Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

xwesx

It depends on the roads, actually. Where major/minor roads intersect, such as along Airport Way, then yes, Airport gets the flashing yellow and the intersecting roads get a flashing red, but University Ave at College and Geist, anyway, all directions flash red since both roads are, for all intents and purposes, equally busy.

I grew up with flashing yellow/red intersections, so they do not bother me. The only time it is a little unnerving is when you get drivers stopping on the road with "proceed with caution" right of way - so as to trick you into thinking it is an all-way flashing red. I had that happen just one time - I was planning to go straight across the intersection, when a car to my left pulls up and stops at the left turn lane and another pulls up and stops in the left straight lane. I started to go when a third car, in the left lane going that same direction, swings into the right lane to avoid the stopped car and whips right through a few inches in front of me. I proceeded on through since I was already in the intersection, but once I was in a position to see the opposing lights they were, indeed, flashing yellow and neither of the first two vehicles should have stopped. :sick:

All the traffic lights in the towns near where I grew up would switch from cycling to flashing and back at 2300 and 0700, respectively. I always thought that was a great idea - no sense in delaying people when the traffic flow is light!

nightvzn

All the traffic lights in the towns near where I grew up would switch from cycling to flashing and back at 2300 and 0700, respectively. I always thought that was a great idea - no sense in delaying people when the traffic flow is light!

Yeah, and at least at night you have a better chance of seeing the color of light being cast on the road to the sides.

I had this in my college town. At least once, I actually witnessed the transition as a solid red light started flashing at precisely 11pm or midnight or whatever it was. I felt so special!

tallman1

I'm still getting used to my DRLs. The problem is that the dash is lit just like my headlights are on... makes me think things are okay. In the city with street lights, it's hard to tell that you don't have headlights on.

I'm getting better though.

Of course, I think I could figure out why someone would be flashing me from behind.

gogogodzilla

You'd think that they'd realize their lights weren't on when...

...they couldn't see their speedometer.

tallman1

You probably missed my post right before yours... the dash lights may be on which makes it confusing. The same thing happens when people leave just their parking lights on. Dash is all lit but the headlights aren't on.

To Honda's credit, they do have a little green light icon on the dash that shows the headlights are on. However, it isn't something I think about looking for.

fintail

On the same topic...last night I was driving home around 5pm - it's pretty much dark here by then now. Moderate rain, crappy traffic...fun stuff. An older Forester veers out from a line of stopped traffic right in front of me. It has no taillights on, I notice. As I get beside it (it's crawling along in the left lane, to match the idiocy of its careless lane change) I notice it has no lights on. I point at the front of the car, hoping the passenger will see me...she just looked at me like she was stoned. I drop behind, flash my lights and blink my fogs, pull alongside and point again, and no reaction at all. At that point I just proceed ahead. I couldn't tell how far ahead I eventually got, as it was very hard to spot this car. Oh, the clueless.

xwesx

That's a good point regarding the dash lights. I will often see folks driving at night in the "city" (lighted streets) with just their parking lights on. I give them the benefit of the doubt and offer up an on-off cycle as often you cannot tell whether the lights are on unless you pull up to a stoplight with a vehicle in front and do not see your lights reflecting off the back of it!

redmaxx

I think I've basically followed what you've been saying from the beginning, although I'm not familiar with this "unprotected green" concept where there are dedicated turn lanes. It must be a regional difference.

Yes, most of our intersections switch turn lanes to a plain green light after a short green arrow. This allows traffic to keep turning when the intersection is clear.

redmaxx

The intersection of highway 347 and Smith-Enke.

redmaxx

Yes, because when I go back through after going to the store (going west), I go through the light and in my mirror I can see the green for the left turn lane and red for the straight lanes.

snakeweasel

Went downstate to see a friend of mine today. Going down I-80 and came on some construction. They were working on the overpass (country road crossing over the interstate) and had the left lane blocked. Well speed limits in construction zones are 45 MPH and people were actually on the road working (on the shoulder and in the left lane). So As I approach I am doing the 45 SL then slow down more because of the construction workers on the road.

Now mind you this is all in a distance of a hundred yards or so at the most. But some yahoo in an SUV rides my rear end all through this construction zone so close I couldn't see their bumper. And as soon as the left lane opens up she swerves into it accelerates and blows her horn.

snakeweasel

you know I am be sarcastic right ???

