DRIVING Pet Peaves

[california_jobcase]

I believe the speed limits on most U.S. highways are adequate. If everyone followed the law, gas consumption (and maybe prices) would drop a good deal. Yeah, sometimes I’ll go with the speeding flow for awhile on the interstate, but inside I know I’m raising risk for myself and other drivers.

Tailgaters are the worst drivers on the road. I travel from the mid west to the southeast several times a year. Inevitably, there will be a slowdown for miles- caused by some jerk rear-ending someone else. The original problem will be compounded by other jerks who think they have to be three feet off each other’s bumpers in the slowdown- leading to more accidents and delay.

Like the idea or not, if safe following distances were understood and enforced in this country, we’d all be a whole lot safer.

[freckafree]

Drivers who don’t understand the rules of right of way at an intersection. The rules exist so we all know who gets to go next. I know you think you’re being polite to wave me through when you have the right of way, but the “Oh, no, after YOU, my dear Alphonse” game is tiresome and possibly dangerous when some of us are driving according to the rules.

[doreen]

@J-P_L

Correct, while this rule does not seem to be enforced very much, in most juridiction you are only supposed to enter the intersection if you know you can clear it.

Right, and therefore in New York, you shouldn’t enter the intersection in preparation for a left turn *if there is no room for your vehicle on the street you’re turning onto. * If there is room for your vehicle on that street, you will clear the intersection , although not instantly. The point of “don’t block the box” rules is so that backed up traffic on one street doesn’t go clear across the intersection and back up traffic on the cross street, resulting in no traffic flow on either street. It’s not to prevent vehicles making left turns from being in the intersection momentarily while waiting for a break in the opposing traffic.

[Bullitt]

@doreen

Right, and therefore in New York, you shouldn’t enter the intersection in preparation for a left turn *if there is no room for your vehicle on the street you’re turning onto. * If there is room for your vehicle on that street, you will clear the intersection , although not instantly. The point of “don’t block the box” rules is so that backed up traffic on one street doesn’t go clear across the intersection and back up traffic on the cross street, resulting in no traffic flow on either street. It’s not to prevent vehicles making left turns from being in the intersection momentarily while waiting for a break in the opposing traffic.

This.

[Lord_Feldon]

@Ambivalid

People who drive slow and then when you go to pass them they speed up, preventing you from passing.

Because traffic is a line, don’t you see. Whoever starts first should end first. No ditching allowed.

(You also see this attitude when a lane ends ahead and the through lane is going slower than the ending lane. Someone who changed lanes too soon will get pissed that people are daring to ditch them by using the other lane, so they’ll illegally and dangerously ride down the line to block anyone in either lane from going faster.)

[NormalDude]

@Lord_Feldon

Because traffic is a line, don’t you see. Whoever starts first should end first. No ditching allowed.

(You also see this attitude when a lane ends ahead and the through lane is going slower than the ending lane. Someone who changed lanes too soon will get pissed that people are daring to ditch them by using the other lane, so they’ll illegally and dangerously ride down the line to block anyone in either lane from going faster.)

A bit like playing God and controlling others. One time I saw two tractor trailers driving exactly the speed limit side by side and kept all the cars back on a 2 lane highway.

[CoastalMaineiac]

#1. I took Driver’s Ed less than a million years ago here in Maine, and pulling out into the intersection to turn left is precisely what we were taught to do. Once you’ve entered the intersection, you have the right of way to complete your turn, regardless of what the light does after you’ve entered. This doesn’t apply to going straight through, in which case you have to wait until it’s clear enough to get all the way through.

#2. I think it’s illegal unless specifically permitted in NYC.

#3. Around here, Interstate on-ramps all have these signs on them. Is that concept really that foreign to people these days? It’s the same idea as a yield sign on any other road: you don’t interfere with the traffic that has the right of way. The whole idea of a nice, long on-ramp is that you pick out the space you are going to pull into well ahead of time and line yourself up with it. Done correctly, the people on the freeway should not even have a reason to move over.

#4. Agree 100%. Keep right except to pass or turn left. If you aren’t doing either, you have no business being in the left lane.

#5. I doubt even half of drivers use their signals when changing lanes. I know, it’s rude, but you have to drive defensively and expect the unexpected. If there is a person turning left in an adjacent lane, you should be prepared for people to cut over.

My own pet peeves:

#1. If only half of drivers signal when changing lanes, only 5% signal properly when exiting a rotary. I’ve even seen people put their left blinker on when exiting–talk about dangerous miscommunication!

