Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

fintail

Today, driving home in the usual afternoon traffic, I was heading down a left turn lane in moderate traffic volumes. As I approached the turn, a very short woman in a Mustang in the lane beside me veered over into my lane, needing to take that turn right then and now. I was lucky I was able to veer out of my lane and avoid her. Shockingly enough, she was on the phone.

It was also raining this afternoon. I have noticed something terrible. When it rains, the local inbred impotents in lifted diesel trucks and SUVs weave around at about 45-50 in a 30, and the local "new" residents in their scuffed up late model Camrys and Corollas all freak out and go 20. Hell on Earth, lowest denominator society on the road.

oregonboy

Hey, it wasn't the Mustang woman's fault that she didn't see you overtaking in the turn lane... after all, her mirrors were adjusted for checking make-up, not traffic! :surprise:

fintail

Today's winner...middle aged woman in an older RX who refused to take a free right turn at two intersections. Backed up traffic considerably. Then on the open suburban thoroughfare dawdled along at about 32 in a 40...thankfully a 4 lane road. No phone or food, just timid.

fintail

Silly me for getting into the turn lane when the lane starts rather than 2 car lengths before the turn. I guess I am too aggressive :shades:

the_big_al

it's a common plague in this one particular town where I frequently go for work. It happens when ever there is more than one lane of travel and especially when there are more than 2 lanes for turning left. People just stay in one lane rather than move occupy the 2 lanes making for a VERY long line of traffic at the intersection and practically no one int he adjacent lane.

It was especially bad at a 2-lane left turn the other day. This particular left turn has a barrier that separates it from oncoming traffic. about 6 car lengths down it cuts across that inside turn lane to become the left turn for oncoming traffic. What does the common traffic do?? They pull into the right lane of the 2 turning lanes and then back up all the way until they are completely blocking the left hand left turn lane. This happened yesterday. I needed to turn left, I pulled up and there are about 6 cars in right side left turn and no one in the left. I looked and barely squeezed through to the left hand lane... one more car on the right side and the left would have been blocked and useless.

fintail

Speaking of left turns, that reminds me of something. The questionably managed city where I live has strange light sequencing...at busy intersections, sometimes the left turn lanes get green before straight moving traffic. When this happens, you can almost always count on a left turner freaking out when they see what they think is oncoming traffic (but is just the opposing left turner heading in an opposite direction) and almost come to a stop, no matter the traffic behind them. This is on 30-35mph roads, and leads to near-miss rear end incidents. As with other cases of local timidity, it's often people who hail from places where traffic looks a lot more chaotic and difficult than here, yet they lose it when they see this little spectacle. What's with that?

Licensing standards need to be A LOT tougher :shades: :sick:

imidazol97

>http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/see-the-continuous-flow-intersec- - tion-707106.html

What do you think of this left turn setup? it will be the first one like this in Ohio (and maybe the last).

In a recent newspaper article they mentioned they went to visit one in some western state that was operating like this where left turn traffic crosses over the opposing lanes of traffic 500 feet before the intersection. They they flow through the intersection later to merge into the northbound lanes.

xrunner2

Fun had yesterday...all while in the fintail. First winner: old man in a late W211 E350 pulls out from a driveway right in front of me,

Please decipher. What is a W211 E350? Is that some kind of vintage Yugo factory code or Korean car factory code?

xrunner2

Today in rush hour afternoon traffic it was raining. As usual, a number of idiots who do not put on headlights in rain when continual windshield wiper action is needed, not the pause type. My unofficial analysis shows the offenders mainly drive American brand vehicles. Also, on back roads, suburban areas, the usual early left turners who cannot wait until I get past an intersection and start moving their vehicles and turning their wheels toward me before I clear the intesection. They cannot wait a split second later. Their life and mission and action items are so important that they cannot wait one more second to start their left turn.

As summer approaches, the usual number of idiot pickup truck and suv drivers will drive well past sunset with their "cool" looking parking lights on, not headlights. What's with their lack of intelligence?

imidazol97

Is the SUV and pickemup truck drivers who have extra bright low-mounted running lights. These are turned on with the LOW beams rather than with the HIGH beams so that they blind other folk coming toward them. But that way everyone knows they can have extra bright lights.