No. you were???

Could have fooled me :P

imidazol97

in construction to me between Indianapolis and Home. I

I drove twice this week for Band Contests and the drivers in Indiana are indiots on the interstate. At least 10% are. They think because the sign says 70 mph they have to go 80-85.

I wonder where the police are?

imidazol97

Agressive driving.

I was running at 65-67 and pulled into left lane to pass a semi. No cars behind for at least 1/4 mile.

I got in the lane and was halfway around the truck and here's an older, paint-bleached Honda Accord coming up. He came right up on my bumper within 5 feet a dn sat there.

I slowed to 65 and then he just stayed there. Realizing he was much too incompentent to have behind me, I slowed down, and used my turn signal to pull in behind the truck and allow him to resume 85-90 mph.

In the past I've noticed a few road rodders who seem to commute between the outlying rural cities and Indianapolis area and expect to drive like heck. Since there weren't other cars around and this guy came up fast, how did he think I should have the left lane clear by flooring it when I'm passing a semi in the country.

fintail

Another no-lighter last night. In a horrible torrential rain and almost no visibility, I am driving behind a city cop at about 30. Oncoming is a car - I forget what but I want to say a Camry - with no lights on at all. The cop actually turns his lights off and on, and gets no reaction from the no-light car. One would have thought the cop would have thrown a u-turn and pulled this car over, right? Nope, the cop just kept going.

snakeweasel

What? You think a cop will get out in a horrible torrential rain just to give an idiot a ticket?

explorerx4

was taking my explorer around the block to shake out the excess water after washing it.
there was a car headed my way. although i had the right of way due to a bunch of cars be parked on other side of the street, i slowed to let the car get around all the parked cars before having get back on 'their' side of the street.
well after they should have pulled back to the other side of the road, i noticed they were still headed right at me.
the driver was watching someone mow their lawn.
the following thoughts went through my mind, very quickly.
oh-oh, they are going to run into me. here's my excuse to get a new car. she's going to get really hurt if she runs into me. i just washed this thing. i layed on the horn and she got into the correct lane. the lady mowing the lawn thought i was on the horn because of her and didn't look too happy. if she only knew!

euphonium

What ax do you wail on?

nightvzn

Yes, most of our intersections switch turn lanes to a plain green light after a short green arrow. This allows traffic to keep turning when the intersection is clear.

Sounds like a good idea to me. They just don't do it in the bay area. Thinking about it, I wish they did.

nightvzn

Sounds like the classic auto-synchronization scenario reflecting our underlying "pack mentality" programming: when somebody shuts off his conscious mind (which apparently is an important step in many people's driving methodologies), he is more likely to unconsciously synchronize to others nearby. I truly believe this is a subtle manifestation of our "social creature" instincts. Groups create a sense of belonging and safety, and we seek them out in even the most inappropriate situations.

We see this all the time with clots of cars on the highway, four lanes across, all somehow traveling at precisely the same speed. Get past them and you encounter open space, until the next clot. Or when side-by-side cars pull away from greenlights in perfect lockstep, which is really irritating if they're both sluggish drivers, because you can't get past them...

Sometimes I'll toy with this auto-sync tendency. If I pass somebody at a slightly higher speed, often he will speed up to compensate. So I wait til we're in sync, and I speed up a little more ... he compensates again ... etc. It's interesting to find out where somebody's threshold lies, trying not to get a speeding ticket myself, of course.

I encountered a variation on the auto-sync thing today. I was in the leftmost of three lanes behind somebody I wanted to pass. He was passing the people in the right lanes, but very slowly. I thought "okay, I'll fly by this guy on the right once it opens up." But we got past the clot, and he sped up! Then we reached another clot, and he slowed down again, passing the other cars veeeeerrrry slowly. This cycle repeated a few times.

I finally dealt with him by putting on my left turn signal (while in the left lane), a fairly charitable request-to-pass gesture which actually works occasionally. It did this time. Just funny watching somebody whose speed was so dependent on the speed of those around him.

nightvzn

Since there weren't other cars around and this guy came up fast, how did he think I should have the left lane clear by flooring it when I'm passing a semi in the country.

