Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

hammerhead

You're in Western Washington, right?

1-800-LITTER 1

Provide the license plate, location & details - they send a nasty-gram to the offender, reminding them of the $1000+ potential fines.

I've made several such calls, while driving, on my cell phone, but that's a story for another forum :shades:

Cheers!
Paul

the_big_al

Today was slow poke day for some reason. It must be affecting the country. We are all too worried about what the banks are doing to drive. It seemed that everyone I got behind today didn't have a clue as to what a gas pedal was. The worst was on my way back into town after leaving a smaller community where the limit is 40 through the community then it jumps back to 55. I head through the community at around 40ish and then when the limit jumps to 55 I jump up to match. Up ahead I notice a vehicle that doesn't appear to be moving very fast (I forget now what it was, but he was was an old man!). As I approach him, I realize he is going 30! In a 55 with nary a passing zone in site, or when one does come into site it is clogged with oncoming traffic and then I realize I still have 10 miles to go before the road splits into 4 lanes. :sick:

Fortunately, after about 4 miles I came to spot that had the briefest of passing zones and little traffic. As soon as the last car cleared, I had about 100 ft of zone left, but as I looked I could see that no oncoming traffic was coming. So I gunned it, past and whipped back in about another 100 ft after the zone actually ended. The dude didn't even glance over at me. When I passed he had about 10 cars piled up behind him...

fintail

I never go for those anonymous tip things...it seems they are designed to be abused, and if I ever received notice from the revenue collectors, I would simply toss it :P

I doubt it would have any effect either...the average 19-21 year old woman driving (and smoking in) a new BMW probably doesn't think she can do any wrong, and probably doesn't have to take accountability when she does wrong.

Regarding the sirens...I kind of like some of these new ones, that sound old fashioned. One of them starts off slow and has an uneven pace...I expect to see some 1940s fire truck when I hear it coming past my place.

hammerhead

This particular tip line is somehow connected to the Dept. of Ecology - so there is some measure of authority behind it. It's just a warning letter to the offender, but it makes ME feel better.

Truck I work on has one of those new/old sirens - Federal Model Q-E, or E-Q, something like that. Electronic, no moving parts, but sounds like the old-fashioned electro-mechanical wind-up. Pretty effective too. Our newest engines have both the electronic wail/yelp/hi-lo AND a REAL mechanical Federal Q plus the air horn

You can definitely hear them coming.

Cheers!
Paul

tallman1

I've made several such calls, while driving, on my cell phone,

... with your handsfree device in WA, right??

I'm amazed at how many inconsiderates are out there ignoring this new law. Not that I think the law is good... just at how many people are ignoring it in Washington.

hammerhead

Actually, to be honest, the last time I made a call to them was before implementation of the hands-free law.

I'm still making the ocasional, brief call from the car sans bluetooth, but mostly at stoplights. The calls I do make are fewer & briefer unless I put the headset on. Too busy drinking coffee & changing channels on the radio. :P

Cheers!
Paul

fintail

It's a secondary law, and a fairly toothless one for that. I am surprised anyone is following it.

fintail

I suspect the air horns are the most effective. I live in a fairly densely populated area, and I often hear ambulances and fire trucks laying on the horn to get the clueless to clear a path.

Speaking of that, one day I got behind an ambulance that I think was in driver training or something. It was coming up from behind, I moved over, and when it was past, I got back on the road. After a minute, it became apparent this rig was going way under the limit, and I was gaining on it. So I slowed down, and he almost stopped...middle of the road, no intersection. Then he took off again, then slowed down, then weaved back and forth between lanes. He finally turned on to a more congested road to confuse people there. I don't know what was going on.

hammerhead

Lots of folks aren't, if my entirely non-scientific observations are anywhere near accurate.

magnette

I'd settle for offroad parking. I'm going to rent a garage when the Magnette finally comes to London - (some delays with the electrics at the moment) - but our regular car sits out on the street. The problem is that in 1905 when they built these places, no one really had cars, so the front garden is about eight feet deep, and it's about three feet above the road level (we're also on a small hill). The houses are terraced, and there is no rear access - we just back onto the gardens belonging to the street behind. Also the houses are quite narrow - about 24 foot frontage - so even with small cars, there are more vehicles than spaces. Luckily some of the neighbours don't have a car.
That isn't the worst of it though - this street is also two way traffic, with parking down both sides, in places - although there are some restricted bays for bus stops and so on. There are six bus routes down this road, one of which is full-size double-deckers, so the odd red stripe tends to appear on parked cars, too. And we have to pay a small fee for a permit to park in the street - which is good really because otherwise, if it was unrestricted, we would have the road full of commuters - it's only about three hundred yards to the tube station.
To pick up on the other comments concerning how much junk we accumulate - there are just the two of us here, but this house is full to bursting point with books, etc (not all mine).

oldfarmer50

Today I'm traveling down the interstate in heavy rain. Visibility is reduced so I'm doing about 3mph less than the limit.

