cheetahtank2

People that change lanes just so they can pass an extra 2 cars before moving back...
People that drive 5mph below the speed limit...
People that come to a near stop to make even the slightest turns...
People who dont use their turn signals when changing lanes or turning...
People who wait till the last second to move to the complete other side of the freeway for their exit...
Pedestrians who cross in front of you with the dont walk sign when your light is green...
People who choose to completely ignore yield signs...
Bicyclists who ride in the road until they get to a light at which point they move onto the sidewalk and keep going...
Waiting 10 years because no one will let you in at a stop sign turn onto a busy road...

I chose not to add people who tailgate because I actually get some amusement from this as whenever someone tailgates me I either slow down considerably or simply start swerving and 90% of the time they back off

high_jinx

surprised no one said this one...

1) Gutter Sneaks: these are people who use their imagination to create an extra lane on the right either through a light to quickly merge over to the left or onto a freeway where they frequently go 50 yards into the breakdown lane before they finally merge.

2) bicyclists who ride on the wrong side of the road. i don't think these people realize how easy it is for someone making a right turn in their car to be looking at oncoming traffic on THEIR left, thereby not seeing the cyclist coming when they make the right turn. i know this because i hit a fool this way once. it was even worse because the fool was biking on the sidewalk on top of being on the left road.

__________________
-my phobia drowned while i was gettin down.

Glory's Sun

I forgot to add that I absolutely hate when people pull out in front of you when you're going 60 miles an hour and there's nobody behind you. Double that hate when they don't hit the gas. Triple that hate when they pull out and there's really nothing you can do but stomp the brakes.

also, there's one stretch of road that I drive on that is 2 lanes and 55 miles an hour, if you're walking with your child in a stroller down that street for some odd reason, how about instead of you walking next to the ditch, get your fucking stroller out of the road and put yourself there instead. (yes this happened today. I almost got out to bitch them a new one about how to protect their children..)

new man

There are many pet peeves of mine, but one that people here need to be aware of. Slower Traffic Keep Right. I don't care if you are already going over the speed limit. If somebody is approaching faster, and you can safely move over without being really impeded, then get the fuck out of the way. Stop trying to drive the car behind you. If they flash their lights, it means move over. If they are in a hurry to get a ticket, more power to them. It might save you from a ticket.
Also bicyclists who impede traffic, like riding in packs, cutting lights and stop signs and so forth, particularly in Boulder, CO.

mixedmedia

I disagree. If I am already going over the speed limit, why shouldn't the driver behind me who wants to go faster be the one to safely move over...and pass me?

I know the reason why that is in my neck of the woods: because it means they get caught up in the the net of slower moving traffic to the right that I also don't want to get caught up in.

If there is no traffic in the right lane(s) I will and do move over, I still think it's rude to tailgate and flash your lights, though.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

new man

Because passing on the right is more dangerous. Note I also stated that if you can move over reasonably. Obviously, if I am sitting in a line of cars then I cannot pass, with the assumption being that the person in the front should move out of the way of everyone else. Many times a person will be passed three or four times on the right hand side until they finally move over. This forces faster drivers to weave in and out of slower lane traffic. Also, if people respected the light flash then maybe there would not be so much tailgating. Best situation, the one I try to follow, is to be cognizant of approaching traffic and safely move aside.

Xerxys

I agree with new man. I am one of the folk who drives fast because I drive with a purpose!! I know where the heck I'm going and I don't get lost. I know when to look for cops and when to anticipate speed traps.

Slower traffic should drive on the right. Period. Also, why the heck would two cars be driving neck and neck???? This pisses me off. Get the heck outta the way!!!

high_jinx

specifically, passing on the right side is dangerous because it's where your biggest blind spot is with your mirrors.

i find a good rule of thumb if you want to go fast is to make sure you don't have any negative effect on the drivers around you. if what you're doing causes anyone to hit their brake or swerve even a little bit then you probably should have picked a better spot to make moves. if you're already a mile ahead of them before they noticed you, then you passed correctly, and if someone gets all huffy, it's their own problem.

__________________
-my phobia drowned while i was gettin down.

sapiens

Driving with my father one night on a deserted four lane road, someone started tailgating us. My father decelerated slowly from 35 mph until we were nearly at a stop. Eventually the driver moved to the left lane and passed us. The driver was blowing his horn as he passed.

ring

About ten years ago,
I was one of those people traveling at 8 miles over the speed limit in the
left hand lane, when I noticed a convertible coming up behind so quickly
that I didn't have time to move to the right.

He was enjoying his intimidation and weaving around all us 'others'.

