Driving pet peeves

What ticks you off most?

[wyweb]

I'm driving down the road. There's nobody behind me. Nobody. I'm coming up on an intersection and moving at a pretty good clip. Some idiot hits the cross road and decides to jump out right in front of me. If he'd waited 2 seconds I'd have been well passed him and he'd have had the whole road to himself. Instead he jumps out, makes me brake, interrupts my pleasant thoughts.

People who won't let other people in. Sometimes trying to get out on congested streets is a nightmare. Give me a break buddy. I'm only holding the line up for 5 seconds and then I'm in line too.

Rude drivers. Drivers who don't signal. Drivers who do three lane drifts on major interstates and just suddenly appear in your field of vision.

There's gotta be more...

I love foo.

[incrediBILL]

I've written entire diatribes on this very topic but it's unfit to post on foo.

Just remember, everyone driving slower than you is a moron and everyone driving faster is a maniac.

[Jane_Doe]

The PTA moms in the neighborhood who stop to talk, while in their cars, thereby effectively backing up all traffic in both directions, in front of busy schools, at start or dismissal times, so they can discuss something really super important, like the results of last nights bunco games.

[wyweb]

like the results of last nights bunco games.

LOL...

Or another one that really ticks me off... high traffic parking lots, already congested.

Don't stop and talk. I need to get in and out of here. Let me go by and you can talk all you want.

[wyweb]

I've gotten much more defensive in my driving. I'm looking at your car and your face almost as much as I'm looking at the road. I'm not really worried about running into you. I'm worried about you running into me. Or making me do something stupid just so I have to avoid you.

Stay in your lane and I'll stay in mine. Use signals to let me know what you're doing too. I use mine. That's what they're there for.

I drove a truck for about a year and a half. 18 wheeler. Hauling drywall all over the country. I could not stand it when little honda civics would get right up on my butt to try to draft. I'd lose sight of them and that made me nervous. I knew they were back there but I couldn't see them.

[topr8]

what we in england call sunday drivers.

eg. people who only ever get behind the wheel at the weekends - almost everything about their driving is annoying.

[wyweb]

Timid drivers bother me too.

Listen, I'm getting old myself but senior citizens can almost be as dangerous as drunks. They hesitate. I see an 87 year old woman behind the wheel, or man, and I'm steering clear of them.

And I hope no one takes offense to that and this post can be deleted if necessary. It's a friggin' fact though.

Don't slow down if you don't have to. Go with the flow and be aware.

[wheel]

We've been concerned about my father in law's driving habits for a year. He's 80+. My pet peeve? You can't stop him from driving. (though in fairness, if people had their licenses removed just because I don't like the way they drive, about half of you folks wouldn't have a license :) ).

Yesterday he crossed the median, down into a ditch. If there'd have been anyone coming the other way, everyone would've been dead. As it was, the car's totalled and now they've finally taken his license.

I guess my pet peeve boils down to the fact that old people vote, so you can't take away their driver's license when they get old. I think in Canada what they do to solve this problem is send all the old people to florida.

[wyweb]

Wheel, we're finally agreeing. That's nice to see.

[Matthew1980]

I had to laugh reading this thread - I live in rural Wales (UK for those geographically challenged) and I HATE getting stuck behind tractors and slow lorries on my commute to work, and I HATE even more the 4x4 drivers who overtake me to get in front, and end up cutting ME up to avoid a collision.

And drivers with lax signalling skills too, late signals are a hazard to those around you THINK!

Rant over.

Cheers,
MRb

[incrediBILL]

BTW, if you're tailgating, I might downshift and let off the gas just for fun.

Hope you have clean underwear in the glove box.

[Matthew1980]

>>BTW, if you're tailgating, I might downshift and let off the gas just for fun.

Ha ha, someone did that the other day and he ended up with whiplash - I wonder if he will do it again..

Cheers,
MRb

[topr8]

>>Ha ha, someone did that the other day and he ended up with whiplash - I wonder if he will do it again..

about 3 years ago, this car had been tailgating and honking me, i just put my hazards on and slowed down to a stop, i was on my own, there were three guys in the car behind, i looked the driver in the eye, nodded at him and walked around to my boot (trunk) and opened it as if to get someone from it (it's empty) they obviously thought i was a nutter and reversed out of their double quick!