Apparently because they are low they are aimed upward rather than down toward the ground.

jimbres

At times like this, Google is your friend.

W211 refers to the E-class (mid-sized) Mercedes-Benz produced from 2002 until 2009. It was superseded by the W212, which is the latest generation of the E-class.

Mercedes-Benz W211

3233

I don't mind if people forget to turn their lights on in light to moderate rain at midday...I'll flash them but in the scheme of things they aren't posing a huge danger. The problem is when that light shower turns into a torrential downpour and you can barely see 50 yards in front of you. That happened yesterday here in Georgia, where these types of short-but-drenching rains are common in summer. I was driving on a four-lane road, taking it pretty slow due to the heavy rain, and have to nearly lock up my brakes as a guy makes a left turn in front of me at an intersection-I didn't see him until he had started turning. What makes it worse is that I had MY lights on, so he knew I was coming and still went. Nice.

Yesterday was also the last day of school. The Volvo 240 wagon and Toyota Tacoma pickup I saw trying to drift through a turn in the rain were probably related. Both drivers were incredibly stupid in doing that on public roads and probably shouldn't be in control of a car, but I have to admit I cracked a smile when the Volvo's back end kicked out. My friend's mom drove us to soccer practice in that very same model :shades:

fintail

That's pretty interesting, it looks like it does a good job of keeping trafic moving - especially when exiting the highway. I've never seen a setup like that before. At least they are trying...around here, I don't get that impression very often.

fintail

It's German factory car code, although E350 should have been apparent :shades:

snakeweasel

The bike ride I took was along a paved bike path that crossed several street. At the crossing the streets didn't stop and there were stop signs on the path along with signs saying that cross traffic doesn't stop.

At one intersection as I was stopped waiting for traffic to clear one lady coming from my left slows down and stops (with several cars behind her) and waves me across. The only problem was that there was traffic coming from my right that wasn't stopping so I couldn't go anyway. But she just sat there until I was able to cross and blocking traffic all the time.

At another intersection as I was coming to a stop well before the road some lady coming from the right (so she was on the opposite side of the road) slammed on her brakes and blew her horn. She gave me a dirty look, however I have no ideal why as I was stopped before the road and nowhere near her. :confuse:

ponderpoint

"they also knew the shift changes and were speeding about 30 minutes prior to the shift change as they knew we were short handed at that time."

I also heard an unfortunate development provided by cheap cell phones is a coordinated effort advising when sections of highway are "clear" and police-free for their fun and games...... Sad

I don't know what is a harder job for you, stopping the little snots before they kill themselves and others or, sadly, scraping their cartilage and bone fragments of the pavement. You're the one that has to show up at the parents doorstep......

Funny how you mention the other motorists.... I also gave a little "beep, beep" years ago on I-64 just off the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel down in the Norfolk area, as to alert the officer that..... That "crap" you just pulled over has a lot more history going on than the particular offense you got them for.....

xwesx

I agree. It essentially eliminates the additional time required to allow left-turn traffic to make that turn on the primary road, since they can turn at the same time as through traffic. Of course, it is not eliminating the need for the through traffic to stop for the left turns but, by offsetting it, traffic congestion can be reduced. An overpass system for the left turns would be more effective, but compared to construction/maintenance cost, perhaps not more efficient.

I like it and am interested in hearing how it performs.

jensad

What we did to counter the "timers" that knew shift change was to have enforcement units come in 1 hours earlier or have a overlap shift work 1-2 after the shift change. It was fun to catch a 80-90 mph driver at 5 am speeding along in the right lane obvilous to me in the fast lane clocking him/her.

Very glad I am retired, but it is fun to remember some of the weird events while working and supporting my family.

My aunt lived in Paris and I visited her often. We drove to Normandy and the cemetary that is there, and it was something I will never forget. I hope all of us here have a peaceful and remembrance moment on Memorial Day. Good luck to all and stay safe.

jensad

elias

been there, done that, at 5AM.
And WOW was that unmarked-lincoln-navigator-driving-trooper cranky at the end of his overnight shift!

jensad

Wow! Eilas you went in CLASS. (I am envious!!)

