Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

backy · January 2013

Yes, seriously. Do you live in an area where it snows a lot? People driving around with obstructed windows is very common where I live... and a big safety issue.

Everyone should know you don't do things like text while driving, camp in the left lane, drive without lights in dim light etc. etc. But how many posts here have been directed at those and other rules that "everyone should know"?

gogogodzilla · January 2013

It really depends on the traffic. A cold, snowy, blustery day with no traffic... on a flat, straight highway shouldn't slow anyone down much.

For there isn't anything on a road like that requiring sudden stops or steering changes.

Unfortunately, we have drivers here in the US that are so poor that they actually *CAN'T* handle driving in a straight line at a steady speed... even in *GOOD* weather.

Case in point: http://youtu.be/kzlg3oQMze4

fintail · January 2013

You should see it when it snows in Seattle. Some will just clear a little peephole, like driving a tank.

Rainy drive tonight, several cars with no lights or parking lights (after legal sunset but not the civil twilight some cling to :shades: ), lots of no signals, actually spotted no phone yappers, no egregious crosswalk crowders.

xrunner2 · January 2013

You should see it when it snows in Seattle. Some will just clear a little peephole, like driving a tank.

See that here too. These are incredibly, in priority order, lazy and dumb and irresponsible and inconsiderate drivers

fintail · January 2013

Tonight, raining again, yay. Nothing too terrible, but still too many running with light issues. Tonight it was mainly parking lights. I wonder what the mentality is for this..."I want to be visible, but not too visible"? Also, do BMW X5s come equipped with turn signals? Got crosswalk crowded once by an older woman in a new Beetle, who gave me an apologetic wave when she noticed.

fintail · January 2013

Partly clear evening ,beautiful sunset, and hardly any cars with headlight issues - yes, not as dark, and more "drivers" were using lights. Gotta love it.

No real issues other than random slowpokes or bad lane changes, but while on foot saw a woman yell "Excuse me, I'm walking, I'm walking!" at a Solara that had a close call with her in a crosswalk. Doesn't seem to be an enforcement priority.

backy · January 2013

Doesn't seem to be an enforcement priority.

It does seem hard to believe that the LEO who was on the scene didn't issue a ticket to the Solara driver who almost hit the woman.

There was a LEO on the scene, right?

I'd like to see stopping for green lights for no reason at all be an enforcement priority, too. Also I'd like to see tickets issued to people who pass on the right... when there's no lane there. I observed both of those behaviors today. Oh wait... there was no LEO around to observe those acts. Guess we need to put more LEOs on the streets... hmmm, more money needed there, methinks. You go first, I know others will also contribute.

fintail · January 2013

LEO, red herring? There never is one. They are busy speedtrapping wide clear visibility underposted streets. Follow the money.

backy · January 2013

No red herring at all. YOU were the one asking for enforcement of things like a car getting close to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. How many crosswalks are there in your city? Quite a few in mine.

fintail · January 2013

Irrelevant distraction from you again. I cross quite a few 5 days a week - NEVER seen a cop near one. The priority is about revenue, which means speedtrapping.

backy · January 2013

How much is the ticket for failing to yield right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk? I'll bet it's not small. Revenue opportunity there also.

But anyway, your whole argument about LEOs being in the wrong place because of chasing revenue is irrelevant to this discussion. Meaning it's a huge red herring.

fintail · January 2013

I have no idea, but no doubt the volume of speeders is higher, and the citations easier to defend. To serve and protect also has to do with protecting revenue streams.

What discussion? I posted about my daily road experience, someone else chimed in with a weird devils advocate/red herring based complaint as per usual. Looks like I need to install a filter. When I mention my experience, I determine what is relevant. Local LEOs have iffy priorities, and too many local drivers, well, nothing more need be said.

xwesx · January 2013

Yep, and mixing those two types in low visibility is a recipe for disaster.

I came across a true LLC a few days ago coming out of Anchorage. He was driving a late-model GMC truck pulling a 20' or so double-axle covered trailer. This person was going 65 on the button, with no need to be in the left lane at all, but happy as a clam to be there. I decided to perform an experiment on him, so I pulled in front, then let off the accelerator, wondering at what speed he would decide to switch lanes and go around (traffic was relatively light, but there were a few vehicles stacked up behind him). I was down to about 45 by the time all the other vehicles went around us, yet he just stayed where he was in the left lane, tooling along behind me.

