Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

andres3 · April 2015

euphonium said:
The semis can't stop on a dime like a Miata which makes slower rightfully correct. Faster always appeals to the immature, uninformed, & liberal minded individual.

You don't' have to stop on a dime if you look ahead, plan ahead, and see what is going on in front of you, far ahead, rather than drive with your eyes glued to the pavement 20' in front of your face!

andres3 · April 2015

You don't need to lower speed limits for deteriorating road conditions as poor conditions are something every driver should reasonably take into account and if the speed limit is too high it is not mandatory or necessary to drive the limit. Imagine that, speed limits that are too high for a Smart Car towing a 15,000 pound trailer during a rainstorm at night.

ruking1 · April 2015

Indeed! All one needs to do is look back to the Nixon era Fed mandated 55 mph speed limit years on the NHTSA web site. http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

I can almost guarantee you that it is FAR safer of LATE ,(higher speed limits) than in the years when the 55 mph national (FAR LOWER) speed limits were in place.

It is literally a matter of historical record.

Now this does not mean for example that if one needs, wants, defiantly goes 45 mph in a 70 mph speed area that one can not. They most certainly can.

Mr_Shiftright · April 2015

I just came across a rather startling statistic.....17 percent of all Californians have had their driver's license suspended at some point in their driving career.

andres3 · April 2015

That is startling, did anyone of you read or watch the AAA's study on distracted driving causing a much more higher percentage of accidents than only a dumb uniformed uneducated institution (such as Triple A) would not already know. I've been saying for years the main problem by a landslide is distracted driving. Accidents happen due to negligent inattention or diversion of attention.

It was interesting because they posted cameras in vehicles to watch young drivers in the moments before they had an accident.

ruking1 · April 2015

Right ! Again, the NHTSA site has a lot of statistics ! I have also read in passing that fully 25% of accidents/fatalities are due to DISTRACTED driving, Of that %, fully 75% are due to some form of food/beverage distraction !! I personally would hate to cause or have to live with up to killing someone, trying to dip french fries in catsup/humus.

fintail · April 2015

Speaking of statistics, I wonder how many drivers in CA don't have a license at all, either revoked or simply haven't bothered. Same for Florida.

ruking1 · April 2015

As in WA or anywhere else for that matter, I'd be more worried @ the %'s that either have NO to inadequate INSURANCE. I have read in passing it is @ an epidemic 25 %.

euphonium · April 2015

ruking1 said:
As in WA or anywhere else for that matter, I'd be more worried @ the %'s that either have NO to inadequate INSURANCE. I have read in passing it is @ an epidemic 25 %.

You cite the best reasons for carrying Underinsured Motorist Liability including Property Damage. The CA 17% includes only the ones they know about. 33% w/o insurance would not surprise me down there.

andres3 · April 2015

It's too bad you can get collision deductible waivers for uninsured, but not underinsured in CA. Your better off being hit by uninsured rather than underinsured. Trust me, that's why I went to small claims recently.

ruking1 · April 2015

Yes, the realities can truly work out to be perverse ! A relative's dear college friend was crossing a marked cross walk with her baby in a stroller when the stroller and baby were hit, resulting in the babies death. The perpetrator fled the now crime scene and further to a more southern "foreign" country. Our laws can be a cruel travesty.

backy · April 2015

Yesterday's morning rush hour winner: woman in a white Fit who decides to duck in ahead of me without signaling the lane change, almost taking out my left front fender in the process. It's raining hard, early morning so it's pretty dark anyway, and of course she has no lights on. I also notice the front bumper of the Fit is askew, and the back end is banged up. Why am I not surprised.

fintail · April 2015

Good heavens, now I want a dashcam for the fintail - I am sure the electrical system would puke it up, but man, the slow timid Sunday drivers were out today. Hard to remember them all - several dawdly slow Prius, a Prius and a Pilot that almost stopped due to panic in empty roundabouts, LLCers on 405, no turn signals, speeding Toyabaru and lifted douchebro truck going 25+ over, one could go on and on. I got to ensure the horn was working a few times.

euphonium · April 2015

Don't miss his blurbs either.

Mr_Shiftright · April 2015

IUM insurance is great but for it to work don't you have to identify the person who hit you?

euphonium · April 2015

Mr_Shiftright said:
IUM insurance is great but for it to work don't you have to identify the person who hit you?

Hit & run has a $500 deductible for Property Damage. If driver is identified, the deductible is $100.

Mr_Shiftright · April 2015

Hmmm....so what happens if I come to the parking lot where I left my car, and there's a huge dent in the door? Isn't that a comp claim?

backy · April 2015

Mr_Shiftright said:
Hmmm....so what happens if I come to the parking lot where I left my car, and there's a huge dent in the door? Isn't that a comp claim?

