Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

fintail · July 2015

Do posts here still work? Last one I made never showed up.

Just got back from maybe 250 miles of holiday weekend driving. Atrocious traffic on the 3rd, not so bad this morning. And a couple observations:

It's high time for license endorsements for people pulling trailers, RVs, etc. Also the same high time for license testing at a certain age, say 70. Both will never happen,and are bound to get worse as the big generation descends into full senior citizen-dom, but one can dream.

Nothing really inconsiderate this weekend aside from the same several LLCs and a few dawdlers. I did see a couple undertakers try for real jerky pass on the right stuff, and fail. Lots of anarchy-preventers out on Thursday, only saw a couple today.

andres3 · July 2015

backy said:
Talking about simmering volcanoes... it doesn't seem to take much to get some drivers really upset these days. Example: I was driving home yesterday; the street that my home is on is one lane in each direction, 35 speed limit. There's also a double yellow line down the center of the street. There was a car behind me (older blue Impala) so I flicked on the right turn signal well in advance, to let her know I was going to slow down to turn into my driveway. There's no cross streets nearby so it should have been obvious I was going to turn into a driveway--there's lots of driveways along that street. As I slowed to make the right turn into my driveway, the middle-aged woman driver behind me just about went crazy. She had an exasperated expression, threw her hands in the air (not a good idea when driving to have both hands off the wheel), and rode my bumper until I made the turn. She continued cussing (I assume she wasn't telling me to have a nice day) as she drove off.

Thinking about this later, it was clear that what I should have done is continued driving to the next intersection, made a high-speed turn so the other driver didn't have to slow down at all (in a residential area with sidewalks--maybe I'd hit someone but at least the woman wouldn't have to slow down), then backtracked to my home so as not to inconvenience the other driver.

Check to make sure your blinker is working (on the outside of the car) LOL. Can't imagine why someone would get upset if you actually use your turn signal to indicate your impending maneuvers.

xwesx · July 2015

andres3 said:
Check to make sure your blinker is working (on the outside of the car) LOL. Can't imagine why someone would get upset if you actually use your turn signal to indicate your impending maneuvers.

And yet they do, nonetheless! I mean, yes, definitely make sure the device is working, but most of the time newer vehicles have resistance-sensitive flasher units (the OEM units, anyway) that will blink on a considerably faster cycle if a bulb is burned out within that circuit (e.g., left side burned out means it flashes faster on that side only).

But, it's also one of those things that we take for granted as working since we often drive solo and cannot see the back side of the car from the driver seat.

hammerhead · July 2015

Inconsiderate of the day, Emergency version: Crowded freeway. BRT (big red truck), lights, sirens, the works, picking our way through the traffic to try to get to the car wreck inside shoulder. Some ditz in a Lexus (go figure) tries to PASS us! She got dirty looks, an air horn, and a lane change in front of her.. Hope she got caught in the traffic jam that we caused while we covered the fluid leaks with absorbent.

ruking1 · July 2015

I for one didn't see this coming. The CA legislature did not pass the motorcycle lane splitting legislation.

xwesx · July 2015

hammerhead said:
Inconsiderate of the day, Emergency version: Crowded freeway. BRT (big red truck), lights, sirens, the works, picking our way through the traffic to try to get to the car wreck inside shoulder. Some ditz in a Lexus (go figure) tries to PASS us! She got dirty looks, an air horn, and a lane change in front of her.. Hope she got caught in the traffic jam that we caused while we covered the fluid leaks with absorbent.

That's merely the inconsiderate of the day?! Tough crowd in Spokane, eh?

andres3 · July 2015

ruking1 said:
I for one didn't see this coming. The CA legislature did not pass the motorcycle lane splitting legislation.

Now I know the correct decision would have been to pass it; never been more certain since the CA legislature failed to do so.

ruking1 · July 2015

andres3 said:

ruking1 said:
I for one didn't see this coming. The CA legislature did not pass the motorcycle lane splitting legislation.
Now I know the correct decision would have been to pass it; never been more certain since the CA legislature failed to do so.