Now THAT is an LLC! I just laughed, set the cruise back at 70, and slowly pulled away (he resumed his previous 65 mph speed, always in the left lane).

xwesx · January 2013

Also I'd like to see tickets issued to people who pass on the right... when there's no lane there.

Passing on the right... on a two lane road? That's not illegal if the vehicle being passed is stopped to turn left and the passing vehicle does not have to leave the roadway (e.g., paved surface of the road) to do so.

imidazol97 · January 2013

> so I pulled in front, then let off the accelerator, wondering at what speed he would decide to switch lanes and go around (traffic was relatively light, but there were a few vehicles stacked up behind him). I was down to about 45

I assume the speed limit was 65? So slowing down to 45 made a new LLC'er. Did that prove anything?

If you were able to easily pass the person, they didn't speed up to keep you from pulling back into your lane apparently, which is the left lane, were they the LLC in the end or was the car going 45 in the left lane the LLC?

. Why not merrily go on your way, in the left lane, rather than the right if you please, and have a good day?

fintail · January 2013

He'd probably react like you were speaking Greek if you told him the idea of "keep right except to pass" - I think some chronic clueless LLCing traditionalists might think it is some kind of socialist pinko nonsense.

I like doing the opposite - when a dope speeds up while I am passing, I will keep speeding up to see how far they will take it.

elias · January 2013

over the million miles or so, it's possible to do detailed psychological studies of the LLC, by out-LLCing/MLCing them verrrrry slowly and gradually...

results were as follows:

- 99.4% of MLCs *will pass* on the left, or rarely on the right, when they find themselves out-MLC'd. half the time they are female, half the time male.

- 99.997% of when an LLC is out-LLC'd, he will *slow down arbitrarily to any speed whatsoever* in order to stay in the left lane rather than moving right. These most-typical LLCs will only move right just before they take an exit. another observation: LLCs always seem to be male!

backy · January 2013

Passing on the shoulder of a two-lane road isn't illegal? News to me. At the least, it's unsafe... with snowbanks sticking out into the shoulder in this case, meaning there's barely enough room for the passing vehicle to squeeze by--if I didn't have a compact, there wouldn't have been enough room.

This was a 30 mph road. What's the harm of waiting for the turning car to turn, vs. trying to squeeze by on the constricted shoulder of the road?

fintail · January 2013

" LLCs always seem to be male!"

That matches my experience.

fordf8502014 · January 2013

ahh the big dots lol. we have them here on the east coast too. on route 42 in delaware funny thing is theyre on a 2 lane road with a 55mph posted speed limit with a huge sign with a picture of a cars rear end and 3 big dots behind it.
saying you must have this many dots between you and the car in front, yeah like people read signs between using their cell phone, ipod etc. what will they think of next.. maybe well be like the europeans with the tone beeping when you get too close or the car automatically keeping distance....the hits just keep on comin...lol

fintail · January 2013

WA state tried the "dots" idea a few years ago - it was phased out quickly, as it was discovered bottlenecks were being created by slow drivers putting all their attention into counting dots rather than paying attention to the road. Such a goofy idea.

gogogodzilla · January 2013

LLCs always seem to be male

Not here. Women LLCers have a slight majority on the roads here.

I figure it's probably something to do with the fact that LLCing is a passive-aggressive sort of behavior.

euphonium · January 2013

pass her on the Right - if you can. :P

bolivar · January 2013

Your LLC - My guess, he was going to turn left. Probably 5 or 6 miles down the road, but he got in the left lane because he was going to be turning left. No matter that he violated the 'keep right except to pass' rule, or the traffic was light and he could easily get into the left lane when he actually came close to his turn, in his mind he was going to be turning left, so he posted his vehicle in the left lane.

I've kept people in sight, ones running at the speed limit in the left lane, several time while going north out of my town. About 6 miles up the road is a cross road that leads to a small town and out into the country with several homes, and this is where they make their turn. After camping in the left lane for 5 or more miles.

Or, he was of the opinion that if he was going the speed limit, it made no matter which lane, left or right, he drove in. And even if there was traffic and he was impeading 'speeders' in the left lane, he did not need to move right. I think he has left about a year ago, but there was a poster in here (don't remember his nam) that defended his right to do this to the limit. Whick led to long series of postings with various people 'again' him, but never shaking his opinion.

xwesx · January 2013

Well, possibly. This road was a "freeway" by American standards, and has only limited access exits and entrances - all on the right. About 20 miles down the road from where we were, it has a major split, but does so by adding a third lane.

