I just expect drivers to be bad and drive defensively for thirty years and no accidents. I also finally learned in last 5 years not to get mad which helped tons!
Unbelievable Drivers
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More people need to drive manuals, too much work to do to be distracted.
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
The bad drivers here are either texting or oldies. The oldies are terrible, going 20 under in the left lane or pulling out in front of you without looking.
I guess you didn't consider that when you got up this morning, you were a day older than when you got up yesterday morning. The days add up and one day you'll be one of us "oldies." Not all older people are bad drivers just like not all younger people are bad drivers. After many years of driving, I've observed it's usually the folks who have little regard for laws, safety, and other people who are the ones who make it more dangerous than it has to be to share the road with them (no matter what their age is).
If your concern for the "oldies" is that great, maybe you could correspond with the head of your state's DMV and ask if their program that monitors older drivers' ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is adequate.
The bad drivers here are either texting or oldies. The oldies are terrible, going 20 under in the left lane or pulling out in front of you without looking.
I guess you didn't consider that when you got up this morning, you were a day older than when you got up yesterday morning. The days add up and one day you'll be one of us "oldies." Not all older people are bad drivers just like not all younger people are bad drivers. After many years of driving, I've observed it's usually the folks who have little regard for laws, safety, and other people who are the ones who make it more dangerous than it has to be to share the road with them (no matter what their age is).
If your concern for the "oldies" is that great, maybe you could correspond with the head of your state's DMV and ask if their program that monitors older drivers' ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is adequate.
Driving becomes a lot easier once you begin to expect that people will make certain mistakes, and plan for them. When a light turns green at a 4 way intersection, I look both ways now. When I see a car waiting to pull out a ways ahead of me, I let off the gas a bit. When on the highway, I keep an eye on cars in my peripheral vision, and act accordingly if they start to wander.
Obviously you cannot plan for everything, but I have predicted correctly plenty of times.
Obviously you cannot plan for everything, but I have predicted correctly plenty of times.
Lots of stupid people, and most of them drive. When I'm riding one of my Motorcycles, I always assume I'm invisible. Expecting the worst from drivers, and riding/driving accordingly, has saved me too many times to count. Most of my riding is on less-traveled two lanes roads. I avoid the heavily congested city streets and Freeways like the plague.
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Yesterday I saw this what had to have been a chick in her 70s driving some kind of rugrat hauler bus,creeping along with a mile long traffic jam behind her,texting on a FLIP PHONE! She had face literally pressed up to the screen haha. I drove right beside her for awhile staring at her,pointing and laughing. She didn't even notice me!
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Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
More people need to drive manuals, too much work to do to be distracted.
This.
You HAVE to have both hands available to drive the vehicle.
More people need to drive manuals, too much work to do to be distracted.
This.
You HAVE to have both hands available to drive the vehicle.
You have to learn that some people are more important than others. You must learn to get out of their way, always give them the right of way and not to honk your horn because it interrupts their texting or phone conversation. They live in a world centered on themselves, far, far away from reality. Leave them there.
Once you learn that you must avoid them and anticipate that you're in their way you'll have a much safer driving experience. To avoid conflict, give up your "right-of-way" at times and know that it's okay to be plan ahead, leave on time and sometimes arrive several minutes late to your destination is the smart strategy. You'll be the only one to know that you have succeeded but that should be good enough. If not, you might be one of them.
Once you learn that you must avoid them and anticipate that you're in their way you'll have a much safer driving experience. To avoid conflict, give up your "right-of-way" at times and know that it's okay to be plan ahead, leave on time and sometimes arrive several minutes late to your destination is the smart strategy. You'll be the only one to know that you have succeeded but that should be good enough. If not, you might be one of them.
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And then you have the ones with those weird "blue tooth" things looking like paranoid schizophrenic psychos all talking to themselves,throwing their arms all in the air,yelling and screaming while they're driving . Hands free [censored] is just as bad as texting imo.
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Originally Posted By: grampi
This is exactly why I'm selling my motorcycle...way too many distracted drivers on the roads these days...
If you sell it,just get a dirt bike
I miss my dirt bike days!
This is exactly why I'm selling my motorcycle...way too many distracted drivers on the roads these days...
If you sell it,just get a dirt bike
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Driving becomes a lot easier once you begin to expect that people will make certain mistakes, and plan for them. When a light turns green at a 4 way intersection, I look both ways now. When I see a car waiting to pull out a ways ahead of me, I let off the gas a bit. When on the highway, I keep an eye on cars in my peripheral vision, and act accordingly if they start to wander.