LOL! That reminds me of about 35 years ago when I took Farmers Insurance to court over that very scenario! I parked my nearly-new Corolla at my mom's apartment while we went driving someplace in her car. That night I got in and drove off, and didn't notice until the following morning when I got my car out of my garage that there was a huge dent in the right front fender--never saw it the night before as I approached the car from the driver's side. Someone must have hit it while it was parked at my mom's apartment complex. I checked my insurance policy re collision and comprehensive. It defined collision as "a collision of your vehicle with another vehicle" or something like that. That wasn't much help, I thought. It also said comprehensive covered what was not covered by collision. So I looked at my Webster's Dictionary (this was pre-Internet, we used books back then) and it defined collision as an impact between two moving bodies. Aha, I thought, my car wasn't moving! So it should be covered under comprehensive. Wrong, Farmers said. So I took them to court on the premise that the policy was a contract of adhesion and they didn't define collision in the contract, so I was justified in using a common definition of the term. And I won in small claims court! Unfortunately, Farmers appealed to District Court, and there they has a well-prepared attorney with precedents etc. So I lost that round, and the judge ruled that Farmers could recover court costs from me. Farmer's attorney told me afterwards that he understood where I was coming from, but the precedents were in his favor. And Farmers never tried to recover court costs from me. I thought that was decent of them so I stayed with them. Awhile later, I noticed the policy language was changed to clearly define what they mean by "collision."

euphonium · April 2015

If a flying (airborne) object struck your door, then Comprehensive could be involved. A goose wouldn't leave paint evidence.

fintail · April 2015

I heard someone lay on the horn at an offending driver for so long today that I thought maybe it was stuck. Made me laugh. Today was one of those days where driving 8 under is like a sport for some "people". Sun fries the scared little brains of timid locals.

Also a day where it seemed like half of "drivers" out there were holding a phone. If the same effort could be put into enforcing distracted driving and crosswalk laws that is wasted on spending black holes like the war on drugs, no doubt many more lives would be saved than in that endless make work/profiteering project. Good use of resources.

hammerhead · April 2015

Perhaps there is hope...:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/apr/21/baumgartner-bill-targets-left-lane-slowpokes/

xwesx · April 2015

That's cute, but the law isn't enforced as it is, so what difference will it make if they add a surcharge for lower-than-SL driving? LE has to make the stop in the first place before any of the penalties even apply.

ruking1 · April 2015

Indeed, the only thing needed is ENFORCEMENT !!

So for example, for roughly 9/10 times that I have seen this, the CHP's that have come up on the sixes of LLCer's, pass on the RIGHT and continue on. I surmise that on the 1/10 time, it was not worth the revenue enhancement to pull the scofflaw over.

So, ... start pulling them over after a warning period. Folks will catch on there is a new highway attitude. IF/WHEN they don't, hey, revenue enhancement at its best.

On other inconsiderations, talking heads on financial tv news networks said that of the 35,000 fatalities per year, roughly 25% are due to DISTRACTED driving. There are further category break downs of course.

fintail · April 2015

Yep, no enforcement, no problem. Just like with phone use. Speeding is the cash cow, the scary evil, and will remain the priority.

Good pic from that link:

euphonium · April 2015

If left lane camping is wrong & speeding is wrong - do two wrongs make a right? Yes they do, so pass on the right! It's not wrong.

fintail · April 2015

The interstate system in this area is based on undertaking - it would jam up if we didn't do it. We don't live in Britainistan, so we can get away with it.

FWIW, the recent bout of LLC legislation suggestion is aimed at those going under the SL in the left lane, so they can't use the "speed limit" cop out for their poor personal and driving discipline.

euphonium · April 2015

WA & OR legislation does not increase their respective speed limits. And that's a good thing.

hammerhead · April 2015

euphonium said:
WA & OR legislation does not increase their respective speed limits. And that's a good thing.

The same legislator that proposed the left lane law also proposed increasing the SL on I-90 through the middle of the state to 75mph. I have no problem with that at all. And I-84 (Columbia Gorge) was posted at 75 before the double nickel came along. It's posted at 65 now. No reason it couldn't be restored to that 75 limit today, except for nanny state politicians.

fintail · April 2015

There are definitely areas in eastern WA and even some in western WA where 75 is fine, if not outright boring. The real world speed in the left lane of many 70mph areas is closer to 80 anyway, with the enforcers not caring, so maybe it is moot.

To those scared of speed, WA and OR have plenty of fine scenic secondary roads/state highways with limits no more than 60 or so - stick to those, enjoy your day, you already have nowhere to go and all day to get there

euphonium · April 2015

The limit remains the same due to many more drivers already being distracted by their fad gadgets like GPS, phones, & dash cams. These electric folk need to use the back roads, leaving the alert drivers to the main ones.

xwesx · April 2015

euphonium said:
The limit remains the same due to many more drivers already being distracted by their fad gadgets like GPS, phones, & dash cams. These electric folk need to use the back roads, leaving the alert drivers to the main ones.

If nothing else, the ensuing chaos would be hilarious to watch!

stever · April 2015

Those fad gadgets are how I find the back roads.

fintail · April 2015

The idea of keeping limits low because of electronic distractions is silly, at best. Terrible way to mitigate the problem. Treat the disease, not the symptoms. The enforcer class needs to combat distracted driving, instead of just kicking back with a radar gun. Eventually, they'll be forced to be on camera all the time, no matter how much they complain, so they'll have proof.

