Why are these assholes in such a fucking hurry?

The BBQ Pit
21

The problem, Number Six, is that even the “authorities” consider what you’re doing to be bad, not just the tailgaters. As others have mentioned, in some states, it’s a ticketable offense. Here in Colorado, it’s considered a form of passive-aggressive road rage. While you can’t get a ticket for it, a cop can pull you over and “advise” you on how to change your driving methods.

The point is that you have no idea who is behind you, and why they need to go fast. You could be backing up traffic and prohibiting emergency vehicles from getting through. You’re definitely impeding the flow of traffic, though, which is, if not illegal, at least very annoying and a major cause of traffic delays.

22

Actually, if you’re sitting in gridlock, it’s just as likely that **you ** are (part of) the problem. It’s a myth that all gridlock is a result of an accident or stoppage. It’s often caused by having too many vehicles on a stretch of road that can’t handle the capacity. So even if everybody was a perfectly polite driver and there were no accidents, you’d still be in traffic.

But traffic is worsened by changes in the flow of cars. Lane changes that force nearby cars to brake greatly contribute to gridlock. Maybe getting mad at those lane weavers would be more satisfying that thinking about those mythical unseen people involved in accidents a couple of miles ahead.

23

Hmm, here’s a thought - everyone agrees that there are a lot of bad drivers out there, but no one thinks that they are a bad driver. This equation doesn’t add up, people. Before you start pointing too many fingers at the drivers around you, maybe you should make sure that you are an impeccable driver yourself first.

24

This thread and others like it that I’ve seen here compel me to admit to having something of a close-minded view on transportation policy:

People with shit for brains should not be allowed to drive.

I know this is a controversial position to take. “My brother-in-law has shit for brains, and he drives a taxi.” “First we ban people with shit for brains from driving, and then who is next? Jackasses? Nitwits? Where does it end?” “This is not a million miles from what Hitler was trying to do.”

I want to make it perfectly clear that I have nothing against people with shit for brains. Some of my best friends have shit for brains, and so do several people where I work. I am often mistaken as a person with shit for brains – perhaps because of my fondness for Survivor and professional ice hockey – and I never take offense. Even on this message board, people have assumed that I am a person with shit for brains when, in actuality, I am a newbie. This is widely regarded as a subtle difference, but SDMB is a forum for clarifying such minutiae.

I should also confess that I am not well-versed in shit-for-brains culture. Why, with regards to this driving issue alone, I do not know why SFBers are perpetually in such a hurry, why they favor Toyotas and Chevys, or why they are on the road so much more than the general population. However, even without a complete understanding of the shit-for-brains point-of-view, I believe that action must be taken sooner than later in getting these citizens off the road.

It is with a heavy heart that I propose that the right to drive be taken away from people with shit for brains. Who among us would ignore the contributions of this group, particularly in the areas of customer service, management, and marketing? And where would we be without the services of SFBers in politics? Why, nary a word of policy would yet be written for the Bush administration. Still, for the good of everyone, the time has come for them to hand over the keys.

Thank you for your time. Please forgive what must seem like blatant prejudice against those with shit for brains. I am fairly open-minded, really, and would like nothing more than to be convinced that those with shit for brains should be allowed to continue driving. If anyone out there with shit for brains would like to respond, please do. I think we’d all benefit from hearing the shit for brains perspective on this sensitive issue.

25

Point taken. When driving on highways or even main thoroghfares with no signal lights for long stretches of road, drivers should stay in the right lane except to make a left turn. However, I was clearly referring to city streets with frequently occurring signal lights (see point 3), in my case, about every half mile or so. In such a situation, driving faster usually only gets you to the next red light a little faster, but saves you little or no time.

When I encounter an emergency vehicle, I pull over to the side of the road, stop, and wait for it to pass. Drivers who have a genuine emergency, rather than just being in a hurry, have a way to signal that (at least in my state). They can use emergency flashers.

And before someone with no sense of humors wails on point number 2, let me say first, it is a joke (tongue-in-cheek is difficult to convey in writing), and second, anyone who intentionally backs up traffic is a jerk. I never claimed to be doing this, and those who assumed I was were inferring things not intended.

But I think my original point has been missed. Being annoyed does not justify the dangerous practice of tailgaiting. I am often confronted with drivers going more slowly than I would like, but I choose to follow them at a safe distance.

But what seems to have been missed here is that I essentially agree with Broomstick. Weavers, light-runners, and tailgaiters, and anyone who does anything with their hands other than driving while they are driving are not only irritating, they are dangerous.

26

I am stunned at how incisively you have disected my reasoning. I bow to the master of rhetoric.

27

Obviously this is a heated issue, and at the end of this discussion, no one will be any closer to winning the argument. What I can’t wrap my brain around is what I see the defensive drivers saying: the tailgaiters and lane weavers are dangerous, and they shouldn’t be doing it. Sure. Whatever. They never seem to want to acknowledge the point that if they’d just move over there wouldn’t be a problem (or it’d at least be alleviated). If someone comes up on my bumper, and I’m in the left lane (city, highway, whatever), I think, “Gee, I’m blocking this guy. Maybe I should get over.” I think this no matter how fast I’m going. You can talk about laws and whatnot, but in the end, for me, it comes down to simple courtesy. Tailgaiting isn’t very courteous, true, but why do people do it? Usually it’s because someone is blocking the left lane and being discourteous. If you ask me, it’s selfish to think, “It’s ok for me to hold up traffic in this lane because I’m not on the highway and/or I’m doing the posted speed limit.” Just my opinion.