As I start to get off the exit ramp a car pulls up right to my bumper and stays there less than 10 feet back. As we round the ramp and it expands to two lanes the car passes me and takes up a position right on the bumper of another car. (Remember this is during a rain storm).

As the car passes me I look over to see this sweet young thing EATING BREAKFAST.

I expect to read about her in the paper tomorrow.

stever

the front garden is about eight feet deep

We call them yards over here (I'm sure you know that, but occasionally someone will post about parking in their front garden to wash their car or whatever and people will picture someone driving over the tomato plants).

I was just in Chattanooga for a few days and the drivers there are mostly ok but they do have more tailgating tendencies there than here in Boise. There are lots of narrow 2 lane collector streets with open ditches on either side and the speed limits seem high to those of us not experienced with the local roads.

tallman1

As the car passes me I look over to see this sweet young thing EATING BREAKFAST.

Fried eggs? Cereal bowl with spoon? Waffles? :shades:

qbrozen

Good question. If farmer at least provided a make/model of the vehicle, we could make guesses.

snakeweasel

Going to work on the tollway in very slow moving bumper to bumper traffic. I am in the right lane with the entrance lane merging into our lane. Now mind you traffic is going slow (approx 10 MPH) and traffic is merging in. The car in front of me lets a car in, the car behind that one drops back a bit and I let open a space for him to merge in. So far so good and I expect the car behind the car that I let in fall back and get in the space behind me. Nope thats not what happened he gunned it and tried to force his way in front of me. :confuse:

On the way home on a street that has two lanes in each direction separated by a slightly raised medium just before a light was a three car accident in the left lane. Apparently car 'A' rear ended car 'B' and pushed car 'B' into car 'C'. well not much of a problem because traffic in the right lane was able to pass without much issue in the right lane and traffic in the left lane used the left turn lane to pass the accident on the left. Now what happens? Three cars infront of me, in the left lane, a car instead of following the other cars around the accident to the left tries to force his way into the right lane and clips another car. Bad situation is now made worse.

jensad

Just got back from Roscoe Ill visiting our son and family. I have been reading the recent posts and it sounds like Ca. where we currently live.

Seems to me like the "seasons" are upon us. I seem to experience traffic is more discourteous, and/or innattentive this time of year, maybe because the stress of the upcoming seasons. I do watch my surroundings when I drive the bumpy freeways in CA.

This last month, my wife and I have have been to Yellowstone and driven through Idaho, Nev,and roads in Ill and WI. All were much less bumpy than freeways in old Ca. But then I am sure there are some states with worse roads than Ca. And when the wife retires, I guess we will discover them too.

I hope all is well with the posters here and hope all stay safe.

jensad

wesleyg

good you had a safe trip, as far as "bumpy" California roads, I have never been there but where I live, we don't have bumpy roads.

We WISH we had them, ours our serioulsly potholed from 5 months of freezing, thawing, freezing etc. Then in Spring the crews put in their temporary asphalt patches which of course pop out. And by potholes, I'm talking sometimes 8" deep, perhaps 18 to 24 inches wide. This is Cleveland area I suffer through.

I'm going out now lokking for a bumpy road to enjoy, take care.

snakeweasel

I was out and about downstate today, me and the wife decided to get a bite to eat in a little out of the way town. We were going down the main business section of town (all one block of it) with diagonal parking. We were following a pick up truck that slowed down to a stop and we were right next to a few open spots near the restaurant so I proceeded to pull into one. Well all of a sudden the pick up truck started to back up and hit be in the front driverside fender. :sick:

To make matters more interesting the pick up was owned by the restaurant that we were going into.

ruking1

Sorry to hear of your incident. I am sure you don't need the hassle!

