Road Pet-Peeves

[Triactus]

So, what are the habits or conducts of drivers that make you furious?

For myself :

1) People that TAILGATE. I become so made when someone is following me too closely...

2) Not using blinkers. They're there for a reason. USE THEM.

(the other day, I had a car tailgate me for a while. He then went into the right lane (which is not legally allowed) and cut me off without putting on his blinker... GRRRRRR

3) Not knowing what a roundabout is. We have a couple roundabout here, but some people still haven't figured them out, like when you're supposed to give way to someone who already is in the roundabout.

what about you? what conduct brings out the hate and evil in you?

[Saber]

Those three are mine as well - people who don't use their blinkers and then shift lanes piss the hell out of me in particular.

I hate when people tailgate me, so I switch lanes to let them pass, and then they give me dirty looks - you're going 20 mph over the effing speed limit! I understand wanting to get somewhere, but no need being a complete duche about it to people who are going a mere 10-15mph over the speed limit.

[Triactus]

Originally Posted by Saber

Those three are mine as well - people who don't use their blinkers and then shift lanes piss the hell out of me in particular.

I hate when people tailgate me, so I switch lanes to let them pass, and then they give me dirty looks - you're going 20 mph over the effing speed limit! I understand wanting to get somewhere, but no need being a complete duche about it to people who are going a mere 10-15mph over the speed limit.

I know! I do a 2 hour 30 mins distance for work each day, but I refuse to go farther than 10 over the speed limit (which is basically the allowed limit). Still, some people tailgate me and passes by going like crazy. WTF?? Are they in such a hurry that they will die if they go below 10 over??? Makes me wish I had become a cop...

[crucis]

Originally Posted by Triactus

So, what are the habits or conducts of drivers that make you furious?

For myself :

1) People that TAILGATE. I become so made when someone is following me too closely...

2) Not using blinkers. They're there for a reason. USE THEM.

(the other day, I had a car tailgate me for a while. He then went into the right lane (which is not legally allowed) and cut me off without putting on his blinker... GRRRRRR

3) Not knowing what a roundabout is. We have a couple roundabout here, but some people still haven't figured them out, like when you're supposed to give way to someone who already is in the roundabout.

what about you? what conduct brings out the hate and evil in you?

I agree with your points, Triactus.

I should point out that a big problem with roundabouts (we call them "rotaries" where I live) is that the local laws regarding who has the right of way can vary from region to region. I've heard of places where the cars IN the rotary have the RoW, and I've heard of places where the cars waiting to get into the rotary have the RoW. And it can really, REALLY screw things up when people are confused about what the local rules actually are. If people both in and waiting to get into the rotary are overly cautious and yielding to everyone, it'll tend to slow things up around the rotary... annoying but probably not too dangerous. OTOH, if people both in and waiting to get into the rotary are both thinking that they have the RoW and are overly aggressive about their decisions, it's only going to be a matter of time before you have some accidents.

---------- Added 0 hours, 13 minutes and 5 seconds later... ----------

Originally Posted by Triactus

I know! I do a 2 hour 30 mins distance for work each day, but I refuse to go farther than 10 over the speed limit (which is basically the allowed limit). Still, some people tailgate me and passes by going like crazy. WTF?? Are they in such a hurry that they will die if they go below 10 over??? Makes me wish I had become a cop...

I'm the same when it comes to how fast I'll drive.

I think that a part of the "problem" is that most places have fixed fines for speeding. (Oh, it may be X dollars per mph over the limit, but it's still relatively "fixed".) The thing is that some people are wealthy enough that those semi-fixed fines are simply not high enough to cause those people to change their driving behavior. Many of these people just look at those fines as a "cost of doing business", and keep right on speeding, because they think that their time is more valuable than the cost of the fines. And in strictly economics terms, for better or worse, they're probably right.


I know that in some European countries speeding fines have been changed to be a percentage of the driver's income, so that richer drivers will feel the pain of ignoring the speed laws.