I think sometimes people assume the worst and think you're a left lane hog when they come up from behind. I know I do sometimes. I try not to let it make me tailgate, though...

It's sad because it means there are a LOT of people who are lane hogs, so we might sort of expect it from anybody we encounter in the left lane, until proven wrong.

imidazol97

Wasn't me. Was high school competitions: Bands of America Nationals.

xwesx

I will often see folks driving at night in the "city" (lighted streets) with just their parking lights on. I give them the benefit of the doubt and offer up an on-off cycle as often you cannot tell whether the lights are on unless you pull up to a stoplight with a vehicle in front and do not see your lights reflecting off the back of it!

All the quality posts I just read this morning and the first post to which I replied was one of my own (rather mundane) blurbs.

However, I could not help finding it ironically just. On Saturday evening I was trying to beat the 1700 clock to make returns at a building supply store and I pulled up to the entrance, killed my headlights (parking lights on), and ran in for about 2 minutes. I came back out, jumped in the car, and rushed off to the next location. About 3 blocks down the road, an oncoming car (about the 40th one I passed!) blipped its lights. With hearty laughter, I dutifully complied and lit them up.

I suppose I should note that it is now fully dark by 1700 here.

nightvzn

All the quality posts I just read this morning and the first post to which I replied was one of my own (rather mundane) blurbs.

Well if it's any consolation, I drove a short distance last night with just my markers and DRL's on. How did I find out? I parked and went to turn off the lights, and found that the stalk was only one click from off...

Nobody tried to inform me, so I hope I can take comfort in the belief that if they had, I would have properly interpreted the gesture and understood that my lights were off :shades:

snakeweasel

On the way in to work I am going through the subdivision next to mine and I approach a 'T' intersection driving on the street that goes through (basically crossing the 'T'). This intersection is unregulated and as I approach it another car is approaching the intersection on the road that ends.

Well I don't know if the guy just didn't see me or just didn't care or thought that I would stop but he just goes through the intersection without even slowing down. I just barely missed this idiot. :sick:

I am starting to wonder if people are playing bumper cars with me.

xwesx

Well, it seems to be an uncommonly dangerous month for you! Maybe you should start strapping old used tires to the periphery of your vehicle and have a go..... :P

snakeweasel

You think maybe the traffic gods are trying to tell me to buy a new car?

xwesx

Hahahaha, I certainly would think not! I always thought that new cars tended to be a magnet for collisions, so no sense in making it worse! :surprise:

lemko

...Inconsiderate parkers? I have these idiot neighbors who have three cars and trucks take up three spots with each vehicle. There would be like 7-10 feet between them. My girlfriend has no place to park her car as she arrives home from work after they do. These guys are just begging to be made examples of. I've been putting up with this crap for almost two years!

snakeweasel

I had a friend who used to live in a place where this one guy with a truck would park almost touching bumpers with the guy in front of him. Thats just as bad since if you didn't leave enough room in front of you getting out was a nightmare.

My friend wanted to buy two junkers, park one out there and when this guy parked behind it almost touching bumpers move the other junker right behind him and block him in.

imidazol97

In our city you can't park in the grass, you can't have a car under repair (up on blocks, e.g.), you can't park within 5? feet of a driveway, and a car parked on the street must be moved every ?48? hours. I see why these laws exist now hearing your story.

lemko

Oh, I thought of doing that MANY times, but just insuring those two junkers would've been cost-prohibitive in Philly.

snakeweasel

In our town cars parked on the grass or up on blocks are removed at the owners expense. Our town is very aggressive about that. Plus overnight parking on the street will result in a ticket.

Karen_S

This Saturday, AutoScoop will be talking about cell phones while driving. As you know, we have a busy discussion on this "Should Cell Phone Users be Singled Out" http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0f6321

Tune-in to your local station - http://www.autoscoop.com/index_map.php or go to the AutoScoop site or listen live on the web https://www.radiomat.com/register.php?action=register&station=KLSXFM

The show is from 8am-1pm EST. Call-in toll-free at 1-877-444-1994 to sound-off about this issue on the radio. Be sure and mention your Forums username!

imidazol97

Their site wants too much info in registration to listen live (they have mostly FM stations around country it seems) and I don't trust them not to share my email. I already got shared by CircuitCity or their order satisfaction survey company recently. Don't need more spam.

tcp2

Was he on your right when he was coming to the intersection? If it truly is an "uncontrolled" intersection, ie. no signs) and he is on your right, he has the right of way even if you are going straight through.

snakeweasel

he is on your right, he has the right of way even if you are going straight through.