I suspect I am inclined to agree. I did not read either the legislation or actual DMV law/s, but the talking heads indicated the motorcycle groups came out against it, with one reason cited: it was TOO restrictive.

hammerhead · July 2015

xwesx said:

hammerhead said:
Inconsiderate of the day, Emergency version: Crowded freeway. BRT (big red truck), lights, sirens, the works, picking our way through the traffic to try to get to the car wreck inside shoulder. Some ditz in a Lexus (go figure) tries to PASS us! She got dirty looks, an air horn, and a lane change in front of her.. Hope she got caught in the traffic jam that we caused while we covered the fluid leaks with absorbent.
That's merely the inconsiderate of the day?! Tough crowd in Spokane, eh?

Well, no. Pretty sure there were more, but I was only lucky enough to have a front row seat for this one.

backy · July 2015

OMG! I never thought to check that the turn signals on my wife's car are working!! Are you saying that those are important, i.e. for safety? I thought these new cars never needed any kind of maintenance! Thanks for the tip!

andres3 said:

backy said:
Talking about simmering volcanoes... it doesn't seem to take much to get some drivers really upset these days. Example: I was driving home yesterday; the street that my home is on is one lane in each direction, 35 speed limit. There's also a double yellow line down the center of the street. There was a car behind me (older blue Impala) so I flicked on the right turn signal well in advance, to let her know I was going to slow down to turn into my driveway. There's no cross streets nearby so it should have been obvious I was going to turn into a driveway--there's lots of driveways along that street. As I slowed to make the right turn into my driveway, the middle-aged woman driver behind me just about went crazy. She had an exasperated expression, threw her hands in the air (not a good idea when driving to have both hands off the wheel), and rode my bumper until I made the turn. She continued cussing (I assume she wasn't telling me to have a nice day) as she drove off.

Thinking about this later, it was clear that what I should have done is continued driving to the next intersection, made a high-speed turn so the other driver didn't have to slow down at all (in a residential area with sidewalks--maybe I'd hit someone but at least the woman wouldn't have to slow down), then backtracked to my home so as not to inconvenience the other driver.

Check to make sure your blinker is working (on the outside of the car) LOL. Can't imagine why someone would get upset if you actually use your turn signal to indicate your impending maneuvers.

elias · July 2015

When someone turns into a driveway ahead of me and I have to slow down to a crawl, I often say to passenger(s): "How dare that person live here?" .

andres3 · July 2015

Anarchy preventers make a mistake? How can it be?

http://jalopnik.com/does-this-video-prove-that-police-arrested-the-wrong-sp-1703677037?utm_source=taboola

This one confuses me..... So replacement parts are lifetime but OEM originals expire? If that's true it's a gimmick.

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/s/volvo-offering-lifetime-parts-labor-warranty-190000223.html

xwesx · July 2015

andres3 said:

This one confuses me..... So replacement parts are lifetime but OEM originals expire? If that's true it's a gimmick.

That's what it sounds like to me. But, consider that often we have warranty issues, sometimes *just* before the expiration of warranty, and the issue is a design flaw. The new part is exactly the same as the old part, which means it is destined for the same short life. So, a year later that part fails for the same reason the last one did. Now, we're out of warranty and the mfgr doesn't care that their design is crap; replacement is our problem!

Example: On my Fiesta, the rear reading lights (my kids called them the "frog lights" because of the round, swiveling design) failed during its third winter (~28,000 mile) due to condensation in the roof dripping down onto the electronics and corroding the board. They put a new unit in there, which promptly failed the following winter. But, with barely more than 36,000 miles on it, now they said it was my problem.

With this Volvo warranty, that new replacement would be replaced, and replaced, and replaced........ (in theory, LOL).

euphonium · July 2015

When Ford replaced the driver's power window motor in our 82 Town Car, they said it was guaranteed for as long as we owned the car. It makes sense to cover a replacement part under the parts warranty for as long as you own the car.

xwesx · July 2015

euphonium said:
When Ford replaced the driver's power window motor in our 82 Town Car, they said it was guaranteed for as long as we owned the car. It makes sense to cover a replacement part under the parts warranty for as long as you own the car.

I think so too! I mean, the owner's confidence in the product is already shaken by the failure, so ante up, manufacturer!

Now, to me, this is for non-wear (e.g., routine maintenance) items: Dome lights? Check. Window motors? Check. Wiper blades? Nope! LOL So, a manufacturer covering wear items as well is just asking to be an expensive overhead cost down the road.