... thank goodness, i've no idea what i would have done if they hadn't left! (just looked stupid i guess)

[SevenCubed]

BTW, if you're tailgating, I might downshift and let off the gas just for fun.

Ya, that's one I've been known to spontaneously whip out on a few occasions (SevenCubed!).

It was usually while I was riding motorcycle because I had the luxury of rapid acceleration with a slight roll of the wrist just before they were about to run me over. Exhilarating.

[incrediBILL]

A guy I went to school with, had been a class mate of mine, was known to slowly drive his beater pickup around town all night getting wasted. It was a small town, nobody cared as long as he didn't drive thru their lawn or something stupid like that.

One night I spotted him tooling down a dusty road about 10 mph getting his drink on so I started following him about a block behind. Every time he turned, I turned, finally decided to raise the fun level and hit the brights. This went on maybe 15-20 min and finally he skidded the truck sideways on the rock road completely blocking it, and slowly stepped out the door into my bright lights holding a big chain in his hands, obviously ready to rumble.

I reached under the seat and pulled out my machete that I used to clear brush when I went fishing, opened the door and stood there like Jason in a scene from Friday the 13th as a big silhouette holding a 3 ft. blade over my head.

He jumped back in the truck and those tires spun rock and dust in every direction as he ran away home.

Never did see him out slowly getting his drink on in the beater truck again ;)

[SevenCubed]

In my earlier working years, 10 of them,I drove various types and sizes of straight trucks in the city for 8-10 hours a day. I'm sure I've seen just about every stupid car trick that is physically possible. Many of them right in front of me. But the one that bothered me the most was when I was approaching an intersection and already having passed my point of decision knowing I was rolling through regardless of what the traffic light was going to do -- only to have a passenger car pull in front of me and stand on their brakes when I couldn't. Never rear-ended one but lost a full load of frozen cherries once as they shifted and smashed into the bulk-head. That particular time I might have squished them but they had the last moment sense to realize what they had just done and ran the red light instead of me pushing them through as I dumped everything.

[LifeinAsia]

Listen, I'm getting old myself but senior citizens can almost be as dangerous as drunks.

Pretty much our entire family refused to let my grandmother drive. Ever. She did all kinds of unexpected (and therefore dangerous) things. The family even talked to the DMV to try to get them to suspend/revoke her license (no luck).

[lawman]

I wish all other drivers would get off my roads - or at least pull over and let me pass.

[Old_Honky]

Statistically old people (i.e.over 60's are less likely to have accidents than people under 60).

The real problem is young male drivers under 25 all that testosterone and no experience and/or little concept of the risks they are taking. This is also the biggest road rage offending group.

Age only seems to be a problem when you reach your late 80's.

My own observations based on personal experience indicate that the following groups are the 10 most dangerous, in order - worst first.

1. People who wear a hat and smoke a pipe when driving.
2. People who wear a hat when driving.
3. Women drivers with one or more female passengers. This is because women like to look at the face of the woman that they are talking to to judge what their reaction is. Guys couldn't care less they just talk.
4. Motorway drivers who keep changing lanes. All this zipping in and out can be dangerous. Sometimes staying in the middle lane for a while is the safest way to drive e.g. overtaking several slower moving vehicles.
5. Bus drivers.
6. Taxi drivers.
7.People who sit bolt upright (or leaning slightly forward) as they drive, both hands gripping the wheel tightly, and head close to the windscreen whilst staring straight ahead.
8.Anyone with one of those yellow signs in the back window(Little person on board, or baby on board), do they expect me to change my driving style because they have their offspring running around the back seat? I drive carefully all the time.
9. Anyone towing a caravan (trailer in US speak)
10. Anyone driving a vehicle with a "How's my driving?" sign on the back.

[wyweb]

BTW, if you're tailgating, I might downshift and let off the gas just for fun.

Been known to do that myself. I've even been known to brake slightly. Slow down enough so that they get the picture. If they hit the horn on me I'll slow down even more.

Well, I used to anyway. I'm a little more tolerant these days.

Not much but a little.

[wyweb]

Statistically old people (i.e.over 60's are less likely to have accidents than people under 60).

And I don't doubt that's true.

3. Women drivers with one or more female passengers. This is because women like to look at the face of the woman that they are talking to to judge what their reaction is. Guys couldn't care less they just talk.

LOL... absolutely. I've made note of that myself.

do they expect me to change my driving style because they have their offspring running around the back seat?

