DRIVING

[buckwilk]

I am a happy person, I like to laugh and have fun. I enjoy talking with folks and listening to their stories. What I am having trouble with is driving. No, not me, I function quite well. The problem is the ones out there in a hurry, impatient and dangerous. Sometimes I think I have been moved to an alternate universe, surely people don't drive this way in mine. The number of wild and weird stunts I see people pulling almost everyday astound me. Parking lots are, maybe the worst, like a demolition derby. Where I am are a lot of snowbirds, maybe it's the change of altitude or attitude. When I think I've seen it all-----------not even close!

 

[wagoneer]

My filosofiee is give em enough rope and they WILL hang themselves slow down let them honk do not flip them off. STAY HAPPY

 

[Patrick46]

I used to walk to work every morning, and I crossed a long bridge which had elevated sidewalks. I could see down into EVERYTHING except semi trucks and the jacked-up 4x4's.

I could NOT believe some of the shenanigans I saw!!!

An UNBELIEVEABLE number of people text while they're driving......INCLUDING POLICE!!!!! (What ever happened to being the 'example'????)

Coffee drinkers, people messing with their hair, people reading maps and BOOKS??? And gals applying make-up in the rear-view mirror while driving??? REALLY???!!!!


I make decals at my sign shop, and I've got a bumper sticker that I've now made that reads: "You're Driving a 2-Ton KILLING MACHINE...PAY ATTENTION"!!!!!

(this really hits home to me as a dedicated motorcycle rider!)

 

[WheelEstate USA]

I want one of those bumper stickers

 

[mockturtle]

I have to agree. And parking lots. Yikes! That's one reason I shop at Walmart because their parking lots are huge with lots of periphery. But I do enjoy driving on winding two-lane scenic roads and avoid freeways for the most part.

 

[B and C]

I drive an old Yukon XL (think suburban) to work everyday.  I like the big vehicle because if I am in a wreck, I don't want to be the little squished car and I like being up higher.  My commute is 45 miles one way and yes, I see a lot of the texting (while in the passing lane going slow no less).  A light turns green and they have no idea as they are sitting there on the phone.  I have driven this route for several years now and have the lights timed pretty good.  I just love it when one on the yahoos comes flying by me and gets caught at the next light and as I get there the light turns green and I go sailing by them.  Makes me smile everytime.

 

[Almost There]

. Where I am are a lot of snowbirds, maybe it's the change of altitude or attitude. When I think I've seen it all-----------not even close!

There's at least a good part of the problem there!

There's a lot of snowbirds who have managed to retain their drivers licenses long after they should have been suspended, makes for that demolition derby parking lot and a lot of aggravation on the road because of their slower response time. And remember, at least some of them are coming from major cities that are renowned for their poor driving habits to begin with. If you're on the east coast of FL, you're dealing with a lot of New York city drivers, Montreal PQ drivers etc, etc. whose driving habits clash when brought together in one area.

That in turn causes the locals to grit their teeth and display their own aggravation about being invaded every winter by driving like they were at Daytona.

For daily living sanity while spending my winters in the St. Petes area, I used to time my travels as best I could. Avoid regular working rush hour and get off the main streets before the early bird special times kick in. No malls on weekends and if you're going to the beach area add a half hour of travel time. And remember that in a few short months it will return to 'normal' again...

 

[johnny b]

You want 'alternate universe'...come to Washington DC area...we got it all:
Diplomats and their family members...keep an eye out for the distinctive plates.
Transient workers from other states, just here for a year or 2 working a guvmint contract.
Congress and their staff...a LOT of alcohol consumed on Capitol Hill!
The worst road planning you could imagine...traffic rated #2 worst behind L.A., but a fraction of the population.
A hugely inflated cost of living resulting in a bunch of rich folk buying bigass SUVs that will NEVER be driven properly!

And if it snows more than half an inch, just find a safe spot to park (like a local bar) and stay put...because the guvmint will release the hoards early and all those bigass SUVs will be playing bumper cars 'cause they think AWD means Any speed Will Do!

