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.

[piatkow]

People who follow their satnavs instead of the road signs. Just outside London there is a big intersection (South Mimms for UK readers) well signposted for which lane to be in. Some w*nk*r will inevitably drift across the lanes and always you will see the glowing light on the dash.

The other hate is people who insist on slowing down for speed cameras when they aren't speeding. Once I was following somebody doing a steady and careful 40 in a 40 limit. He drives right up to the camera, makes an emergency brake application, passes it at 30 then accelerates back to the speed limit. I was allowing a sensible distance from him but it was still a bit of a brown trouser moment.

[wyweb]

@piatkow

people who insist on slowing down for speed cameras when they aren't speeding

Or "lookers." I don't know what the accepted term is but that's what I call them. Wreck on the side of the road, tow trucks, twisted metal, other emergency vehicles. If you're not being required to slow it down - don't. You're backing up traffic for miles.

Unless you're the first one there, our emergency crews have usually got any injured to the hospital already. We'll drop helicopters in there to pick them up and get them to where they need to go. There's nothing left to see here. Keep on going.

If it's a fresh wreck, and I've come up on a few of them, then you slow all the way down. In fact I'll hit the grass on the side, shut her down and see if there's any way I can help. I carry a fire extinguisher in my truck and have even used it once.

People who won't pass a cop even though he's going 30 in a 40. Get on around him. Unless you've got something to hide.

A thing about cops.. and I know a few of them.. is that if you don't go around him he'll be looking at you now. He knows he's under the speed limit. Now he's wondering why you are too.

[astupidname]

People who ride the brake. Please don't make your brake lights come on unless really necessary.

Seeing cherries in your rear view mirror and knowing they're for you.
Not that it happens all that often for me, about every few years or so I do get a speeding ticket or warning.
But I've also been pulled over for no good reason before, and that's definitely a pet peeve.
One time I'm on my way home on a double lane state highway. I'm just doing the speed limit as I'm coming up on a known spot where cops sit in the median and it's approaching 2a.m. and I'm the only car in sight. Sure enough there is a cop parked there. No problem, I'm legal. Cruising along I get just on top of the bluff and note in my rear view the cop has started to move. I'm almost two miles down the road from him already and a minute later he's behind me stalking me for a mile or two. Then finally he turns on the cherries and pulls me over. I'm totally astonished, know I've done absolutely nothing wrong and am tired, wanting to just get home. I present the obvious question, what's the matter why have you pulled me over? To which the very young almost geeky looking deputy replies that I have a radar detector on my windshield. I do not protest, am kind to the jerk with the gun. He just issued me a warning for windshield obstruction or whatever it was called, and I was on my way 15 minutes delayed (I suppose that's a sub-pet-peeve of it's own, how long the cops make you sit there and wait). I don't believe he could have seen the radar detector when he was parked, he did not see that until he was tailing right behind me (after having exceeded 120 to catch up to me) and may have then seen the tiny red lights. He pulled me over because he was looking for drunks, trying to smell alcohol, or else I was his very first stop ever and he wanted to get it out of the way being fresh out of the academy and all. Or maybe he just wanted a reason to let er' rip himself. Any way you cut it, it was outrageous though.

People driving without lights on at night

Or even in the middle of the day during heavy rain showers.

[Old_Honky]

Or "lookers." I don't know what the accepted term is but that's what I call them.

We call them rubberneckers. Whenever I see this happening I think of the piece in Joseph Wambaugh's book "The Glitter Dome" where there has been an accident involving a truck load of sheet steel and a sports car. A rubbernecking woman stops her, car winds down the window and asks "Was anybody hurt officer?" The cop picks up the drivers severed head by the hair and says "Well this one was shook up a bit".

[wyweb]

@astupidname

People who ride the brake. Please don't make your brake lights come on unless really necessary.

Oh yeah.. that's another one. It's bad for your vehicle too, touching that brake pedal every 5 minutes.

I lived in Little Elm Texas for 2 years. Commute to Dallas to work. There's a Fox and Jacobs subdivision on my route called "The Colony." Upward mobile yuppies for the most part who don't want to live where they work. That's what it was back then anyway. I don't know what it is now. This is '80 I think. '81. It might have been earlier. I can't always think of dates off the top of my head and I'm too lazy to look them up.

There was rapid growth in Texas and I was right there getting my share of it. There was an influx of people from all over. A lot from Detroit. The auto industry was in shambles. Chrysler was crying for money and we gave it to them. That's okay. I don't mind that really even though I'm paying for it now. It was in an effort to fend off Japanese competition, something we still haven't figured out how to do.

