# Slow (but impatient) drivers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 1, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350 "2009-06-01T13:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bittiez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8edcca/32.png) [@Bittiez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bittiez)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/21 "2009-06-02T05:16:58Z")
I agree, if you drive slow, pull over and let the more speedy drivers pass. I drive a bit on the wild side because I don’t see the point in having a fast car if your going to drive slow. If you buy a nice new car and want to drive slow to keep it in good condition… then don’t drive it at all, keep it in your garage and dust it every day so it wont get dirty. If you want to drive slow and “safe” buy a car with a 4 cyl engine and drive on the slow roads, don’t make all of us insane drivers miserable please 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/22 "2009-06-02T05:45:16Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Can you imagine the excruciating pain waiting at a light for a couple seconds can cause? Yes, he can. It is right there in his post. Why can’t you go when the light turns green? Brain tumor, perhaps? It is pretty easy: Light turns green, press down on the gas peddle. Easy. What could you possibly be waiting for\*? \*The excuse to see if it is safe to proceed is an incorrect answer. That is what you do while you are waiting for the light to turn green, not after it turns green. The act of driving does NOT only occur while you are in motion. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/23 "2009-06-02T12:10:35Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > People aren’t dickwads. They’re just extremely unaware of what’s happening around them. That’s not exactly a comfort since they’re tooling around in a 1000+ lb steel projectile, doing things like being unaware that the lane in front of them is ending until they almost run into the cones, despite the fact that there were multiple signs saying RIGHT LANE CLOSED AHEAD, a big blinking arrow sign that can be seen blocks away and everyone in front of them suddenly merging left for some mysterious reason. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/24 "2009-06-02T16:05:54Z")
I get pissed when people swoop from the speedy right lane across a couple lanes of traffic at the last minute ,to turn right. I guess, texting and cell phones have priority when you are driving. In Detroit there are mile roads., 5 mile, 6 mile, 7 mile …etc. There is a pattern there. But our speed demons are so wrapped up in cutting seconds off their trips, that they can not get in the right turn lane until the last opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/25 "2009-06-02T16:18:55Z")
Worse than slow drivers are the chicken shits that don’t know how to turn left at an unprotected turn. MOVE YOUR ASS OUT INTO THE INTERSECTION!1!! If there is so much traffic that the light turns yellow on you before you get a chance to go, DON’T PANIC! DON’T TRY TO BACK UP! No one is going to come flying out and broadside you. When the traffic eventually stops, make your turn. I’ll be right behind you. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/26 "2009-06-02T17:41:38Z")
Yes, I know you have a fire-breathing fast car that really yearns to be on the Autobahn instead of boring city streets. Yes, I know that you are fabulously wealthy, so you don’t worry about paying for gasoline. Yes, I know you don’t care about reducing your country’s use of Iranian oil. Yes, I know you do own this street, and you can show me the Monopoly deed to prove it. Yes, I know that your rowfy engine and fat tires mean you outrank ordinary citizens who don’t neeeeed to drive as fast as possible, and they give you the right to look down your turbocharged nose at us. No, I don’t care about all that. I don’t care if you spoil your own drive by surrendering to your rage. When you’re out there drumming your fingers on your steering wheel, all those other 300 people you can see have their own places to go. Each one has just as much right to that patch of concrete as you do. In rush hour, there’s barely enough room for all the cars. There’s not enough space to give you your own fast lane. In rush hour, it’s not _your_ lane, it’s _our_ lane. Sorry, sire, you’ll have to lope along with the rest of us, as if you were a mere citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/27 "2009-06-02T17:56:38Z")
> [@Bittiez](#): > > I agree, if you drive slow, pull over and let the more speedy drivers pass. I drive a bit on the wild side because I don’t see the point in having a fast car if your going to drive slow. Seriously? [Production For Use?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032599/) > [@](#): > > Williams: He [the soap-box speaker] said everything should be made use of. > Hildy: It makes quite a bit of sense, doesn’t it?..Now look, Earl, when you found yourself with that gun in your hand, and that policeman coming at you, what did you think about?..You must have thought of something…Could it have been, uh, ‘production for use’?..What’s a gun for Earl? > Williams: A gun?..Why to shoot, of course. > Hildy: Oh. Maybe that’s why you used it. > Williams: Maybe. > Hildy: Seems reasonable? > Williams: Yes, yes it is. You see, I’ve never had a gun in my hand before. That’s what a gun’s for, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why. > Hildy: Sure it is. > Williams: Yes, that’s what I thought of. Production for use. Why, it’s simple isn’t it? > Hildy: Very simple. > Williams: There’s nothing crazy about that, is there? > Hildy: Nope. Nothing at all. > Williams: You’ll write about that in your paper, won’t you? > Hildy: You bet I will. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/28 "2009-06-02T18:05:29Z")
Beware, my turn signal is about intention, not a request… ---
**Author:** ![Dandibear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dandibear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandibear)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/29 "2009-06-02T18:23:41Z")
> [@Casserole](#): > > I also don’t like pedestrians who walk abreast of their chums, take up the entire sidewalk… and don’t yield to anyone coming the other way, forcing me to walk on the grass. In these cases I like to stop walking and stand expectantly in the sidewalk, albeit to one side and with a politely neutral smile in place. This generally gets their attention enough to clump them together just enough to get past, although I usually get nudged in the process. This qualifies as a better-than-nothing victory for me, especially when it keeps my shoes dry and/or clean. Alas, I’ve yet to think of a way to apply this to oblivious drivers, since a nudge in an automotive situation is still a problem. When gets me is when people begin to slow for their stop while still half a mile from the exit. Exit ramps around here provide more than adequate braking space. You’re still on the highway! Get a move on! ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/30 "2009-06-02T18:56:19Z")
