# What do you consider inappropriate passenger behavior? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800 "2010-07-07T00:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800/61 "2010-07-08T14:57:10Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > The driver is only a driver of a mechanical device not the mind or social interaction of others. - “practices” emergency stop\* Someone once leaned over to beep my horn and as a reflex my arm shot up and back handed them in the face. Do not interfere with my control of the vehicle, I’m operating dangerous machinery here. Shout or gesticulate at other people and I’ll pull over for you to get out. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800/62 "2010-07-08T18:26:19Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My husband calls that the “holy shit bar.” 😃 No, silly, that’s the “Oh Shit Handle!” Joe ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800/63 "2010-07-08T18:33:34Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > No, silly, that’s the “Oh Shit Handle!” > > Joe Pfft. It’s the “Jesus handle,” you infidels. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800/64 "2010-07-08T19:33:02Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > [snip]or spend a lot of time texting, reading, or talking on the phone with other people, again without the driver’s blessing. I’m not a chauffeur. If you want somebody to give you a ride so you can carry on your personal activities and ignore the driver, that’s what taxis are for. Oh, you remind me of the thread from a couple of years ago. This young woman came on to find out why her friend had been so irritated with her. Apparently the friend had been giving her and her boyfriend a ride to work or wherever, and the couple would sit in the back seat and make out and be all cutesy and giggly the whole ride. The girl didn’t get it. What was wrong with displays of PDA in the car? She couldn’t understand that a) some people don’t like PDAs and b) some people think it’s rude to ignore the driver, not even sitting next to them, making out in the backseat, like they were a taxi driver. Of course plenty of people defended the girl and even defended PDAs so I am not saying I am the abitrary decider of what is right and wrong. I just say, don’t do that in my car, ick. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800/65 "2010-07-08T20:13:53Z")
Yeah. If I’m not gettin’ any (especially in my car), you ain’t either. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800/66 "2010-07-08T20:35:10Z")
I’ve got to agree that some passenger actions are purely instinctive. I drive myself on a regular basis, but when my husband and I go somewhere together, he usually does the driving. Because I do so much driving myself, I usually react based on what I would do if I were behind the wheel – things like the point where I would begin to slow if I saw a stop sign or light ahead. When my husband doesn’t initiate the same action at the same point, it just triggers my instincts. For the most part, I keep the braking action pretty well controlled. However, there are times when a gasp is just plain unavoidable. There was a time a few years ago (on a country road) when I had not been watching the traffic for a few minutes. When I looked back up, there was a car heading straight for us. He was passing another car and had cut it awfully close. My husband did slow down, and the other car did get back in his lane, but when I looked up and saw that other car, I let out a yip. My husband proceeded to yell at me never to do that again. I maintain to this day that it was completely instinctive. There was no way I could have stifled that sound. I’ve finally concluded that my husband and I are both terrible passengers. The main difference is that if I’m driving and I do something that scares him, I apologize. If he’s driving and he does something that scares me, I still apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800/67 "2010-07-09T00:22:24Z")
Once as a passenger I told my girlfriend that she was driving too fast on the gravel road. As she was saying “No I’m not,” she spun out and landed in the ditch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-inappropriate-passenger-behavior/545800.md?page=3)