Obviously you cannot plan for everything, but I have predicted correctly plenty of times.
This is good practice - too many fatal accidents occurring at intersections these days caused by red light crashers. And since the start of right turn on red, too many folks just automatically turning on red without even looking for oncoming traffic.
Driving becomes a lot easier once you begin to expect that people will make certain mistakes, and plan for them. When a light turns green at a 4 way intersection, I look both ways now. When I see a car waiting to pull out a ways ahead of me, I let off the gas a bit. When on the highway, I keep an eye on cars in my peripheral vision, and act accordingly if they start to wander.
Obviously you cannot plan for everything, but I have predicted correctly plenty of times.
This is good practice - too many fatal accidents occurring at intersections these days caused by red light crashers. And since the start of right turn on red, too many folks just automatically turning on red without even looking for oncoming traffic.
JHZR2
Staff member
Cars are too powerful and distractions too great.
In the UK it is a fine and six penalty points on you licence, (twelve points is an automatic disqualification from driving). But people are still getting caught in increasing numbers.
I remember when breath tests were introduced to catch drunk drivers, the genaral view if someone was caught was "You were unlucky", nowadays it's "You shouldn't have been driving you idiot".
It may take time, but maybe attitudes will change, maybe when a texter plows into a bunch of children or similar.
I have watched UK traffic cop programs showing truck drivers reading books, preparing food, even watching a dvd driving on our crowded highways. Eastern European drivers seem to be the worst offenders, watching Russian dashcam footage on u tube somehow I'm not surprised.
Claud.
I remember when breath tests were introduced to catch drunk drivers, the genaral view if someone was caught was "You were unlucky", nowadays it's "You shouldn't have been driving you idiot".
It may take time, but maybe attitudes will change, maybe when a texter plows into a bunch of children or similar.
I have watched UK traffic cop programs showing truck drivers reading books, preparing food, even watching a dvd driving on our crowded highways. Eastern European drivers seem to be the worst offenders, watching Russian dashcam footage on u tube somehow I'm not surprised.
Claud.
When people are so absorbed in their phones that they will walk straight into fountains, you KNOW driving is going to be hazardous.
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The social contract(s) that exist between people, say standing in a grocery line, or walking amongst each other in a public place... these are null & void once one climbs into a vehicle and takes to the road-- or so it appears. People do all manner of obnoxious things when they're all cocooned up in their metal fortress on four wheels. Tail gating / following too close for instance. When's the last time the person behind you in line at the market stood so close you could feel their nose breath down your neck? Or walked so close behind you nearly clipping your heels that they'd collide if you stopped walking abruptly? It's okay to some folks to engage in the vehicular equivalent of these behaviours though.
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
All this makes me wonder if a way to fix this is with better education when they get their license? Or maybe keeping the amount of doo-dads and switches on a car less?
When I had my 70 Lincoln there wasn't much to fiddle with and the car, because of it's size, forced me to pay close attention to my driving. One thing I've noticed is that the small cars of today can easily "wander" around in their lanes. Back in the days of big cars you had to pay attention to keep your car centered, plus the old worm gear steering boxes were sloppy.
What's the solution to all this? Missile launchers? Stupid flags?
You guys need some serious distracted driving penalties, here its $500 or $1000 fine, and 3 demerit pts for holding a cell phone while driving. For new drivers they lose their license for a month or 3.
Some people still text or talk on their phone of course, but they also keep one eye on the road to avoid getting caught as well...
Those penalties aren't stopping everyone from driving distracted. I take the GO train into downtown Toronto and I could easily ticket 50 people an hour if I needed a new career.
It's ridiculous.
Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet
All this makes me wonder if a way to fix this is with better education when they get their license? Or maybe keeping the amount of doo-dads and switches on a car less?
When I had my 70 Lincoln there wasn't much to fiddle with and the car, because of it's size, forced me to pay close attention to my driving. One thing I've noticed is that the small cars of today can easily "wander" around in their lanes. Back in the days of big cars you had to pay attention to keep your car centered, plus the old worm gear steering boxes were sloppy.
What's the solution to all this? Missile launchers? Stupid flags?
You guys need some serious distracted driving penalties, here its $500 or $1000 fine, and 3 demerit pts for holding a cell phone while driving. For new drivers they lose their license for a month or 3.
Some people still text or talk on their phone of course, but they also keep one eye on the road to avoid getting caught as well...
