Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

andres3

ps - your fave parts of CVC = my fave parts of CVC .

pps - the National Motorists Association is great !

Glad you think so!

More good news:

California Court of Appeal Throws Out Red Light Camera Ticket

http://thenewspaper.com/news/37/3714.asp

US Supreme Court Upsets Speed Camera Industry

http://thenewspaper.com/news/28/2854.asp

Why the US Supreme Court was split 5-4 in upholding our Constitutional RIGHT to confront and face our accuser's in a court of law, I'll never understand. It should have cleary been unanimous 9-0.

Looks like Red Flex should be showing up in court if they want the video and camera evidence to be admitted, since it is hearsay from an officer who has nothing to do with the "system."

fintail

Some are still being bought off, however

Haven't seen too many inconsiderate drivers lately - traffic volumes seem lower this week. Did have a garbage truck make an unsignalled lane change into my position early this morning, but the hour and job might excuse it. Primary annoyance in my area continues to be inconsiderate and negligent light sequencing, which with these gas prices is more wasteful and criminal than ever.

xwesx

I had a guy on a cellphone try to sideswipe me a couple days ago. Not once, but TWICE in quick succession! We were at a dual left turn, with me on the outer (right) lane. As we finish the turn, he doesn't straighten his car (a brand new Taurus) and drifts quickly into my lane with me right beside (literally). I honked and looked over at the passenger, who looked horrified. She smacked the guy's arm, he glances over with an annoyed look, then starts to pull back. At that point, the side of his car was within six inches of mine.

A few seconds later, he starts coming over again! That time, I just dropped to third and punched it; I can recognize a hopeless case when I see it. :sick:

We have also had some fresh snow - close to two feet - in the last few days, and folks always like to conveniently forget where lanes are located. So, I have ended up being fairly close to a few vehicles as I pass them due to their driving down the middle of two lanes and me not wanting to 1, dawdle behind them, and 2, experience a frontal offset collision with oncoming traffic. Funny enough, at least half of these drivers have honked at me as I pass... as though they consider my vehicle to be the problem there? I don't get it.... the lane lines are even visible (because people keep driving on them!).

euphonium

" half of these drivers have honked at me as I pass... as though they consider my vehicle to be the problem there? I don't get it."

The other drivers were expressing their opinion you were driving faster than conditions allowed. Their advice is conservative, but correct.

fintail

The person driving down the middle of the road because of ineptitude and fear is correct?

Yep, continuing to race towards the bottom :sick:

fintail

I still see a massive amount of people talking and driving. Looks like the enforcement scheme by our armed revenue enforcement agents isn't changing any habits.

You need to come to Seattle when there's a few inches of snow

andres3

The other drivers were expressing their opinion you were driving faster than conditions allowed. Their advice is conservative, but correct.

Hhahahah! Spoken like a true auto insurance lobbyist!

Next you'll be telling us how speed kills and failing to cite that most speed related crashed were due to going too fast for conditions (i.e. wet or icy roads and a sharp curve, and bald worn out tires, and worn out suspension, and 80 year old driver, or 16 year old on the cell phone texting...)...

Which really doesn't have anything to do with speed, but lack of judgment.

andres3

with phones having camera's these days, they should let you take a picture while driving (no worse than talking while driving, LOL) of the offenders texting and talking, then another of the license plate, and an APP to click send an email with the pics to the local revenue enforcer!

Vigilante justice!

P.S. I've opted for the APP from Escort to turn my radar detector into a tattletale of donut eating revenue workers' locations, so now everyone with a smartphone, and Escort radar detector can be a surveillance scout to all, all in real live time!

andres3

Yes, Washington State is going downhill fast!

They need an initiative to remove judges if they won't let the people vote on red light cameras!

xwesx

Their advice is conservative, but correct.

Of course it was, because you would know, right? :sick:

I think they were more likely expressing their disapproval of me passing them less than a foot off the port side. The problem is, they failed to notice the 8 feet of open road on the starboard where they should be driving.

xwesx

You need to come to Seattle when there's a few inches of snow

Hahahah; no I don't! It is tough enough to get through that area when there are no (unusual) complicating factors! I'm content to live vicariously through you and the others who must tolerate it daily.