FM 423 was what I took in and it went right through The Colony. 50 thousand yuppies coming out on the same road because they're going to work in Dallas. It's a friggin' 2 lane road though and we're backed up for MILES. I mean miles. Traffic is at a crawl, sometimes a complete standstill.

There's a way to deal with a traffic jam. Most people don't get it though. You don't get right up their on their ass. You back off a little ways and then you can just glide. You won't even have to touch the brakes if you do it right. Just stay off of him. Heck the whole line would move faster if everybody did that.

Everybody's so impatient.

And I am too sometimes. That theory works though, or it would if enough put it in practice.....

[wyweb]

Joseph Wambaugh

One of my favorite authors.

Just to keep this from getting off topic, which I've been guilty of doing lately, I'm not quite sure how he drives though.

[astupidname]

There's a way to deal with a traffic jam. Most people don't get it though. You don't get right up their on their ass. You back off a little ways and then you can just glide. You won't even have to touch the brakes if you do it right. Just stay off of him. Heck the whole line would move faster if everybody did that.

That's exactly my philosophy and what I do. If only it would go viral.

[wyweb]

People driving without lights on at night

That's a sure sign you're drunk, or at least that's what the cops think. You'll get pulled over in a minute in my town for driving without lights at night.

Or even in the middle of the day during heavy rain showers.

If your windshield wipers are on you have to have lights on. They just passed that law recently where I live.

They don't really enforce it though. I put my wipers on delay sometimes because I don't need them wag, wag, wagging at maximum RPMs. If it just drizzling or something I'll put them on the bottom level. If it's flat out pouring I'll put them on full blast.

A cop's not gonna know what I've got going as far as any delay is. It's a stupid law.

Well, actually what it is... it's a way for the city of Topeka, Kansas to earn additional revenue. If you're stopped, say for an expired tag, and it's pouring down rain, even if it's the middle of the day and it's well lit, they can cite you for not having your lights on.

I run with my lights on most of the time anyway. I want you to see me. I'm already looking at you. You need to be looking at me too.

It's a drag when you come home and forget to turn them off though.. dead battery in the morning... it's happened more than once.

[incrediBILL]

I love impatient idiots.

I used to work near a spot where the cops almost always have a motorcycle cop sitting there running radar just waiting.

One day on the way back from lunch with a buddy in the car, there was some van so close I think he was in my rear seat. I was going the speed limit, but since we were close to the speed trap I slowed down about 5 MPH and you could see how agitated he was getting. When we get to the next intersection an extra lane opens up and he literally hits the gas and blows past me and flies right past the speed trap and gets nailed.

We roll the windows down and yell "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!" as we cruise past and the cop just stares at us.

[Old_Honky]

I run with my lights on most of the time anyway.

About a year ago I bought a new car which is the first one I've owned with an auto light feature, i.e. the car's computer decides when the headlights go on depending on the available light. It is so liberating, I've left the lights on auto ever since. Interestingly the lights stay on most days, and they are only off when we have bright sunshine (which doesn't happen often in the UK). I don't have to remember to turn the lights on or off, and I feel safer because I am always more visible.

[Jon_King]

>>Driving pet peeves

Don't allow my pet to drive.

[viggen]

my girlfriends parking abilities...

[SevenCubed]

viggen, was this her? [youtube.com ]

[wyweb]

Don't allow my pet to drive.

I've got one that jumps in the drivers seat the minute I shut down and get out. I only take him places if I'm going to be inside for 20 minutes or less. In the summer if it's too hot, I don't take him at all. Mild or even cold weather, quick trip to the store to get a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk... yeah, he's going. He loves it and I'd just as soon make him happy as not.

He'd love to drive that truck too. He pops over in my seat the minute I get out and he stays there til I get back.

When I do get back, sometimes he doesn't even want to move over. He's actually just wanting to get a quick sniff of whatever I've got in my hands and see if there's anything for him, which on occasion there is. He likes my seat better than his though and I have little doubt that if knew how to drive her, he would.

[wyweb]

the car's computer decides when the headlights go on depending on the available light

Man, that would be nice to have. No doubt.

Toyota, I think it's Toyota, is even doing some stuff these days with braking. Hit the brakes and you're causing friction. That friction can be channeled into energy and put back into your car. It's exciting stuff.

[wyweb]

We roll the windows down and yell "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!" as we cruise past and the cop just stares at us.

LOL...
Bill I wanna meet you man. I'm dead serious.

[wyweb]

I've had one ticket in the last 20 years. Or maybe two. It couldn't have been a worse ticket though.

School zones are 20MPH, as well they should be.

Topeka blvd (hwy 75, runs all the way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border).

It's 40MPH except for the school zones when school is in or when you get downtown.