Those penalties aren't stopping everyone from driving distracted. I take the GO train into downtown Toronto and I could easily ticket 50 people an hour if I needed a new career.
It's ridiculous.
My observation is folks are getting better at smartphone use while driving in our area. The driving skills are up for folks who do both compared to a few years ago.
Originally Posted By: Claud
In the UK it is a fine and six penalty points on you licence, (twelve points is an automatic disqualification from driving). But people are still getting caught in increasing numbers.
I remember when breath tests were introduced to catch drunk drivers, the genaral view if someone was caught was "You were unlucky", nowadays it's "You shouldn't have been driving you idiot".
It may take time, but maybe attitudes will change, maybe when a texter plows into a bunch of children or similar.
I have watched UK traffic cop programs showing truck drivers reading books, preparing food, even watching a dvd driving on our crowded highways. Eastern European drivers seem to be the worst offenders, watching Russian dashcam footage on u tube somehow I'm not surprised.
Claud.
Texas had a very bad accident that involved a texting idiot that went head on with a First Baptist Church bus of seniors returning from a retreat. 13 dead but not the offender. New Braunfels Texas, 5/13/17
. Texas was having issues with getting more restrictions on cell phone use till this. The driver was reported and was followed and recorded by another motorist.
In the UK it is a fine and six penalty points on you licence, (twelve points is an automatic disqualification from driving). But people are still getting caught in increasing numbers.
I remember when breath tests were introduced to catch drunk drivers, the genaral view if someone was caught was "You were unlucky", nowadays it's "You shouldn't have been driving you idiot".
It may take time, but maybe attitudes will change, maybe when a texter plows into a bunch of children or similar.
I have watched UK traffic cop programs showing truck drivers reading books, preparing food, even watching a dvd driving on our crowded highways. Eastern European drivers seem to be the worst offenders, watching Russian dashcam footage on u tube somehow I'm not surprised.
Claud.
Texas had a very bad accident that involved a texting idiot that went head on with a First Baptist Church bus of seniors returning from a retreat. 13 dead but not the offender. New Braunfels Texas, 5/13/17
. Texas was having issues with getting more restrictions on cell phone use till this. The driver was reported and was followed and recorded by another motorist.Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: grampi
This is exactly why I'm selling my motorcycle...way too many distracted drivers on the roads these days...
If you sell it,just get a dirt bike
I miss my dirt bike days!
A Corvette will be taking the place of my bike...
Originally Posted By: grampi
This is exactly why I'm selling my motorcycle...way too many distracted drivers on the roads these days...
If you sell it,just get a dirt bike
A Corvette will be taking the place of my bike...
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
When people are so absorbed in their phones that they will walk straight into fountains, you KNOW driving is going to be hazardous.
Combine this with the millennial all about ME attitude and all hope is lost. I'm 26, but was raised differently. If I fell into a fountain in a mall, I had to have done something very stupid. I'd certainly be embarrassed, but it would be my own [censored] fault. I wouldn't sue anyone for my own mistake, especially for something that is easily avoidable.
When I worked in auto insurance, establishing liability of each party involved was always a challenge. We always joked that a car could be involved in a single vehicle accident in the middle of nowhere, 10 cameras could see it, and the driver would claim the accident to be someone else's fault.
It was actually quite frightening to see the two different groups of people we dealt with on a daily basis. The most common were those who were clearly at fault but would lie and deny everything, even if it didn't change the outcome. The second most common were drivers who clearly endangered the lives of others or actually caused injury, admitted doing so, and showed no remorse for their actions.
When people are so absorbed in their phones that they will walk straight into fountains, you KNOW driving is going to be hazardous.
Combine this with the millennial all about ME attitude and all hope is lost. I'm 26, but was raised differently. If I fell into a fountain in a mall, I had to have done something very stupid. I'd certainly be embarrassed, but it would be my own [censored] fault. I wouldn't sue anyone for my own mistake, especially for something that is easily avoidable.
When I worked in auto insurance, establishing liability of each party involved was always a challenge. We always joked that a car could be involved in a single vehicle accident in the middle of nowhere, 10 cameras could see it, and the driver would claim the accident to be someone else's fault.
It was actually quite frightening to see the two different groups of people we dealt with on a daily basis. The most common were those who were clearly at fault but would lie and deny everything, even if it didn't change the outcome. The second most common were drivers who clearly endangered the lives of others or actually caused injury, admitted doing so, and showed no remorse for their actions.
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