You mean I’m not the only one whose car was apparently fitted with this feature at the factory? Mine doesn’t seem to have an off switch, though.
Just this evening, I was driving along in the middle lane, going 40 (the limit) and approaching a green light when the idiot in the right lane (who had zoomed past me a few seconds earlier) suddenly swerved into my lane and slammed on his brakes. Apparently, he URGENTLY needed to turn left but didn’t want to slam into the car in the left lane (although he didn’t mind hitting MY car). I slammed my own brakes on, and luckily there was no one else in the right lane, so I was able to swerve out of the way.
I know it’s undignified for a 40-year-old woman to give someone the finger, but it was a special circumstance. Stupid punk.
On 95N/S, there’s a tunnel with a toll. Either way, four lanes of traffic expands to 12 lanes leading to the tollbooths, with the two booths on the farthest left hand side designated for M-Tag drivers (sort of like Easy Pass - you stick this thing to your windshield and cruise right through without stopping to actually pay.) During rush-hour, traffic usually comes to a complete halt while everyone tries to find a lane and regulate.
Well, I was in the farthest left lane but had not reached the point where it opens up to 12 lanes. So four lanes of traffic at a complete stop, and this little sportscar comes blazing down the median strip at about 70. There was really no where for him to go except into another car, because traffic was filling up every availible inch of space even after the lanes multiply.
Except he didn’t get a chance to hit another car. Instead, he plowed directly into one of those huge hulking metal things that usually blink warnings or arrows. Somehow he managed not to see it. I think he was busy looking for a space to merge back into traffic.
A piece of his car barely missed my windshield.
Another time I got stuck on a one-land road behind someone swerving all over the place, onto the shoulder and over the dotted yellow line. When I was able to pass her safely, I see her attaching some sort of hairpiece to her existing hair and (hopefully) driving with her knee. She had a comb in one hand, ratting out the hairpiece, and was Aqua-Netting with the other hand.
The thing that gets me most is when everyone is patiently waiting in heavy traffic. Just sitting in line, knowing that their turn will come. Then the resident a-hole will come flying down the breakdown lane.(similar to what DAVE was saying) I have personally moved over so that I am half in my lane and half in the breakdown lane, so they can’t go any further ahead than me. Seriously, who died and gave them special privileges. My SO and I laugh, and point out that they have their invisible “S” plates on (S for special). My father-in-law did use his CB radio to call ahead to a truck, which slowly sideswiped a car doing this ! He could’ve stopped in time, but didn’t believe anyone would stop him. Ha !
This can get me furious if I let it. I just can’t believe the arrogance of some people, especially behind the wheel.
While riding with George to a meeting once, we came to an intersection where a crossing guard was waving a bunch of elementary school students across the street. George decides he’s far too important to wait for such things and stomps on the gas, giving a couple of quick warning honks as the six-year-olds scatter.
To this day, I cannot look at a red Jeep Cherokee without thinking, “asshole”.
I never saw a lot of bad drivers until I came to New York. I grew up in rural Vermont, so needles to say I had to get used to ‘asshole driving’ as I call it. Anyways, I was coming back from a trip to a diner off of I-87, and just merged onto I-90 and had to go through the toll booth. Anyways, I’m in my lane, all happy, and then a large semi comes off of the on-ramp and needs to go to the one tollbooth open this late at night. Now, we were alongside each other in tewo lanes, and I figure that since I’m already in the lane, he’ll let me go first. Nope, he needs to go through first. He starts to pull into my lane, with me still in it!:eek:. I slammed on the brakes and barely missed having his trailer slam into me. Asshole.
I’ve seen at least one guy passing me on the shoulder while traffic was stopped… and getting ticketed by a cop a couple of hundred yards further down the road. Score!
One time when it snowed, the guy in front of me slowed down and turned on his emergency blinkers. Every time he came to a bridge. :rolleyes: My boss put it well: “He’s telling you important information - he’s telling you he’s an idiot”
Not an example of stupidity, but I bet there was one nervous driver involved. Today, I was waiting to turn onto a road and a very large semi trailer loaded down with construction stuff was braking for the red light in front of me. It sounded like he was standing on the brakes, because they were squealing badly. He stopped not two feet from the teeny tiny car in front of him.
