 10 degrees outside, yuck. Anyways today I saw my first "driving with frost still on my windshield" driver this morning. There was this idiot on a side street trying to turn onto a major road with only a couple of inches of the bottom of his or hers windshield defrosted with the windshield wipers going full force. Come on people it only takes a minute to scrap the frost of your windows.

Oh the joys of having a garage.

PF_Flyer

Oh yea... first winter drives! A real pet peeve fot me. I live in an area where we have winter... EVERY year pretty much. Snow is NOT a new and unusual experience here. Yet every year it seems that the vast majority of drivers here behave as if they've never seen or driven in snow before.

Ooo... snow falling outside right now. I can't wait!!

snakeweasel

Yea...my pet peeves for me are people who drive extremely slow if even one snowflake hits them and those who cannot clean all the snow off their cars. You know those that don't clean off the tops of their cars so when they drive a blizzard follows them. Or even worse when they don't clean off the back of their car and you cant see their break lights.

210delray

LOL! That made my day. Did he flatten all 4 tires, per chance? Or did he stop once the front ones started going PSSSSSSST?

euphonium

Don't know how many went flat, but remember he was driving a dually so perhaps 6 went down.

xwesx

Hahah.... ironically, we finally got some decent snow yesterday as well. In Fairbanks, you'd think people (in general) would be a little more adept at snow/ice driving than in other, less winterized, locations. No, they're pretty much all the same. As soon as the snow started falling, they all suddenly forgot where the lanes were on the roads they travel every day and drove 30 in a 55 with basically clear lanes w/ no ice due to the cold temps keeping things relatively dry. :sick: I thought we went through this phase already in early October, but apparently a few weeks without new snowfalls is long enough to forget.

xwesx

If snow where you live is anything like it is here, then it often doesn't matter if you clean off the car's [non-permissible content removed] first or not... within a couple of miles the spray has coated the rear end with a fine (but thick) layer of snow again. I agree that you should make every effort to keep it cleared though. Often I see it thick enough that you cannot even see the brake lights any more from any appreciable distance, let alone tail lights.

imidazol97

kid in a fart canned muffler Honda who had impatiently waited behind me as I approached the light to make a left turn. The light was red. When it changed, I heard a zoom behind me. I made my usual slow careful turn toward the high school campus and I saw red come up on my right because there are two lanes and a right turn lane. All of a sudden the loud noise stopped and the red car proceded on at 35 mph.

Then I saw the local police car coming out of a drive on the left where he had been sitting, watching. He pulled the vehicle over. The kid was awfully meek from the time he saw the cop car (before I did) on into the business drive he pulled into (to get off the road so other high schoolers heading back to after school activities won't see him stopp with blue and red lights flashing!!!

He, he,heh... Hope he got a citation for loud muffler. He also had the rear tailight banged out from an impact.

fintail

Not to defend the fart-canners, but if they get tickets, so should all the Harleys and all the strangely vented diesel pickups made to sound like semis.

Today I was driving on a 2 lane in each direction road with a middle turn lane, posted at 35. The road breaks off from another identical road posted at 40 - no reason seen for the speed difference, save for maybe that the 40 is very hard to speedtrap due to excellent visibilty. Anyway, I was in a pack of cars going just over the limit, and an oncoming pickup flashed his lights many times at us. Lo and behold, a motorcycle bound revenue collector flies out from behind the wall of a parking lot and nabs the leader of the pack - a CRV maybe going 41. Funny thing is right before we all got on the 35 road, a Saturn that was in the pack made a right turn from the left lane.

Must be meeting set on his quota before the holiday weekend. Inconsiderate laws....I'd love to see the city justify the speed limit change.

gee35coupe

Would make me hate policemen for the rest of my life. Luckily in Ga you can't get a ticket until 10 over.

oldharry

Fintail wrote:
"Not to defend the fart-canners, but if they get tickets, so should all the Harleys and all the strangely vented diesel pickups made to sound like semis."

The semis and other trucks do not need to be so loud. My shop in on a hill, and some of the large diesels are not very loud, while others rattle the building. Railroads with engines so large that pistons really are as big as buckets do not make that much noise.

What is going on, is that some truck mechanics "gut" new mufflers before installing them in the belief that the truck will have more power. I would suggest sound level meters for police cars, and enforcement of existing law ( with a posted warning for 30 days before the first tickets). Fines should start modest, and escalate for repeat offenders.

Harry

imidazol97

>so should all the Harleys and all the strangely vented diesel pickups made to sound like semis.

Right on. Along with some semis that have high level outputs.

grbeck

You have to wonder what kind of driver doesn't know that virtually all private parking areas have some sort of device like this to prevent unauthorized exit and entrance. :confuse:

fintail

Sounds good to me. But we all know who the revenue collectors will go after - the kids.

I live on a hill, and often hear these fake-semi diesel pickups racing by. It's usually a Dodge as the loudest offender, usually going well over the limit, and driven by the stereotype (redneck male) driver on an overcompensating power trip. It's still small no matter the size of the truck. In the urban/suburban mixed area where I live, there's no excuse for such things, especially with the silly exhausts.

snakeweasel

Not to defend the fart-canners, but if they get tickets, so should all the Harleys and all the strangely vented diesel pickups made to sound like semis.

Not only that but those stereos on wheels that shake everything for a half mile around.

While I am on it ice cream venders too. I would love to be able to spend a summer afternoon in my back yard without hearing "Turkey in the Straw" over and over again for an hour straight.

hammerhead

Hanging paper on someone for 6 over is nothing more than poultry guano revenue enhancement.

Cheers!
Paul

xrunner2

Not only that but those stereos on wheels that shake everything for a half mile around.

While I am on it ice cream venders too. I would love to be able to spend a summer afternoon in my back yard without hearing "Turkey in the Straw" over and over again for an hour straight.

Let's add the addlebrained parents, in rural/semi-rural areas, who allow their 13-17 year old boys to drive ear-splitting trail bikes on roads and in fields.

Let's also add the weekend piper cub (and similar) small plane drivers that fly around overhead back and forth and back and forth and back and forth making noises. Like mosquitos or gnats. They are like little kids riding bikes or trikes.

210delray

Is that the universal call of the ice cream man now? The one in my neighborhood in Central VA plays that also.

He used to have an ancient (70s) brown Ford Torino or LTD II. Now he has an older diesel Dodge van.

Speaking of LOUD diesels, one time last summer or the year before, I was stopped at a light with a heavy-duty Ram diesel next to me. The huge-diameter tailpipe was conveniently aimed toward my side. I had the driver window down.

When he floored it when the light turned green, the noise was downright painful.

210delray

...people like the neighbors in my cul-de-sac who are lawn fanatics. Ah, nothing more ear-shattering than the roar of the leaf blower, for 3 seasons (even used for blowing grass blades off their paved driveway and concrete porch). I guess they've never heard of a broom.

And don't even get me started when they fire off their air gun to shoo away Canada geese that think of landing near their backyard pond!!!