I'm of two minds about this. On one hand, it certainly should cause richer drivers to change their behavior if they get hit with a fine in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (or Euros, or whatever) or even higher. On the other, my distrust of government is so great that I simply do not trust that in hard economics times that some governments might start deliberately staking out richer drivers to try to "mine" some big fine income for the local government. Rich drivers shouldn't be harassed by local governments' police forces to make up revenue shortfalls. And honestly, I do not trust governments not to do this if the sliding scale speeding fines exist. That said, I don't really have an answer.... short of using the sliding scale of fines and then burning the fine money to prevent the government from getting it either (like that would happen, of course).

[Kitrax]

Oh...oh no! No no no no ...I must resist! SP's censoring script won't be able to handle it......must...not...do...it............

*SNAP*




Alright, let's do this thing.

I live in Utah, so that alone should speak for itself... but if that doesn't mean anything to you, here's but a taste of what I have to deal with:

• Mother F***ers who tailgate...but instead of backing off, the F***ing D****ebags get closer when you tap your brakes a few times. The only thing that gets your point across is slamming on the brakes hard....or using the E-Brake.
• C**ksuckers who never use their F***ing turn signals.
• Those Mother F***ing C**ksuckers who speed up when *you* use your turn signals so you can't merge...until they pass you.
• F***ing idiots who do 55mph in the 'Fast' lane of a 65mph freeway.
• F***ing idiotic A**holes who do the above in the carpool lane, of which you can't enter/exit until the lines break...so you're stuck behind the a**holes.
• Stupid B******s who enter/exit the carpool lane when ever they feel like it.
• ^^^Stupid mother F***ing, C**k sucing, C*m guzzling a**holes who run red lights...Especially if it's been red for 4+ seconds..........you F***ing retards!!!
• Stupid rednecks who gun their unnecessarily massive desiel engines to create a thick, black smoke screen of exhaust as they race off the line.
• And last, but not least: Dumb a** inbred rednecks who have their gigantic trucks raised up to the legal limit, with their headlights not adjusted correctly

I posted a blog here on an Englishman's encounter with Utah drivers. You may think it's funny, but every word of it is true. The author's views are slightly confined, as I believe he stayed in Salt Lake County... Had he taken I-15 south past the Point of the Mountain and in to Utah County, his story would be more like my other blogs:

Originally Posted by Kitrax; on his blog page

....I had to deal with a bigger problem...Utah County drivers. You see, to the south of Salt Lake County, likes the s*** hole known as Utah County which is home to BYU (the biggest Mormon owned university), the Mormon Missionary Training center, and a diverse population made up of Mormons, idiotic college students, rednecks, hicks, and tens of thousands of people who shouldn't be allowed to drive. I'm not usually an angry person, but driving through that place makes me wish I was driving a tank so I could just run people over or blast them to hell with a 120mm cannon.

Utah is one of many states that has a "move over" law, which is primarily meant to keep emergency vehicles that are stopped on the side of the road safe...but Utah's law also says that if you're in the "fast lane" of a multi-lane highway (the left most lane), and traffic to your right is moving faster than you, regardless of the posted speed limit, your a** better merge to the right so you're not impeding traffic. Well, people in Utah County wouldn't care if they were holding up the president...they drive 2-3 miles under the speed limit and stay in any lane of their choice until they decide to get off the highway.

Oh, and then there's this one: Got hit by the car in front of me while stopped at a red light...



^^^ - On my way to work, I almost always get stopped at the intersection of a busy highway (3 lanes both ways, 55-60mph, intersections only at major roads) and a busy major road. I am on the highway headed south. The stupid mother F***ing A**holes who are on the northbound highway, turning left on to the busy major road have 2 turning lanes, and a *very* long green light; and yet 6-10 cars run the red EVERY F***ING TIME!!! My light will be green for 2-3 seconds, and they'll still be running their red light like it's not there. I race up to them, and then slam on my brakes - horn blaring and my middle finger prominently displayed - and they have the F***ing gal to look at me, like I'm the one breakking the law!

During the xmas shopping season, those F***ing retards who ran the red have ended up being stuck in the intersection (blocking all southbound lanes) because the busy major road is backed up. It's been so bad that the red light runners have been stuck in the intersection for a full signal cycle!

