Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

ruking1

Ah yes, it does make one sit up and LQQK !!

The DLR lamps (for those so equipped) make this old school practice more or less automatic, but I used to flip on the lamps anytime I used the opposite (or a shared middle) lane to pass. For the more used highways, AZ does not seem to use the three lane system (joint use of the middle lane for passing). AZ and other states continue to use it for opposing access and turn lanes, for more limited access situations.

euphonium

Thank you for understanding my point.

jensad

You are so right Steve. I have had several cars coming at me the wrong way on a freeway and in my private car with family inside on city streets. I felt quite powerless but I got over to the shoulder and let them go by.

This fall we will be driving back to see your son and his family in Illinois and we will come back thru Az. Thks for the info.

Good luck to all and stay safe.

jensad

the_big_al

I had an inconsiderate nieghbor at my previous home. They had just moved in and had 3 cars. All junkers. Thier home had a 2 car carport and an extra space to the side for another car. For some reason they refused to park in the car port. One car they parked in the lawn (dead grass and all), another on the street just in front of the house and the other was parked in the driveway, although perpindicular to the way you would normally park ( parked parallel to the street, but in the driveway.) :confuse:

The car parked in the lawn finally got a ticket, but they only moved it the street where the front end of the car hung over my driveway partly. I had to make wide to get into my drivewway... :mad: Grrr.... One of the other cars finally made it up on blocks and sat in the carport and the other one was forever parked on the street. Never could figure out why they couldn't just park cars in the 3 car drive?? I mean it's not like they used it for anything else. There was nothing else in the carport or the extra space.

the_big_al

Actually these laws, or at least some form of those laws existed. The nieghbor eventually was ticketed for the car in the grass, but not sure about the car on blocks law. I know if we had an HOA (evil form of government ), I am sure he wouldn't have gotten away with that. I do know that a parked car on the street had to have moved at least 20 feet every 48 hrs, but that was rarely enforced. I had half though about wacking his front bumper off a couple of times while backing out, but thought better of it. It was an old 80's Ford LTD and probably would have done more damage to me than him and I still wouldv'e had to pay for the damage.

Anyway we have since moved, but his house was the worst on the block. Everyone else (even me with 3 cars and a 1 car carport) had thier vehicles in the drive, the lawn green and mowed, bushes and trees trimmed and such, but he saw no such need to do any of that. It really gave a a sore spot on our street and now as I think of it, it could be one of the reasons my house isn't selling :mad:

Of course it is probably because the markest is slow, but I want to blame it on someone....

the_big_al

Unless you live in Oregon where the intersections are all jacked up. For some reason, Oregon sees fit to have some of thier "T" intersections have screwy controls. You would think that the striaght thru traffic would continuous or all traffic at the intersection would have to stop. In the town where I live there are several "T" intersections however where this is not the case. The "thru" traffic will have a stop sign on one side of the road (usually the the side that can make a right hand turn onto the leg. The other side will not have a stop. Nor will the leg traffic on the side that can make a turn onto the thru road. There will be a stop sign, but it will say "Right Turn Permitted Without Stopping". There are different variations on this theme, but it's all funky and unusual. Whatever happened to the normal "T" intersection?? Normal as in, a 3 way stop or just the road that end stops?

the_big_al

Uh... I don't think you'll get any responses on this forum. We are all good drivers here. Of course we can pass this info onto all the other drivers we encounter on the road

the_big_al

Saw an inconsiderate deer on my way home from work. Deer decided to jump out in the middle of a 70 MPH traffic bunch on the freeway. Almost made it to the other side, except that after darting back and forth, finally decided to hit the front end of a Taurus just in front of me. Deer flipped up over the car and landed about 30 yards in front of me. By then I had slowed enought to go around. Deer pretty much lost the battle, although the Taurus didn't escape unscathed. I pulled over to make sure Taurus driver was okay and then went about my way.