Honestly, folks generally do fairly well during snow events here. The most common problems arise when folks fail to be considerate in one way or another, and it can be from the faster drivers or the slower ones. I would stay that the most common inconsideration is drivers using the passing lane on multi-lane roads (which generally becomes heavily laden with snow due to most traffic using the outer lane, which then blows clear and essentially doubles the snow load in the inner lane) for more than just a brief moment to pass. They end up kicking up snow way down the road, blinding folks behind them in the process. The best way to execute such a pass is to get the speed up, move over shortly behind the "target vehicle," and then get back in quickly.

For some reason, many of these "snow butts," as folks tend to call them, think they should stay in that lane longer than necessary, which only serves to cause a lasting whiteout. A quick out-and-in technique is brief enough as to not unduly hinder visibility for other drivers.

The worst ones are the timid drivers, though. My god. They're bad enough when weather is good, but put a little bad weather out there with them and walking several miles starts looking awfully attractive! :sick:

snakeweasel

I'll never understand. It should have cleary been unanimous 9-0.

Remember that the camera is NOT the accuser. The photo is simply evidence, the accuser is the state.

ruking1

Too funny !! Fintail is whining because he has to "pay" to play. Shoot couple inches of snow in Seattle, is like WASH DC, a declared federal emergency day, with a disaster declare if there is a second day of snow !!

snakeweasel

Sounds like what happened to me a few weeks ago. BTW got the car back today, looks good. On the plus side there was some scratches on the back bumper that were there when we bought the car (I had buffed most of them out) that they touched up as a courtesy.

xwesx

Yeah, pretty similar (I'd say mine was a more preferable outcome!) except I think you said the crazy came from the right in your case, yes?

The funny part of it was that I was where I was because a friend needed a ride to work due to his car being stuck in his driveway. And, this was the same friend who was in my car that fateful night of 12/30/2006. This is the first time he was riding with me since that night (and that night was the first time he had ever ridden with me).

After we jetted past the other driver, I said, "what is it with you? You're bad luck! How is it I can drive tens of thousands of miles without incident, yet you get in the car and all hell breaks loose?"

He replies, "I don't know, but I'm just glad you didn't roll the car." Hahha; nice.

-----------------------------

How long was the car down, overall? I didn't look back through the posts to check, but it seems like it was fairly quick... a couple weeks?

snakeweasel

Yeah, pretty similar (I'd say mine was a more preferable outcome!) except I think you said the crazy came from the right in your case, yes?

Right on both counts.

How long was the car down, overall?

Dropped it off Wednesday morning on the way to work, Thursday evening got a call saying it was ready and picked it up during lunch today. So from dropping it off to getting the call it was ready in maybe 34 hours.

fintail

No doubt Redflex and peers is delivering cash filled briefcases to certain already overpaid "workers".

WA state is stupid in a few ways...could laws be any more useless?

fintail

Seeing as you have snow for what, 9 months a year, people there should be able to handle it. And those who can't shouldn't be allowed to drive.

It's similar here with the rain. Seems like it rains 300 days a year, but some freak out at the lightest mist, while the lifted bro truck set then doubles their average speed.

Like today - winners were an older woman in an Accord hybrid going about 26 in a 35 who had about 12 cars stacked behind her when she finally turned. Then I got behind a similarly experienced man in an Endeavor who wouldn't get within 4 car lengths of the car in front of him, and would tap his brakes randomly now and then, as a stream of cars got behind him and then went around. Sure can't wait for the boomers to pile on another decade or two of age :shades:

snakeweasel

I received a letter from a sleaze bag lawyer today regarding my accident. They are looking for me to file a personal injury claim through them. In their letter they said that I could be getting letters from lawyers of questionable experience and their advice was to throw those letters away. So I took their advice and threw their letter away.

bolivar

Why don't you write them back thanking them for bringing this to your attention, but you will be filling the lawsuit yourself.

snakeweasel

Hey thats a good Ideal, I just may do that. I was going to write them and tell them that I took their advice about throwing away lawyers letters and threw theirs away. But I like yours better.

snakeweasel

I got behind some idiot lady that couldn't maintain a constant speed. She would slow down to about 5 or so below the SL then get up to 5 above or so then slow down then speed up. Her distraction? A big dog that was trying to stick its head out the sun roof.

fintail

Last night saw a rental Kia Forte make a right turn in a straight-only lane directly in front of a late model Cayenne Turbo. Would have been a funny fender bender, especially to see the reaction if the Cayenne driver was one of the local oligarchs who have bought their way in. Would they sue or shoot?

backy

I didn't observe the following behavior but my son told me about what he saw yesterday, and I think it falls into the category "just when you think you've seen everything."