Those are the days I need a tank.....or a RPG.

[Blackthorne TA]

During the xmas shopping season, those F***ing retards who ran the red have ended up being stuck in the intersection (blocking all southbound lanes) because the busy major road is backed up. It's been so bad that the red light runners have been stuck in the intersection for a full signal cycle!

Heh. There's a signal near where I work that's like that, only what's worse is that the street they're turning onto backs up and they're left in the middle of the street blocking traffic because they ran the red.

There's also this strange intersection where one street has left-turn arrows while the other street has no left-turn arrow, but has a right turn arrow. So the people yielding to the oncoming traffic while trying to make a left turn with no arrow have to go for it when the light changes from green to red. However when the light changes, the right turn arrow lights because the other street's left-turn arrows light (i.e. there's no conflict). So we've got people turning right onto the street with the arrow (like me) with people trying to turn left onto the street against a just-turned red. Most of these left-turn yielders don't realize the right turn arrow is lit and so get pissed that I'm turning right into the lane they want to turn left into. One woman had the nerve to honk at me, so I had to shake my fist at her and point to the lit right-turn arrow Hehe. That's probably hard to understand without a drawing

[T2Bruno]

I hate when there's an on ramp and everyone is playing nice and taking turns. There's always one jerk who just can't do it right and zips onto the shoulder just to get a few cars ahead, then they mash their way in.

I really hate it when I've mistakenly driven on the shoulder at an on ramp and no one will let me merge.

[shamelessly taken from some unknown comic]

This one is true:

T3Early Edition (when she was 21): I can't believe how rude the people are here.
T2Bruno: What happened?
T3EarlyEdition: I was trying to pass someone and she just flipped me off. She was taking up two lanes and when I honked to have her decide she stuck her finger out the window.
T2Bruno: Was this near the construction zone?
T3EarlyEdition: Well, yeah.
T2Bruno: So you were going to pass her on the right with a huge line of cars in the left lane. Did you see the sign to merge left?
T3EarlyEdition: There was still at least a hundred yards before the merge was required ... after she flipped me off no one would let me merge for at least four or five cars.

I don't think she ever got it.

[Blades of Vanatar]

Here in Illinois, not moving to another open lane when others are entering the freeway really pisses me off. I take that as basic driving etiquette. If you notice though, the older drivers are usually the ones to let others in. It's the kids out there that are the pain in the asses on the roads. Of course, when I was in my early twenties, I was definitely one of them.

[Silvery]

People who don't indicate
People who won't let you into a lane when you are indicating
People who won't let you off a slip road
People who tailgate
People who refuse to move for emergancy vehicles
People who merge at the last minute
People who see an accident and SLOW DOWN to have a good look
People who refuse to turn their brights off when driving past you
People who have their brights on when following you
People who are driving and aren't me

[T2Bruno]

“Have you ever noticed, anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac.”

--George Carlin

[Taluntain]

I think more or less everything's been listed above already... except the retards who mistake the road for a slalom course; naturally without ever turning the indicators on as they zoom from the front of one car to the next. You know... _/¯\_/¯\_/¯\_/¯\_/¯\_/¯\_

[Triactus]

Originally Posted by crucis

I agree with your points, Triactus.

I should point out that a big problem with roundabouts (we call them "rotaries" where I live) is that the local laws regarding who has the right of way can vary from region to region.

Usually, there is a ''give way sign'' in front of the lane that has to give way. So if you just look, you'll know what to do. But I admit it's a retarded idea not to have an internationnal standard for the roundabout. It's like saying in some towns, the stop sign really means go. It's just confusing for no reason!

But isn't it logical that the person IN the roundabout has right of way? I mean, the point of it is that once you're in it you don't stop...

Originally Posted by crucis

The thing is that some people are wealthy enough that those semi-fixed fines are simply not high enough to cause those people to change their driving behavior.

On top of the fine over here, an infraction of the driving law gives you demerit points. Once you accumulated a certain amount (based on the class of your driver's license), your license is suspended for six month. Get to the said amount of points a second time and it's suspended for a year. At one point, your license will be revoked. So it's definitely not a good idea to accumulate speeding tickets (if you like driving..)