One of my favourite things I saw; I was walking down a street, and I saw an old guy backing up his land yacht out of a parking stall into an alley. There’s a car right behind him, waiting to get out of the alley onto the busy street. The car driver is honking and yelling at the old guy, but he puts his car in reverse and steps on the gas, never once looking behind him (and apparently didn’t have his hearing aid in either). He slams right into the side of the car behind him, who couldn’t get out of his way because of traffic, and, I’m sure, because he didn’t believe the old guy would drive straight into him. The look on the old guy’s face was priceless - he had absolutely no idea there was someone behind him, and it never occurred to him to turn his head and look!
In a similar situation I was sitting in front of the computer store where I worked. This old guy came out of the copy store next door, got into his Honda, and backed right into the UPS truck parked directly behind him.
How do you NOT see this big brown truck four feet from your back bumper???
I could see if he had been IN the car when the UPS guy drove up and maybe parked in his blind spot, but this guy walked out and got in his car…
Unbelievable.
Another story involves a drunk guy making a left turn into a guard rail at a “T” intersection. He apparently thought it was a four-way intersection. Of course, the sudden stop via the guard rail left him in a perfect position to be hit by oncoming traffic. Which of course, it did. I got some satisfaciton filling out the witness statement for that one.
I was on the bus home from work a couple of years ago. The route I took at the time had to negotiate a couple of turns, first a right from two-lane South Kenmore Street onto four-lane Walter Reed Drive and about 100 feet later a left from Walter Reed onto four-lane Glebe Road. The bus driver was able to make the right with no problem but couldn’t completely get into the left lane for the turn onto Glebe and the light was red. That day there had been a light rain falling since around noon and the pavement was wet. Sometime prior to the bus turning from Kenmore, there had been a four-vehicle collision on Glebe on the south side of Walter Reed. Pretty much everyone else on the bus, including the driver, was watching the cops work. I was like, “Would you look at that? One car completely nosed under the one ahead!” and went back to reading the City Paper. A few minutes passed and I happened to glance out my window (I was seated on the driver’s side) and saw a sedan trying to get past the bus and fit into the left turn lane. I could see the car wasn’t going to fit so I went back to reading. Next thing I know there is the sound of metal against metal, which drew everyone’s attention from the other accident scene. Damn, that driver decided to squeeze by after all! Not only that, before the cops working the accident scence had a chance to notice, the driver of the sedan pulled forward, evidently in an attempt to make it look like the bus hit her! The driver of the bus asked all the passengers if they had seen the sedan trying to pass. I was the only one that came forward. I was asked to call the bus company to provide a statement, which I did. Twice. I was willing to go to court as a witness if needed, but I’m glad that wasn’t necessary.
There is a lovely 94 years old lady in my street, who always will make a point of telling how she is losing her eaye-sight and can’t barely read anymore… Then she tells you she drives everyday to Dunkin Donuts for her coffee…
I wanted to post this because I just saw it happen this morning and I’m still shaking my head.
I was driving on a major road heading out of town. People get going pretty fast because it eventually turns into a state highway, but the part we were on still has plenty of traffic lights, intersections, etc.
We were going about 50, and this guy driving a truck in the right lane is apparently reading a newspaper, drinking coffee, and programming his radio all at once. I was amazed enough at this. I was right behind him, so I saw him virtually ignore the road for a good mile. THEN, he suddenly ducks out of sight and I see the driver’s door open almost as wide as it could go, pretty much into the left lane of traffic at 50 MPH. He sticks his head out, as low down as he could lean, so he could spit on the road.
I thought the left lane traffic was going to take off his door or his head or both! :eek:
This is so obvious it shouldn’t have to be mentioned, but I’ll do it anyway. I think people who drive around the lowered crossing gates at a railroad grade crossing deserve what they get. If they have no regard for their own lives, at the very least they should think of how their actions will affect the train crew. But, if they are stupid enough to ignore the lowered gates, they probably can’t think of anyone but themselves. I see this happening all too often.
Back in '86 I was working at Cheyenne Mountain above Colorado Springs. We (me & my coworkers) had just gotten off shift and it had snowed.