I had to drive the fast, but really a pos, Dodge. And no a Dodge in not in itself a dog, its the beating my dodge patrol car had to endure and we drove them up to 100000 miles.

Now in your Lincoln-navigator I bet you had no problem getting the fast ones. Oh well, if I was "young", again, as I am fast approaching 69 yrs. I would do it again.

The issue I had to get used to was not going 75-85 mph in my private car. But as I mentioned last Jan, going to the Mojave to buy our Golden Ret. I went the flow of traffic on I 5 at 75-80. I go slower around the SF Bay Area.

Good luck to all and stay safe. Hope all have a peaceful Memorial Day.

jensad

tjc78

I had to drive the fast, but really a pos, Dodge.

I have noticed here in Jersey that most of the NJSP use marked Crown Vics, however, the unmarked ones are Dodge Chargers. That throws a lot of people off and I am sure that the officers can pace the offenders or that people blow by without even noticing.

elias

just to be clear, jensad, I was the one cited! I am not a cop and never have been one. However I have been mistaken for a cop many times due to how I drive and occasionally having an "antenna farm" on my car. (truckers sometimes call out a smokey-report over the CB, reporting me as a "smokey in a plain black wrapper". heh heh.

Anyway, my most recent citation was while driving my GTO, and was provided by a very cranky state-trooper at 5AM. I am a no-apology considerate speeder, happy to pass in the right lane when it's open & safe to do so.

Lately I prefer the right lanes lately especially because my cars tires are all worn-out unevenly on the left due to 90% of their ~20,000 miles being in the left lane @ 83 mph, and the road-crown, and stock suspension having worn out (now replaced with PEDDERS.

Recently I find it useful to follow the big-rig driving rules - they are prohibited from driving in the left lanes, so I shun the left lane and let the tailgators dominate there. And I slowly/calmly/respectfully help the bigrigs wend their way past slowpokes who so often clog the rightmost N-1 lanes of the N-lane highways.

jensad

Please forgive me. I still put my foot in my mouth and bite down hard. GTOs were/are great, and comfortable cars. My friend had one in the late 1960s and it really moved out.

Another friend had a 440 67 or 68 (forgot which one) Dodge and that was a real fast car. On the CHP, I pushed a loaded Greyhound bus up hill through the Caldecott Tunnel with my Dodge. When they ran they ran fast but if you let the Dodge patrol car sit in the 90/100 degree heat in Contra Costa Cty, the engine block melted. I.e. we lost 4 engines by keeping the motor running on a stop.

I don't know how the Fords did but I did also drive a Merc on the CHP and that was an excellent riding and fast car.

My wife and I will this fall, either drive our Acura across country to visit our son and his family in Illinois or we may just fly. If I drive my RL it will do the job and it is comfortable for my wife.

Best to all for the memorial week end and stay safe.

jensad

elias

happy & safe memday weekend to you , jensad!
there is a friday/sunset Memorial-day-weekend parade in my town which I saw for the first time, very nice.
(currently i'm enjoying the weekend by watching a robot arm do things via the BP Oil-Spill-Cam .)

fintail

Today I got behind a white new style Sonata rental car. It was driving normal enough until it went around the corner. As it started to turn, it slowed to a crawl so the driver could flick cigarette ashes out the window - while negotiating the turn at 2mph. I hope rental agencies put some kind of tobacco detector in the cars.

hammerhead

866-LITTER1.

Report 'em.

fintail

I dunno if the local revenue enforcers will put out an APB to go after a sloppy smoker in a rental car. Maybe I am too cynical.

I saw another goodie last night. Late 90s Range Rover...30-35mph on an on-ramp, got to about 40mph when the ramp ended, and I quickly went around...maybe didn't get above that speed as it vanished behind me in a flash as I drove the criminal speed of ~65 in a 60. How can people do that?

imidazol97

> the local revenue enforcers will put out an APB to go after a sloppy smoker in a rental car.

I heard Redflex of Australia is working on a camera for that. Local political divisions will go crazy over that revenue maker.

hammerhead

They send a nastygram to the registered owner, enlightening them to the fact that throwing ignited/smoking/flaming material out of a car window carries a minimum $1000 fine.

jensad

I hated and still hate smokers that I many times are in front of me. I had no problem citing them and it seems like the smokers have declined. Now if you see big clouds of white/black smoke it is really noticible.