 I'm looking west for my retirement years. :idea:

 

[buckwilk]

I don't think age is the issue, attitude seems to be the culprit as I see it. I really think good drivers come in every age bracket as do

the bad. It's like our culture has made people think they are entitled to behave poorly. If I acted the way I see people act everyday my

Mom would come back and straighten me out!

 

[sephson]

I'm reminded of a thought I had on one of my road trips a few years back. Most of the trip was fairly pleasant with, for the most part, the slower drivers staying to the right and the faster drivers moving left to pass, people using their turn signals when changing lanes and generally showing a lot more courtesy on the road than used to. I knew I'd made it back home to Southern California when driving became a battle again.

The major difference between driving in my home territory vs. other areas seems to be consideration for other drivers. The vast majority of the drivers I share the road with in my proverbial back yard have no consideration for anyone but themselves when they get behind the wheel. This includes not only the "gotta get there first!", reckless speed demons, but also the "what's your damned hurry!?" overly cautious road obstruction at the front of the line. Both are dangerous for different reasons. The first is dangerous because of what he's/she's doing. He/she is likely to be the direct cause of an accident because of his erratic driving. The second is dangerous because of what he's/she's not doing. He/she is likely to be the indirect cause of an accident due to other drivers reactions to him/her hogging the road.

 

[SternWake]

Driving on busy roads, fills me with an overwhelming contempt for humanity.

Each person, in their glass and steel cage, acting like their" it's all about me" bumper stickers are true.

The amount of people driving with a phone in their hand or face is infuriating.

Can anyone ever sit at a redlight and actually wait for it to turn green, or do they think that they will just wait for the horn of the driver behind them to indicate the light is green, then throw up a middle finger and accelerate as fast as they can to the next redlight, so they can respond to a text message.

MFing people. Its really disgusting how common it is to witness horrendously inconsiderate driving by So many people.

I've never driven more defensively than I have as of late, because I know 50% of people simply cannot be bothered to pay attention to their surroundings, not when there is a text message to respond to or some other social media heinousness.

Consider how much the inattention adds to traffic.

6 people get though a traffic light that should have allowed 20 cars through.
On the freeway, one person braking causes the person behind them to brake harder, and on and on until the car 50 back has to come to a complete stop. How many times have you come to a standstill on a freeway, and expect to see some reason for it, yet there is no accident. It was just One *******, driving poorly who caused somebody to brake, who caused the person behind them to brake a little bit more, and on and on until it turns into a parking lot.

One person. One A-hole of a Human.

Don't be this Ahole of a human. Keep right except to pass, put the phone down and realize there are cars not only infront of you, but behind as well.

GD MFing people.

A generalized rant.

 

[mockturtle]

Gee, SternWake!  Why don't you tell us how you really feel!

 

[buckwilk]

I just finished reading SternWake's post, I can't stop laughing. Buddy, I hope your blood pressure has dropped down.

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

I drive in San Diego.
I have traditionally been a faster than average driver. I don't think speed by itself kills.
My thought is unawareness is number one problem.
Ironically, driving a little faster causes me to be more aware.
My number one "thing" is do not tailgate. My number two might be, avoid letting someone get too close to my rear bumper.

I am quite surprised when in malls ( mauls ) - anywhere where you have a lot of curbs and parked cars that are off the traditional place one used to find curbs and parked cars!
Malls to me, are insane. The amount of room for your vehicles. The arrows sometimes poorly painted. The darkened (by scuffing-tires), CURBS, so you cannot easily see them. The endless handicapped parking spots that are almost invariably unoccupied.
But the biggest issue is the high SPEED that some people drive through a mall or strip mall or whatever these hellish things are called. These miserable inventions make America all look the same. Best Buy, Chipote, Mike's Jersey subs, Appleby's, Jamba juice, etc etc all looks the same.
But back to those high speeds... what IS the speed limit in a mall loaded to the gills with parked cars?
Warning to any young drivers, MALLS are dangerous places, precisely because one would assume people will drive at slow speeds, and some do and others do not. You have to back out of a parking spot, so visibility is poor. And an idiot drives by at 30 mph!