#2. Failure to yield right of way. It’s a big problem here in Maine. People will see a line of cars coming and pull out to try and beat the line. For your average driver, it’s usually enough space, if you step on it. The problem is that your average Maine driver absolutely refuses to step on it; they might use a bit more gas that way. :rolleyes: Never mind the wasted momentum of all the other people on the road!:smack: Pulling out in front of 55 mph traffic and going 35 is all too normal here.

#3. Those same drivers that will pull out in front of everyone and go 20 miles per hour under the speed limit will suddenly find their gas pedals the minute you get a chance to pass. All of a sudden, their car is capable of doing 20 over the speed limit, until your chance at passing is gone, then it’s back to 20 under.

#4. Turn off your damn high beams when you’re coming toward me at night! 'Nuff said there.

#5. If it’s your turn at the four-way stop, go. Yes, I think it’s silly to make everyone stop, but the rules aren’t that complex. It’s not quantum physics here!

[NormalDude]

[QUOTE=CoastalMaineiac;16015574#5. If it’s your turn at the four-way stop, go. Yes, I think it’s silly to make everyone stop, but the rules aren’t that complex. It’s not quantum physics here![/QUOTE]

I know it sounds a bit like an Abbott & Costello routine, but if four cars happened to approach and stop at exactly the same time from all four directions at a 4-way stop, who has the right of way, the guy on the right??

[Bootis]

There are plenty of intersections where at certain times of day, if a car doesn’t pull into the intersection to make a left turn, that car, and all cars behind it, will simply have to wait there for 2 or more hours for rush hour to end.
My biggest peeve is : You’re driving on open road. You are approaching far up ahead a semi driving slower than you. Behind that semi is another car, driving at the same speed as the semi. If that car wanted to pass the semi, now would be a fine time. But no. Invariably the car behind the semi will wait until you catch them. As soon as you accelerate slightly to initiate passing, THAT is the moment that idiot decides, hey you know what, I think I’d like to pass this truck too…i was fine driving behind him for the last several minutes, but now at this precise moment i’ve changed my mind. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna just squeeze in here right in front of you so I can pass too.

[RealityChuck]

#1 ties in with my pet peeve: drivers who enter an intersection even though they know they can’t clear when the light changes. If the traffic in front of you is stopped, you don’t move into the intersection and block the cross traffic when it has a green light. (And that is illegal in NYS.)

So there should be no issue about moving into an intersection when making a left turn; if you’re going to be stuck in the intersection, you’re a thoughtless fool to go into it.

[GusNSpot]

Out here in the fly over zone we have many miles of road that the trucks have beaten into a dangerous condition to drive on.

So many cars will drive in the left lane for good reason. Too bad there are many idiots in both lanes. I bail for the side roads a lot.

Cruise control passing on interstates. Different cars have different abilities to control speed on normal grades found so if you are slowly passing then a slight grade makes the other car an itty bitty bit faster, you all that ground & then you get it back on the level or slight down hill & then you are back to the up hill & it is time for road rage.

[Critical_Mass]

I’m at a red light in the right lane with my right turn signal activated waiting to turn right. I sit at or just past the stop line watching traffic approaching from the left waiting for room to make the turn. The thing that annoys me is when a vehicle pulls up beside me on my left blocking my view so that I can’t see approaching traffic from the left. Especially if that vehicle has stopped past the stop line. I now have to creep forward and lean over my steering wheel to see what’s coming from the left.

Parking lots annoy me for a variety of reasons. Especially the ones designed so the majority of traffic entering the parking lot is funnelled right in front of the businesses creating ongoing conflict with pedestrian traffic going in and out of the store while walking to and from their parked cars.

[CoastalMaineiac]

@NormalDude

I know it sounds a bit like an Abbott & Costello routine, but if four cars happened to approach and stop at exactly the same time from all four directions at a 4-way stop, who has the right of way, the guy on the right??

You’re precisely right; who has the right of way.

In practice, the most aggressive, and then it should proceed to the right.

[AngelSoft]

@Lord_Feldon

Because traffic is a line, don’t you see. Whoever starts first should end first. No ditching allowed.

(You also see this attitude when a lane ends ahead and the through lane is going slower than the ending lane. Someone who changed lanes too soon will get pissed that people are daring to ditch them by using the other lane, so they’ll illegally and dangerously ride down the line to block anyone in either lane from going faster.)