> [@Casserole](#): > > It hurts to think about it. > > However, I believe in Hong Kong, you will get honked at if you do such a thing. (Though, of course, since they drive on the left there, it’s backward.) So they knoh at you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/31 "2009-06-02T19:02:19Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Yes, I know that you are fabulously wealthy, so you don’t worry about paying for gasoline. > > Yes, I know you don’t care about reducing your country’s use of Iranian oil. Actually, forcing people to wait for a cycle of the light is a HUGE energy cost to the driver and this country. It’s part of the justification for the recent surge in [roundabouts](http://www.wcroads.org/news/articles/roundabouts/enviroment.htm). So move your ass and save some gas! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/32 "2009-06-02T19:19:51Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > Yes, he can. It is right there in his post. Why can’t you go when the light turns green? Brain tumor, perhaps? It is pretty easy: Light turns green, press down on the gas peddle. Easy. What could you possibly be waiting for\*? > > \*The excuse to see if it is safe to proceed is an incorrect answer. That is what you do while you are waiting for the light to turn green, not after it turns green. The act of driving does NOT only occur while you are in motion. Not around here. A light changing green means that only two or three more cars are going to go into the intersection the other way. However, when the rare case occurs and no one is running the light, it doesn’t take a half an hour to figure this out. I look quickly and move fast on green myself. And while we’re at it, if you are the third car turning left on a green arrow, you don’t have to leave 15 seconds of space between you and the car ahead of you. Move your butt! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/33 "2009-06-02T19:22:43Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > I get pissed when people swoop from the speedy right lane across a couple lanes of traffic at the last minute ,to turn right. I guess, texting and cell phones have priority when you are driving. In Detroit there are mile roads., 5 mile, 6 mile, 7 mile ..etc. There is a pattern there. But our speed demons are so wrapped up in cutting seconds off their trips, that they can not get in the right turn lane until the last opportunity. And they look so disappointed when I don’t slam on my brakes to let them in to the long line of cars who thought ahead. I’ll always let people in during a 2 lane to 1 merge, or when they are entering the freeway. But if fewer people allowed jerks like the ones you described to get away with it, we’d have smoother traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/34 "2009-06-02T19:38:30Z")
God told me to drive this speed. Anyone going faster or slower is a heathen jerk who should burn in hell. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/35 "2009-06-02T19:41:37Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > God told me to drive this speed. > > Anyone going faster or slower is a heathen jerk who should burn in hell. George Carlin noticed this also. Everyone out there is either and idiot or a maniac. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/36 "2009-06-02T20:01:54Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Fuck that shit. > > I realize that it’s just transporting myself, but the fact is that the whole thing goes more quickly, smoothly, and safely for everyone if people don’t act like selfish or oblivious assholes. > > It’s like when the first guy at the light sits through 10 seconds of green light because he’s too busy daydreaming or checking his text messages. If i’m second in line, his idiocy might only cost me 10 seconds, but what it also does is ensure that only, say, 10 cars rather than 12 will get through on that particular green. That leaves two people who have to wait for a whole cycle of the lights because some moron wasn’t paying attention. It also, during busy times, makes the roads clog up even more because every time someone does this there’s a cascade effect back along the line of traffic. Yep. In Northern Virginia, this is the exact reason for bad traffic. People going 0-40MPH in 75 seconds, people looking at their BlackBerrys, people yapping on cell phones. It’s not that there are too many cars, it’s that people are selfish idiots who don’t realize that their 100 feet spaces between their car and the one in front of them (while going 20 MPH) creates such a ripple effect in traffic. And these are the same assholes that whine because someone “cuts them off” (read: gets in the 100’ gap in front of them). Death to all slow drivers. ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/37 "2009-06-03T01:09:37Z")
According to my friend from a rather small town in Canada: Drivers in that particular city have a habit of stopping at a green light to let a car going the other way to turn left. Then again, they also let tractors drive on roads in that city, so I guess anything goes. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/38 "2009-06-03T03:13:38Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I look quickly and move fast on green myself. The assumption always is that if it is unsafe to proceed then you don’t do it no matter what the state of the light is. I’d never argue otherwise. [QUOTE=Casserole] Drivers in that particular city have a habit of stopping at a green light to let a car going the other way to turn left. [/QUOTE] I hate this. It is like they are creating their own rules of the road that the rest of us have to figure out at our own peril if we guess wrong. If you have the right of way, use it. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/39 "2009-06-03T03:50:09Z")
The worst is those people in the slow lane who take FOREVER to pull off the damn road… I always feel like I’m going to rear end them because they slow down to about 5 mph instead of just cleanly pulling off the road. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350/40 "2009-06-03T14:33:07Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I think being unaware of what’s happening around you\*, or being unaware of where you are in space \*defines \*you as a dickwad (or other epithet of choice). > > - the general you, of course, not \*\*Mosier \*\*in particular. Right – when operating a lethal machine, slight regard for the danger you pose to those outside the machine – which is, by definition, _everyone else in the universe_ – certainly does define you as the problem. People who don’t pay attention have generally _chosen_ not to pay attention. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slow-but-impatient-drivers/498350.md?page=3)