Really, I was just curious to see whether the driver would change lanes to pass me when I was going extraordinarily slow, given that they had no particular reason to be in the left lane at all with the light traffic and no traffic going slower (or even the same speed as) than this driver. It was a psychological experiment.

The end result was that I found this driver was truly a left lane camper. No rhyme, no reason, just a person who wanted to drive in the left lane. Period. I had my laugh out of it and continued on my way.

xwesx · January 2013

Well, the harm typically is that on many two-lane roads, they've built up enough over the years that the left turn may take a long while to accomplish, and traffic could back up dramatically in the mean time by no fault of the left turner. I don't know your particular situation, but this doesn't sound like the case.

I can't speak for Minnesota, but in the states where I have resided, the law states that passing on the right is acceptable if there is sufficient space to safely pass without leaving the surface of the roadway. Your having a small car could allow this to be the case, even with a snow-narrowed roadway.

I know how you feel, though, as I've been passed both safely and unsafely on the right before, too. I tend to drive in a manner that enables other drivers to get around me when I'd otherwise hold them up (such as while slowing to make a turn, hauling a heavy load, etc), yet sometimes it just isn't safe to get other drivers around me even though I don't want to hold them up. Sometimes they wait and sometimes they don't, but they're the ones who have to make that choice.

backy · January 2013

We're talking a hold up here of all of 2-3 seconds. What's the g.d. hurry?

And I am not about to crowd the centerline of the road (unsafely) just to give Mr. CantWait a little extra room to pass on the right with his truck. The driving lane is narrow enough as it is. 99.9% of drivers on this road realize that and wait patiently, safely, and considerately for left-turners.

xwesx · January 2013

Like I said, the scenario I painted in my post didn't sound like it was the case here.

Many of the roads I drove in Oregon as a youth, as well as those in Pennsylvania where we visit from time to time, are not safe to pass on the right, as you're lucky if you even have enough room to paint a fog line! And, yet, people would still pass on the right from time to time (illegally).

fintail · January 2013

This morning was the time for dumb turners. First up - 4 lane road with a center turn lane. White Sienna slows in the far right lane, starts to turn left without looking, almost hits a car and gets honked at, then when clear makes a left turn from the far right lane. Not 5 minutes later, a different white Sienna on a 2 lane street with a center turn lane makes a left turn with no signal and without using the turn lane. Topped it off by a seeing a Sprinter cargo van on a busy 4 lane + turn lane arterial making a right turn from the left lane, after nearly coming to a stop on a green light. Wonderful place to walk, drive, bike, anything.

fintail · January 2013

Jetta just rear ended a Fusion, right outside/below my front room window (phone photo through screen). I could only see cracked bumpers, but the impact was loud enough to make me get up and look:

xwesx · January 2013

"Oops! Sorry, dude, I was texting my girlfriend!" :sick:

fintail · January 2013

Funny thing, I could hear the Fusion guy talking pretty loudly to Jetta woman.

Speaking of texting - heading to work early this morning, around 0530. On a straight road, very few cars, but notice a few going around something very slow. I caught up and went by, it was a Highlander, driver had a phone up almost to their face, not talking, but apparently reading it. Very good, especially with the propensity of local joggers/dog walkers to go out at night in a black cap/black top/black pants/black shoes/etc.

jjackson12 · January 2013

Yesterday we had a high of over 50 and most of the snow melted causing puddles. The area I was driving through had a lot of offices, restaurants, and hotels. The sidewalks are separated from the road by about 20 feet, not including the shoulder/bike lane. Traffic was moving about 30 and a Honda/Kia/Hyundai three cards ahead of me moved very quickly to his right. About 6 feet. To hit the puddle well out of lane we were traveling. To soak a couple of guys in suits who happened to be walking on the sidewalk.

WTF!

xwesx · January 2013

That is so incredibly pathetic; what a sad life that person must have.

stickguy · January 2013

maybe the Occupy movement people got tired of living in tents?

stever · February 2013

An older gentleman a couple of blocks away cruised by a few minutes ago with his Ranger mostly covered in snow. His windshield was clear at least but he left the wipers sticking straight out. Get in and go I guess. At least the powdery stuff we get here blows off easily.