Question though, what do you do in a situation like this??? If some silly deer decides to jump into your car??

the_big_al

I saw another silly thing on my home as well... I am waiting at a 4 way intersection controlled by a stoplight. To my left is a large dirt lot. I glance over at this lot and see a Lincoln LS turn into the lot and then accelerate across the lot, I suppose to cut the corner and make an "illegal" right turn. But then I see him going through every single puddle on the lot. In a Lincoln no less! He then gets ready to pull out, but then backs up into a puddle and hits the accelerator again. Then peels out into the street and continues going... :confuse:

I can only imaging that it might have been a young kid in Granpa's car???

the_big_al

That's good... brings to mind a time when I was taking my mom to the airport years ago, when I was still a teen. It was about 4:30 in the morning and as we were headed down the mostly deserted road, this small dog darted out into the road, followed by a larger dog. The small dog darted back off the road, but the big dog didn't follow and I couldn't do anything but roll over the dog, mostly because had I swerved I may have hit him with a tire. Instead, by going straight I just rolled over him and when I looked into my rear view mirror to see how bad he was, he jumped up and continued running after the smaller dog, seemingly unfazed by the rollover he had just experienced. Luckily, I was in an Astro Van which had fairly high ground clearance. Anything lower may have done more damage both to the dog and to the car.

the_big_al

Since when did it become okay to not pull over for emergecy vehicles with their lights on?? Headed home tonight and turned onto a road that is one lane each way with a center turn lane. No physical barrier separates the two lanes. Up ahead I see flashing red and blue lights so I pull over to the side of the road. The lights were not hard to miss as it was dark, but first one truck passed me, and then a Semi passed me just as the flashing cop car was getting ready to go past me and then a truck pulling a motor home also passed me. A couple other cars went by also with out pulling over. What gives :confuse:

the_big_al

Live in Oregon. It's against the law to pump your own gas. You have to be a "qualified gas attendant".

the_big_al

I actually had something similar to that happen. I normally do not pay much attention to my plates, but I do now. A few months ago, my registration was going to expire so I sent off the payment and a few days later recieved new tags in the mail. When I went out to put them on my plates, low and behold I noticed that I had a different plate on my truck. I called the police and they came out a took a report. It turns out that the plate on my truck was from a stolen truck the same model as mine. The tags were still good, but had an officer decided to run them for whaterver reason, they would have come up stolen and I would have had to do a little bit of explaining....

the_big_al

Today has been pretty unusual. A storm hit overnight and has been hit and miss through out the day. When I left my house this morning all I had was a dusting of snow. When I got to my first appt about 30 miles away and a few hundred feet higher, there was close to 6 inches on the ground and it was still coming. Yet when I talked to my wife she said she was able to see patches of clear blue sky. Getting on I-5 was interesting too... Trucks and cars backed up on the side of the road chaining up in one direction and 2 miles later in the other direction it was clear and dry road. Fortunately I didn't see too many idiots except for one this morning. The road prior to hitting the freeway wasn't too bad, but a F-350 Dually decided that he wasn't going to go faster than anybody else in the right lane and he was left lanin it. In this area of the road, the LLC doesn't really apply, except that he refused to pass anybody! He would pace the car next to him until that car passed, then pace another. My luck was that I was never able to move over and when I did I couldn't get passed because he was pacing the car next to him. The final straw where I about layed my horn on him was coming up to a stoplight that would have finally allowed me to get passed him because I was going to end up first at the light. Except at the last instant he moves over to the right lane to take the first spot instead of behind a decrepit old Toyota PU that was stopped a good car length behind the light. And that decrepit old Toyota still beat the F-350 out of the intersection... :mad: I ended up having to follow this guy all the way onto the freeway where I was finally able to get passed him. It didn't really do me any good as 5 miles later I had to slow anyway because the snow was coming down heavily enough to warrant reduced speeds....

the_big_al

Interesting Experience last night driving home....

On my way home last night on a back road I came across this truck that had stopped in the middle of the road. This road is a back road, but it is hilly, curvey and very busy at times. THis was one of those times. It was also dark. As I came to the crest of a hill there was a truck in the other lane stopped dead with no lights on, no anything and the driver standing beside it on her phone.

I thought it was odd and so I decided to turn around to investigate as no one else seemed interested in finding out why this vehicle was in the middle of the road. All they seemed to care about was trying to get around, which was difficult because the road is narrow and on one side is a steep hill and the other a steep drop off. Not much room to give. As such it was about a half mile before I could find a place to turn around.

