Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

alfox

With a Cadillac the "It's MY Lane" option is part of the "Road-Rage Touring" package.

target3

IMO do not make a difference. It is not the act of holding the phone that results in poor driving - it is the conversation. I have had this happen myself. Simple conversations are easy, such as "I will be there in 10 minutes." However, if you get discussing some detailed subject from work, it is much more difficult to concentrate on driving. So if you think you are being safe via hands-free phones, you are wrong. You may be safe because it is not a distraction for you to hold a conversation. However, the "hands-free" argument is a joke.

alfox

but with a hand-free phone, at least my hands are not tied up, so it is a bit safer in that respect.

ranald

Then we're back to what I said earlier. If the real distraction is the conversation, we should ban passengers.

ed_scott0013

A passenger can see what the driver sees, while someone on the other end of a telephone conversation can not.

ranald

Which makes a passenger far more of a hazard.

Nobody on the other end of a phone conversation keeps hitting the phantom break pedal, or screams "watch out" when a car 1/8 of a mile ahead puts on his breaks, or tries to grab the steering wheel, or spills a drink on you...

pjyoung

Isn't so much the "distraction", rather it's that the phone call suddenly becomes more important than operating the vehicle. The person on the other end of the phone can't see that the car three car lenths ahead just slammed on his brakes, and the driver(phoner) gives the call more of an importance than to say "Holy cow, the traffic just stopped". The passenger can SEE that the traffic just stopped and has no problem with the driver "ending the conversation". The caller, hearing a pause, might believe that you are ignoring them. Hardly the thing to do with that big client's deal meaning your quota is made. So the driver tends to devote much more attention to his phone conversation. Phone etiquette seems to take precedence over driving etiquette.

verozahl

And the wrong decision is all too often made in terms of which activity is given precedence!

alfox

If some folks are lucky enough to not have this "limitation", then they can talk up a storm! Those of us who find phone conversations more distracting than passenger conversations simply need to take that fact into account in our driving choices.

pjyoung

THere was a front page story in a suburban newspaper about a vehicle that left the interstate, crossed two lanes of traffic, and flipped end over end (occupants only suffered minor cuts and bruises). The drivers attention was diverted because she was arguing with her daughter who was sitting in the front seat.

jaserb

A few months ago a female college student here in town was talking to her mom in another state while driving down the freeway. She wasn't driving particularly badly, but was pretty engrossed in her conversation and didn't see the punk in a 300ZX who was driving like Mario Andretti. He cut her off, she lost control and spun across the median into oncoming traffic.
Her mom got to hear the last moments of her life as she went head on into a semi.
Now, I don't know if she would have been able to keep control of her car if she hadn't been using the phone. And I certainly think 300ZX punk should be locked away for a good, long while. I just can't help but think how her mom must have felt. Because of that, I tell my dad (notorious for using his phone while driving) to call me back when he's no longer on the road.

-Jason

nippononly

In fact, it seems to me pretty much EVERYTHING takes precedence over driving etiquette these days!

eharri3

When all else is the same, the same driver will be more likely to turn his head from side to side and notice what is happening to the left and right and in your mirrors, whereas when you've got a phone glued to your head you're more likely to stare straight ahead and focus on what's immediately in front of the car. And at least 50% of the time, the hand that holds the cell phone is the one that would otherwise be flipping the turn signal lever.

pjyoung

And at least 50% of the time, the hand that holds the cell phone is the one that would otherwise be flipping the turn signal lever.

Nah....the other hand is usually holding the cigarette!

bolivar

..an 'open' jeep (no doors) crossed in front of me. A young man, with cell phone in his right hand, turning left through the intersection, and reaching across his body with his left hand to shift the floor mounted stick shift....

verozahl

... and the end to the story doesn't really matter, probably got what he deserved.

V

scotian

Commentary:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/3117137.html

kinley

the lady driver, licking her face (with the same tongue the dog uses to lick other parts of his body) while talking on the 'phone and adjusting her wide brimmed hat? During the crash, the air bag will kill "Muffy" and then what?

maltb

I once worked parking control at the local fairgrounds and saw a small lady driving a big dually and monkey in her lap. After she stopped for directions, I pointed her to her destination in the other direction and it took her forever to turn her land yacht around. Painstakingly watching traffic continue to back-up, I was ever tempted to ask her and the monkey to move over and let me handle it. Who knows what havoc she caused on the highway.

bigfur

Hmm think hes a lil opinionated??? Course being that i drive a truck profesionally and a pick up to and from work, i think the guy is just another Red Star reader. Hes implying that the whole accident was the pick up drivers fault without all the fact having come out, cuz they arent all out yet. i also drive that strech of road every day and was there to see the clean up and the pink marker lines in the road that are there still. What the writer fails to mention is, that as i recall, following too closely is against the law too. I personally think the writer should wait to blast pick up and SUV drivers untill all the facts are out.

verozahl

What would you say if you say a silver-metallic Integra 'pulling away at triple-digit speeds, firing across entire lanes (yes, with turn signals) to keep going... during a mid-Friday summer evening (6:30 - 7:30 PM) on a Detroit expressway? Just wondering.

bigfur

Guess id refer to him as an organ donor. just feel sorry for whoever he takes with him.

verozahl

Well, I haven't donated any organs. I did make it to my haircut on time!!! YEAH!