Five minutes later I saw his car flipped over on the side of the road,
with his almost severed head sticking out from under the vehicle.

ngdawg

Because in all states, it is illegal to pass on the right and may be illegal to drive continuously on the left. Cops can and will give tickets to someone who creates a left lane line. Just because you are going over the speed limit doesn't mean you must do so in the left lane. Here, we call them Left Lane Louies and you will get some irate people around you.
Karma's a bitch, but he won't be doing that again....the stupidity gene pool gets reduced quite often, but there's a lot more of them out there.
I'd love to have a bumpersticker that says: Being an asshole kills.

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

shakran

I've seen one out there that says "If I'm passing you on the right, you're a moron."

I'm not exactly a slow driver myself, and I agree that if you're not actively passing someone you should move right. That said, if I am actively passing someone in the left lane and some lunkhead starts tailgating me, he can cram it. Driving quickly is one thing, but this is not Formula Idiot, and if you start acting like you think you're a race car driver, it only proves that you shouldn't be on the road. Period.

ring

I wonder if most people have a grasp of what, 'horse power', truly means.

kutulu

Impatient assholes. Seriously people, you aren't getting there any more quickly. The extra couple of seconds might save your life. Go ahead and honk, I don't care.

If I'm turning on to a two lane road, I'll usually wait until BOTH lanes are clear. How do you know the driver in the left lane isn't about to switch lanes and smash into you?

If I'm the first car at a red light, I'll probably wait a second after the light turns green.

I'm not going to rush a left turn over 4 lanes of traffic to spare your a few seconds.

I'm not going to be the one who follows the guy ahead of me in a left turn after the light has turned red just because the other cars will wait for me.

People get so worked up while driving what is the point of it?

Grancey

One more:
those individuals who are behind me in the left turn lane and then fly past me on the right just to get back in front of me so they can turn before I do? What? Get a grip?

__________________
Quiet, mild-mannered souls might just turn out to be roaring lions of two-fisted cool.

inBOIL

Passing on the right is legal on freeways in California.

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And you believe Bush and the liberals and divorced parents and gays and blacks and the Christian right and fossil fuels and Xbox are all to blame, meanwhile you yourselves create an ad where your kid hits you in the head with a baseball and you don't understand the message that the problem is you.

mixedmedia

So the rule is drive over 85 or drive under 60? Because those are basically your two choices going with this point of view.

I believe I stated in my original post that I would move (and well in advance of being tailgated, too) if the roads are clear, but I don't buy that its my place to be stuck in the lane of SLOW traffic when the roads are full because I am not driving 90+ miles an hour. Slow the hell down. There's no reason to go that fast.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Tully Mars

You guys should come down here and drive. Where stop signs, lane markers and one way road signs are a mere suggestions. A land where cars seemingly have two options- full accelerate and instant stop. A place where the middle of the intersection is the proper place to stop and SEE if traffic is on coming. A culture where if you can see the tail lights in front of you you're not following close enough.

But hey tacos are cheap! And so is the bus.

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Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

ring

No one forces anyone to weave in and out of traffic at high speed.
It is a choice.

I wonder if this sense of entitlement carries over into other areas of a persons
life.

"The road is mine and everyone get the fuck out of my way."

Perhaps the road is the only arena in which these wimps can exercise their 'powers.'

settie

That's quite the road rage there buddy. I'd hate to be a passenger in your car, or a driver anywhere near you. Calm down, or you'll get killed.

Lots of us drive with purpose, but we're not invincible. Stop driving like you own the road. Seriously.

---------- Post added at 02:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:32 AM ----------

Pretty good rule of thumb there.

One of the first things I was taught: if someone else has to react to your driving (and by that I do not mean stopping/starting at signs/lights, rather highway/freeway driving), you're probably doing something that is a possible threat on the road. And when you're flying on a strip of ash at 110kph, you need to have complete control of your vehicle. "no funny business" my teacher used to say. heh.

new man

Haha, yes, you have made a funny, through a thinly veiled innuendo. Now it is my turn:

I hate it when people assume that I have the same inadequacies that they do. Just because they suck at driving they expect me to be at that level. I don't live my life by other's low standards. Maybe they should strive to improve theirs.

---------- Post added at 06:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:41 PM ----------

Now you could say "some people's need to speed is inversely proportional to their penis size".
Then I could cry for a little while (the truth hurts) and then respond with "women can't drive", then your comeback could be "dick", followed by my "bitch", followed by the yellow writing of a moderator.

Or do you want to end it now?

Tully Mars

How about a big cup of chill out?

Seriously you took Rings posts as an threat? I don't really read it that way, maybe I'm wrong but I see no need to have this go to "dick" or "bitch" mode.

__________________
I used to drink to drown my sorrows, but the damned things have learned how to swim- Frida Kahlo

Vice President Starkizzer Fan Club

nikkiana

People who fail to use their turn signal.
People who stick the nose of their car into the traffic lane when leaving Dunkin Donuts.