In America we have strict policies about that. At least in my State we do. Kids don't run around unfettered in vehicles. They better be strapped in, or if they're under a certain age they need to be in an approved car seat which also needs to be strapped in. In my city you'll get stopped if the cops see your kids up and moving around while you're driving. It's a good law and they enforce it.

We all have to be strapped in. They don't even want me to have my dog in my truck. Not if he's loose and hanging his head out the window, which is what he likes to do. I take liberties with that one and so far they've let me slide.

They can stop me for it if they want to though. Having a dog in my truck that's got his face in the wind.

We're just now getting on board with "texting while driving." I think California was the first with that but we're catching up. That one should have been a no-brainer to begin with.

[wyweb]

@topr8

sunday drivers.

We have them here too. And that's what we call them: Sunday drivers.

That's probably acceptable terminology all over the world.

[wyweb]

I used to have the philosophy that I'd put a vehicle in the ditch before I'd hit an animal. That may not necessarily be right thinking but I don't always think right anyway. I've had deer jump out in front of me, coyotes, possums, coons and it was just fortunate I was going slow enough or in a vehicle small enough to brake in time. I'll kill an animal if I plan to eat him. I don't want to take him out just because he's in the wrong place at the wrong time though.

I'd never hit anything until just recently.

I had a 23 foot motorhome for a while, courtesy of affiliate marketing. I got tired of sleeping on the ground in tents but I still wanted to be there on the water. I like A/C and I like a soft bed these days. We went fishing for a couple days at Perry Lake. I'm towing a boat behind the RV and my buddy's in a pick-up following me. My ex-wife is with me, his wife's with him. It was gonna be a fun weekend.

We only stayed one night. There were other events going out there that we hadn't known about beforehand. Boat races, hot air balloons, other stuff that I did not care about. I wanted to fish and get drunk and enjoy the company of my friends.

Okay, let me tie this together.. it's about driving.

Traffic in and out of this place is ridiculous. We knew that by now so we left early on the second day. Hoping to get around them. Or at least not caught up by them.

We load everything up and we're out of there. The road out we're taking is posted at 30MPH. In some places 40MPH. I'm behind a guy in a big Lincoln and he's speeding up, slowing down. He'd hit 30MPH and I'd catch up with them, then he'd suddenly brake, slowing down to 10MPH and he'd hold it there for a few miles. I'm in a big motorhome and I'm towing a boat. I can't slow down as fast as he can but I'm not going to come to a complete stop just so he can get so far ahead of me that I don't have to see him. We need to get on down the road because we're going to another lake.

A whitetail doe jumped out in front of me. I don't like tailgaters either but if you're going 10 in a 40, I might be inclined to get up on your ass and try to get you moving.

I had no chance to react to this deer. I'm watching his tail lights. It's 5:00 am and still dark. He's just slowed from 40 to 10 and I'm coming up on him fast. I can't slow down as fast as he can though.

The deer ran between our vehicles. She was just there. I heard the bump. Felt it. My ex-wife is freaking out, "Oh we just killed that poor deer." I clipped her. The doe I mean. She'd almost gotten across and the left front side of the motorhome banged her in the butt.

My buddy Mike was a little ways behind us and he said he saw it all. It slung her in the ditch and then she popped back up and ran off into the woods. Hopefully nothing got broke. I thumped her pretty good though.

Erractic drivers. Drivers who do not look in the rearview to see what's behind them. This may have happened anyway but my opinion is that the guy in the Lincoln caused it.

[wyweb]

I wish all other drivers would get off my roads - or at least pull over and let me pass.

ROFLMAO... yeah.. I'll bet you do.

I don't have much problem believing that about you lawman. You get on down the road.

[astupidname]

@wyweb I think you may be my favorite kind of driver. Any time I wind up in vicinity of person driving with dog hanging it's head out the window, or in back of pickup, I'm always happy! I totally love dogs and they love me (don't actually have one of my own at this time, haven't in long time), so when I find myself behind a pickup truck with a dog I usually could care less if the dude or gal is driving a bit slow because I just manage to enjoy watching the dog.