I stopped one guy in an old ford, for huge billows of smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. I asked him about the smoke, he said he needed to get to school and puts into his car about 5 qts. of oil to and then from school. He got a fortune cookee, as i asked to fix it. Other officers cited to court which did not do much, as the judges just had them get it signed off and then the driver would put some stp in the oilto cut it down for a few days.

Good luck and stay safe.

jensad

snakeweasel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6U7tO_rckU&feature=player_embedded

fintail

Funny...too bad races like that are so uncommon in this part of the world.

One comment sums it up:

"what kind of buffoon stands at the end of long straight , next to an escape road, with a child, with cars hurtling towards them at 60, 70, or 80 mph??"

the_big_al

I unfortunately used to be one of those smokers... I could leave the intersection in a haze of smoke so thick you wouldn't be able to see through the other side. I had a turbo on the car and I found that if I left the oil level full, it went right through the turbo into the combustion chamber. Run the thing a quart low and all was clear. I also had to run 20w/50 to keep the oil pressure up and when running a quart low, the low pressure light would pop on at intersections.

So it was a battle between keeping oil pressure up and not smoking. Once I was moving, the car didn't smoke. It was only on initial acceleration.... still being in high school it was sometimes fun to sit in the parking lot at idle speeds and see how much I could clog the parking lot atmosphere...

jensad

Me too the big al. I owned a 53 Chev that burned about 1 qt. of the cheap oil about every 30 or so miles. Grand Auto "best" (I think it was 80 wt) oil. Maybe that is why as a CHP officer, I used to look for the vehicles that were also burning oil.

I overhauled the entire engine, new rings, ground the valves ect. and then I drove that Chev about 60k more miles and when it again began to use oil, I sold it.

Today it is rare for me to see a vehicle smoking when driving on the freeway. But when I do see one, it reminds me of my old Chev.

Hope all have a beautiful and safe week end.

jensad

the_big_al

Must be a slow week, or every one is driving well.... no posts! I don't have one to add either...

fintail

I think I am growing numb to the idiocy here. It's still around, it just doesn't usually stick in my head for more than a minute.

Today's memorable dope - idiot in a Scion who was tailgating me when I was stuck behind an old Pathfinder going 25 in a 30. Why do people in poor performing cars seem to drive more aggressively than others? I've never been tailgated by a Porsche or an Aston Martin etc...

snakeweasel

OK here you go. Whats your take?

xrunner2

Dumb. Drivers already have enough to do at stoplights such as texting, talking on cell, eating a cheeseburger and fries, drinking coffee, admonishing a kid, etc. They barely have enough extra brain power to watch for signal to go green much less looking at an ad on the license plate ahead.

euphonium

It's bad enough having to read the license plate frame telling where he bought the clunker and now this? :mad:

fintail

Dumb move from a desperate mismanaged state

xwesx

I agree with all comments. This is a horrendously foolish idea. It is creative in terms of revenue generation, but foolish in terms of safety. If I start seeing such nonsense on vehicles around here, I will be among the first to lobby my legislators to ban the use of such devices in Alaska. Hey, that might be dually effective: Keeping obvious and dangerous distractions off the road and keeping California drivers/vehicles off our roads! :P

Of course, present company excluded.

fintail

Keep the Californicators off the roads...I wouldn't complain.

Oh yeah, my area now has phone yapping as a primary offense...my anecdotal observations detect a 0% decrease in distracted driving.

the_big_al

Here's my story of the day and luckily it ended better than it could have..