Smartphones have reached virtual market saturation in only a decade, yet casualties are at virtually a per capita low for modern times. For all of the idiocy and danger of distracted drivers, they are not a valid excuse for low limits. Oh, and dashcams don't distract, they sit there, hidden and silent, waiting to capture something amusing or dumb or both.

It amuses me that 60 years ago, my grandfather was able to drive an oversprung underbraked marshmallow of a car with effectively no safety tech often at speeds the same or greater than I can go in my electronic wizardry-mobile safety cage car today. And nobody cared then.

Maybe the solution is mandatory retesting for everyone - no matter their age or background. Don't even make it hard as in Limeyland or Germany, but maybe as relatively comprehensive as a motorcycle test - and have the tests audited independently. I'm not afraid.

fintail · April 2015

Here's an inconsiderate driver caught on a dash cam of sorts - and a turn from a straight only lane, of course

qbrozen · April 2015

i'm shocked that driver wasn't badly hurt

ruking1 · April 2015

Wait until he or his insurance company gets the trains repair bill !!

fintail · April 2015

Surprised a 25 year old Honda held up as well as it did.

Inconsiderate parking

stever · April 2015

Funny - there's quite a few of those around. (Snopes)

Steven Wright used to work at a factory that made fire hydrants. Couldn't park anywhere near the place.

Michaell · April 2015

stever said:
Steven Wright used to work at a factory that made fire hydrants. Couldn't park anywhere near the place.

Man, I loved his sense of humor.

Another one of his jokes, related to driving:

Officer: Did you know you were going 65 miles per hour in a 55 zone?
Wright: I wasn't going to be out that long.

Mr_Shiftright · April 2015

Fate of a motorcycle reported traveling at excessive speed on Antioch Bridge near San Francisco:

http://sfbay.ca/2015/04/12/motorcyclist-crashes-flung-off-antioch-bridge/

fintail · April 2015

Reminds me of a nice weather epidemic here, motorcyclists failing to negotiate off-ramps. It's not just the 20-something set on overpowered sportbikes, either.

I was out a bit today, really slow people - like I was going 2 over and was almost the fastest car on I90. More than one Prius dawdling along in its own world. One woman in a Prius glared at me as I came up behind her and moved by - the condition of her rear bumper spoke volumes.

hammerhead · April 2015

Did the eastern two-thirds of the state this week, round trip. As usual, got passed by close to the same number that I went by. Only 2 real obvious & oblivious LLC's, the winner being the underpowered texting sedan passing 3 trucks in a row at about 62. Life is so much better when you're clear of the traffic clogs created by those.
And semis should be banned from passing on uphill grades, period.

isellhondas · April 2015

Hey Fintail....

Did you hear that Prestige Ford on Auto Row in Bellevue burned down early this AM?

I know someone that drove by and they think it's a total loss.

Mr_Shiftright · April 2015

Arson or accident?

fintail · April 2015

Accident, as far as I have heard.

It's pretty close to where I live, I walked by there earlier today, after checking out the hilariously inconsiderate job the city allowed regarding planning the new Chik-Fil-A here - a fail of epic proportions that raises serious questions to me about how it got approved. But that's something for another posting.

The Ford dealership is a total loss - it uses one large building, which is gutted. Numerous cars outside were lost, and I suspect everything in the building is gone.

This is the showroom area:

fintail · April 2015

And about driving E of the mountains, it is a breath of fresh air. I might go over for a visit in about 6 weeks, and I kind of look forward to it - less population density works wonders, even with trucks. Especially once one is off the interstates (I'd be going to a place where going to Walla Walla is "the city").

fezo · April 2015

"But the reality it is it slowed us down and if the car had been any closer to that hydrant, we would have had to break out the windows to get that hose line to the fire."

If that car were any closer to the hydrant he'd have to park on top of it!

hammerhead · April 2015

fintail said:
And about driving E of the mountains, it is a breath of fresh air. I might go over for a visit in about 6 weeks, and I kind of look forward to it - less population density works wonders, even with trucks. Especially once one is off the interstates (I'd be going to a place where going to Walla Walla is "the city").

There's a brew pub (with great pizza too!) in Dayton, well worth the stop, right on the way to Palouse Falls. Some great drives in those parts.

fintail · April 2015

Yep, it's a great area for driving. Dayton is actually the area where I'd be headed, I assume the place you mention is "Skye". Pretty area with soothing landscapes, but not a lot of opportunity for younger people unless public sector, or going into a family business or farm. I could see it as a nice place to retire.

I encountered a considerate driver today - Lexus Landcruiser motioned to me and told me a brake light was out (in the fintail, no idiot lights for this). Only had to honk once today, to wake up a distracted Lexus RX driver at a green light. Nothing too bad out there, typical lack of turn signals, many slow drivers - Prius dorks especially, a few fast ones.

hammerhead said:

fintail said:

There's a brew pub (with great pizza too!) in Dayton, well worth the stop, right on the way to Palouse Falls. Some great drives in those parts.

euphonium · April 2015

Re: Ford fire - Millions at risk, 85 employees, and management doesn't spend $15 an hour for an after hours walking guard or somebody watching a bank of security cameras. Auto Nation needs to rethink their security measures.

Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

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