I pit pea brained drivers

The BBQ Pit
1

Number 1) I am coming up to a traffic signal, which happens to yellow. This pickup which should have gone through the light, but instead slammed her brakes on right in front of me. I was pulling about 70,000 pounds plus. Luckily, for this driver, there was a second lane in which I was able to pull into to miss her. I was pretty far from the pickup, but after deciding whether or not I could stop, she had suddenly slammed her brakes on. Not too bad there, I should have anticipated that.

Number 2) Driver races past me to beat me to a merging point, but then goes slower than me.

Number 3) Any Driver that cuts in front of me and cuts my stopping distance in half in stop and go traffic.

Number 4) Anyone who thinks that truckers are just out for a leisurely drive and don’t have tight schedules to keep in a limited amount of time. Drives me nuts when I’m trying to beat the clock and some wazoo decides that he wants to drive 50 mph in a 70 mph zone (I can only go 65) and (In Texas, you can get on the shoulder and let people pass you) won’t let you get around.

Number 5) Anyone who thinks that truck driving is easy money.

Done ranting now. Just some general annoyances. :wink:

2

How do you surf The Dope while driving?

Cause God knows when I was working, thats all I did! :smiley:

As for the OP: Damn Straight! Most drivers are A-Holes and Idiots!

3

I used to work in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; the trucking capital of the country. Driving home in my MG one night, and a light in front of me turned yellow. I had room to stop, so I stepped on the brakes. I heard bad sliding noises behind me, and then saw headlights shuddering up and down in my rearview mirror. (Almost couldn’t see them because they were over the roof of my car.) I let up on the brakes; whatever was going to happen to me in the intersection wasn’t as bad as what was about to devour me from behind.

When the dust cleared, the truck was right at the line, and I was about one car-length into the intersection. Crossing traffic could get around me, and when the light turned green, away I went. Maybe I should have been more scared than I was, but I kept my wits, no big deal.

And it was not my fault for stopping at the light. The trucker shouldn’t have been so close behind me that he couldn’t stop if I did.

4

Yeah, tell me about it. I live in Carlisle. Imagine dealing with that on a daily basis.

5

Airman, you know that one-mile stretch of the Harrisburg Pike that everyone has to take because there’s no interchange between I-81 and the Turnpike? That’s where my office was.

6

I’ll bet that made for a long day. Where did you work, the porn shop or the Eat 'N Park? :wink:

7

that’s where I used to live, Carlisle. Just moved to Texas 2 years ago`

8

I was not that close to this car. It’s just not a good idea to slam on your brakes in front of a trk. if the truck is following too nclodsely, u need to slow down.

9

While I realize there’s a huge difference between an 18-wheeler and my little care, I’d like to second this. I drive through the heart of rush hour and I’m amazed at how little clue people have about lane changes. Someone needs to tell them the proper way to merge is not to move 4 inches into my lane, wait until I’m along side you, and then hit your turn signals. First, I can’t see them. Second, that 3/4 of a car-length long space in front of me is for my safety (and due to my lack of instant acceleration :frowning: ), not your car. I’ll stop now before I get into high gear.

10

In political discussions, whether it’s economics or gun control or terrorism or whatever, eventually someone will assert that people, taken collectively, will act wisely and in their own best interest if left to their own devices.

It is at that point in the discussion that I reflect on people’s driving habits.

Sailboat

11

“History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely only when they have exhausted all other alternatives.”

  • Abba Eban
    1915 -2002
    Israeli diplomat and politician
12

Across the street from the huge truck stop; used to be called Stoner Associates but I think it’s changed names since I left. And the trucks by themselves weren’t really a problem, but the road construction was. The trucks put so much wear and tear on that street that the town was repaving it with 14-inch-thick concrete.

I tried to look it up on Google maps, but the satellite pictures go blurry right in the middle of the ‘miracle mile’ and then there are no pictures at all closer to Carlisle. I’m thinking they had to black out the War College for security reasons.

