# I'm tired of irresponsible people hitting me on the road! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 12, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512 "2012-03-12T01:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/21 "2012-03-13T15:12:17Z")
> [@Robb](#): > > Some dealerships sell cars that come with certificate freeing the owner of both traffic laws and the laws of physics. I haven’t found the dealerships, but I think they must exist. I’d start looking at the local BMW dealer. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/22 "2012-03-13T19:02:37Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Am I a bad person because my second thought was “Back into his car and call the police saying that he rear-ended you and is now threatening you”? My thought was to get out and start shooting up the front of his car. That’s why I no longer carry a gun in my car. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/23 "2012-03-13T21:04:19Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > But… You are not blameless in either of these incidents. In the first one, you admit that you were tired and not thinking clearly. You _saw_ the guy spin into the ditch, pull back onto the road and continue driving erratically, yet you proceeded ahead at speed with another car beside you? You should have slowed way down, given this clown a wide berth, and made sure you had at least two escape options… > > Please learn how to drive defensively. Yep. You have met the irresponsible, and they are\* **you.** \* I stopped reading after that. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/24 "2012-03-13T21:12:48Z")
Snailboy, don’t listen to the know-it-alls. There’s nothing you could have done in the second situation (I agree you were careless in the first). There are certain people here who would like to think they are the world’s most expert drivers and will find some fault with your actions no matter what. So experts, what do you do when there are two lanes of traffic turning left, just sit there and let the other lane go so you’re not driving next to anyone? Sure, you can kind of try to stagger, but it’s impossible to maintain that when the traffic is heavy and cars are going different speeds. Anyway, don’t sweat it man, hopefully they find the guy and he’s punished. I suppose his excuse could be that you should have been driving more defensively when he hit you from behind. ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/25 "2012-03-13T21:16:47Z")
I didn’t know that _then_…I know it now though. I am a very cautious driver, which has caused me to be honked at or have people swerve AROUND me because they don’t like how I drive. I’ll be the first to admit also that driving in any sort of heavy traffic scares the living daylights outta me, as does the thought of driving on the freeway. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/26 "2012-03-13T23:10:30Z")
> [@SticksAndString](#): > > … I am a very cautious driver, which has caused me to be honked at or have people swerve AROUND me because they don’t like how I drive. . . I’m going by words on a message board and not any visual confirmation of your driving style, BUT … you sound incredibly unsafe yourself. If you’re driving so [del]cautiously[/del] slowly that people are swerving around you, then YOU are now the dangerous obstacle. Please, at least drive with the flow of traffic. ---
**Author:** ![SticksAndString](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/27 "2012-03-14T02:48:03Z")
I didn’t say I was driving SLOWLY…I said I was driving CAUTIOUSLY. Not the same thing. But yes, people have honked at me for not turning on red when I wasn’t sure I had enough space to turn and people have swerved around me for going the speed limit. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/28 "2012-03-14T03:04:37Z")
> [@SticksAndString](#): > > Welcome to Texas. ☹ Because of the way people drive here, I try not to drive anywhere I absolutely DO NOT have to. Even then, I try to go the back ways where there is less traffic and less chance for me to have an accident. I always got a good laugh driving into Texas and seeing the signs that said “Drive friendly, the Texas way.” Texans are probably the worst drivers in the US, except for maybe Californians. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/29 "2012-03-14T04:09:58Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Yep. You have met the irresponsible, and they are\* **you.** \* > > I stopped reading after that. Irresponsible is going way too far. Incautious maybe, but failing to allow for others’ irresponsibility isn’t what I would call irresponsible. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/30 "2012-03-14T04:18:15Z")
I’m sorry, this whole post I cannot stop visualizing snailboy as some disgruntled snail that got blindsided by a passing turtle and complaining about how it happened so fast, he was just a green blur, etc. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/31 "2012-03-14T06:53:55Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Snailboy, don’t listen to the know-it-alls. There’s nothing you could have done in the second situation (I agree you were careless in the first). There are certain people here who would like to think they are the world’s most expert drivers and will find some fault with your actions no matter what. Yeah, I agree, except I wouldn’t quite say I was quite _careless_ in the first case either. I could’ve been more cautious about it for sure and possibly avoided the accident, but I wasn’t the one driving around with no insurance and probably drunk. In the second case, there was nothing I could do except go for the right lane to begin with but that’s just ridiculous. I had no reason to think the driver was going to do anything stupid that time. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/32 "2012-03-14T11:40:04Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Snailboy, don’t listen to the know-it-alls. There’s nothing you could have done in the second situation (I agree you were careless in the first). There are certain people here who would like to think they are the world’s most expert drivers and will find some fault with your actions no matter what. Nah, I’m no expert. But I had defensive driving pounded into my head early and often when I was learning to drive (late Pleistocene), and it makes me bonkers when I see people driving in clusters, and in blind spots, and too fast for conditions, etc., etc., things that while not necessarily illegal, make it extremely difficult to avoid an accident, even if it’s not technically your fault. **snaily** , I didn’t mean to jump right into blame-the-victim mode. Accidents suck. I’ve been in a couple myself and it’s no fun. And there may truly have been nothing you could have done to avoid the second one (I wasn’t there). But I do know that _most_ accidents take two, and you have more control over your fate on the roads than you might realize. ---
