Driving and Road Rage

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Airpark

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This may seem or sound like a bit of a rant but it is actual things that have happened in the last 15 days or so while driving is a safe and sane manner.

1. Wife and I going to local bank, 4 lane road, in left lane of our two lanes, nobody within a mile in either direction except for car just behind and off my right rear quarter. All of sudden the car speeds up, zips in front of us, forcing me to brake to keep front end intact...what does the car do....goes into left turn lane for left turn. Why or Why did he not just slow a bit and make a civilized turn?

2. Sitting at major intersection traffic signal, light changes and left turns begin, left turn signal goes off, oncoming traffic begins to move and traffic on my left begins to move.....here comes a stake body truck that was about half a block up the way....what does he do...makes a left turn right in front of me, had to stop or get t-boned, what did he do, gave me a nice middle finger "Love You" sign and went his merry way.

3. Just today again on a major 4 lane road going about 45 and here comes a guy crossing at a non-signal crossing. Ran right out in front of us, had to brake to keep from getting t-boned, I honked at him, he slammed on brakes, luckily I was far enough behind and it was only frustrating, not accident type, went to next signal, he stopped, placed the car in reverse, his backup lights came on, again I was far enough back that no accident. I got in left turn lane, he zigged and zagged in and out of the left turn lane, 18 wheeler on the right had to stop as he too did not know what was going on, finally he left turn lane and went on and I turned left and went to my destination.

Have you noticed that drivers seem to be very frustrated, irritated and all seem to want to hit you or get hit and claim the insurance.

They pull out in front of you, tailgate like mad....what has happened to make things this way....or...is it just that we are the lucky ones that everyone wants to hit or get hit by.

Your comments appreciated.
 
I love living way out here in the mountains of West Virginia. The locals know how to drive and usually follow at a respectful distance. People wave at each other and not with their middle fingers.
However, it's tourist season. People come here from the cities and drive like they have no sense whatsoever, mostly from Maryland and Virginia and they bring their bad driving habits with them. It's true that the local resorts and the surrounding towns can use the tourist dollars but what a pain in the rear.
 
Airpark said:
This may seem or sound like a bit of a rant but it is actual things that have happened in the last 15 days or so while driving is a safe and sane manner.
.......
......

Your comments appreciated.
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Bill
sounds like you're a professional defensive driver:D

and yeah - as snubbyfan states - some drivers here in MD are very rude - but not all:D

oh - give someone a "like"

good grief - you've been on here - what 4 years:eek:
 
Called out a chick for yakking on the phone in her hand the other day. She "waved me off" so to speak. When she got ahead I noticed she was down to one brake light. I guess when that one gives up she may find it tough to talk on the phone as the 18 wheeler trampling her car flushes her sinuses with her liver.
 
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Yep - drove about 40 miles the other day at exactly the speed limit - not in the leftmost lane - and it was one of the scariest experiences I have had on the road recently.

Also was approaching a green light when a car crossing entered the intersection - stopped in the middle of it - then as I went by someone blew their horn at me - and he continued through the intersection behind me.
 
Mcwsky09 said:
Yep - drove about 40 miles the other day at exactly the speed limit - not in the leftmost lane - and it was one of the scariest experiences I have had on the road recently.

Also was approaching a green light when a car crossing entered the intersection - stopped in the middle of it - then as I went by someone blew their horn at me - and he continued through the intersection behind me.
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Don't laugh, but that happened to my mother in England, and the car that stopped was a cop. He pulled her over screaming about his light being green. "Funny, so was mine," said my mother. Cop told her it was impossible. She told him to go look and that she was happy to go with him. He told her he needed no help, took her details and told her to expect a summons.

Next day the road is all dug up, temporary lights are setup because the original system had failed.:p Mum never heard another thing from LE.
 
Last friday I was on my way back from the LGS. I was traveling north on a 4 lane road *2 lanes per direction*. I was in the right lane puttering along minding my business.....when the woman in the left lane right next to me started to merge into mine with no turn signal. *mind you our cars are going the same speed, and directly next to eachother at this point*

I honked my horn politely to let her know "ya know....im here, your going to hit me". She kept coming!. I BLARED on the horn and locked up the brakes to avoid getting side swiped. She enters my lane then JAMS on her brakes at 40mph , causing me to slam to a stop to avoid rear ending her....then turns right into a gas station.
THEN she has the nerve to flip ME off.