Mr_Shiftright · July 2015

It smells gimmickly. I suspect the will exclude many vulnerable parts while warrantying parts that normally would easily last the average time of ownership. I wonder if the warranties are transferable? I see timing belts are not warrantied for one thing. So if yours snaps prematurely, tooooo bad.

andres3 said:
Anarchy preventers make a mistake? How can it be?

http://jalopnik.com/does-this-video-prove-that-police-arrested-the-wrong-sp-1703677037?utm_source=taboola

This one confuses me..... So replacement parts are lifetime but OEM originals expire? If that's true it's a gimmick.

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/s/volvo-offering-lifetime-parts-labor-warranty-190000223.html

qbrozen · July 2015

?? I will have to dig up more info on this. Does my '98 S70 count?? I'd love to get a lifetime warranty on the air con, for example. Or is that an "accessory"?

fordgirl15 · July 2015

I agree tht there are alot of very Inconsiderate drivers who proly shudnt be on the road. Unfortunately I have come across a few myself. The guys tht totally irritated me are the semi drivers. Do those guys not realize how much damage they can do or how much frustration they cause when they so mindlessly pull out in front of you? I've wanted to tell those guys many times what I think of them. Oh well. There human too. I had a lady get pissed off at me when I did a lane change and she was quite a ways back. Came up honking her horn and gave me a dirty look. If looks could kill I think hers proly wud have. Next day I had sumone honking at me and then they followed rite on my tail for a ways. No reason to honk at me. The old people are really the ones tht need to be off the roads though.

andres3 · July 2015

fordgirl15 said:
I agree tht there are alot of very Inconsiderate drivers who proly shudnt be on the road. Unfortunately I have come across a few myself. The guys tht totally irritated me are the semi drivers. Do those guys not realize how much damage they can do or how much frustration they cause when they so mindlessly pull out in front of you? I've wanted to tell those guys many times what I think of them. Oh well. There human too. I had a lady get pissed off at me when I did a lane change and she was quite a ways back. Came up honking her horn and gave me a dirty look. If looks could kill I think hers proly wud have. Next day I had sumone honking at me and then they followed rite on my tail for a ways. No reason to honk at me. The old people are really the ones tht need to be off the roads though.

Be careful when changing lanes not to do so in a way that forces others to brake for you. Even if far away behind someone going much faster than you can quickly catch up as you complete your lane change and they have every right to be mad because you should be able to tell they have a greater approach speed that won't allow you to complete your lane change without them braking.

If you get honked at often, it's time to look at your driving more thoroughly to see what is causing that to happen. Some people are afraid to honk, so it's not that common to be honked at.

euphonium · July 2015

Truckers not only suddenly pull out in front of 4 wheelers, but then spend 3 to 5 miles to overtake the other truck in the outside of two lanes up hill. Truckers enjoy doing this to sport cars, expensive sedans, and any other high speed vehicle. It's entertainment for them.

andres3 · July 2015

euphonium said:
Truckers not only suddenly pull out in front of 4 wheelers, but then spend 3 to 5 miles to overtake the other truck in the outside of two lanes up hill. Truckers enjoy doing this to sport cars, expensive sedans, and any other high speed vehicle. It's entertainment for them.

So if you choose to drive around in a 4-cylinder Camry you are exempt from entertaining truckers impeding traffic?

euphonium · July 2015

NO! All Camry models can achieve high speeds.

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Ya unfortunately they do have a greater approach speed. I'm not even sure what I even did to make the second car honk at me. Guess I'll never know but sure made me upset!

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Truckers not only suddenly pull out in front of 4 wheelers, but then spend 3 to 5 miles to overtake the other truck in the outside of two lanes up hill. Truckers enjoy doing this to sport cars, expensive sedans, and any other high speed vehicle. It's entertainment for them. Why is it entertaining for truckers to do tht? Don't they realize they cud cause an accident??!!

imidazol97 · July 2015

The ultimate inconsiderate driver:

"A Florida man is in jail after shooting dead another man in front of his family during a road rage incident.

"Robert Doyle, 51, faces second-degree murder charges after shooting Condelario Gonzalez, 44, five times during an 'aggressive driving incident' in Beverly Hills, Citrus County Sheriff's deputies said.