I've killed two and a half deer (the half one a cop finished off with his gun, stupid thing ran right in front of me on a 40mph road in middle of large suburb) with vehicles in past. They are stupid animals and when they are running scared they are very fast. They can just come out of the dark in a heartbeat and be instantly in front of you with no chance more than a few milliseconds to hit the brake a bit and that's all. So as much as I do like animals, I hate deer and while I don't deer hunt myself, I always encourage hunters to please please please kill as many of them stupid deer as possible so we have less of them on the roads.
Saw one get hit by a semi truck once. That was cool, big spray of red! (the truck was actually about a mile ahead of me or so, so the spray settled before I got there and saw the leftovers of the deer in it's proper state)

Back to my pet peeves about other drivers, well, many have been listed already. But there are a few more I've run across which make me a bit more than irate.

The people who just all of a sudden decide to match your speed and stay right in your blind spot after you've passed them up going at least 5mph more than they were on a double lane highway and you're both just cruising along out in the middle of nowhere and no other cars around even. It's as if they're lonely and your supposed to sort of chaufer them along or what? Or else they're checking out the car your driving. But really, for 10 miles? Arrghhh.

Or even worse yet, along the exact same theme, is the people who are driving along on single lane country road at around 5 to 10mph under the speed limit and not even reliably so (erratic speed fluctuations should be against the law), and then I pass them when the opportunity arises only to find them purposely sticking tight on my backside afterwards (me having only taken er' up to about 70 to 80mph to give some space between us then slowing back down to the 60+mph I wished to drive in the first place when they were only doing 50). Nudge it back up to 80. Still there tight on me. J&cka$$who!e I was doing you a favor by not tailgaiting you and now you are truly trying to tick me off or something. That 'something' could be a lot of trouble for you buddy. I actually did a dead stop on one dude and then floored it again. Sure he had to be pooping that I might get out and give him the 'something' he was looking for. I floored it got some distance between us again and we soon were in town, the jacka$$ getting tight on me once again. I pull in to a Subway restaurant parking lot, having made it through a light before he could, and stand outside of my car motioning for him to come on over and rumble let's go. Chicken $hit keeps rolling then.
I've run in to instances like this at least 2 or 3 times I can remember, and I just don't understand what they think their doing. But I do wish my car were a bit more like one of 007's with machine guns and all.

[lawman]

I hate it when there are 3 lanes on the interstate and a lane hog firmly plants him/herself in the inside (go fast) lane. No amount of headlight flashing, tailgating, horn honking, or finger saluting will cause them to change lanes or vary speed one iota.

[wyweb]

@astupidname

@wyweb I think you may be my favorite kind of driver.

And I think you may have misunderstood me as well.

I totally love dogs and they love me

Saw one get hit by a semi truck once. That was cool, big spray of red!

I find it difficult to love dogs and not love deer as well. Or any animal. If I'd seen one get hit by a semi I would not have thought it was cool. Not even close.

stupid thing ran right in front of me on a 40mph road in middle of large suburb

Well, that's what they do. And then they freeze. It's the headlights. It confuses them. And then we smash into them. That's their fault? Because the bright lights totally wipe out their flight reaction?

I wasn't trying to hit this deer. Nor would I have ever. My post was about the circumstances that caused me to hit it. An idiot in a brand new Lincoln talking on the cell phone with his mistress and not paying attention to what was happening behind him. Slowing down suddenly to where I couldn't get enough space between us. If there'd been more space, if he'd stayed with the speed limit and allowed more space that doe probably would have got across.

I've hunted before. I've shot deer. Then I take them home and cut them up, put them up in the deep freeze. I'm feeding people. I've never trophy hunted in my life and have nothing good to say about trophy hunting.

We're the ones messing this thing up, okay? Follow me here for just a minute....

We're on their ground. They were here first. Because we have cooler toys we can push them around though. And we do. We're taking over their territory and we have no right to get mad just because one or two gets in our way every now and then.

I'm not trying to get all zen here. It's not really zen anyway. It's more Native American. Co-exist with your environment. Take only what you need from it and no more. Live and let live too. It's a good way to live. I like it anyway.

[lawman]

This is a driving pet peeve thread, not an "I hate" or "I love animals" thread. Further off-topic posts will be deleted without notice.

[Matthew1980]

People driving without lights on at night, and youngsters that have their seats so low in the car so that all that is visible is the spikey hair-do, oversized exhausts, loud cars being driven hard AT NIGHT. People driving with their beam on and not turning it OFF when passing you at night.

And so many others that I can't be bothered mentioning.

<off topic>Loads of vids on youtube with animals driving!</off topic>

Cheers,
MRb

[wyweb]

I don't like those halogen headlights either.

They mess with my eyes.