What the heck is wrong with drivers!? haha
 
You should drive up here in the Seattle area! Seattle is the "me first" capital of the northwest!

These people are selfish AND stupid.

I sometimes drive all day long while working and things like you mention happen to me at least once a day.

At least once a day there is a roll over accident and at least one death a week. Did I mention these people are stupid?:rolleyes:

I miss living in a small town.:(
 
I grew up in Texas, & got a lot of experience driving in Dallas. I know that I freaked a lot of people out when I moved to Little Rock;they weren't prepared for a Texas style driver. I see how bad it is now when I drive through to visit my folks in San Antonio. People seem to drive like they're at a Nascar training camp & they're hoping to be discovered!:eek:
 
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Wow. Between this thread, the one about lawyers and the one about the missing key, I'm just worn out.

G'night folks!
 
I'm thinking major highways and major intersections must be the problem (not really). The nearest "major" we have from where I live must be 500 miles away.

But even out here in the brush you can be driving the speed limit only to watch someone in your rearview mirror doing twice the speed limit to get ahead of you slam on the brakes and pull into Mickey D's or WM. Heck, they could just ease in behind and do the same thing. When I know the gig is happening, sometimes I'll start to speed up just to make 'em earn it. Looks like a drag race through town.

Oh, and have you noticed how none of the cars built today have blinkers. That or not enough hands to drive, text and move that little lever all at the same time
 
Roadtrash said:
I've noticed that here in Phoenix people in the left lane, on I-10 which is eight lanes wide in areas, will make a right turn across three lanes of traffic. I've been out here for about 20 years and haven't gotten used to that yet.
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I saw that move on I-77 around Charlotte on my way to Myrtle Beach for vacation! A young black guy in a caddy pulls up beside me doing 70. He looks at me, now I am in the far left lane mind you, I look at him as he is reclined back pretty far in the seat. He looks at me and then stares straight ahead for about a second. He proceeds to do the smoothest 3 lane change moving into the onramp merge lane!:eek: He passes about 7 or 8 cars and then merges into the right lane. He gets off the road at the next exit. It takes a lot of nerve to lane change and then pass in the merge lane!:cool: I kept thinking "stay over there and the heck away from me". I also wondered if it was a stolen Cadillac.
 
Just returned from a 1000 mile round trip to see my daughter & her family in Washington State. Have to go through Seattle on I-5. Both ways were a complete white knuckled drive. If you didn't keep up with traffic at 10 to 15 miles over the speed limit you would be run over by a semi.
 
Don't let them get to you.

Don't let them upset you. It's not worth it. Give them all the room in the world. Five minutes later it won't matter.

You have to drive like everyone else is a complete deranged idiot. All that matters is getting there in one piece. Just get home safely so you can enjoy all those S&Ws in your safe.
 
I learned a long time ago to ride my cycle like I was invisible. People will tell you not to take other drivers idiotic moves personal, & its true. They don't know you, you're complete strangers to each other, so how can it be personal? I find that advice hard to take,though!:(:confused::mad:
 
LoadedRound said:
Don't let them upset you. It's not worth it. Give them all the room in the world. Five minutes later it won't matter.

You have to drive like everyone else is a complete deranged idiot. All that matters is getting there in one piece. Just get home safely so you can enjoy all those S&Ws in your safe.
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+1 on this. If you are put in danger your natural reaction is to get angry. I do not use the one finger salute any more, why risk the chance of escalating a situation? To be a "safe driver" requires more than just not doing a lot of the things in this thread, it requires you to understand that there are a lot of perfectly reasonable people doing idiotic things on the road and you need to be aware and avoid them. Asheville has a lot of 2 minute redlights. It is common for one or two (or three) cars to go through a light after it has turned red.
 
Back in the 50's-60's a family of five had one car, dad's, maybe two if mom worked. Today a family of five may have 4 or 5 cars which amounts to a lot more cars on the road. Add that problem to the fact that people no longer have any respect for each other and you have this new phenomenon called road rage. Not really new, just a lot more of it.
 
Kanewpadle said:
You should drive up here in the Seattle area! Seattle is the "me first" capital of the northwest!

These people are selfish AND stupid.