I got back to the vehicle and turned on my hazards so at least cars coming up the hill would see the lights before slamming into the back of the vehicle. I talked to the poor girl and she said her truck just up and died. No light, no power, no anything. I asked her if she had help coming and she said that her dad was on his way. I then told her to help me push the truck off the road as far as possible so that traffic could get by. We did so and I stayed behind her with my lights flashing so that people would know what was going on.

Her dad showed up a few minutes later and tried tinkering with the truck. I tried suggesting that we push the truck a half mile down the road where there was an empty lot, but they still tried tinkering. A sherrif showed up at that point and wanted to know what was going on. Again I suggested that we push the vehicle with my van and another car in front acting as pilot. That way we could clear the road and wouldn't be a traffic hinderence. The sherrif looked at my van and said I would go right under the truck (and he was right) and said that he would push it with his car.

So that is what they did, I left at that point.... but I it was just a very interesting end to a very long day .

the_big_al

not that it was right to leave her there, but didn't she do the same thing to you by not stopping to help you get out??

the_big_al

I think the officer does it on purpose to prevent his backside from being nailed while talking to the driver... However I have often wondered why the officer doesn't direct the offending vehicle to a place that is more condusive to being stopped, rather than blocking trafffic

the_big_al

Been there before... not necassarily at a carwash, but in a couple situations where the effect of just one action causes a whole chain reaction that causes me to get upset, delayed or otherwised thwarted in my original goal....
Actually that happened to me today on my way home from work. I decided to take a back road becuase I knew they were doing construction on the main highway and had one lane closed off and at the hour I was headed home can take more than several minutes to get through. I knew that by taking this back road, it would dump me right after the construction on the highway ended, thus avoiding being stuck trying to merge and then letting other people in and crawling along at 2 mph. I thought all was good as I cruised along until I got to 1/4 mile of a new traffic light controlled intersection that I'd forgotten was going in. Traffic was backed up 1/2 mile in all 4 directions as they worked to put markers up to prep for line painting. I groaned as I realized that the city would be dumb enough to do construction on the two most major roads through town at the same time. I mean couldn't they stagger them so as to not clog both ways to get easily from one end of town to the other??? (to note, this is a back road, but used quite a bit, but has no stoplights, or major intersections. It is quite a bit quicker to use during the peak hours as traffic usually moves relatively smoothly because there are no stoplight or stop signs. This new intersection is the 1st on the road and probably not the last )

the_big_al

and don't forget tracking it back into your car and also invariably getting muddy backsplash onto your car as you wash it. Also the foam brush also tends to be soaked and caked with mud chunks and if you dare use it, you not only smear mud all over your car, but risk scratching it as well....

the_big_al

Sounds more like a revenue ticket ..... Just another way to add more money to the cofers.

the_big_al

That's also true - and I'll agree with your point. How was the cop to know that the vehicle had rain-x applied to the windshield?? While it was mentioned that how did the cop know the wipers were off as opposed to them just being on intermittent, I would venture to guess that he probably observed over a period of time (wouldn't take long) that the wipers were not being used and when he saw that, noted that it is dangerous to be driving with a rain splattered windshield and did his duty and enforced the law. When you think about it, standing out in the rain really is no fun so I will repent of my previous comment ....

the_big_al

lol - although I do agree with getting behind a semi in hopes of a rock chip.... Having used to live in AZ, I went through my alottment of 3 windshields a year regularly. It seemed that I would just get a new shield and within a week I would have a chip or a crack... In one instance it was not a car or an inconsiderate unconvered load it was actually a sand storm. I was up in northern AZ on the Indian reservation and ended up in some high winds on a dirt/sandy road. My visability was cut to almost nill at times and when I finally got back to civilization my brand new windshield was full of sand pits... Thankfully I had full coverage glass with no deductable.