Just now a guy was jogging down the street in the other direction pushing a snowblower. Trying to stay warm I guess.

fintail · February 2013

Today featured some of the worst Saturday traffic in Bellevue I have ever seen. I don't know if it was Superbowl party shoppers or closed 520 or what - decent volumes, LOTS of slowpokes, and maybe only every other car using a signal, lots of no lights cars past sunset, too (dark cloudy day). Didn't notice any phone yappers anyway. Winner was probably a rental Eclipse that cut me off, then slowly moved from green, a half block later panics, slams on brakes, throws a wildly illegal u-turn, and then creeps down the road the other way. Second place goes to a Sentra that performed another illegal u-turn - couldn't make it so had to do an 8 point turn, cop sitting at a light adjacent didn't raise an eyebrow.

xrunner2 · February 2013

Today featured some of the worst Saturday traffic in Bellevue I have ever seen. I don't know if it was Superbowl party shoppers or closed 520 or what

Was also out driving, including shopping areas. Don't recall seeing a single inconsiderate. Maybe the cold weather and snow had something to do with it.

On the football game. Got to be careful in how to reference this game on Feb 3. It is the "big game". Only those licensed by the football league can mention or use their trademarked and/or copyrighted name.

backy · February 2013

Right... the Big Game between the San Francisco 50s - 1 and the Baltimore Black Birds.

Snow here each of the last two evenings and promised again for tonight... no problem for me as I'll be planted in front of my TV watching the Sup... uh, the Big Game. To be honest, I'll mostly be watching the commercials. I already know Coach Harbaugh is going to win.

Even with the snow the last couple of nights drivers were pretty well behaved. Just a few incidences of failure to signal lane changes, failure to brush snow off windows. I observed far more cases of considerate driving than inconsiderate driving... nice to see and very smart given the slippery roads.

stever · February 2013

There's a difference in talking about the Super Bowl (that's news) and saying come to my bar for a Super Bowl party. Unless you've paid the NFL for the promotion rights, you'll hear from them on that.

Bad wreck around here last night, but haven't heard the details or if it was related to the snow and ice on the roads. Injuries, not fatal. We only get about one bad one a year.

elias · February 2013

apparently a considerable percentage of drivers intentionally swerve to hit turtles too - not just puddles to soak pedestrians.

backy · February 2013

My wife had better not see anyone swerve to hit a squirrel. It would be the last thing they'd do... with their car or themselves in one piece that is. No kidding.

gogogodzilla · February 2013

Squirrels are the *EVIL* minions of an interdimensional alien overlord bent on the conquest of our world!

(Below is a rare glimpse of the evilness that is 'squirrel'.)

fintail · February 2013

Had a squirrel run in front of me today - I don't brake or swerve. They are quick little bastards.

Had a Lexus ES in front of me, 5-10 under, weaving all over the road, couldn't see the driver's head. After a mile or so of barely moving along (say 20-22 in a 30), it turned - at about 4mph, and the fintail's loud horn honked for some reason. Nothing else obnoxious today other than the usual slowpokes.

xwesx · February 2013

This weekend there were an unusually high number of drivers using their turn signals here! Unfortunately, many of them (on the order of six or seven over the weekend) were using the wrong signal (most typically using the left signal, but turning right); how does one even do that? :sick:

xwesx · February 2013

The last time a squirrel ran in front of my car, I admit that I did swerve.

They are quick little bastards; I still missed it! :P

fintail · February 2013

I see that wrong signal thing all the time here. Fits in well with the oblivious PNW driver mentality, especially the newbies.

I've never hit a squirrel. But, when I was a teenager, out in the old Tempo, I was sitting in traffic waiting for a drawbridge to close. I hear a big thump on the passenger rear door, I look over, and a large shepherd type dog is running away from the car - apparently he ran into it. Also when I was younger, either in the Tempo or my mom's 93 Taurus, a seagull flew into the windshield, pretty good thunk, but it flew away.

There has been a dearth of obvious phone yappers in my line of sight lately, but did see one this morning - young woman in a fresh looking Audi A7, proving again that money and ability are often inversely related. Should be a 10x fine over actual people.

xwesx · February 2013

I came within inches of a moose hitting the side of my truck (C20) many years ago. It turned and ran along beside me for a moment or two on the driver side, turned its head to look through my window, then darted off to the left and into the woods.

I'm glad the seats in that truck are vinyl! :P

gogogodzilla · February 2013

I had a deer do exact the same thing to me a few years ago.

xwesx · February 2013

You're a lucky one, then. I thought that deer tended to dart *into* vehicles rather than away from them, as a matter of course.

Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

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