I completely agree. And in most cases, it doesn’t actually get me any further ahead.
I used to do this, until I realized it was the same as grocery store lines, the one I move out of will start moving faster after I’ve left it.
You kinda had to be there, but: I pulled around some traffic in the right two lanes to get into the third (left) lane; street curves there, streetcar tracks in the middle between the two directions of cars (this is a busy urban street, if you couldn’t tell). Two streets merge in my direction, so the last car in the middle lane is hanging out into the left lane.
So I swing around (you’re way ahead of me, I know) and surprise! there’s a streetcar coming in the other direction.
Fortunately he was not going very fast and managed to stop pretty quickly; I slammed on my brakes. We did collide but pretty gently and my left turn signal was smashed.
Act II - there was no place for me to pull over, so I tried to signal to the driver to wait while I went about a block and a half before I could get off the street. With lights and everything, it took so long he left because he thought I had left. Fortunately, I went to a police station right away to report it, so I didn’t get dinged for hit and run.
Yes, they did file a claim against my insurance company for damage to the streetcar. :smack: I guess I scratched their paint.
Roddy
I don’t like to admit that I ran through a red light. I was so very fortunate that no one was harmed. But it’s a sad reminder that I am moving closer to the day when driving may not be an option anymore.
I have no excuse other than I was zoned out. Can’t even remember what I was thinking about.
Since then I’ve made a more conscious decision to be in the moment when I drive so that’s a good thing, I guess.
I have pulled out of a gas station to go left and then suddenly realized there is a concrete barrier dividing the highway! I am pointing into traffic!
Truth be told, we really do need self-driving cars. I know people will be hesitant to give up control, but it will be better for us all in the long run.
In our parking lot, there are 2 spaces I park in most of the time. I drive a manual and these two spots are level, so I can put my car in neutral, but leave it running and sit there without having to apply the brake while I eat lunch and read my book. I do this almost everyday, so it’s habit by now…
One fine morning, I got to work and my normal spots were taken, so I parked in a different spot farther up the lot. Got out of the car and started walking toward the building. All of the sudden I hear this dull thud. I turn around and look, and my car has rolled forward and hit the car in front of mine. I hadn’t put it in gear before turning it off. Nothing serious, just kissed the license plates, but freaked me out pretty good. Had it rolled backwards, it would have caused some damage.
Lesson learned.
People who do this are one of my biggest driving pet peeves. It’s just plain damn lazy driving.
I was behind the wheel when it happened, but not traffic related - I was at the McDonalds drive-thru and asked for a Whopper. Worse, I didn’t even pick up on it when the intercom prompted me with “A… what?” “A Whopper!” They have me a Quarter Pounder and sent me on my way…
I recently got a new (to me) car which is a six-speed, and my old car was a five-speed. The first time I got in to back out of the parking spot, my brain went on autopilot for the five-speed shift pattern and instead of putting the car in reverse I put it in sixth, let up the clutch and stalled the engine. Then I sheepishly remembered that reverse was now up in the left corner. I moved the shifter there but didn’t push it far enough to the left, put it in the first gear gate instead, and then the car shot forward! Fortunately there was nobody in front of me.
This thread makes me feel like a REALLY good driver.
I drove too fast on a road I knew was icy.
That was 1986.
A few months back I was on one of those roads where you could see multiple stoplights ahead of you. The one closest to me was red, but the one behind it was green, so I was all ready to plow through the red light. Then I saw someone in the left turn lane who looked like they were about to turn right in front of me. I wondered to myself why the person would be so dumb as to turn right in front of me … and that’s when I realized the light was red. So I slammed on my brakes and managed to successfully stop at the light, but the person wanting to turn left ended up waiting until my light turned green and I had gone through the intersection. Guess that person figured it was better safe than sorry, and I can’t say I blame him or her.
I see I’m not the only one who zoned out and blasted right through a red light (or very nearly did so) for no good reason. It’s scary that your brain can just shut down on you like that for no good reason. I wasn’t speeding, drinking, tired, distracted, listening to loud music, talking with a passenger, or anything like that. I had my eyes on the road in front of me and as I blasted through the (thankfully) empty intersection I realized the light was red, and that it had always been red (I didn’t just barely miss it by a few seconds or anything). It is a sobering experience and I am so lucky and thankful that the intersection just happened to be empty at that moment. If someone had been the first car out into that intersection, it could have been a potentially deadly t-bone collision (I was going the speed limit, about 35-45 if I remember correctly).
Back in July, I was trying to get past a stalled truck in the right lane and hit the end of his left fender or bumper (it was some metal pipe thing pointing out from both sides on the back). It did about $2200 worth of damage to the right front side of my car (fortunately my deductible was only $200). I was obviously too close or it was sticking out just a tad too much, but I didn’t even see it until I hit it (and I was barely moving at that point).
The previously really dumb thing was passing a stopped school bus (with flashing lights and the stop sign sticking out) on the road to work. I had never seen a school bus on that road before and I guess I brain-farted and treated it like a regular passenger bus.
Happens to me on occasion, and my husband has been known to do this too.
Hope it helps that you’re not the only one.
Don’t feel too bad, I once placed an order at a McD’s drive-through and specified that it was to-go. 
Whew! I was afraid I was the only person who ever did that…
This is the kind of thing like my stoplight, we get so used to driving a route and just act without thinking when something different occurs. Several times I turned down a road that was blocked off further down and no longer a through street. I’m sure I’ve done other things like that. Driving somewhere unfamiliar I’d be much more cautious.
Sending a few brief text messages on a non-crowded road, and catching myself looking at scenery instead of the road for too long.
Yesterday I was following a truck down a road, and probably following it too closely. Then the road went through a little downtown area with a square, and the truck driver made me pay for following too closely - he clearly went through a yellow light and since I couldn’t see the light myself, due to being up his ass, I ended up very blatantly running a red light. Luckilly all of the people in the cross streets sat still and stared at my dumbassery until the intersection was clear.