the_big_al

I didn't think replacing windshields was maintanence, at least maintenance like changing the oil maintenance. I did go through quite a few windshields, but I didn't replace them until the cracks went all the way across the entire windshield, or obstructed my vision in such a way that I couldn't see out of it clearly - as in the case of it being sandblasted. If you have ever parked under a pecan tree and had sap fall all over it; this is what my windshield looked like. Actually that is what I thought it was becuase I had a pecan tree in my yard and it wasn't until I washed my truck a day or so after that particular trip that I realized that it wasn't tree sap, but actually sand pits... One of the reasons I went through so many windshields is that I drove A LOT - sometimes 5K miles a month. I also drove a ton of highway miles that gave plenty of opportunity have a rock flipped back at you and also a ton of dirt roads or roads that are under construction. As a side note, it might also be against the law to have a cracked windshiled in AZ?? Not sure but I think that if the crack is longer than a certain length or cuts across the driver's view, than the windshield must be replaced?

To say in the least - my policy set a limit at 3 windshields per year. I don't think that I abused the priviledge. That is what my policy stated. It turns out that I just so happened to have needed it. Not trying to justify a right or wrong here, but AZ insurance rates are pretty high ... I was paying over 200 a month for two fully insured vehicles for two drivers one over the age 25 and one under both with clean record and accident free.... After moving to Oregon and transfering insurance states, but staying with the same company, increasing my limits to well above the required legal limit, adding another vehicle to the policy and my rates still dropped. I now pay under 200 for 3 fully insured vehicles with twice the coverage.

Insurance is there partly because the law requires it, but partly because I don't want to have to replace 3 windshields a year out of pocket... Granted if I didn't have glass coverage, I may not be so liberal in my replacements, but still I would have had to replace at least 1, maybe 2 per year of those that were replaced.

the_big_al

hoping I am not already beating a dead horse, I will say that I try and do my best to use left lane appropriatly... If I am in the left lane, I am generally going faster than right lane traffic. Not just 1 or 2 miles an hour, but 5-10 miles per hour faster. I also keep on eye on the right lane and when I can see that I can move back over to the right lane without having to move back into the left lane 1/2 mile later to pass again, I'll move into the right lane. But if I look ahead and see that I'll just have to move back over, I'll generally stay in the left lane.

Keep in mind that I also watch my rear view mirror as well. If I can see coming up behind me is someone that is going faster than me, I will definately move over if there is an open spot in the right lane. If I am in the middle of passing someone, or a group of someones, and I can tell they want to go faster than my already 7-10 MPH above the posted limit, I'll push my speed to the 10 MPH over mark and complete my passes as quickly as safely possible. Then I'll move over and let the vehicle that thinks he has to go 20 over (which would be almost 90 MPH usually), go by.

I try and avoid constant lane changing as that can increase the risk for accidents, but I always watch my mirrors and the traffic ahead and behind to determine what lane will best suit the way that I want to drive. Sometimes I do get stuck in the left lane only going the speed limit, but it is still going faster than the right lane, but I can only go as fast as the car in front and he is going as fast as the car in front of him and so on... I've been in lines of cars going at or slight above the limit in the left lane that are several cars long. If I happen to be the last or near the last in this line of cars and some moron roars up behind me and expects me to get over so that he can pass, but he'll only be stuck behind the car in front of me, than I don't see the need to move over... who now is being inconsiderate? I'll usually move over and laugh at him as I know he'll only get stuck behind the next car. Then I'll usually laugh more when he tries to pass on the right, get's stuck behind slower traffic, has to break and then wait for a break in the left lane traffic to move back over and he ends of several cars behind me from where he started.... he would have been better off just staying behind me.

the_big_al

By the way, I drive a 2006 Chevy Trailblazer, V-8 (5.3 liter), 300 hp, and it hauls!!

I'll keep an eye on you in my rearview mirror.

Because, no matter how powerfull that 300 HP motor is, it's till hauling around a 3 ton vehicle, which is way heaver than Snaks's V - which I think has something like a 400 HP motor (or is the base 350 HP vette motor?? - either way it'll still win:D) and wieghs considerably less... I think I know the winner of that one. :shades:

the_big_al

My winner for the night as I was going home wins the ultimate automotive locomotive award. I was headed home on a back highway that I had never been on before, but since my Google map had told me this was the shortest quickest way home, I deciced to try it. It was a seim-curvy 55 MPH limit road that can easily be taken at 55 MPH. Not much more - maybe in Snake's V it can, but in a boxy cargo van I think not. Probably not 95 in a Trailblazer either :surprise: ... There are several curves marked 45 MPH and it requires a slight tap on the brakes but the road can easily be navigated with out need to vary too much from the 55 limit. But because it is curvy, passing zones are limited. Luckily I didn't have anyone in front of me; well at least not directly in front of me and he seemed to be going the same speed as I was as I never caught up to him. Nor did anyone come up behind me.