I was doing 40. There's a slight hill there that you can use to bleed off your speed and I've done it a million times. I don't like to brake if I don't have to. I usually just ease off and use that hill to bring me down to 20.

I don't know what the deal was on this day but I hit the hill going a bit too fast and by the time I got off the gas I'm still doing 31. That's what the radar said anyway. It was a motorcycle cop. He got out in the middle of the road and motioned me to pull over. He didn't get behind me. He just saw me coming and actually walked out in the street and pointed his finger to the side.

31 in a 20. It was school zone though. Triple fines. I think it cost 130.00. I can't remember. I told the cop, "Hey I'm sorry, I was slowing it down."

He was like, "Don't worry about it. We get soccer moms coming through here doing 40 - 45. You're all right."

Well, I wasn't all right. I was out 130.00 because I wasn't paying attention. Won't happen again though baby...

[wyweb]

Another one that gets me...

Know where you need to get off at and be aware of it. Know the exit you need and be in the correct lane ahead of time.

I'm talking about interstate driving now. Especially high traffic around major metro areas.

If you're in the far left lane and you need to be in the far right lane, do not try to get over if you suddenly see your exit sign. Blow it off and come back around. We're all going 70. You make a mistake at that speed and you'll take out an entire subsection of vehicles. We'll all wreck because of you.

Go on down to the next one. Get over gradually and always signal. Signalling makes me aware of what you're doing and I like that.

Get off at the next one and try it again.

[wheel]

I got a ticket a few years ago. Sunday morning, driving to my mechanics place to pick up my car, driving his loaner. I'm in the middle of nowhere - dense bush and farmland. In between two hills the speed limit drops - I never noticed it. I still can't believe it's there (I suspect some sort of local politics or something).

Cop nails me for the full difference. Then it turns out the plate has expired on the loaner car and a whole bunch of other things. Cop nails me for all that.

[wyweb]

Then it turns out the plate has expired on the loaner car and a whole bunch of other things. Cop nails me for all that.

Yeah.. been there.

I got left at a bar because I didn't want to leave one time (this is years ago okay?)

This girl I was flirting with. That's why I didn't want to go when my buddies did. And why I got left. They wanted to go home and I'm thinking I could hook up. I did stuff like that when I was younger.

We're getting out of there and she gives me the keys. We got out on the road and this local cop pulls me over almost immediately. Tail light's out. I didn't know that when I got in. I didn't know I was supposed to do a 5-point inspection on the vehicle before I took the wheel. I know it now though.

Doesn't matter who owns the car. What matters is who's operating it.

I have a problem with that particular one but I guess that's probably for another thread.

[rocknbil]

I've run the gamut over the years for all of these, but eventually realized, I've been guilty of all of them at one time or another - never intentionally of course, but still, it happens. As all of you probably have too, if you admit it. :-)

So it's down to one. Just one. And it's rampant.

Talking on your CELL PHONE while you are driving. this is the most self-important, selfish thing anyone can do. Your life is not so important you can't pull over for two minutes to blabber.

Riding bike home from work Friday, crossing a residential street, girl pulls out in front of me, I had 4 feet to stop. Why? Couldn't see me, she was holding the phone in her left hand and trying to "cover it up" in case the police saw her - also covering her peripheral vision.

Hands free people, this will allow you to make all the other honest mistakes. :-)

[incrediBILL]

Got my first speeding ticket in KC back when the national highway speed was 55mph. I was cruising about 65mph and got on a curved ramp that was 35mph and slowed to about 49mph when the cop pulled up out of nowhere and busted me.

Showed up in court and I swear the judge was about to throw it out since I had no tickets and he assumed I just didn't see the sign for 35mph, an honest mistake.

However, he asked the question:
"I see you have a spotless driving record, would you mind telling me why you were doing 49 in a 35 zone?"

I honestly replied:
"Because I had been going 65 in a 55 and thought I'd better slow down!"

The judge got a really pissy look on his face, angrily banged his gavel, "$33 - pay at the desk!"

Apparently honesty does NOT pay either :)

[engine]

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

Completely agree.

I do think that safety is really the key. You can be doing 150mph relatively safely, but not on the roads. And, yes, 150 can be safe, in the correct vehicle on a race track.

I'd have everyone re-tested with a new and more relevant test for this day and age. It would include many of the advanced driving techniques that save fuel, save wear and tear on the car, would aim to and keep traffic moving safely, awarness, etc., You never know, I might fail.

I agree with the clowns that follow the satnav instructions so precisely, they aren't thinking about the fact they've just pulled out in front of someone, causing them to brake sharply.