This happens with annoying regularity along this one highway near me. There’s a town that’s notorious for its traffic and is often backed up for a mile or more. Well, right before this town is a passing lane. About half a mile long I’d say. When traffic is backed up, people refuse to use the freaking lane. I haven’t encountered this situation too often myself, but this is what usually happens. The traffic is backed up almost to the beginning of the passing lane. But the passing lane itself is completely empty. So, of course, I or whoever else, will use the lane. Inevitably this piss someone off that we’re ‘cheating’ and they’ll pull their car into the second lane and just stop. Each time I’ve encountered it, it’s been some freakin redneck in his big ass truck.

[Bullitt]

@AngelSoft

This happens with annoying regularity along this one highway near me. There’s a town that’s notorious for its traffic and is often backed up for a mile or more. Well, right before this town is a passing lane. About half a mile long I’d say. When traffic is backed up, people refuse to use the freaking lane. I haven’t encountered this situation too often myself, but this is what usually happens. The traffic is backed up almost to the beginning of the passing lane. But the passing lane itself is completely empty. So, of course, I or whoever else, will use the lane. Inevitably this piss someone off that we’re ‘cheating’ and they’ll pull their car into the second lane and just stop. Each time I’ve encountered it, it’s been some freakin redneck in his big ass truck.

People need to understand that if we all did this - fill the empty lane(s) and merge at the end when the lan(s) end - then the backed-up line of cars won’t be as long. To leave lanes/spaces empty that can be used is a waste of space. The lanes are there to be used, that’s why they were built.

If Billy Joe Jim Bob (with blue jeans drooping to reveal his ass crack, gut hanging out from his t-shirt) and his big ass truck move over to block, I try to fake him into thinking I’ll move in line, and then make a quick dash around him. Screw his ignorant country ass.

[NormalDude]

@Critical_Mass

Parking lots annoy me for a variety of reasons. Especially the ones designed so the majority of traffic entering the parking lot is funnelled right in front of the businesses creating ongoing conflict with pedestrian traffic going in and out of the store while walking to and from their parked cars.

Most every parking lot today is highly structured and cars are “corraled”. Also, it is interesting how many ajacent lots are intentionally separated too. When I was a small kid, there were many parking lots that were wide open and contiguous from one end to the other, with multiple enterances and connected to adjacent lots. Those days are long gone now.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

Note to drivers of vans, giant SUVS, big-rig tractor units, etc: Will you please stop parking in the last curbside parking spot before the exit driveway of the parking lot, so I can see the oncoming traffic before I pull into traffic?

Thank you.

P.S. Fruit and juice vendors, you too. Stop putting the cart exactly where it makes it impossible to see the traffic.

[IaMoDiNaRy]

@Ambivalid

People who drive slow and then when you go to pass them they speed up, preventing you from passing.

I hate this! In some instances, I think it’s unconsciously done but I’ve had this happen many times. Then once you’ve passed the slowpoke, they suddenly decide to drive fast enough to ride your bumper for miles.

What about the motorcycle drivers in California? Lane splitting, I think it’s called. In Mississippi, they’re bound by all of the same rules as car drivers. In California, they can blast by you in between lanes of traffic scaring the crap out of you. That’s just wrong.

[SmellMyWort]

Drivers who hog both lanes before a merge point. Example: In my daily commute I turn left onto a 4-lane divided street with two lanes in both directions. Maybe a quarter mile or so after my turn the road changes from 4 to 2 lanes, so my right hand lane merges into the left hand lane. Often a driver that has turned ahead of me will straddle the line between the lanes as they approach the merge point, as if they are signaling to any and all drivers behind them that they shall not pass. Sometimes the person doing this hasn’t even accelerated to the 40 mph speed limit at the merge point. Get the hell out of my way you glass-ego prick.

[chizzuk]

@IaMoDiNaRy

I hate this! In some instances, I think it’s unconsciously done but I’ve had this happen many times. Then once you’ve passed the slowpoke, they suddenly decide to drive fast enough to ride your bumper for miles.

What about the motorcycle drivers in California? Lane splitting, I think it’s called. In Mississippi, they’re bound by all of the same rules as car drivers. In California, they can blast by you in between lanes of traffic scaring the crap out of you. That’s just wrong.

This amazed me when I moved out here. They force people to put up signs in parking garages warning that car exhaust is toxic. It’s illegal to smoke cigarettes in a car with children. Getting busted by a red light camera in the Orange Line busway is $450 and 1 point. And yet lane-splitting is allowed. Crazy state.