And hapaXL, i’m not sure why you felt the need nitpick my comments. My Websters defines gridlock as “a traffic jam in which no vehicle can move in any direction.” True, some traffic jams are caused by saturation. I’d say these are more the stop-and-go variety. In my experience, whether you’re near a city or in the middle of nowhere, the easy majority of gridlocks result from an accident in the road or on the shoulder.

28

When you’re in the biggest hurry is when you should be driving the most cautiously, because you are emotional and may be making bad decisions. When you’re not in a big hurry, what difference does it make if you’re stuck behind someone in the left hand lane? Take a deep breath, back off so you’re not tailgating, and don’t let it get to you.

Somehow, driving has become the arena for taking out our aggressions and frustrations with life in general. We lose sight of the big picture; just about everything that happens while we are driving is not a big deal. Driving is not a game; you don’t win if you cut someone off and make it through the light ahead of them. Driving is incredibly dangerous, and definitely not the place to be playing out power struggle fantasies. It’s not the place for teaching other people how they should behave, either.

::climbs off soapbox and goes back to work::

29

For all you self-righteous speeders…

I don’t know where YOU live but where I live there is no law saying “right lane speed limit left lane 5 miles/hour faster”. Is this enforced 100% of the time? No - but saying “I did it yesterday and no one stopped me” will not get you out of the ticket.

Secondly - when drive on 2 (and 3 and 4) lane “surface streets” as opposed to freeways I can NOT make a left turn from the right lane without REALLY pissing everyone off and being a major hazard. So, if I need to turn left TOUGH SHIT you’re just going to have to deal with it.

I once had a blue-haired old lady almost ram my pickup from the back because I turned left into my own driveway. She was standing out in the middle of the street using language MY grandmother certainly never would have used, screaming I couldn’t turn left there! I had no business turning left there! Lady, I fucking LIVE HERE and had my turn signal properly on AND did a gentle brake application and if YOU hadn’t blasted down the road at twice the speed limit you wouldn’t have had to slam on the brakes to keep my back bumper out of your windshield. THAT’s what I’m talking about - not 5 miles over, not a moment’s inattention, but sheer STUPIDITY about driving - like way too fast in a 35 zone and not even considering that someone may need to turn left on a residental street. That’s why they put the second lane down on that stretch, so road idiots can go around people on legit business.

Nor do I poke along under the speed limit as some have implied. Except in severe weather or to avoid an immanent accident I go the speed limit. That is the legal maximum. I don’t buy the argument that “nobody does the speed limit” because I certainly do. Nor have I ever been criticized by anyone in authority for doing so. I’m not going to say I have never ever bent the rules or made a mistake behind the wheel but some things are just plain stupid to do.

There is NO excuse for tailgating. EVER. It is not YOUR place to regulate traffic by bulling people to speed up any more than it is anyone’s place to regulate traffic by delibrately going under the speed limit. If someone is going “too slow” there just might be a reason you aren’t aware of. Once had my car just quit, completely quit, while driving down a busy street at 45 mph. Had to throw it into neutral and coast to a safe spot next to the road and couldn’t even get my blinkers on - yeah, I got a lot of horns, tailgates, rude gestures - but there was NOTHING I could do other than what I was doing. One asshole felt compelled to drive alongside me on the right shoulder, screaming profanity at me, which also prevented me from GETTING OFF THE ROAD and GETTING OUT OF THE WAY. THAT’S STUPID!!!

30

Let’s face it.

People speed because:

a)Everyone else is.

b)They don’t give themselves enough time to get where they’re going.

c)It’s exciting to break the law, if only a trivial law like the speed limit.

d)Hi, Opal!

I’m as guilty, if not more so, than all of you. I have the 4 speeding tickets and a myriad of accidents to prove it.

This is not a matter of pride with me, I assure you. It’s just an ingrained habit that I struggle with every time I get in a car.

One word of advice. Vigilantism is not smart. Let the jerk go by. I’ve been shot at over this stuff (I shit you not).

In other words, I’M IN A HURRY! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY, YOU SLOW ASS, TAKING YOUR CAR FOR A WALK DRIVER!!!

All you have to do is move over. I know, it’s too easy, and it’s not very satisfying, but it could save you from people like me, the impatient, intemperate psycho IN YOUR BACK SEAT!!!

Ahem, sorry…I feel better. I think I’ll go for a drive now :wink:

31

Obviously, not everyone else is, hence the people who get in the way of those who are speeding/weaving.

Vigilantism is illegally taking the law into your own hands by trying to punish those who break the law. Your statement above seems to imply that everyone who drives the speed limit does so for the purpose of annoying people like you. I, and most others, drive the speed limit because it is the law, and occasionally choose the left lane when on city streets because I have to be in the left lane to make a left turn.

I have never gotten a ticket for a moving violation, and have never been in an accident. I have never been involved in a road-rage incident, because I refuse to play little-boy macho head games.

By driving defensively, I help to prevent the dangerous situations which lead to accidents. Aggressive drivers create situations which lead to accidents. The danger of being killed in a traffic accident is much greater, by several degrees of magnitude, than that of being killed in a road-rage incident. It’s a worthwhile trade-off.

The bottom line is that defensive drivers drive the way we do because safety is our first priority. Aggressive drivers drive aggressively because speed is their first priority.

Speeding, weaving, tailgating, running yellows and reds, and other forms of aggressive driving are not a drug or an addiction. They are a choice. If you are capable of driving safely, but choose not to, you are showing poor judgement; if you are incapable of driving safely, you shouldn’t be on the road.