 

[B and C]

:at: Sternwake - Grab a beer and jump in the water  You need to cool off.

 

[highdesertranger]

being a fellow Kalifornian, I can totally relate to SW post. he is spot on. it is nerve racking to drive in so cal. highdesertranger

 

[vanvanvanvan123]

I am too wordy- 1. What is the proper speed in a mall? 2. Do malls make you very uncomfortable?

 

[Canine]

I am a self-proclaimed professional driver. (CDL- Doesn't necessarily mean anything!) What has caused a lot of problems for me are people who think they know State traffic laws, but actually don't. Like changing lanes in the middle of an intersection. When I legally turn into my lane, sometimes the person in front of me will jump across one or more lanes to get into the far lane (the lane I am turning into) and they get upset because I didn't yield the right of way to them. That example may be hard to visualize, but my point is many of us think we know what the law is but actually don't. Then they get upset when someone else is actually obeying the law. I wouldn't be surprised if some of us may fall into that error.

Another example is inattentional blindness. Motorcyclists know what I'm talking about here. Again, the driver of the car may not "see" a motorcycle or a bus despite it being right in front of them, then they get mad when the appear out of nowhere and "the motorcycle must have been speeding or something" which caused the wreck.

I know a woman with whom I won't accept rides because she is extremely aggressive with her driving. Road-rager level at times. Paradoxically, she won't accept rides from anyone else because everyone else is a poor driver. Something like 87% of us think we are a better than average driver which is a statistical impossibility. Perhaps to address that misperception of our general skills, we should pick up a CDL every once in a while and relearn what we've forgotten. Maybe take a class if available. I can tell you my increased education of traffic law has greatly helped reduce my frustration when driving. While I now more readily recognize driving errors, having that knowledge gives me more confidence and decreases frustration.

And we all make mistakes. I'm glad when I make a mistake someone doesn't get all agro over it.

Some people are truly in a hurry for a legitimate reason. Why assume when someone is in a hurry that they should slow down? When if it is a medical emergency? When if someone is driving extra slow because they are loaded down and need to be a bit slower to be safe. Or what about our older drivers? They can't drive as well as they used to and I have no problem accommodating that.

Of course there are many drivers that truly are too old or drivers that are egregiously driving dangerously, and that does suck. But keeping these things in mind does help.

 

[Patrick46]

I live on the Oregon coast, as I'm sure most of you have seen by now.
And we have touring bicycles from all over planet earth that come here to ride from Seattle down to L.A. on how 101.
I've always wanted to do a coast-to-coast trip on a bicycle. (it's on my bucket list)

...but having these little old grandma's driving a huge motorcoach (that she's had NO training or special license to drive), blowing past my elbow at 65 mph...when they shouldn't even be driving the car that they're towing behind...is more than I can handle! My dream is dead because I'm afraid for my life!!
This is addition to the driver's who are too distracted by their devices and toys to pay proper attention while driving.

Heck...they think DRIVING is a necessary evil that they have to put up with to get from one place to another. Anything they can do to make the trip less boring, is all the better! I saw an advertisement for the new Cadillac recently, that shows their wonderful new in-dash TV, that will display the map you want, (amongst other clever features) and like a cel phone, you can reposition and blow the map up by playing with the touch-screen.
GREAT....now they're building the distractions right into the damn things now!!!!


I LOVE driving.

I've driven in every state except R.I., and the only thing I hate driving in...(NOPE...it's not snow)...

FOG!

I HATE driving in fog, because the guy in front of you is paranoid, and is only going 20 mph, and the guy behind you has a paper bag on his head, and is blazing through the fog at 80 mph...and I'm stuck in the middle!!!!!


God, help us all!!!

 

[mockturtle]

Patrick, I get annoyed at cyclists who insist on riding two abreast instead of in single file.