Originally Posted by Kitrax

I live in Utah, so that alone should speak for itself... but if that doesn't mean anything to you, here's but a taste of what I have to deal with:

Your whole post was very entertaining...

Oh, someone did the most moronic thing tonight. I was wainting at a red light to turn left (blinker turned on). I was in a one lane way. The guy behind me wanted to turn right (here, you can legally turn right on a red light). However, he was too cool to wait for the light to change. He backed off of me and drove into the incoming lane (there were no cars coming, but still!!), passed me turned right in front of my car... COME ON!! Would 30 seconds of waiting time too long so you risk your life (AND OTHERS)?? WTF?

[crucis]

Originally Posted by Triactus

Usually, there is a ''give way sign'' in front of the lane that has to give way. So if you just look, you'll know what to do. But I admit it's a retarded idea not to have an internationnal standard for the roundabout. It's like saying in some towns, the stop sign really means go. It's just confusing for no reason!

But isn't it logical that the person IN the roundabout has right of way? I mean, the point of it is that once you're in it you don't stop...

I agree that it would make sense to have an international standard for rotaries/roundabouts. Of course, it would also make sense to have an international standard for what side of the road you drive on, and what side of the car is the driver's side, and so on. As bad as roundabouts may seem, imagine how dangerous it must be for an american driving in the UK for the first time, or vice-versa.... As easy as it may be to intellectually know that things are reversed, I'd imagine that all of one's driving instincts would be screaming to do things the way you've always done them ... right up to the point that you're driving down the wrong side of the road into traffic.

On top of the fine over here, an infraction of the driving law gives you demerit points. Once you accumulated a certain amount (based on the class of your driver's license), your license is suspended for six month. Get to the said amount of points a second time and it's suspended for a year. At one point, your license will be revoked. So it's definitely not a good idea to accumulate speeding tickets (if you like driving..)

Yes, this is true here as well, which is probably a bigger deterrent for rich drivers. Of course, it will probably just cause them to get radar detectors rather than slow down.

[Kitrax]

Originally Posted by Triactus

Usually, there is a ''give way sign'' in front of the lane that has to give way. So if you just look, you'll know what to do. But I admit it's a retarded idea not to have an internationnal standard for the roundabout. It's like saying in some towns, the stop sign really means go. It's just confusing for no reason!

But isn't it logical that the person IN the roundabout has right of way? I mean, the point of it is that once you're in it you don't stop...

Here's a better idea, outlaw *all* roundabouts globally! I hate those damn things! There's one by my house that no one knows how to use. I was comming up on it, and the dude that was currently going around it F***ing stopped in the middle of the damn thing so I could go...holding up traffic behind him! I honked at him and gave him the "F***ing go already!!!" gesture...but he looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights.

Originally Posted by Triactus

Your whole post was very entertaining...

Wasn't exactly what I was going for there.....but thanks, I guess.

[joacqin]

Roundabouts are awesome and really diminishes the amount of accidents that happen as long as people know how to use them. Instead of waiting for your lights at a junction you just slide into the roundabout and get going. There are very few junctions left hereabouts that arent roundabouts.

[Cap'n CJ]

People that don't indicate.
People that tailgate.

I'm going to leave it at that or i'll end up with a ban.

[Aikanaro]

Trucks. Think they can go as fast as they like and change lanes whenever the hell they feel like it. Have nearly had a truck sideswipe the car before because he wanted into the lane and just started heading in despite it being very clear that we'd all die a messy and horrible death if he did.

[Triactus]

Originally Posted by crucis

I agree that it would make sense to have an international standard for rotaries/roundabouts. Of course, it would also make sense to have an international standard for what side of the road you drive on, and what side of the car is the driver's side, and so on. As bad as roundabouts may seem, imagine how dangerous it must be for an american driving in the UK for the first time, or vice-versa.... As easy as it may be to intellectually know that things are reversed, I'd imagine that all of one's driving instincts would be screaming to do things the way you've always done them ... right up to the point that you're driving down the wrong side of the road into traffic.