I sometimes drive all day long while working and things like you mention happen to me at least once a day.

At least once a day there is a roll over accident and at least one death a week. Did I mention these people are stupid?:rolleyes:

I miss living in a small town.:(
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I agree. And they all come east every weekend: Either skiing in the winter or drowning themselves in the summer.

We have at least one fatality in the Valley a week: People from the westside going home too fast in the snow or riding unsafe rapids, or hypo- or hyper-therrmy. The locals drive bad enough but the "westies".

We learned to drive in L.A. and SoCal. Moved here when I was 53 via Sacramento. Lived in L.A. for 50 years. Saw just about everything you can imagine from shootouts on the freeways to airplane crashes. Witnessed several fatalities. Seattle-ites think they know how to drive freeways.

One of my Lodge brothers is a retired State Trooper. He once told me he thought Cali drivers were bad 'til he spent two weeks in SoCal. He realized Cali drivers are #$%&*+ but they do know how to drive. Washington (city) drivers are #$%&*+ but don't know how to drive.
 
My much-younger sister (only 63) has a habit that drives me nuts. She drives five miles an hour below the limit in the fast lane, and won't move over. I've told her she may get shot or rear-ended by a truck one day, and she just says, "It's their problem." I don't like road-rage incidents, but I certainly try not to willfully provoke them. She has a genius-plus IQ, and zilch for common sense in many areas.
 
I saw 4 cars during my 50 mile drive to work today, but didn't get close enough to see if they were doing anything wrong...
 
I will share something I learned in Health class in college. When you drive an automobile it makes you less likely to overlook things that other people do. It makes you more likely to do "selfish" things because you feel important. I guess it is a bit like alcohol. The instructor said if you were standing in line and the person ahead of you accidentally stepped on your foot you would likely say "excuse me" though it was the other guys fault. If you are behind the wheel you are less likely to do that.
 
Airpark said:
1. Wife and I going to local bank, 4 lane road, in left lane of our two lanes, ......

They pull out in front of you, tailgate like mad....

Your comments appreciated.
Click to expand...

Ever think of driving in the right hand lane? The left lane is for passing, and passing only. ;)

In Germany when I got my European Military driver's license, I was told if I get rear-ended on the autobahn, it would be MY fault. Cars would zoom up from behind, flash their lights and if you didn't move, they would bump you.

Ever get bumped on the freeway doing 120mph? Me either, I stay in the proper lane.

I don't see a lot of road rage and I drive an awful lot. As much as I hate driving in Chicago, I do admire how most people there know how to drive well. But there's always the one guy doing 45 in the left lane while all the other traffic is going 65..... :p

.
 
Years ago when my dad was about 70, my folks drove out from wisconsin to southern california to visit me. One night while I had to work they decided to go to my church. Evidently dad made some traffic screw up although neither knew what it was. It was a hot night and they had the windows down. A guy pulled along side and shouted obscenitys at dad.
That wasnt enough, at the next light he got out and walked back to the folks swearing at them. Mistake. Dad got out, mom said dad picked him up by his shirt front, cocked his fist back and said, "One more word and I will break your nose!" Dad was 6 ft 5"s, about 230 at the time and not a ounce of fat. He probley just looked like a old white haired man sitting in his truck. Dad didnt bother to tell me about it but mom did.
 
Lost Lake said:
As much as I hate driving in Chicago, I do admire how most people there know how to drive well.

.
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+1 On drivers driving slowly in the left lane. This is recognized and some states are starting to cite drivers. VA has large signs (almost billboards) that state to stay out of the left lane if you aren't doing at least the speed limit. (Emphasis added by me.)

Regarding Chicago drivers, they tend to drive fast (75 in a 55 on the tollways) and if the road says the left lane will end in so many feet, they jump into the left lane, go like heck, and expect to be let back in. This strikes me as rude and the opposite of the purpose of the signs.
 
QUOTE=LoadedRound;137322804]Don't let them upset you. It's not worth it. Give them all the room in the world. Five minutes later it won't matter.

You have to drive like everyone else is a complete deranged idiot. All that matters is getting there in one piece. Just get home safely so you can enjoy all those S&Ws in your safe.
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[/QUOTE]


Boys,

Right thar is the best advise of the day.......Reasonable men, make reasonable decisions.



.
"We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others."
- Will Rogers
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