But I feel for the poor fellows coming the opposite direction. It was constant traffic, so much so that I quit using my brights because I was just constantly switching them off. They all seemed to be moving at a speed relative to the conditions until I came around a bend and noticed a long line of lights. There in the front of the line was a small sedan, I didn't catch what it was, but it was probably going about 35 MPH. In a 55 MPH zone. This line of cars had to be at leat 40 cars long. I thought it was a funeral procession, but then I remember it was 6 PM and there wasn't a cemetery around that I knew of. Plus who does funerals at 6 PM in the dark especially when it's threatening rain? There also wasn't a police escort. It was just a slow poke afraid to take the corners poking along at 35-40 MPH (or so it seemed when I passed by going the other direction). I feel for the poor people who had to poke along with him as there was hardly anywhere to pass, but I was just glad I was going the other way.

the_big_al

I haven't read through the rest of the posts yet, but you might try posting your question here...

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.ef09308/2244

It's a good place where there are several people that can answer your question. Just be prepared to face some of the answers. Wish you the best. I know how it is trying to save money.

the_big_al

and here I thought you were going to say you were an intentional LLC ..... :surprise:

the_big_al

What's scary is getting 2 or 3 feet of air and then haveing the suspension spring back up after the car has landed...

When I was a young barely driving kid, I would always borrow my grandpa's truck for dates. (It was in much better shape and only a couple years old compared to my 10 year old beater). There is a section of road in a residential part of town that goes over a canel. One side has a fairly steep incline - almost ramp like and even though the speed limit is only 25 MPH the city posted a sign dropping it even lower since even 25 MPH can give a tummy butterflies and extend the springs a little.

Well one night after a date I realized that I was near this particular section of road. I decided that I wanted to find out if I could get any air off this little hump in the road. (Yes I was pretty dumb at the time). So I go down the street as far as I to get as much speed as I can to hit this hump with. I gun the truck and I probably got to about 60 MPH (in a 25), and hit that ramp. I probably gained a good couple of feet and then came slamming back down and then back up to the full extent of the shocks... and then bounced up and down the road as the truck settled down. Thankfully I was able to maintain control of the truck and come out of it with no harm done....

It was quite the thrill ride, but I must not have learned much because I did it again a few weeks later, but this time in my 85 Chrysler Laser but going the other way. This particular time I was on a date and I was taking her home. Going the other way was a little different because the rise is much shorter, but the drop is greater... We hit that going close to 50 or so and then almost nose dived back to the pavement. My back end of the car slammed down and I could see sparks flying through the the mirrors. Scared us pretty good, but again we made it through with no major damged.

As luck would have it we got pulled over a couple blocks later because I didn't have my lights on (I had a digital dash and half the gadgets didn't work, plus with the street lights, I had no idea I didn't have my lights on.) I was just grateful the cop hadn't seen my earlier stunts and was able to walk away with only a warning...

I was pretty crazy in back in the days, but hopefully I have wised up a little.

the_big_al

Growing up we had the "cat a month" syndrome. We live out of town a couple of miles (when I was growing up it seemed like the middle of nowhere), and we always had at least one cat, usually 2 or 3. The most I can remember is upwards of 13. They were all outside cats, and they would end up at our house after being dumped by their owners. I say "cat a month", because all we pretty much did was make sure there was food for them. It wasn't worh much else because they always ended up getting hit by cars, eaten by coyotes, taken by owls, or snakes. Most cats that came around would only stick around a couple of months and then be gone. A few hung around for several years, but most didn't last very long... but we always made sure they had food.

the_big_al

I am interested to see how this story came to be - although I hope everyone involved is still alive and well.

the_big_al

Or it could just be a coinkidink that your comments and the law change conspire at the same time ??? :surprise:

the_big_al

Wow - I think that is the longest post I have ever read. Glad to know that you and your friend are okay. That in and of it self is good.

