Little traffic irritations

[Stelth]

OK, I'm not a road rager, most of the stuff on the freeways I can deal with. And here in So. Cal., there's a lot of "stuff".

I think we've all been behind someone who doesn't seem to get the concept of speeding up a bit on the on-ramp, so as to be able to merge smoothly with freeway traffic. Someone doing 35 or so, hurriedly glancing from mirror to mirror, maybe tapping the brakes every couple of seconds, you know. Finally, he eases into the freeway, and begins his acceleration from 35 up to whatever speed he likes. OK, deep breath, relax, nothing you can do about it.

But there's a more extreme version of this guy or gal. This one follows the same on-ramp pattern, but is unable to accelerate past 35 mph or so, until he or she is in the number one lane. So we creeeep down the on-ramp, hunched over the steering wheel, then suddenly jerk the car onto the freeway, and make a series of jerky, swerving lane changes across 4 or 5 lanes, and then begin the leisurely acceleration to speed. Of course, this leaves a trail of sweaty, panicked drivers who have just had their reflexes and ABS challenged. I have to admit that I don't understand this style of driving.

Another baffling pattern is tailgaters in residential areas. I am very careful in such areas, since I really don't want to run anyone over. And if, God forbid, the unthinkable happens, someone darts into the street and I can't avoid them, I want the police to be able to determine that I was not driving overly fast, and that I was in fact doing everything possible to be safe. So I'm driving at the posted speed limit, or if none is posted, usually 25 mph. Often, I see someone blasting up behind me, and then they ride my bumper. This usually doesn't last long, as they turn into their driveway. And I'm left wondering why anyone would want to drive like that in their own neighborhood?

There are also times when I'd like to say, "I told you so." I was getting on a local freeway, and a couple of ricers came ripping past, probably at 80+, weaving in and out, you know. I'm thinking, "Whoa, those guys are going to cause a wreck." Not two miles later, I see a huge cloud of smoke up ahead, and sure enough, there are cars and parts scattered across all 5 lanes of the highway. There were at least 5 cars involved, but fortunately it looked like no one was hurt.

And why do people pass cops when the cops are going the speed limit or a little more? Are you kidding me? At least this provides a little comic relief. I even saw a guy pass a cop in a school zone, right under a sign with flashing yellow lights that said "25 mph when lights are flashing." Cop was doing maybe 30.

 

[KrisZ]

It's simple, people in real life and behind the wheel just think me, me, me. Nothing they do is ever wrong, they're always late for something and the road is their private playground where they do as they please without any consideration on how their driving affects others on the road.

I constantly see people stopping on the right lane, blocking everybody behind because they want to drop off someone at the bus stop. Meanwhile the bus stop is maybe 100 feet after the traffic lights and they just spent few minutes waiting for the green. Why not let the person walk those 100 feet to the bus stop?
Or people who block the left turn lane because they want to make a u-turn.
All those people are perfectly fine when it's them blocking everybody, but when someone does the same, you can bet they will be the first ones to blast their horns.

 

[d00df00d]

Something I've noticed: in the USA, when you suggest that people should be considerate of others, you very often get a response along the lines of "mind your own business" or "it's a free country" or something. To me, that always translates as "yeah, I know I'm screwing other people over; I just don't want to have to think about it."

At the same time, we usually also recognize the old adage that your freedom to swing your fist ends where someone else's nose begins. In other words, of course it's a free country -- as long as your "freedom" doesn't involve screwing someone else over.

I think the latter is the superior idea, especially on public roads with other people. To paraphrase, someone's right to drive how they want ends where someone else's brake threshold begins...

 

[Stelth]

When people get into a car, it seems like they become really de-personalized. If you're in line at a store, you don't see people running up alongside the line and trying to nose their way in at the front. Yet we see this behavior every day on the road.

Interstate 8 ends at a traffic light at the entrance to Ocean Beach, a San Diego beach community. I was driving down there last week, and to my left, a guy in an Alfa Romeo convertible was cruising at a slow speed with a lot of room in front of him. The light was red, however, and everyone in front of him (probably 100+ yards of empty space) was stopped. The gal behind him was honking, and finally whipped around him on the shoulder. He continued to slowly cruise down the road and ended up stopped behind her at the light. So what was the point of all her anger and gyrations? I have to admit, I had a laugh at her expense.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Traffic is bedlam these days and the tight flow always reduces everything to the lowest common denominator.

I drive a LOT, used to drive even more than that! More than 2.5 million miles to date, clocked in about 60k last year (way off my usual pace). Learning to disconnect my ego from driving is still difficult.

You simply must lose the emotional responses, it is hard but your blood pressure will thank you!

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Stelth
When people get into a car, it seems like they become really de-personalized. If you're in line at a store, you don't see people running up alongside the line and trying to nose their way in at the front. Yet we see this behavior every day on the road.

Indeed.