"Doyle was in front of his home with his wife at about 10pm on Thursday when he fired shots at Gonzalez before holding Gonzalez's wife, eight-year-old daughter and seven-year-old grandson until deputies arrived, investigators said."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3175047/Florida-road-rage-driver-shoots-dead-man-holding-victim-s-wife-daughter-grandson-gunpoint.html

A little less attitude of "the road is my highway and my right to drive as fast as I want the way that I want" and a little more courtesy and following the speed limits will help.

euphonium · July 2015

"He who returns the fire lives longer."

ruking1 · July 2015

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

Well guys, the 2013 NHTSA figures are posted!

fordgirl15 · July 2015

This probably isn't the place to say this but with all the motorcycle accidents you hear about (maybe not as common where some of you are) you'd think guys would wear helmets and such the like. I'm dreading the day I become a paramedic and get a call for a bike accident and here the dudes brain is all over the road. You'd think drivers would pay more attention to the guys on motorcycle. I can say that cause I'm not a motorcycle fan AT ALL!

ruking1 · July 2015

The 2013 figures indicate the epidemic is not as bad as 2012 !

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Thank goodness for that! I still don't want to go to a accident and see the dudes brain on the road. In my opinion bikes should never have been made!

ruking1 · July 2015

Think of it as job security.

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Explain yourself!:-) paramedic has job security or what??

ruking1 · July 2015

The NHTSA figures actually belie the realities. The anecdotal answers are in each states' real figures. So for example the 50 state yearly AVG are 98 deaths and 1,780 accidents. So have fun with the (grim) math and your career!

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Ya thanks! Unfortunately it will be a grim career. But I think it will definitely be worth it. And hopefully I won't see it very often!

andres3 · July 2015

imidazol97 said:
The ultimate inconsiderate driver:

"A Florida man is in jail after shooting dead another man in front of his family during a road rage incident.

"Robert Doyle, 51, faces second-degree murder charges after shooting Condelario Gonzalez, 44, five times during an 'aggressive driving incident' in Beverly Hills, Citrus County Sheriff's deputies said.

"Doyle was in front of his home with his wife at about 10pm on Thursday when he fired shots at Gonzalez before holding Gonzalez's wife, eight-year-old daughter and seven-year-old grandson until deputies arrived, investigators said."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3175047/Florida-road-rage-driver-shoots-dead-man-holding-victim-s-wife-daughter-grandson-gunpoint.html

A little less attitude of "the road is my highway and my right to drive as fast as I want the way that I want" and a little more courtesy and following the speed limits will help.

How you turn a 2nd degree murder into a case about following the speed limit is beyond me!!!!

I realize you are trying to hold onto your false sense of world view where speed kills and people that have repeatedly proven that assertion 100% false must be wrong, but unless you have a story outside of your link, I saw no reference to speeding, speed limits, or anything speed related for that matter in the write-up.

I haven't watched the videos, but I did read what was written. Perhaps this was a case of someone going too slow below the speed limit, and maybe going faster would help avoid road rage.

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Just driving here and just had to honk my horn at a idiotic lady who did lane change without a blinker and I was moving fairly fast after passing someone else. Stupid is all I can say...

euphonium · July 2015

Because a M/C can do more damage to my car than a bull Elk, I give them a lot of space & attention as IMO the riders don't even have a GED especially those wearing Hitler helmets.

andres3 · July 2015

We should look at who is at-fault in motorcycle involved accidents. If more than 50.1% are caused by an at-fault driver not driving the motorcycle, then we ought to first ban those bad drivers from driving before we ban motorcycles. I think you'll find the problem is bad drivers, not motorcycles.

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Ya andres3 tht is a good idea! It seems like so often that another person other than the biker is at fault. For example, texting while driving. That's one where you should maybe wait to do. Except I really shouldn't say that cause I text and drive at the same time. Just hope I don't look up to find a biker on front of me.

ruking1 · July 2015

Despite a lot of static, the NHTSA figures indicate one of the most SAFE years on record.

fordgirl15 · July 2015

That's amazing. But nice to know!:-)

ruking1 · July 2015

andres3 said:
We should look at who is at-fault in motorcycle involved accidents. If more than 50.1% are caused by an at-fault driver not driving the motorcycle, then we ought to first ban those bad drivers from driving before we ban motorcycles. I think you'll find the problem is bad drivers, not motorcycles.

While a lot of folks would like to advance that narrative, articles I have read and more importantly, NHTSA data indicates 70% and higher %'s of both accidents and fatalities are due to (@ fault) motorcycle drivers, i.e.,REAR ENDING (hitting the) CARS AHEAD of them, DUI, loss of control, etc..