I was surprised yesterday how slow the traffic was moving in general. Nasty. Today was Saturday, all sorts of interesting (inconsiderate) drivers on the road, but it started raining a lot later, so it made sense to, you know, slow down. A bit.

oldharry

When that air bag kills "Muffy" should we consider air bags pest controls equipment?

Were you in western Illinois on Rt 88 week a few weeks ago? A trooper told me he stopped an elderly gentleman in a Lincoln with Florida plates for LLC. Gave him two $75 tickets, improper lane usage, obstructing traffic. The old gent said he was at the speed limit, so he shouldn't be charged with "obstructing". The trooper told him to keep right.

The old guy left, the trooper finished his radio report then proceeded. Troopers drive over the limit to observe more than the few cars that would be around them at the limit. He caught the OG LLCing again, and when the old guy told him off, he handcuffed the OG put him in the back of the squad, and had the Lincoln towed.

Note: I am a deputy sheriff, and officers trade stories when we are waiting in the same area for some purpose. In summer we do a lot of traffic control and security at fairs and festivals.
Coming to and from these we meet other officers at the law enforcement center (jail) quite often. This is where I heard about it.

Harry

bolivar

let's all take up a collection to send him off to an Illinois vacation.

verozahl

Harry, was that situation on I-80?

diploid

oldharry- I have a nagging question about LLC, and I hope you can answer it (since you're a law personnel).

What IS considered LLC? If the speed limit is 55, and I'm doing 55 on the left lane, and cars behind me are going around me because they're doing 65, am I guilty of LLC? Whose decision is it...the person obeying the speed limit or the ones who don't?

In NJ, you really have to find a balance on the main highways because the speed limit is 55. If you do 65, you might be let off the hook if the state trooper has fulfilled his quota. But reach 70 (only 5 miles more) and you're in a precarious situation.

kinley

ghulet

Another brilliant 'Chicago moment' today: I turn left out of my bank (corner of Belmont/Clark) on to Clark (no easy task). Almost immediately, I need to turn right on to Fletcher to get to work, normally not a problem except for pedestrians, cyclists, etc. Tonight, I see a female on a moped, riding south on Clark (not stopped, but riding slowly), looking UP at 'something' (building, birds, airplane, I dunno). She's hugging the curb on my right, as if to find parking or something. I slow before the turn and try to figure out what the hell she's doing. She's almost stopped, still looking completely skyward while riding her moped on the busiest street on the congested north side of Chicago. I figure she's stopping, so with my right turn signal on, I try to turn. Natch, she guns the moped at exactly that point (she's still on the right of my car), STILL only looking skyward. I completely stopped, and finally scream at the dingbat, 'will you please PAY ATTENTION!!!!!?'. Of course, at that point, I became the AH and was scowled at by the sky-dweller. Duh.

Another one: female (not to imply a pattern, but...) in a Grand Am with Ohio plates in front of me dawdles through the six-way intersection, causing both of us to miss our green light (cuz she was too busy twidling her curls) and we sit through two other lanes green lights. Thanx-a-lot. When we we finally get our green again, there are two (IDIOT, DUMB) kids (teenagers who should know how to read traffic lights) who try to walk across our street on our green, and she 'waves them through'. Uh, NO! I sat through this light (unnecessarily) already once, you're not letting the Dufus Teens stroll their way across my green, and there are probably ten cars behind me as well. So I beep, which of course once again makes me the Evil Driver. Dammit. I'll probably need therapy according to most of you, you're not wrong, but still....GRRRRR.

alfox

Tough day in Chicago yesterday, traffic-wise, eh? Read the story about the guys in the van who lost control and ran up on the sidewalk, hitting several pedestrians, and were promptly pulled from their van and beat to death by the crowd. And I thought Boston road rage was out of hand!

ghulet

...that incident is a very sad and scary thing. Two men (aged 50 and 62) accidentally (I believe) crash into pedestrians and are pulled out of their (rented van) and beaten to death. Incidentally, they had rented the van to pick up the belongings of the elder man's (the driver's) mother, who had just passed on. This sickens me to no end. Another sad thing is, almost the same thing (an accident in which the pedestrian died and the driver, who was visiting from out-of-state, did not, after being beaten by a mob of strangers) happened just a few weeks ago, again here in Chicago. I know this is totally off-topic, but it makes me sad and angry that people (a MOB of people, as many as one hundred, by reports) think it's OK to do this. It makes me ashamed of those Chicagoans, and sad for the Human Race in general. Do people have no respect for human life? Do they have so much anger and hate that they want to beat strangers to DEATH after an ACCIDENT?