The explanation for this is quite simple: there are no face-to-face interactions when everyone's in their cars.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
You simply must lose the emotional responses, it is hard but your blood pressure will thank you!

Highest wisdom-to-word count ratio I've seen on BITOG in quite some time.

 

[SLCraig]

All those same things baffle me as well.
I really cannot stand bad highway etiquette. I am more fine with strange city behaviour but on the highway its not acceptable. The left lane is not a driving lane, its not a fast lane, it is a passing lane, period. Seems 50% of the people on the road do not get this... No idea why, you probably would have failed your drivers test if you just casually drove in the far left lane... So why in practice do people not care? I hate it... GRRR!!

Same with the person who merges onto the highway at below highway speeds. Immediate drivers test fail. Why do they do it? Bizarre.

The nice thing about me posting this is, I always put my money where my mouth is... I don't do any of the stuff I say I hate.. Ever.

 

[fusion0389]

Originally Posted By: Stelth
OK, I'm not a road rager, most of the stuff on the freeways I can deal with. And here in So. Cal., there's a lot of "stuff".

I think we've all been behind someone who doesn't seem to get the concept of speeding up a bit on the on-ramp, so as to be able to merge smoothly with freeway traffic. Someone doing 35 or so, hurriedly glancing from mirror to mirror, maybe tapping the brakes every couple of seconds, you know. Finally, he eases into the freeway, and begins his acceleration from 35 up to whatever speed he likes. OK, deep breath, relax, nothing you can do about it.

But there's a more extreme version of this guy or gal. This one follows the same on-ramp pattern, but is unable to accelerate past 35 mph or so, until he or she is in the number one lane. So we creeeep down the on-ramp, hunched over the steering wheel, then suddenly jerk the car onto the freeway, and make a series of jerky, swerving lane changes across 4 or 5 lanes, and then begin the leisurely acceleration to speed. Of course, this leaves a trail of sweaty, panicked drivers who have just had their reflexes and ABS challenged. I have to admit that I don't understand this style of driving.




This has been the story of my life for the past 3 years I have lived in Virginia... I grew up in the atlanta area, you have to drive quickly and be decisive on the road to survive. nothing extreme or dangerous, just common sense stuff like keeping up with the flow of traffic, common sense merging, etc. Well evidently in good ol lynchburg, yield always means stop. I cannot tell you how many people i have seen treat on ramps and yield\merge situations as left hand turns. its outright dangerous. Just talking about these morons gets my blood boiling.

 

[TMoto]

Every once in a while, a Nervous Nellie will actually stop on the onramp and let cars build up behind him/her. Then when they decide it's safe enough to go, there's a convoy of slow-movers attempting to merge at once.

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
You simply must lose the emotional responses, it is hard but your blood pressure will thank you!

Agreed, although at times it's difficult.

 

[TMoto]

Originally Posted By: Stelth
If you're in line at a store, you don't see people running up alongside the line and trying to nose their way in at the front.

We have grocery stores here that have self-checkout lanes with no good way of dealing with lines that form. Every once in a while someone will walk right up to a register that opens up just as they're walking by, with no regard that others may have been waiting.

 

[TMoto]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
I really cannot stand bad highway etiquette. I am more fine with strange city behaviour but on the highway its not acceptable. The left lane is not a driving lane, its not a fast lane, it is a passing lane, period.

I recently made my annual road trip from Denver to Cedar Rapids, IA to visit family. Way too many cars that just drive along in the #1 lane and never move over. I also witnessed two instances of a car almost getting pushed off the road as they attempted to pass a truck on the right, just as the truck was returning to the #2 lane after passing another truck.

 

[440Magnum]

Gotta tell the most egregious road-rage story I've witnessed personally in the last 10 years.

Two lanes, in a construction zone, 5:00 rush hour. Traffic has been moving slowly, but not unreasonably slow for rush hour, for a few miles. We crest a hill, and aha! Reason for the delay: the left lane is closed a few hundred yards ahead. Cars are "zippering" in to a single lane very democratically right at the end of the closed lane- no biggie. Unusually polite for Austin, in fact. But a guy who, up till then had been perfectly patient gets into a purple rage because all of a sudden it seems to him like people aren't clearing the closed lane and are "getting ahead" of him and he's been in the open lane all along. Oh, the unfairness of it all! I'm in the closed lane, preparing to zipper in line (important point- I'm in the SRT, and the guy in my lane ahead of me is in a Camaro SS). Impatient guy in right lane whips out FROM BEHIND a lady in a Mazda, goes into the breakdown lane, and gets back in front of her so that he can come up and block the guy in the Camaro! He's too late to block the Camaro although he nearly sideswipes him trying. Unsatisfied with that, he makes it clear that he's going to block me and I start give him room. Camaro guy sees it, makes eye contact with me, and gives me a nod. He lets a big gap open in front of him (holding anger dude back, anger dude is still blocking me. Then Camaro guy drops the hammer and makes a hole... I drop the hammer into the hole, and we both slow it back down and are in line- never exceeding maybe 25 mph and doing it all within 10 carlengths. We both wind up ahead of anger guy, who just can't make the move quick enough. ;-)

Of course he's BLIND with rage at this point, so he gets back into the breakdown lane, forces in ahead of Camaro guy and brake checks him about a dozen times (base model pickup truck brakes against Brembos... good luck with that, since Camaro guy is laying back laughing his butt off anyway.) I took my exit a little later, and last I see anger dude is still giving the Camaro guy the finger out the window.