**Author:** ![Normal\_Phase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Normal\_Phase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Normal_Phase)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/33 "2012-03-14T11:57:12Z")
Tough crowd. It’s a bit tough to consistently be aware of your blind spot on a left turn while simultaneously making sure your own car keeps going where it’s supposed to go, and doesn’t hit anything. The OP would be in worse shape if he’d been so busy looking over his shoulder he smacked into the guy who tried to cut him off from in front. (\*gratuitous rant at asshole in the shiny black Escalade who tried reallyreally hard to get me to hit him last Sunday, by zooming past me on my left while I was just reaching the front of a long line of cars that was turning left into a parking garage. And rant at the construction crew who made the left-turn lane 20 feet wide, while I’m at it.) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/34 "2012-03-14T12:11:18Z")
You think that’s bad… I live in Dallas, and my truck’s been damaged twice… while I wasn’t even in it! Once, some cab driver who wasn’t paying attention rear-ended my truck when it was parked outside our house- it wasn’t raining, foggy, or any other weather conditions that would cause reduced night time visibility or traction. I was inside the whole time. The next time was some jerk who side-swiped my truck in a parking lot in Addison, and again, I was inside the Flying Saucer at the time. I think the primary problem is that Dallas is full of native Texans, as well as recent migrants from all over the country; driving norms aren’t really norms here; what may be perfectly acceptable in say… New Jersey, may look insane to someone from Texas or California, but something the Texas person does looks crazy to the NJ and CA people. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/35 "2012-03-14T15:16:59Z")
> [@bump](#): > > You think that’s bad… I live in Dallas, and my truck’s been damaged twice… while I wasn’t even in it!.. Obligatory username/post combo winner posting. _bump_ ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/36 "2012-03-14T18:52:08Z")
> [@Normal\_Phase](#): > > It’s a bit tough to consistently be aware of your blind spot on a left turn while simultaneously making sure your own car keeps going where it’s supposed to go, and doesn’t hit anything. The OP would be in worse shape if he’d been so busy looking over his shoulder he smacked into the guy who tried to cut him off from in front. Plus it was a left turn and the guy was partly behind me so he was too far away from my car to easily see him until just before he hit me, and I did see him just before but there wasn’t much I could do on the wet pavement. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/37 "2012-03-15T07:58:05Z")
It almost happened again! Some stupid woman to the left of me just starts moving into my lane where I was. I was easily able to see it this time and move out of the way, but the whole time I was honking and she just continued moving over. I actually got out of my car, walked up to her window, and started griping at her at the next red light. She said she never even saw me! What the fuck is wrong with these stupid ass Dallas drivers?! I wish I could just get around via bus/train. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/38 "2012-03-16T01:00:37Z")
[QUOTE=snailboy] The guy was probably drunk… [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=snailboy] **I was trying to stay awake as long as I could that night**. **I was getting tired** around 23:00 so I decided to drive Downtown and maybe walk around a little. **It had just rained so the roads were slick**. \*\* Now keep in mind that I was tired\*\*… [/QUOTE] \*emphasis added You were essentially driving drunk yourself. [QUOTE=snailboy] I’m tired of irresponsible people hitting me on the road! The first time… Fast forward to last night… It almost happened again! [/QUOTE] Maybe the problem isn’t the other people… ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/39 "2012-03-16T06:51:22Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > \*emphasis added > > You were essentially driving drunk yourself. I was a little tired, not half asleep. > [@](#): > > Maybe the problem isn’t the other people… Oh yes, had I only stayed home since it was about the time I normally go to bed, it would’ve been inconsequential that this guy was out sliding around on Northwest Highway likely drunk with false insurance documents. Please share more of your wisdom, oh great Merlin. I’d like to know how the other incidents were my fault. How about a few years ago when some drunk guy backed into my truck door crushing my girlfriend’s legs while I was inside getting drinks? Should I have bought Powerade instead of Gatorade? ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512/40 "2012-03-16T10:10:30Z")
> [@SticksAndString](#): > > I didn’t say I was driving SLOWLY..I said I was driving CAUTIOUSLY. Not the same thing. But yes, people have honked at me for not turning on red when I wasn’t sure I had enough space to turn and people have swerved around me for going the speed limit. You’re still wrong. The proper way to drive is the way that I drive and the proper thing to do in any situation on the road is what I would do or should I be driving next to you, what I expect you to do. That’s because, like every other single person who has ever driven a car, I am a perfect driver. Just ask me.😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-irresponsible-people-hitting-me-on-the-road/615512.md?page=3)