Car with driver and front passenger tooling along. They are talking with each other. Doesn't sound very inconsiderate or dangerous, right? Except they are using ASL. And the driver is talking with both hands. That beats even texting... at least texting can be done with one hand still on the wheel.

fintail

Speaking of sign language, got behind a woman in a 90s Saturn today having a very animated conversation with her passenger - her head perpetually turned, hands waving, etc. She was going ~22 in a 30, and would trail off and go into the bike lane before correcting. I was hoping she'd drive off a cliff. I wish high gas prices would keep those who hate driving off the road.

stever

And haven't seen anything worth writing about. Easy road trip. No one tailgating me, pulling out in front, not letting me merge.

Seeing lots of off-topic inconsiderate posts in here, but few about inconsiderate drivers.

andres3

Remember that the camera is NOT the accuser. The photo is simply evidence, the accuser is the state.

But who is the cameraman? Who is the operator? That is the true accuser. They need to provide the proper foundation to admit photo evidence, or maybe I can start using random internet photos looked up on google images for the courtroom?

snakeweasel

That is the true accuser.

The true accuser is the state, the pictures are simply evidence.

It's as simple as that.

andres3

But you have a right to question evidence being admitted. And the court has decided that rightfully needs to be done with the experts that maintain and run the system (be it a lab tech in a drug case, or a camera manufacturer in a camera traffic case). The Officer/State playing the role as prosecuter has no real knowledge of how the camera system works.

Only a corrupted person sitting on the bench would accept the camera evidence as accurate without any foundation.

snakeweasel

Unless there is a program in the camera that is digitally manipulating the images I can't see an issue with how a picture is taken. A picture is a picture, if it shows something it shows something. It cannot provide a false positive like a lab test can (how can the camera take a picture of something that didn't happen?).

Going on what you say any video evidence in any criminal case is not admissible. Which is clearly false.

xwesx

Well, given the readily available video and photo editing technology available, I am inclined to say the opposite: It is difficult to believe anything you see in a photo / video these days because it is so easy to manipulate them. :sick:

roadburner

Going on what you say any video evidence in any criminal case is not admissible. Which is clearly false.

Evidence derived from video equipment that is being directly operated by a human being is -in my mind- readily distinguishable from being convicted by uncorroborated data from a machine. What about the right to confront the prosecuting witness?

gogogodzilla

I've been noticing of late that drivers in the Washington-Baltimore region have been consistently slowing down on highway merge ramps prior to merging onto the highways... and then taking roughly 30-60 seconds to get up to highway speeds afterwards.

Anyone else noticing that nowadays?

(IE: get onto the ramp, take it at 35-45 mph, straighten out for the merge... and then slow down to 30-35 mph before merging. Despite the highway traffic moving at 60-70 mph.)

fintail

Sounds like Seattle :sick:

Lots of idiots out here today. Saw a Tesla that slid off the road on a TV traffic report. This afternoon saw 2 cars in different locations turn right from left turn lanes, also an older man in a Lexus LS come about 1" from rear ending an Accord - while he was holding a phone, and to top it off, two crosswalk crowders - Q7 and 1er cabrio.

fintail

Only one dummy today, woman in a blue Focus makes a right turn from a straight only lane in front of a late model E-class, which screeches the tires and lays on the horn quickly. Oh, also saw endless hordes of morons yapping while driving too.

stever

I'm heading into DC tomorrow to visit Dumbarton Oaks and see the new WWII memorial. Should be pretty tame traffic on a Sunday.

Last night driving back to my sister's from a Dennys (free wifi), I got behind a drunk going 25 in a 50. When I signaled to pass him, he floored it. Luckily he turned off in a quarter mile.

stickguy

I'm sure you will appreciate this comment from someone on the Imprezza board (related to a discussion about MPG and city driving):

"Light traffic is NOT a draw for living in the greater Seattle area....

and most towns in this area set the stoplights in town to catch you at EVERY light, instead of setting them for keeping you moving if you do the limit. Seems counter to saving gas, but I assume is better for raising revenue. "

fintail

Nice, someone else has the same idea I do. I am 100% certain the negligent and deplorable light timing in my area is a ploy to both increase fuel consumption (gas tax revenue) and to aid local businesses by encouraging people to make impulse-related shopping stops. I find it amusing that I can make many local light chains if I go 10-15 over.

On the dumb driver idea, last night I saw a fresh unplated new CRV make the most idiotic 8-point U-turn at a major intersection. I won't stereotype the driver, but isellhondas probably refused them a test drive :shades:

xrunner2

Last Friday, driving west on a 2-lane 55MPH numbered state highway, noticed a black sedan traveling east and it was starting to stray from center of lane toward painted center line.