And the worst part.... he had two car-seats with kids in them in the back of his quad-cab pickup

Granted, the smart thing for me and Camaro guy to have done would have been to get the f out of the way. But the setup was just too perfect.

 

[Dave Sherman]

What makes the slow moving entrance ramp drivers worse is if that entrance ramp becomes an exit only. The slow moving one at the front of the line trying to enter sees the lane isn't narrowing, so they stay there, leisurely plodding along. Everyone behind them is then passing them to merge onto the highway, while others on the highway are suddenly having to contend with a line of slow moving vehicles trying to enter while they are trying to exit. And then, at the last minute, the slow mover who still hasn't matched speed realizes that it's an exit only.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

People driving poorly need to know they are impeding traffic. I let them know verbally without too much swearing. If someone brake-checks me (applying the brakes) they will be going to the Station House or may be missing some car parts.
The moron-to-good driver count has overwhelmed traffic now. Too Late.

Time to get a gyrocopter.

 

[gomes512]

Speeders in residential areas drives me nuts. Our area has cars parked on both sides of the roads with many kids playing on the sidewalks so I make sure to carefully drive through. Seems like everyday there is a guy or gal tailgating me while blabbing on the phone, so frustrating but I've learned to just let it go.

The city put in speed humps on most of the roads, you'd think it would slow 'em down. Instead, the roadway directly in front of the speed hump is all gouged out from speeders nailing the humps at fast speed.

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: Stelth

And why do people pass cops when the cops are going the speed limit or a little more? Are you kidding me? At least this provides a little comic relief. I even saw a guy pass a cop in a school zone, right under a sign with flashing yellow lights that said "25 mph when lights are flashing." Cop was doing maybe 30.


And my question to this is...

Did the cop pull the driver over? If no, then that is why it still happens.

 

[Rolla07]

LOL.. so true. I think most careful good drivers can recognize those weaknesses.. being stuck behind someone going 30 while attempting to merge into traffic going 70+... i floor it and cut the solid and try to cut to the far left lane.. (without cutting anyone off or making it dangerous)

 

[fdcg27]

You see stupid stuff all of the time.
Monday, I was driving to work and came to an intersection.
I was probably a little below the speed limit of 50 mph.
A guy in a Jetta TDI made the right turn on red (legal) with little enough room that I had to brake shaply to avoid ruining both of our mornings. I know the difference between cognition and reaction, so I decided not to get mad and ruin my own morning.
I went to look at an '03 Accord today after work, a decent 120K 5 spd.
As I drove home, I observed a fool in a Cavi, old enough to be the gutless 2.2, turn out of a cross street onto the busy four lane divided highway I was on and then cut abruptly and hard in front of a service van in the left lane, with no signal, of course. The guy in the van had to brake pretty hard to avoid the Cavalier.
I routinely get tailgated closely coasting in gear up to red lights, and people seem to follow witlessly at higher speeds, as though they're relying upon their view of the back of my car for navigation. You can have fun with that on off ramps, depending upon what they're driving, since in many cases, they really are depending upon you for driving cues and no SUV or pickup corners like any BMW or any Honda.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: gomes512
Speeders in residential areas drives me nuts. Our area has cars parked on both sides of the roads with many kids playing on the sidewalks so I make sure to carefully drive through. Seems like everyday there is a guy or gal tailgating me while blabbing on the phone, so frustrating but I've learned to just let it go.

The city put in speed humps on most of the roads, you'd think it would slow 'em down. Instead, the roadway directly in front of the speed hump is all gouged out from speeders nailing the humps at fast speed.


I live in a village zone. I pull out just after where the speed limit on a numbered state highway drops from 55 to 35. I go 1/10 mile in that 35 zone to a 4-way stop.

In fact, the (back of the) 35mph sign is my go/ no-go indicator. If a car is further back, I have time to pull out and politely acellerate without interfering with that car. If it's in front (closer), I let it go.

The problem, for them, is when they're doing 60 in that 35. Then they're miffed that "lap traffic" (me) "pulled out in front without looking" and had to briskly brake.

Not sorry. If you speed, that's "on you" and you need to have the reaction time to "un-speed" quickly if necessary.

Note: the speed limits are actually appropriate. I hate a speed drop miles before actual village density like the next guy, but there are a bunch of tiny roads just inside this 35 zone.