Traveling home I just about squished someone between a semi and my front fender. Traveling on a 2-lane freeway, I am behind an LLC. Behind me is a California-plated Camry. Can't decide whether to say 2 inches of my bumper or 2 feet. Either way, she's cutting it close back there. Can't really pass on the right since it's pretty clogged so I am just hanging back leaving a comfortable space between me and MR LLC. To give him credit, he is going at least the limit, but he he should move over. Finally a gap opens up large enough for to me utilize on the right and I take it. Ms. Camry also follows suit, but by the time she does she is several lengths behind me. I come upon a semi in the right and move to prepare to overtake. In front of me is a Dodge truck that is going perhaps maybe 5 over. I slow up and then I realize that Ms. Camry is zooming up in the right lane. I realize what she is going to do and already the gap between me and Mr. Dodge is less than my comfort zone as I had essentially "zoomed" up on him before slowing up. Ms Brilliant Camry zooms up, blinkers blazin, and squeezes right at the last second between me, the semi's rear of the trailer and in between Mr Dodge and me. If I had not slammed on my brakes at the last second, she would have clipped my front end with her rear and might have shoved her into Mr Semi's trailer. This happens in almost a split second, leaving hardly any room for me to react. For all the good it did, Ms. Camry got an loud earful of my pitiful single not horn, but alas there wasn't anything I could do except mutter at her. One mile later my exit came up and I decided to zoom up next to her to see what this moronic idiot looked like. I glanced over at her, gave her the evil eye and shook my head at her. She just looked at me like "what huh???" :confuse: :sick:

snakeweasel

I usually take the tollway to work and where I get on I have to make a left turn onto the on ramp. The left turn is at a light and has two left turn lanes and the on ramp is two lanes for about half its length and funnels down to one.

Well currently they are doing some construction on this on ramp ad it is one lane for the entire length. Because of this they have blocked off the left lane of the two left turn lanes so that there is only one lane turning left. So what do I see on my way to work? Some clown in the left through lane (next to the one left turn lane) making a left turn.

Can't say what happened as I was a few cars behind but it was rather inconsiderate.

tankbeans

...but I thought I'd share my story.

A couple of weeks ago I was entering one freeway from another and was already up to the prevailing speed on the freeway onto which I was entering. I had a spot that I was attempting to merge into and was aiming for that spot. Meanwhile the driver immediately behind that spot sped up so I couldn't get in. At this point I couldn't slow down or I would have been hit so I ended up having to floor it and cut the other guy off. I didn't want to do it, but I had no choice. And this isn't the first time this has happened.

A minor story...Yesterday I was on the freeway and a guy decides to pass somebody on the shoulder because they seemed to think they were worth something.

EDIT: I guess there's a reason why Minnesota drivers (primarily in the metro area) are considered the third rudest drivers in the country behind New York City and probably some place in California.

euphonium

She thinks, "What's his problem? Relax dude, it was just a lane change."

What would have happened if you had simply continued to follow the LLC at a safe distance as he was going at least the speed limit?

fintail

Blood would have boiled? And a LLC going the limit...not a common event. They'll go 5 under as not to take the risk of going a speed deemed safe for underengineered cars of 40+ years ago.

Flow of traffic or right lane, it should be easy.

the_big_al

So I used to let LLC's bother me. It used to really get to me. But either I haven't been doing much freeway traveling lately, or I have become numb to their stupidity. However, an new type of driver is starting to bug me more and more.

It's the driver who goes ultra slow on corners and then once a straightaway comes along, they zoom up to a threshold above the limit that would make passing have to be at a speed that could be both dangerous and extremely illegal. It bugs me to no end, because on the roads this happens on, you can drive the corners at the same speed as the straightways. That speed happens to be a comfortable level above the SL that won't get you pulled over and ticketed. Which is what I happen to drive.

So when I get stuck behind one of these guys, I have to gamble. Do I stay behind them going 40-45 MPH when I could be going 65, or do I pass them going 90 MPH??? Usually, I can find a way to get by them using some strategic tactics (there are a couple of passing zones that I utilize but they are too short to be of any use if you use them when they begin. Luckily, you can see way down the road long before they actually begin.) But a lot of times I am resigned to stay behind them until the double lane passing zone opens up and I can get by.

tallman1

The other thing that is very similar is when drivers will go slow on a two lane highway until they reach a passing lane. Then they speed up... until the passing lane ends. Then it is back to slow again.

I feel your pain. :sick:

fintail

Heck, around here there are drivers who will brake for curves on interstate highways! They must be related, along with the simps who will slow to 3mph when making turns on surface streets, as if the sideways forces are just intolerable to them.

If visibility is perfect, pass when you can.

Regarding the ones who speed up in passing zones and then slow down again...floor it, get past them, and then expose them to their own medicine.