..."Motorcycles in fatal crashes in 2013 had the highest proportion of collisions with fixed objects (24.1 percent),"...

Do lots of folks think it true that telephone poles do jump out and bite motorcycles?

Where is a GoPro when you need one?

So, the so called class "epidemic" (88,000,4,900 accident/injury,fatality ( year 2012) is largely caused by MOTORCYCLE drivers.

Please do NOT read this to mean I am saying automobile drivers are fault LESS.

andres3 · July 2015

ruking1 said:

andres3 said:
We should look at who is at-fault in motorcycle involved accidents. If more than 50.1% are caused by an at-fault driver not driving the motorcycle, then we ought to first ban those bad drivers from driving before we ban motorcycles. I think you'll find the problem is bad drivers, not motorcycles.
While a lot of folks would like to advance that narrative, articles I have read and more importantly, NHTSA data indicates 70% and higher %'s of both accidents and fatalities are due to (@ fault) motorcycle drivers, i.e.,REAR ENDING (hitting the) CARS AHEAD of them, DUI, loss of control, etc..

..."Motorcycles in fatal crashes in 2013 had the highest proportion of collisions with fixed objects (24.1 percent),"...

Do lots of folks think it true that telephone poles do jump out and bite motorcycles? Where is a GoPro when you need one?

So, the so called class "epidemic" (88,000,4,900 accident/injury,fatality ( year 2012) is largely caused by MOTORCYCLE drivers.

Please do NOT read this to mean I am saying automobile drivers are fault LESS.

That data seems to indicate that our motorcycling licensing standards are too lax. I think we really ought to look at raising the level of driver education and experience required to obtain a license. Raising the bar!

andres3 · July 2015

Yes, despite the "SPEED KILLS" cults that do nothing more than repeat the false chant of "speed kills," if you take a graph of average speed limits and a graph of accident/fatality rates you will see that one goes up while one goes down. You could say they seem to be inversely related, contrary to popular opinion. So as speed limits have steadily but surely risen beyond draconian slow limits of the past, accidents and fatalities have steadily dropped.

Sure, there are other factors, but there is no indication (nor was there ever any indication) that raising speed limits creates a sea of blood and carnage on our highways.

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Agreed! Is it more the younger generation that have the most motorcycle accidents or is it a combination of the older and younger?? The guys that think they have to be cool??

ruking1 · July 2015

andres3 said:
Yes, despite the "SPEED KILLS" cults that do nothing more than repeat the false chant of "speed kills," if you take a graph of average speed limits and a graph of accident/fatality rates you will see that one goes up while one goes down. You could say they seem to be inversely related, contrary to popular opinion. So as speed limits have steadily but surely risen beyond draconian slow limits of the past, accidents and fatalities have steadily dropped.

Sure, there are other factors, but there is no indication (nor was there ever any indication) that raising speed limits creates a sea of blood and carnage on our highways.

Good call! Yes it is true that "SPEEDS"/speed limits have never been higher (and in my opinion can be higher still), with NHTSA data showing another of the SAFEST years, since they have been recording this stuff!

The powers that be, defacto, seemingly do not wish to change (FALSE) popular opinion.

xwesx · July 2015

fordgirl15 said:
I really shouldn't say that cause I text and drive at the same time. Just hope I don't look up to find a biker on front of me.

Well, it's not too late to nip that habit in the bud! Seriously, stop doing that. There is nothing out there so important that it cannot wait until you're not driving....

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Ya I really should stop doing that. It is so easy to forget and answer a text while driving. There's a sign in Rochester that shows a ambulance and the saying- you don't want them responding to your text.

xwesx · July 2015

I'm sure it's tempting to hear that noise sound and then think, "I'll just take a quick glance at it." Then, "oh, well it will only take a moment to repond." .... Twenty seconds later.... "Whoa!! Where did THAT guy come from?!"

These phone manufacturers should have a "driving" mode that will hold all incoming texts until you're stopped, but also provides feedback to the sender that says "x is driving and is unable to respond at this time."

fordgirl15 · July 2015

Ya exactly! It seems like that is when the accident happens is when you look down for a split second and then "Boom"! I always feel guilty when I drive by that sign!:-) it is probably good though that I do!

Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

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