The neighborhood in which this occured was not particularly poor or blighted, I don't think.

I'm sorry for rambling, this just makes me incredibly sad.

ghulet

Thank you for putting my anger over the dumb traffic thing in perspective, seriously. I know that sounds corny, but really...

Sometimes I (or many others) forget that irritating things happen constantly, but they're generally not worth any serious concern, anger (or violence or death).

alfox

even at the more mundane levels of a normal commute, and it's something we all have to deal with. Morons give us enormous stress, and we have no way to work it off inside a moving car, beyond ranting and raving, and occasionally exercising a finger! ;^)

When I stopped commuting by train, and began driving into Boston every day (not a voluntary change I assure you) I noted the elevated stress level immediately. I'd get to work in the morning, and home at night, with a full load of adrenaline, and my co-workers and family would reap the results. Now I "commute" 3 miles through my small town, and the effects are gone. However, as our staff arrives each day, I recognize the effects of driving stress in the way they act.

Certainly rage is unconscionable, whether in a car or afoot. But I recognize the origins of it, and when a vehicle mows down helpless people who are merely standing on the street, it can easily enrage bystanders. I suppose we also don't really know what the victims said after the accident, not that anything would justify beating them to death.

A nasty situation, but not one that should be seen as a stain on your city. Could have happened anywhere, and probably will again, somewhere. Chicagoans have my condolences.

ghulet

I know this incident is not 'necessarily' a reflection on Chicago itself, but the nation sees that this has happened (although the previous incident wasn't as newsworthy) twice in like a month, and I feel like these have set some prescedent.

I still can't believe that the choice between calling 911 to report the accident as opposed to beating the drivers in an accident to death went the way it did. It frightens me that an entire neighborhood (seemingly, by the response) would react in the same way.

This makes any of my traffic gripes seem extremely trivial.

oldharry

We consider it using the left lane when not necessary due to excessive traffic, or to pass. The law says to keep right except to pass. Speed limits are enforced with a small margin for incorrect speedometers, and slight over speed to keep with traffic. It is rare for state police to ticket for less than six miles per hour over, but they can.

The trooper that made the arrest drives a "slick". All lights are inside, and forward facing ones are on the visors tipped down when using lights. It was his car the OG prevented from passing other traffic at the first stop. He came up behind the Lincoln, flashed his headlight to get him to pull over several times before using the red and blinkies.

When you try to obstruct traffic to enforce the limit without being a sworn officer, you never know who the driver that wants to pass is. Justice.

Harry

verozahl

Justice. Yeah!

idletask

Some months ago, the "Comité pour la sécurité routière" ("road security committee" is an awkward sort of translation) unveiled a campaign relating to the effects of not putting on one's seatbelt on the rear seat. The scenario: a woman driving, seatbelt on (but FWIW it could have been a man) and a child seating behind her, without his belt. Frontal impact @40mph. No big deal? Nah, the woman died - the child just became a one ton projectile on the front seat.

And what do I see on the roads? Children on the rear seats without belts, traveling along the rear seats with barely a word from their parents. Not to mention low-aged children (less than 10) without any adapted child seats.

What gives? Well, this committee has been bashing about speed all the times, saying it was the main cause of accidents. Facts have proved them wrong, and they have lost all credibility. So even if they're right, and they are on this subject, they won't be listened. Or is it just carelessness from parents? No idea. But it's desperating. It's high time the main cause of accidents were looked after: driver training.

ghulet

There was an accident over the weekend in which an 8 year-old boy died after being ejected when the SUV in which he was riding flipped over. There were seven people riding in the SUV, leaving at least two which must have been unbelted. Remember, too, that most older (even '90s) SUVs have rear lap belts only, which can cause major injury (to children especially) in collisions.

keith24

While at lunch the other day at a local eatin' joint, I noticed a rather nice looking, new Excursion. Well, Terri-Lynn's is located on a busy, 4 lane city street. Parking is a nightmare, but its worth it for the food. The building is far enough off the street to facilitate parallel parking in
front of it, with a cramped lane to drive through. Here's where it gets tricky........