Argh, good point. Why the hell don't we put an international standard on everything? And how the hell did different countries start driving in different lanes?

Originally Posted by Aikanaro

Trucks. Think they can go as fast as they like and change lanes whenever the hell they feel like it. Have nearly had a truck sideswipe the car before because he wanted into the lane and just started heading in despite it being very clear that we'd all die a messy and horrible death if he did.

haha, I agree. Trucks are a**ho***. I had one the other day who was tailgating me. At one point, his front bumper was completly filling my rearviewmirror... that's kinda scary considering that if I have to break suddenly, he'll flaten me like a pancake and I would probably die..

[Saber]

And how the hell did different countries start driving in different lanes?

The Brits like their jousting.

[dmc]

Oooh. Roundabouts. My first experience with one was in Scotland, when I was driving in the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road, trying to get somewhere with not such great directions and not having a clue what was meant with the directions out of the roundabout they sent me into. I went in with mild to fair trepidation, and really felt like it was a minor black hole -- I needed several revolutions around it to build up escape velocity, and, at that point, was simply happy that I got out, never mind that it was in the completely wrong direction.

Hate the things -- although I got significantly better over time.

And, I'm sure, that if you had asked the question of this thread on that day 11 or so years ago, everyone's answer would have been that they hated me.

Now, I just despise people that don't drive at the appropriate speed for their lane. I can live with tailgaters and I'm convinced that most people's directionals are not actually connected to anything, given how little they are used.

[Taluntain]

Oh, yeah. Truckers. Driving in parallel in front of you, for miles. Gotta love those. Or the idiot truckers who refuse to move out of the fast lane no matter what, driving at half the allowed speed to boot.

[LKD]

So, Kit, you are saying that Utah Mormons are bad drivers?

I hate it when I need to change lanes, and some douche is coming up behind me in the target lane. I signal to change, and I slow down so Mr. Douche can pass. He slows down too, staying just in my blind spot so I can't safely change. I speed up, flasher still one, and Mr. Douche speeds up too, not giving me room to move over. Fricking idiots! I want a Car Wars laser turret to deal with these douchebags!

[Triactus]

Originally Posted by LKD

So, Kit, you are saying that Utah Mormons are bad drivers?

I hate it when I need to change lanes, and some douche is coming up behind me in the target lane. I signal to change, and I slow down so Mr. Douche can pass. He slows down too, staying just in my blind spot so I can't safely change. I speed up, flasher still one, and Mr. Douche speeds up too, not giving me room to move over. Fricking idiots! I want a Car Wars laser turret to deal with these douchebags!

Ugh! I would flip out! It happens to me all the time that I signal, check my blind spot to see it's clear (and it is), then I start converging and I turn again to the blind spot to see an a**ho** who speed up and I have to swerve back in my lane... If you see someone with the blinker, LET HIM PASS!

[crucis]

Originally Posted by joacqin

Roundabouts are awesome and really diminishes the amount of accidents that happen as long as people know how to use them. Instead of waiting for your lights at a junction you just slide into the roundabout and get going. There are very few junctions left hereabouts that arent roundabouts.

In my neck of the woods, rotaries are considered the bane of safe driving, and there are very, very few of them left. There are always a few people who just don't know how to use them properly and safely, whereas everyone understands the concept of a red light.

[Triactus]

Originally Posted by crucis

In my neck of the woods, rotaries are considered the bane of safe driving, and there are very, very few of them left. There are always a few people who just don't know how to use them properly and safely, whereas everyone understands the concept of a red light.

I agree that the biggest problem with roundabouts is how other people understand them (my father even takes detour to avoid roundabouts because he doesn't trust other drivers). However, it's much better than stop lights since it really reduces the waiting time and greatly improves the flow. So I think instead of reverting back to stop lights, the government should better inform the drivers of the rules and procedures associated with roundabouts. I personally use at least one a day and I prefer them to stop lights.

But again, if people pay attention to the road signs, they can get safely across a roundabout...