Slow news day over on the northen west coast. Diesel costs less than RUG ?! PUG costs more!?

fintail

Today I returned from a ca. 1000 mile road trip. Quite a few idiots on the roads, but most people were just fine. I spent a good amount of time in rural areas east of the Cascades, where I was surprised to find courtesy when passing on rural highways, and even on interstates people would move out of the left lane as you approached (I didn't get passed once over there). Then I come west - 2 lane mountain pass was a nightmare because of trucks and a motorhome that wouldn't use slow vehicle turnouts. LLCs everywhere on 5 and 405, and a few belligerent truck and SUV drivers wanting to go 20 over. Ugh.

euphonium

Good to know you're home safe. What was the two lane road crossing the Cascades?

fintail

White Pass...rough worn out roads that would be fun drive if they had been maintained, and without the trucks and sightseers.

That reminds me, I did something that would probably have those who saw me yell "inconsiderate". I was behind a Ford Escape, which was behind a slow moving van-based box truck which was going about 15 under the limit (I don't know why). The road widened ahead into what they call a "passing lane", but the new lane was on the right. The truck moved over, but the Escape barely sped up, if at all...so we are still going way under the limit for no reason. Although it is a double yellow line, there is good visibility and zero oncoming traffic. So I simply pass him anyway...and as I zip by he is yelling at me and waving his arms etc. Shame on me! :P

Also, on that highway as you get west of the pass, people just pull out in front of you from side roads even though you are coming at them at 60mph...like you aren't even there. I passed 4 or 5 of them in 50 miles.

tallman1

White Pass can be a little tricky because of all the truck and RV traffic. I've mostly been lucky and don't get stuck behind very many. Traveling at night helps.

Very pretty though.

imidazol97

Did you take any pictures of the road?

fintail

I hadn't driven that pass in years...I think next time it will be night or simply go north and take Snoqualmie. I was headed to southern WA, and I think I saved only maybe 30 mins by staying south, as speeds were so slow. I took Snoqualmie over several days earlier, and it was a breeze. But one good thing I guess about the slowness is even with the grades, my big V8 got 25mpg on that trip.

Sorry no pics imidazol, I was too focused on dodging the motorized pylons in front of me :shades: ....but there must be some on the web somewhere. It is a very scenic drive, especially alongside a couple lakes, and where you drive on a cliff face with maybe a 200 foot drop on one side.

stever

without the trucks and sightseers.

Oh, Highway 12 - why didn't you say so.

I was sightseeing along that stretch a couple of months ago.

I remember my first car trip to Oregon decades ago, and seeing the pull out signs for those sightseers (like me) delaying traffic. It got dark before we hit the campground we were heading to, and every time a pullout got close, the idiots behind me would flash their brights to get me to move over.

Naturally that would blind me and I'd keep on going, trying to follow the center line.

fintail

I didn't flash or honk at anyone, believe it or not...I was trying to be nice....even when not a single slowpoke used a slow vehicle lane. I was kind of proud of myself, although I will admit my blood boiled a little at times.

tallman1

It can be a frustrating stretch. I used to work in Olympia and would have to travel to eastern Washington all the time. I'd head down I-5 and hook up with 12 to go across White Pass. Much better than dealing with the Ft. Lewis and Tacoma traffic to get to I-90 during rush hour.

Most folks were considerate enough to use the pull-outs but not everyone. You have to hope that you time things right and get around the big rigs when there were passing lanes. I always got very lucky. Looks like I'm going to make that trip again here in a couple of weeks. We'll see how it goes.

fintail

Luckily I live about 5 minutes from 90, so it's an easy route for me, and I try not to make such trips during peak traffic times. There's not much can be done physically to White to make it an easier drive due to simple landforms...so the slowpokes just need to be considerate.

You could have a little snow this time around.

tallman1

I make the trip to Tri-Cities about once every two weeks. Usually it is 18, I-90 and then I-82. Let me tell you, that stretch of I-82 between Ellensburg and Yakima can be a pain.

It amazes me how many semi trucks will pull out into the left lane right in front of me when traveling up those ridges so that they can pass another truck. I have to hit the brakes hard because they are moving so slowly. Of course, they are going about 1 mph faster than the one they are passing so I get to spend some quality time behind them. :mad:

oregonboy

And don't you love it when they get 1/2 a truck length ahead by the top of the hill, and then the truck that was being passed starts to inch ahead. Five minutes later the would-be passer pulls back into the slow lane.