The car started to come over the line and I already went into evasive mode, steering car to a paved half-shoulder. Then, the driver realized what it was doing and put the car back into the east lane. As the car got closer to me, then passed, noticed that the driver was a woman holding (apparently) a cellphone to her head. These are idiot drivers that should be put in jail for a while - week, month, etc. Too bad that she did not do that in front of a county sheriff patrol car.

backy

I was driving down a 4-lane residential street today, going to turn left. City bus is sitting at opposite corner, picking up a passenger. One car was behind him, waiting patiently. An old Ford pickup needs to turn right. So he moves into the left lane, passing the car and the bus, to cut in front of the bus to turn. Fortunately, the bus started pulling out before the truck got in front of it, so there was no collision. But the truck sat in the left lane, in the intersection, holding up traffic in the left lane, until the bus and the other car passed (actually two cars because by now another car had driven up in the right lane. Finally the right lane was clear, so the truck could turn right--illegally--from the left lane.

I see city police on that street pretty often. Sure wish there had been one present today.

fintail

Jail time might be harsh and a waste of resources in the already overcrowded and crooked corporate-influenced criminal justice system, but more fines need to exist, for sure. I swear half the people in my area are yapping and driving. Of course, when national rules on this can't even exist, we're not going to see any progress soon.

xwesx

Fines don't mean much without enforcement and, from what I hear, enforcement is entirely lacking on that topic.

xwesx

Brilliant. I'm sure you likely had the privilege of waiting that much longer for the traffic in the left lane (held up by the pickup) to finally clear. And, unless there was a center turn lane on the road, any traffic behind you in the left lane was also held up.

Regrettably, the driver of that vehicle likely bemoaned the timing (having to wait the extra time for the right lane to clear because the bus pulled away when it did) and never even considered the choice of trying to go around the bus as asinine (regardless of the outcome). In other words, someone else, somewhere else, is doomed to suffer that driver's foolishness again. :sick:

backy

But maybe not forever... maybe next time the bus will pull out just as the old truck cuts in front of him. Unfortunately, it would probably be his wife (or whomever the woman sitting on the passenger side was) who would get seriously injured.

stever

"Ready to unload a few choice curse words on that overloaded pickup clogging the left, supposed "passing lane"?

New Jersey may be the state for you.

A state not known for courtesy and patience is proposing tougher "keep right" legislation aimed at curbing road rage triggered by slow-moving vehicles blocking faster left-lane traffic."

New Jersey to slow drivers in the fast lane: Get out of the way (LA Times)

stickguy

I live here. The police are never going to make a point of enforcing this The masses will just keep enforcing on their own (ramming from behind, gunfire, passing on the shoulder, etc.)

Too much work when they could be running speed traps where there is no safety need for one, but revenue is to be made.

also, this is going to be very hard to prove in court I think. too many variables, and very subjective.

stever

Perhaps but there seems to be a bit of a trend toward driver education on this issue.

HOV lanes probably have done as much good getting people to move over as anything.

fintail

This morning, out in the old car, had a BC plated highline late model Sienna with one of those idiotic family stick figure decals on the back window blindly pull in front of me from a side street and then crawl. I tooted the horn - not a jerky long honk, just a couple blips, and I got the finger once the road widened and I was able to get past. What the hell? That might fly in a place now destined for crooked wealth to hide, where there's no right to bear arms, but try that in many American areas, and you might contract lead poisoning - and it might not be a huge shame if it happened, clean out the gene pool.

Also got behind a Prius that seemed to be stuck in electric mode, I swear I could have pushed it faster. And topped it off by a [non-permissible content removed] in an Armada who was trying to bully his way through downtown traffic - could only sit back and laugh as I knew the road has negligent traffic controls, and he was weaving around and flooring it just to stop at a light. I think he gained 3 car lengths in a half mile.

hammerhead

Canucks - did they take a wrong turn at the border? I did that once - missed the last turnaround NB before the border at Blaine - had to go the long way, so to speak (all the way to Canada LOL) to get going south again.

Prius - hypermilers?

fintail

This was in Bellevue, so if they made a wrong turn, Toyota has really really bad nav systems :shades:

Prius was going about 10 in a 30...that could be it. When the dope finally turned, he did it Prius driver style, too - hit the signal after he started turning. Oh the wonderful lowest common denominator.