I am sick unto death of driving to work in the morning behind nimrods who cannot keep their eyes on the fucking road and fucking DRIVE. Honest to god if I have to deal with one more lane-swerving, 50mph-in-a-65mph zone, email-checking, text-message-sending, map-reading, note-taking, cell-phone-talking idiot, I’m going to rear-end them on purpose with my 1997 clunker and then laugh about it. Put down the goddamn cell phone/crackberry and DRIVE. If you do not cause an accident from lane wandering or rear-ending someone, you are going to be a victim of someone’s road-rage because you cannot keep up with the fucking flow of traffic.
Special shout-outs to the guy in the (of course) Escalade who was in front of me yesterday on the 1/2-mile long exit-only-lane/ramp who was too busy with his electronic device to keep up with the progress of the line, nor to notice that he was leaving 3 to 4 car lengths ahead of him, resulting in 1/2 the population of the city jumping line ahead of him (and me). And another shout-out to today’s prize winner, who spent 5 seconds with her eyes on the road, then 5 seconds looking down at something in her passenger seat. She had NO idea what was going on on the freeway. YOU ARE GOING TO CAUSE A WRECK you worthless self-absorbed piece of shit. Finally, let’s not forget the morons I encounter EVERY DAY in the parking garage at work – you know, the one with the narrow lanes and tight corners – that whip around while chatting on the phone and never think that there might be another car coming around the corner from the other direction. The other car is going at a reasonable speed and exercising a little caution, but you’re in the middle of the damn lane (again, usually in your waaaay oversized Suburban Assault Vehicle or Monster Truck) and driving like the Indy 500, with absolutely no thought on anything but your phone conversation.
You are all menaces to society and I hope you flame out, in a wreck caused by your inattention to the multi-ton, petroleum-fueled, momentum-filled metallic object you are supposedly piloting. Just don’t take anyone out with you, 'k?
I was toolin’ down the road a few days ago and had to pass a POS car being driven at erratic speeds in the fast lane (fluxuating 10-15mph up and down), and slightly weaving, in the right lane just to keep from doing a Pitt manuveour on them out of frustration.
I look over at the two teen-aged girls, and BOTH of them are texting!
It may sound funny but I feel safest driving alongside fellow speeders. The way I figure we both need to be somewhere quicker and that calls for more precise and focused driving. :eek:
I wondered how long it would take for someone to put forth this useless rebuttal:rolleyes:
(Unless I’m being whooshed, in which case, um, get off my damned lawn!)
I’m a little confused here. Who exactly is the danger on the road? You think you are a safer driver, so you are going to deliberately cause an accident? Doesn’t seem like *your *eyes and mental focus is on the road.
Texas just passed a “no texting or emailing” law. However, they also state that looking for a phone number is an acceptable practice. So basically, enforcement is a no go.
Officer-" I saw you were messing with your phone, were you texting?"
Citizen-" No I was looking up a phone number to dial"
Office-" Very good, be on your way"
Doesn’t California have a no cell phones without a hands free device law in place?
I think that too many people are wusses when it comes to using the horn - it’s not just there to avoid accidents at the last second. Whenever I encounter someone driving dangerously, erratically, or in a clearly distracted state - whether on the interstate or regular roads - I lay on the horn and hold it down until they shape up.
You’d be surprised at how quickly it gets someone’s ass into gear!
And while we’re at it, may I say if you’re in the passing lane with no cars in front of you and a shitload of cars behind you, YOU’RE GOING TOO FUCKING SLOW, GET OUT OF THE LEFT LANE! On certain roads I pass far more people on the right than on the left because someone is camping in the left lane!
And you don’t have to follow 2 feet behind the car in front of you, when you do that you have to keep tapping your brakes, which often causes a braking chain reaction for a long way back, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was for miles in heavy traffic.
Just a few weeks ago, my husband, toddler son and I were driving on a mountain interstate on our way to our first vacation in four years. When we slowed down due to a traffic backup, we felt a jolt. Someone had rear-ended us! I looked out the window to see a pickup truck keeping pace with us while spiraling along the shoulder. All of the sudden the shoulder disappeared and the truck was gone into a deep ravine.
The driver never even tried to brake, but did try to swerve. He clipped the corner of our van at 65 mph, and yet my husband never lost control. (That was truly lucky!) The other driver didn’t make it. And because I’m six months pregnant, I spent hours in the ER making sure the baby was OK while trying to keep my toddler sane.
We never did (and I’m sure we never will) find out what on earth the driver of the truck was doing that took his focus off a curvy mountain road with no guardrails and heavy traffic, but he broke a lot of hearts that day and gave us a pretty crappy start to our vacation. Most of me feels terrible for him and his family, but a little part of me wishes he were still alive just so I could strangle him for putting my family into jeopardy like that.
Yes we do, in place since July of 2008. The author* of the original bill also introduced a no-texting version that was also signed into law and went into effect Jan. 1st of this year.
*: Joe Simitian, my own State Senator, whom I’ve met numerous times. He’s the type of politician who makes you want to repeal term limits.
My daughter has her learner’s permit and we spend about 20 minutes a day tooling around the neighborhoods. On one her first days of driving we encountered three careless cell phone talkers.
The first one was in front of us, weaving back and forth across the lane. We didn’t know he was on the phone until we passed him.
The next one was coming the opposite way while we were waiting to make a left turn on a green light. He was making a right turn and slowed, sloooooowed down at the last instant so he could re-adjust his phone (it isn’t easy to turn using one arm.) The light turned red and we were stuck with our car halfway into the intersection.
I forget the third. Something different, but equally awful.
Anyway, I was actually happy about the way things worked out. My daughter has heard me complain about phone-talking idiots many times, but for her to actually encounter so many, so quickly at a formative time might help her to avoid temptation after she gets her license.