Now granted you may have caused and could have avoided the accident by your actions - BUT, I don't think you necassarily did anything "wrong". Nothing really inconsiderate. You were just trying to drive down the road. Maybe you could have avoided the accident by just stopping or, turning off and going a different way, but I would like to think that be doing that, this particular driver may have been aggravated enough to follow and or escalate into a confrontation. Who knows what could have happened. That's in the "what if" column and I try not to dwell on "what if's".

Hopefully you can get the driver of the truck, press charges or maybe even get his insurance to take care of the car, or even have him charged with a hit and run. I don't know how any of these are possible since you might have to prove it and I am not sure what kind of evidence besides an eyewitness statement would be needed.

But once again, glad that you came out of it alive and well.

the_big_al

Experienced a similar thing yesterday as well. We had a good dusting of snow on the ground and so residential side streets were pretty slick. Even just pulling out into the street from my driveway, I started to fishtail. So instead of 25, it was more like 10. A little before getting to the main highway, the road I live on goes up a hill before dropping back down to the highway intersection. I started to go up the hill and I was almost afraid I wouldn't make it. The tires were slipping and the van wanted to slide right off the road. But we made it to the top and back down to the highway.

As I had guessed, the highway was mostly clear except for a couple of patches. Perfectly good for doing the 45 MPH SL. Except every one was going 25... `

the_big_al

And with "free range" - if you hit it it's your fault - even to the extent of replacing the cost of the animal? From what I understand anyway.

the_big_al

That's going to be a pretty ticket... running a red light in the middle of a traffic accident.

the_big_al

It was a snowy day here too yesterday. Snow started in the middle of the day catching everyone unawares and made the rest of the day pretty hairy on the roads. Fortunately I wasn't on the roads except for when I went to my in-laws to get a stew pot.

They only live 2 miles away, but it took me about 20 minutes instead of the normal 4. I started out in my truck which is 2wd and has wide directional summer tires on, but the going wasn't too bad. I only made it about 1/4 when I came upon a vehicle that had gone off the road and was creating a traffic back up. This was also on a hill and so I couldn't help but come to a stop on the hill. I groaned, and waited a couple more minutes until I realized I wasn't moving anytime soon. Unfortunatly there wasn't much I could do since I was on a hill and there wasn't really a place to turn around except the construction lot just 10 yards ahead, but there was a car blocking my path to it. The car in front move ahead though just enough for me to get into the lot. It was fun trying to do that. I put it in 2nd and was able to get there without too much slippage. After getting in, I wasn't sure if I would get out, but still in 2nd gear, I was able to pull out and head back the way I had come. I decided it would be wiser to trade vehicles for my wife's front wheel drive.

I trades vehicles and went the other way back towards the middle of town where I could get across the creek to the highway so I could continue my trek. I finally made to my inlaws after a couple of detours. On the way back I passed a banged up Corolla sitting in the middle of the road, but no aparent owner of the car in sight. When I got back to where the 1st accident had occured I realized it still hadn't been cleared up, only now I was on the other side of it and no clear way through and no foreseable timeline of when it would clear. So I turn around again and head back the way I came, only this time I decided to go through the golf community to get home since I would have had to back track more than halfway back to my inlaws. I knew the potential for the roads to be worse was greater since it was a little higher up, but I gigured the roads couldn't be any worse than they were already. On the other side of the golf course there was yet another truck (this time 4x4) off in the ditch and all kinds of people milling about. I briefly asked if they needed help and was told everything was good so I continued on home. So in all, a total round trip of roughly 4 or 5 miles ended up being about 15 and almost an hours worth of driving... Needless to say, I stayed home the rest of the day.

the_big_al

lol - it came out pretty good. Little on the spicey side, but just right for a cold day. It's even better today ...

the_big_al

how do you post pictures? I have a couple pictures I took of the roads yesterday and wanted to post them. So I just need to upload them to car space?

the_big_al

Thank You....

See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

Here is what all the roads looked like yesterday and part of today. All snow and ice. For those used to this kind of road condtition, I am sure it is not a big deal, but for those where this is the most snow they have seen in years (including your's truely), it is a big deal.