13

I would like to invite such people to spend one week commuting home with me. It doesn’t matter to people that they’re bringing two lanes of traffic to a halt, just as long as they get into the lane which is moving faster at that particular moment. When that lane is moving slower half a mile down the road or, as was the case last night, 300 feet down the road, they will again change lanes, again bringing traffic to a halt.

Sailboat, if I ever get cynical enough, can I use your post as a sig line?

14

Yeah. I know the place. Right across from the old All American Truck Stop (now a Petro and a Pilot) and beside the abandoned Gulf station and the McDonald’s, just down from the Turnpike on-ramp. That area is notorious for accidents and traffic jams, especially when they have a car show that weekend.

It’s also notorious for having a speed trap nearby, which only makes things worse because people stomp on their brakes as soon as they see the fuzz sitting there.

15

Feel free. :slight_smile:

I could go on at some length about things I’ve seen. I’ll start with an easy one. Only a few weeks ago, I stood on a sidewalk talking to some people for an hour. During that hour, there were three collisions involving a total of ten cars in about a half-block’s distance. It’s a 35 mile zone, all clearly marked.

The first occurred when a teen driver followed someone into a right turn, and looked left to check her merge, while the person in front of her braked to check his or her merge. BANG.

The second occurred back around the same corner – it’s important to note that the second accident’s perpetrator couldn’t see the first accident, and made his bad decisions without the distraction of rubbernecking. His van was approaching the same turn when he appeared to realize he was in the turn-only lane. He changed lanes to his left. Yeah, the lane with all the cars stopped in it. No, he didn’t appear to stop carefully. He just changed lanes right into another vehicle. BANG. Bang bang bang bang. Six cars telescoped into each other. Drivers got out, cell phones glued to their ears, and began to wander on foot through speeding traffic, looking disoriented.

The third occurred after the authorities had arrived in numerous emergency vehicles and sorted things out. Some cars were still exchanging insurance info, and cops were still interviewing a few people, and traffic had been routed through the shopping center parking lot. One guy is waiting to turn right out of the lot. A car is stopped to his left a few yards away, with a uniformed officer standing outside it, talking to the driver. A third driver rolls up behind the guy waiting to leave the lot and BANG, rear-ends him, about ten feet from a police car with flashing lights and a uniformed officer. There’s no excuse at all – the guy he hit had been sitting there unmoving for a few minutes, and this chowderhead would have had to stop anyway or barge out into crosstraffic and die.

So the cop walks very calmly over to him and begins talking to him. And what do the folks behind this accident do, at that point?

They honk. Loudly. Lean on their horns, because this guy is holding them up. Never mind there’s a uniformed officer on the scene as the accident occurs, and he’s got it under control within, oh, eight seconds. Never mind there’s still no break in traffic for these guys to go even if they wanted to. Never mind the clearly patient cop was armed. Just lean on the horn and yell!

Sailboat

16

Errrrmm…so are you or are you not taking responsibility for keeping a safe distance from traffic in front? You know your stopping distance. You know what weight you’re towing. It’s your job to make sure you can cope with the unexpected…such as somebody braking heavily. How about if it hadn’t been a yellow light she’s braked for, but a kid running into the road?

17

Well that’s one of the silliest thing I’ve read here.

If you are following too close, you need to slow down. If you’re unable to deal with a driver operating legally ahead of you in the lane, it’s no one’s fault but your own. This goes for everyone from truckers to cyclists.

18

Reminds me of the one I (almost) witnessed yesterday.

Two cars in front of me jockeying for the right lane. The “left” car was obviously going to exit, the “right” car was simply trying to cut through traffic.

So, obviously, the “left” one has two choices: he either accelerates and cuts the other car or decelerates to take the right turn behind it. Well, it was obvious to me but not as obvious to him/her. He/she doesn’t change his/her speed and TURNS RIGHT… to the obvious dismay of the other driver.

They narrowly escaped crashing into each other, but the car which wanted to turn right still took the right turn (stopping traffic, of course). :smack: :rolleyes:

19

I applied for an internship with Stoner Associates. I didn’t get it. Oh yeah, I was working on a b.s degree in computer science, I finished it, yadda yadda, I drive a truck now.

20

I went to Shippensburg University. Good school.