__________________
nikkiana

new man

no cup of chill for me tomorrow, I am driving into a blizzard tomorrow and need my complete focus for a shreddin day of killing pow on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

I was simply responding to a comment from Ring, and I stayed at that level. For a driving thread, you could say I stayed on the low road.

ring

It saddens and frightens me to see people that are too old
to be driving.

My mothers neighbor just lost his license because of this.
He is 89.

I should call and offer to transport him, wherever need be.

Strange Famous

Very numerous things anger me on the road.

Just this week I was CLEARLY about the step on a pedestrian crossing when this cunt in a white van came tearing across and would have knocked me down if I had kept walking as I was in the right of way to do.

I hurled the (plastic) bottle of coke I was holding at the time into the side of his van. He stopped and got and a few words were exchanged, but I didnt physically strike him or anything - I guess Im a kind of a coward like that sometimes. I lose my temper but then dont back it up.

In the past I've deliberately driven into someone (at 5 MPH) because he pulled in front of me in slow traffic, I've got out of my car and kicked another cars license plate multiple times, chased after a car shaking my first, jumped out my car waving a tyre iron at someone, etc... obviously I will swear or lay on the horn or wave my fist out the window at least every other day due to the intense frustration the pillocks and fools on the roads these days cause me. Im not an aggressive driver, but I guess driving does make me aggressive. I honestly wonder if the driving test is even being applied in this country today, half the wankers on the roads seem to have got their license out of a christmas cracker.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

ring

Strange? I mean this in the kindest way possible.

Deliberately hitting another vehicle no matter how fast you are traveling,
is a definite indication that you have severe anger and impulse control issues.

I know you have mentioned this in other threads.
Have you ever sought therapy for this?

Please...do.

/ thread jill

~Melee~

I can't stand when people drive really slowly in the left lane. If somebody is also driving slowly in the right lane you are pretty much stuck driving slowly for ages.

lostgirl

Everyone else!

Seriously, a-holes in SUVs that always cut me off.

__________________
We're about to go through the crucible, but we'll come out the other side.
We always arise from our own ashes. Everything returns later in its changed form. - Children of Dune

Sue

Everything everyone else has said, along with the fact that somehow, in some way, there's traffic in the morning and traffic in the evening. There's traffic at 4pm!! My reasoning is maybe if everyone went the same speed and stayed behind each other the same distance, traffic may flow quite nicely. Maybe. But that's in my fantasy world. Everything in perfect synchronization on the roads. *sigh*

Also, people who decide at the very last minute they need to get in the exit lane and cut you off. That's one huge pain in my ass. Then I'll blare my horn and shine my brights in your mirrors.

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ametc

TAILGATING! Especially when I'm already going 80 mph!!!

Also.. drivers that seem drunk but aren't.. they're just lame and can't figure out what lane they want to be in.

ASU2003

I've driven down there. It makes bad drivers up here look like saints.

And I've never have had any problems with bicyclists.

But, for the record.

-Tailgaters
-People who merge over with two inches of space to spare
-Trucks who want to pass another truck when they see a car doing 20mph over what they are going coming up in the left lane.

lostgirl

People who use their hazard lights as some sort of magical pass to park anywhere they please. Including in the middle of the street.

__________________
We're about to go through the crucible, but we'll come out the other side.
We always arise from our own ashes. Everything returns later in its changed form. - Children of Dune

Lucifer

People who stay in the right lane even though the left lane is empty and traffic is trying to merge from an on ramp onto the highway. This is driving me nuts lately! The idea is to accelerate from road speed to highway speed and merge into the flow of traffic. The scary thing, is that I have seen people, come to a complete stop on the on ramp and wait for a break in traffic, so they can get on the highway! Get out of the fucking lane and let me merge!

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I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
- Job 30:29

1123, 6536, 5321

MSD

Even before other drivers, some things that piss me off:
-The Speed Limit: the safest speed limit is the speed at or below which 85% of drivers will drive in ideal weather and visibility conditions. Anything lower is solely for revenue generation.

-Poorly Designed Entrance Ramps: Ramps with stop signs are dangerous. If you cannot build a long enough entrance ramp for the slowest modern car to safely accelerate to the minimum speed allowed on the road, there should be no entrance there.
-Poorly Designed Exits: Short ramps are dangerous. If a driver of the largest vehicle that can legally be driven on that road cannot safely slow from the safest highway speed for conditions to a stop at the end of the ramp, or if they cannot slow from highway speed to a speed that allows them to safely round a bend on the ramp, then there should not be an exit there. Forcing drivers to drive below the minimum speed limit while still on the highway because of poor ramp design disrupts traffic flow

those two are embodied by this crossover: Google Maps

Not that traveling south, both exits 40A and 40B require a driver to begin braking well before the exit ramp. If you zoom out 4 steps, you'll see E. Rocks Road to the northeast of this interchange. On a light traffic day during rush hour, traffic will slow to below 10 mph and back up past E. Rocks Road. Pan the map Northeast until you see the intersection with Route 33. On a bad day, traffic will back up to there, the previous exit.