I just had to remember to keep my head about me and I only ventured out once.

the_big_al

just what I needed for today... ROTFL

the_big_al

My thoughts are that he was creating a rolling roadblock going 65 MPH - although he was already 10 over and was creating a more hazardous situation in that instead of cars spaced evenly or more spread out they are now bunched up in a pack. If he had moved over to say the far left lane and continued 65 or move to the right and slowed down and allowed traffic to pass and then targeted someone who may have been going say 11 or more over that would have been better. I think it would be more dangerous to have a pack of cars tightly bunched going the same speed than to have cars spaced out going different speeds - from right to left lanes increasingly faster the further left.

the_big_al

I actually had this happen to me once on I-17 in Phx. There was some sort of altercation happening on the freeway - a car pulled over and a man in the middle of the freeway and officers chasing him. Before getting the that area a DPS officer was slowing traffic down by weaving across all lanes of traffic.

the_big_al

I witnessed a near miss yesterday while on my way home. I was taking a buddy home after he had helped me on a job and when I got off the freeway, we noticed the power was out.

This also caused the stoplights to be out as well. This particular light was an intersection to a Wal-mart on the left and a gas station/truckstop on the right with dedictated turn arrows. Since there was no power and no traffic control, the intersection essentially became a 4-way stop. Most people seemed to get this until I pulled up to the line to do my turn. While waiting for my turn an SUV pulls into the left turn lane to go to Wal-mart and flies right on through. Didn't bother to brake, slow down or do anything. He just went right on through as if he owned the road. Luckily the car pulling out of Wal-mart realized what was happeing and stopped before he was creamed by the SUV...

I just had to shake my head at the incompetence of some drivers. Was he not paying attention? Or did he think that beacuse the power was out and he was on the "through" street he didn't have to stop? But I don't see how this logic would work as there were also cars stopped in the oncoming lanes as well awaiting there turn???

No one was hit or hurt thankfully, but it could have been nasty.

the_big_al

Actually - there weren't any lights at all. Power was out and all was dark. At least it was still light out. But the same thing could have applied - he probably just didn't notice and probably was rushing to aisle 9.

Or he knew the power was out and so the the security cameras and front door "security" beepers were out and so he was rushing to get some "Rolled Back" merchandise. He had to hurry before power came back on. :P

the_big_al

Wow - and I thought it was bad when I let my work van go a week before cleaning out the old paperwork and water bottles....

the_big_al

Or they leave the remains of whatever thier lunch was in the shopping cart that is left in the lot in the only available space so that you have to get out and move it....

Or it is left full of trash to blow across the lot to hit some vehicle and marring the paint.

the_big_al

I have to admit I have a greasy window in my truck right now...

And I just washed it. But while cleaning the interior, I noticed I had run out of dash wipes. The kind I use just clean and wipe the dust off, I don't use Armorall or any other such product. While digging through my cleaning supplies I came up with a can of lemon scented Pledge. I read the intstructions and it said "for use on vinyl, leather, wood, plastic and many other surfaces. Repels dust and so on..." I thought to my self "hmmm... this should work.

I happily applied some and viola - cleaned my dash right up with out leaving a glossy greasy looking film. I then proceeded to clean my windows and thought I was good to go. Then a couple days later I was driving and I noticed a slight haze on my windshield... I thought to my self that was odd, I just cleaned this thing. Then I got to thinking more, one of the reasons I don't use Armorall is that it evaporates and leaves a greasy haze on the windshield... then I hit my head in one of those "doh" moments. The Pledge I has stuff in it to make wood shine and repel dust and while it didn't appear to leave any residue, indeed it had and in the sun had evaporated and left a greasy film on my window. "DOH"...

Note self... household products meant for househol items, generally don't work so well for the car. Don't use Pledge on the dash board - even though it says "safe for vinyl"....

Lesson Learned.

the_big_al

ROTFL....

the_big_al

what if you don't have a quarter?? I often don't. But I guess in this case, one would know to bring a quarter to get a cart....

What if you did a cart round up yourself? Could you walk away with someone else's quarter because you returned thier cart?