We all started our cars and started scrapping our windows. Some guy in a station wagon with an AT&T logo on the side backs out of his parking spot. He had no trouble backing up, but once he was centered in the lane, he jumped on the gas.
His back wheels were spinning like a bat out of hell, but he’s going no where except to slide sideways toward the parked cars. When he gets close to the parked cars he stopped, put his car in reverse, and recentered it in the lane.
Then he jumps on the gas again!! (with the same predictible results). He did this 3 times before he got out of the parking lot. We were all standing there laughing our asses off.
I caught up to and passed him down in the city, he almost ran me off the road.
One of my favorite winter pastimes is watching idiot drivers trying to negotiate snowy/icy pavement. Especially when going downhill and approaching a red traffic light. I once saw a 4-door white sedan go completely through a red light in this manner. Good thing there was no cross traffic!
Just last night I was forced to circle several blocks looking for a place to park. It took nearly twenty minutes before I found a parallel spot. Delighted, I followed the usual, standard parallel-parking procedure of signaling my intent to take it, pulling even with the car in front of the space, and then going into reverse to back into the spot. I was already moving backward, still signalling, when some asshole in a jumbo quad-cab pickup swooped in from behind and took it! Not only that, but he completely ignored my honks and yelling. Just turned off his car, hopped out, and walked away, leaving his monstrous vehicle parked at a near 45-degree angle, wedged between two sedans. I was so livid I was shaking. It took another 15 minutes to find a spot.
Well, I don’t have any particular story that sticks out at the moment. But, one thing that I simply cannot fathom is when I’m watching high speed chases, and during the chase, the suspect will take the time to use his turn signal when turning!.
About this time last year the Porsche club I belong to decided to go on a pleasure drive out in the country. If my memory serves me correctly ahead of me were two 911s, a Boxster, a 928, another Boxster, me in my Boxster followed by a handful of other Porsches behind us. We were all wearing grins from driving on the up/down left/right curvy road using low gears.
So we’re cruising along a two lane road and come up on a left hand corner with a hill on the inside so you are not able to see what’s beyond the corner. As I’m trailing the Boxster ahead of me I notice that several of the cars before me heading straight to the shoulder on the right rather than taking the left hand corner as expected without braking. I figure WTF and follow reasoning that if the Boxster ahead of me can handle the shoulder I know mine can too. About a second later a huge dually pickup truck comes around the corner towing a fifth wheel horse trailer at high speed. So high in fact that he has a hard time keeping his truck in his lane and the trailer takes half of our lane.
The dumb guy endangered his horses and almost took out about five Porsches by not driving sensibly.
Then there was the time that a guy decided to do a U-turn right in front of me from the right side of the road. He stops his car halfway across the lane as he sees me forcing me to practically make a 90 degree left turn at 35 mph in 20 ft. I could not believe my eyes or ears because the Boxster turned on the dime without even screeching it tires. Truly awe inspiring. I am sure he was grateful for German engineering that day.
Near my cousins’ house, there’s a bridge with a big yellow sign that says CLEARANCE 7.5 FEET. TRUCKS FIND ALTERNATE ROUTE.
You all know what some idiot in a truck did.
Yep, he didn’t even slow down, just rammed right under the bridge. The bridge took the entire top of the truck’s cargo part (sorry, I don’t know what this is called) clean off.
Fortunately, the truck was filled to the brim with MARS BARS. My cousins came home with so many Mars bars they could barely fit them onto the pantry shelves.
As a pedestrian, I have been hit TWICE by cars making a right turn on red. What the driver tends to forget is that the law usually says that you can make a right turn on red “after coming to a complete stop, and yielding to all other traffic” INCLUDING PEDESTRIANS.
What usually happens:
I am crossing on “walk” in front of a car. I just happen to look at the driver. His attention is fixed on cars approaching from the left, not glancing once to the right. Immediately, I think, “Oh, no, not again!” And sure enough, he steps on the gas at the first opening in traffic. Luckily, he usually hasn’t had enough room to get up speed before hearing the thump and seeing me sprawled across the hood, giving him a look that would peel wallpaper.
Please, people, what they told you in kindergarten about looking both ways before crossing applies also to making right turns on red.