At the first southbound ramp, cars can get up to maybe 30mph because of the uphill slope. Most can manage 50-55 from the second. On the first northbound ramp, there's a stop sign. This brings traffic to a grinding halt all the way to exit 38, which you can find.

Here's the clusterfuck in bird's eye view. The ramp over Route 7 is the top of a huge hill, which interrupts traffic even more.
Your web browser and the Maps site are incompatible

That ramp with the stop sign brings me to my issue with drivers. Common Fucking Courtesy. Only after every 15 or 20 cars does someone leave enough distance for someone to merge. During rush hour, instead of letting one car in in front of them, people will ride the next car's bumper so nobody can get into those precious 20 feet in front of them. When someone does get in, the next few cars have to jam on their brakes because they aren't leaving a safe distance between themselves.

This brings me to my next point: following distance. I will drive at any speed I want on the highway as long as I can keep a safe distance between myself and other drivers. If I'm doing 100+, this means I'm not within at least a thousand feet of another car (I let the distance grow exponentially at higher speeds just in case.) At normal speeds, it's about 1.5-2 car lengths per 10mph I'm going. Apparently, everyone else missed this part of driving school, because there's always someone who assumes that I'm not maintaining a safe following distance for safety, I'm keeping a spot open for him to swing his 4000 pound death machine into. If I had my way, these people would be deported (If you're a US citizen, you'd better hope Canada or Mexico will put up with your shitty driving. A Canadian informed me that they'd be fine with this because they have a colony for that called Montreal.)

From safe following distance comes the natural pet peeve of tailgating. It's not safe, you cannot make any argument to claim that it is, and if you tailgate, you're an idiot. If it's not going to cause a traffic jam, I prefer to deal with these by taking my foot off the gas and possibly downshifting. By the time they figure out I want them to pass me (I only do this in the right lane, if I'm in the left and someone wants to go faster than me, I move over as soon as is safely possible,) they're usually mad enough to give me dirty looks and flash America's Favorite Gesture (TM) at me. I smile and blow kisses. I only do this because I don't have the authority to deport people over traffic violations ... yet.

Then there are the ones who weave through traffic, and the special case of the guy who will move into another lane that gets him ahead, even if it's only by six inches. They're always doing this in heavy traffic where it's impossible to move over to let someone pass, and nobody for twenty miles ahead of or behind us are going more than 5mph. The solution to these is to give them false hope. I have a nice buffer built up because of my safe following distance (in really slow traffic I expand it to 50-60 feet so I don't have to brake so much) and this allows me to fuck with them. Pull up alongside the car in front of lane switching jerk, plus half a car length. Jerk switches lanes. Take my foot off the gas to maintain my following distance. Jerk switches lanes. Repeat until bored or at my exit. My record is a guy in a riced out shitbox who changed lanes and went back 14 times (28 total.) This will keep me amused since I can't deport them.
Off the top of my head, it means the amount of work done by one pound-foot of torque at 5252RPM.
I recall you mentioning one of those incidents here before. You have very serious anger issues and should seek professional counseling.

inBOIL

Or a response to whiny residents without the sense to teach their children not to dart across a four-lane road.

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And you believe Bush and the liberals and divorced parents and gays and blacks and the Christian right and fossil fuels and Xbox are all to blame, meanwhile you yourselves create an ad where your kid hits you in the head with a baseball and you don't understand the message that the problem is you.

seizei

#1 is people who don't get how traffic circles work, and stop before they enter. I actually had someone who was already inside the circle stop to let me enter in front of them... thankfully there was nobody behind them.

A close second happens at least 5 times every time I drive through Quebec: I'll be driving along at a good speed in the left lane, and the very slow driver (relatively speaking) in the right lane waits until I'm 5 seconds from passing them to pull in front of me and sluggishly pass another car on the right.

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I'm very interesting ...

seizei; (adv - Japanese) at the most; at best; to the utmost; as much (far) as possible. (pronounced - say-zay)

new man

This one also drives me nuts. Clear, sunny day. Going down the highway. Dork in front of you hits their windshield washer fluid spray and showers your nice clean car and windshield with overspray. If someone is behind you and you are at highway speeds, don't spray your windshield, you will also dirty theirs. If you made it that far on the highway, you probably didn't really need to do it right there.

Zeraph

A lot of things, but most of all tailgating.

Lasereth

1. People going 10 under the speed limit.

2. People not using their turn signals.

3. The worst of all: when you get to an intersection with a traffic light and it's green, the person across from you is turning left, and you're turning left. THIS MEANS YOU BOTH HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY. AS IN GO AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME. I hate when people wait for the other person to turn and then go.

HERE I DREW A PIC!!!!!!!!! /froth

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