I got my grub to go, and am attempting to pull out of their "parking lot" up front. Mr.
Excursion is parallel parked, facing east bound, right next to the street. I'm pulling out of
driveway 1 to go west bound, 'cause thats the direction I'm facing. As I'm pulling out, Mr. Ex goes to pull out also, no big deal, I thought. However, he's trying to turn out onto the
street to go west bound! 180 degrees from the direction he's facing. Unfortunately, the 2 westbound lanes aren't wide enough for him to turn out & go on. So he backs up! While sitting in the middle of one of the busiest streets in town! He eventually makes an 8 point turn around (back & forth 4 times) in the middle of the street, and goes on his way! All while traffic is backing up! This guy didn't care WHO he put out.

Now, I ask anyone here, should you not at least THINK about things like this? I mean, in a
small car, (even my F/S 4x4 truck!), you could've made the turn around & gone back the
other direction! But this was absolutely ridiculous!!!

Like I said, amazement never ceases!

target3

But the worst part is that, should anyone honk at the SOB, he probably would have let the bird fly, like the person honking was in the wrong!

kinley

believe the bigger the boat the more you yield to it. Secondly, it was safe because who could miss seeing the big barge making it's turn and without a tug to help.

target3

but it was definitely not considerate. The jerk could have pulled out and turned around at a gas station or gone around the block, or anything other than hold up traffic.

verozahl

You have to be an idiot to drive an Excursion... well, you have to be an idiot to actually like to drive one. Trust me, they check your Idiot License at the dealer to make sure you're of age.

pat84

It is an ancient mariner, and he stoppeth 3 of 3
By thy long Excursion, wherefore stoppeth thou, me ?

eharri3

And it's become just like every other one of these things on the market. Young suburban Trend-setters cruise the mall, feeling nice and macho when they hop those curbs or cruise effortlessly over those mountainous speed bumps. They could be driving something smaller, or even, god forbid, a minivan or a stationwagon, but when you've got the stroller, the diaper bag, AND the the bags full of new Gap designer jeans to cart around, you need nothing less than the most capable 7600 pound monster truck on the market.

kinley

pjyoung

I was on vacation last week in Destin Florida. Trying to turn left accross highway 98 was a bit of a chore, since traffic is so heavy. I was able to get across the first couple of lanes to the median area and was waiting for traffic to clear so I could get turned. So...here comes the Extrusion out into the median...effectively blocking my view. I inch forward to see oncoming traffic again and....SHE inches forward, once again blocking my view. The beauty of it is... she couldn't get turned until I got turned, yet somehow she felt the need to keep me from seeing. No way do I let someone else be my "eyes" in traffic. Eventually I was able to go (after giving her a "you do realize you're making this difficult for both of us, don't you?" look).

jaserb

I was driving home yesterday and I noticed the guy in front of me had a bunch of fabric flapping in the breeze - kind of a worn out "Landau Roof" look. Didn't seem right, since this was a late model Camry. As I got closer, I realized the fabric was wrapped around a large frame (like a picture or mirror frame) strapped on top of the car - the frame was almost exactly the same size as the roof of that Camry. I make it a policy not to drive behind loads I think may be in my lane shortly, so I changed lanes and passed the guy.
To my absolute amazement, I saw that the frame was NOT strapped on top of the car - the driver and passenger each had one arm out the window, and were holding onto the frame! At 55 mph! I gave the driver an incredulous look and put as much distance between us as I could. What in the world was that guy thinking? There comes a time when you really ought to borrow someone's truck.

-Jason

pat84

It was an appropriate adaptation of Samual Taylor Coleridge 's "Ancient Mariner"

ed_scott0013

Every time I honk at someone (for going through a stop sign intersection when it just happens to be occupied by me...) one of two things happens:

1 - They flip the bird, acting like it was MY fault for honking at at them.

2 - Remain completely oblivious to what actually happened.

Exhibit 1: T-Shaped intersection, I am driving up the bottom of the T and I signal my intention to turn left and stop for the stop sign. A heavily modified jeep type vehicle (too much steel on the brush bars and fog lights to really tell) approaches the intersection from the right. After making my complete stop, I proceed through. As soon as I pass the stop line, the jeep type vehicle jumps from the line. I honk at the guy. Result? I get two middle fingers.

Exhibit 2: Another T-Shaped itersection (different intersection, different day). Same as before, I'm pulling up from the bottom of the T and I want to turn left (again.) I stop. The van coming from my right stops. I pull out to turn left. Then this white car drifts right through the intersection from the left. I honk (after almost T-Boning her) and she looks around, not quite knowing what's going on. The van driver's jaw drops to the road as he stares in disbelief at the woman.

I wish I had a "dash cam" thing. Maybe if I spot something really nasty I can send it in to RealTV.