No, at an uncontrolled intersection where one road ends (a 'T' intersection) the traffic on the road that ends must yield to traffic on the road that does not end. It doesn't matter who is on whos right the traffic on the road that ends must yield.

nightvzn

No, at an uncontrolled intersection where one road ends (a 'T' intersection) the traffic on the road that ends must yield to traffic on the road that does not end. It doesn't matter who is on whos right the traffic on the road that ends must yield.

Anything else wouldn't make the least bit of sense without extremely specific, special circumstances dictating otherwise.

Kirstie_H

A new tv show seeks bad drivers who want to receive free, unique and, yes, televised, driver training. Please respond to jfallon@edmunds.com no later than December 15, 2006 with your city and state of residence and a few words about why you think you or your loved one will be a good fit for this opportunity.

Karen_S

No problem. I know how you feel and that's why I use a web based account (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) for these sort of things.

jacknzone

Bad drives are every where what i hate is parking my car at shopping malls car parks ,you can put money on it when you get back from shopping theres another little dent from someone opening there car door on to your ,I hate it! You go out on Sunday to give the baby a clean and fine that little dent!DO we need bigger car park . Some people see a car as a bit of metal and some see as a love affair :P

fintail

Yeah, inconsiderate parkers are a big problem out there. I am one of those people who will often park in the far reaches of a lot if I can't find a trustworthy looking vehicle to park next to. It never fails that if I park 10 spots out from the nearest car, someone will park right beside me by the time I am done shopping.

ricardohead

No, at an uncontrolled intersection where one road ends (a 'T' intersection) the traffic on the road that ends must yield to traffic on the road that does not end. It doesn't matter who is on whos right the traffic on the road that ends must yield.

Anything else wouldn't make the least bit of sense without extremely specific, special circumstances dictating otherwise.

In most of Europe the car on the right always has the right of way at an uncontrolled crossing, T intersection or no. It's all a matter of getting used to the rule.

Not sure if it is a "Left Of Way" rule in England or not. Anyone know?

nightvzn

In most of Europe the car on the right always has the right of way at an uncontrolled crossing, T intersection or no. It's all a matter of getting used to the rule.

I'd be curious to hear the rationale behind Europe doing it that way, since in every case I can think of in the US, unless there are specific signs or lights in place, forward-driving vehicles always have right-of-way over those which turn.

Actually, anytime I've encountered an exception to the intuitive rule here, there are signs explicitly stating otherwise. There are t-intersections where turning traffic has right-of-way -- and there are signs on both sides pointing this out.

jacknzone

If at T intersection ,right hand drive car always give way to the car on they right ,so( Car A) If they are turning right and the car opposite ( Car is on the right Car A give way ,the car B will be giving way to a car C that is on they right ,which would be heading toward car A. Car C goes first then Car B then Car C But we have got a rule that no one understand here If Car A is turning right like before and car C is turning left Car C give way and if Car B is there Car C can turn because Car A now has to give way to car B ,fun to watch. Another good rule is, if you are turn into a road with two lanes ,you turn in to the lane nearness to you ,right turn cars go in centre lane , left turning left lane. People who turn right things the drive turning left has to give way and go into the left lane . so we have a lot of fun here. :confuse: :confuse: :sick:

nightvzn

Um .. anybody else completely unable to follow that?

ricardohead

Why don't we just ban right turns altogether and eliminate the problem? :surprise:

nightvzn

Why don't we just ban right turns altogether and eliminate the problem?

Oh man ... in San Francisco, left turns are already banned at a lot of intersections ... people would have to go forward forever!

tcp2

Check out the manual from the government site:

http://www.infratrans.gov.ab.ca/INFTRA_Content/docType45/Production/basicdrivers- handbook2006.pdf

specifically page 74. It has a nice picture of the right-of-way at T-intersections.

snakeweasel

Figures Canada would have that screwed up. :P