You've just been deprived of 10 miles of forward progress! :lemon:

tallman1

lol.... yup, I've seen that too.

fintail

That's a stretch where I have usually had OK luck. I have seen truckers pulling that "1mph faster" garbage which has probably never received even a slap on the wrist from WSP revenue collection officers, but it is always after I pass them. I always have liked that stretch too, as the landscape is so desolate looking, it somehow interests me - where the scenic White Pass bores me most of the way.

hammerhead

Glad I'm not the only one that happens to...
Not just on 82... happens on 395 & 90 as well.

Cheers!
Paul

euphonium

Regarding the road, yes, but the memories of skiing off Pigtail at the top for 40 + years makes the boring drive worth while. The view of Mr. Rainier and surrounding terra is magnificant from the 6,000 ft summit.

It is the only place where I was required to hang iron just to get down the road to Packwood. That was our Corvair's last trip.

xrunner2

I spent a good amount of time in rural areas east of the Cascades, where I was surprised to find courtesy when passing on rural highways, and even on interstates people would move out of the left lane as you approached (I didn't get passed once over there).

I will generalize and say that rural drivers are usually more courteous than big city drivers. Here in northern Illinois rural, and southern Wisc where I might occasionally travel, drivers are less likely to drive on your bumper (while I going limit or 5+) than when going into the big city Chicago metro area. I also notice drivers more likely to give "breaks" (pausing to let a driver enter road from parking lot) in rurals' towns compared to Chicago or close-in Chicago suburbs. Seems like rural folks are more casual and relaxed about things and big-city types are hyper and have some kind of need to be competitive, be first, be at head of pack.

fintail

I think in this region it might be an east vs west thing. In rural western areas you have to deal with a lot of slowpoke old codgers in trucks, and LLCers are usually everywhere. They don't tailgate though, I will give them that. I suspect maybe in the east where traffic is light even in the highest population areas, drivers are simply able to keep right without being held up, and they prefer to do so. And in the cities here, with the passive-aggressive mindset, it is common for people to stop to let a single car out of a parking lot or driveway, even if it means delaying 10+ cars :confuse:

fintail

This has to be some form of being inconsiderate

tallman1

Wow... talk about being too cheap to pay for a tow. :shades:

explorerx4

been there, done that, although not as far. :surprise: didn't have the left front wheel to help out.

davethecarnut

Hey Fin...that was funny when you said YOU were probably inconsiderate while passing someone. Well...yeah..maybe you were....inconsiderate to his ego!! As long as you didn't throw something at him while passing or kick up dirt or rocks at his car, so what if you passed him? I don't understand that attitude of getting PO'd when someone passes you.
Isn't getting passed better than getting tailgated? Or honked at? sheeeesh

fintail

I think he was upset because I passed in a no passing zone.

Every now and then when I get stuck at a defective stoplight (many of them in my area have a glitch now and then and take eons to change) I will wait what I deem a reasonable period, check there is no cross traffic or revenue enforcement officers, and simply go. Sometimes people honk at me when I do this. Lots of wannabe deputies in this world. It's also a common local tactic for the same people to speed up as they are being passed.

euphonium

Ever considered using a traffic light transmitter? They are more economical than a couple of tickets.

fintail

I usually only have to run them in the early morning or weekends, on deserted roads (where lights shouldn't even be operating on those days), so I am fairly safe. If I got a ticket I would turn around and sue the city for negligence, wasted gas and time, etc because of their inability to embrace logic and accountability in their traffic controls.. The city traffic planners are certainly failing in their overpaid positions to make the roads flow properly.

fintail

New Yorkers = inconsiderate?

explorerx4

it looks like the guy in the civic stopped in the ez-pass lane and the altima driver wasn't expecting it. great pictures!

oldfarmer50

"...New Yorkers=inconsiderate?..."

You even have to ask that question?

jensad

They say that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Well that photo illustrates the height of STUPIDITY.

Wow. Looks like the Honda "won" by edging out the Nissan. What did this event occur fintail?

I hope no one was hurt.

Good luck to all and stay safe.

jensad

fintail

Unfortunately I have no details about the pic...I actually got it from someone in England. I'd agree with the previous post that the Altima hit the Honda from behind, anyway.

Today I saw something not necessarily inconsiderate...but distracting. One of those scooters with a lawnmower engine, but this one was somehow insanely souped up, and must have been going 25-30mph - with the flow of traffic. No gear on the rider, of course. Insane.

fezo

Kind of looks like one of the Port Authority tolls. Maybe the Lincoln Tunnel.