I campaigned for the lowering of the speed limits in our area because the roads are narrow and there is next to no walkway. Success, after five years. However, there are still many people that take no notice of the speed limit what so ever.

I don't agee with punitive punishments for someone doing a little over the limit. There are enough people doing well over the limit, unsafely. I have a friend that drives with little attention to the speed limits. He's been done for speeding enough times to have lost his licence for a while. He's got it back now. Most recently, the judge sent him on a course to teach him about the error of his ways. They do that as an alternative to extra points on the licence. Yet, despite that, he continues to drive too fast. He's such a nice guy, but his driving is just plain stupid. I try to avoid getting a ride off him as he scares me. All it needs if for somone to step out in front of him. I really cannot think about the consequences.

Brit Roads: One pet peeve I have at the moment is where, precisely, does it say that if you're going straight over a roundabout you signal with the right hand indicator.

So many drivers are not aware of what's going on around them. I know, we all make mistakes, but some people really shouldn't be driving, no matter what their age.

</end of rant>

[LifeinAsia]

My ex-wife is freaking out,... I clipped her. The doe I mean.

Glad you clarified that. :)

A thing about cops.. and I know a few of them.. is that if you don't go around him he'll be looking at you now. He knows he's under the speed limit. Now he's wondering why you are too.

A couple of times I've been behind a cop at a red light. The light turned green and they didn't move. I waited an appropriate amount of time then tapped on the horn, just as I would have done with any other dummy not paying attention (okay, maybe even a second longer than for a normal dummy). Both times the wife freaked out, but I certainly wasn't going to sit there all day behind him just because he's not paying attention.

[wyweb]

Talking on your CELL PHONE while you are driving. this is the most self-important, selfish thing anyone can do. Your life is not so important you can't pull over for two minutes to blabber.

Oh absolutely. No doubt.

And texting. This one, as I've already said, should have been a no-brainer.

They actually did a study, or it might not have been a study but a statistical comparison analysis, that shows texting while driving was as likely to cause an accident as being drunk.

Well hello.

Thank you.

I mean come on, how hard is that one to see?

[wyweb]

if you're going straight over a roundabout you signal with the right hand indicator.

They're putting roundabouts all over my city. I hated them at first.

Then I was shown documentation that proves they're safer, and even faster, than conventional 4-way stops.

Well, I'm used to them now. I get right on around and I go on my way.

We've got knuckleheads around here that still don't get it though.

[wyweb]

@LIA

My ex-wife is freaking out,... I clipped her. The doe I mean.

Glad you clarified that.

ROF... yeah I saw that. On edit anyway.

Figured I'd better make sure that was clear.

I never clipped my ex-wife. There were times I definitely wanted to though.

[wyweb]

I do think that safety is really the key. You can be doing 150mph relatively safely, but not on the roads. And, yes, 150 can be safe, in the correct vehicle on a race track.

I agree.

I had a '73 vette one time with a 454 in it. Stock. It said 160 on the speedo and that thing would almost do it.

I went to Florida with a girlfriend in it once. Just because I could. It's late at night and some Alabama redneck gets up beside me in a jacked up Chevelle Supersport. Speed limit back then was 55MPH nationwide. Gets beside me and holds it. I could hear what he had. He's got some horsepower under the hood. I've got some too though.

He started messing with me.. jumping out ahead and then easing back. He was wanting to run. I punched it just to get a little bit ahead of him, let him know I wasn't messing around either. He caught up, got in right behind me and then got back in his lane and got up beside me again.

Those Alabama boys are a little bit crazy but there's one way to deal with them. You smoke them. I put my foot in it. That 'vette took off like a friggin rocket. He's punching it too and he's staying with me for a little bit. A mile or two anyway. He's downshifting to do it though.

I'm up to 150 and starting to think this is kind of a stupid thing to do. He's not even in my rearview anymore. He fought the good fight but he's gone and that's the only point I was trying to make.. bye bye... see you when you catch up.

He never did catch up. He either took an exit or that downshifting blew his motor and he coasted to a stop.

A thing about driving that fast, and I'm sure lawman can verify this, is that you have to be absolutely focused on what you're doing. You can not make a mistake. You're a smear on the road if you do. They'll find pieces of you scattered for 500 yards.

70MPH will forgive minor mistakes. If they're minor anyway.

150MPH will put you all over the highway even for the slightest infraction.

[LifeinAsia]

Okay, it's not exactly driving, but people who have the inability to park within their own parking spot. There's a guy in our office building who apparently can not comprehend the concept of (or has the inability to) do this. Several times he's parked next to me, with is back tire covering up both lines between the parking spaces.

One time he was so close that I really could not open my door to get in. I wrote down his parking permit number & license number and went to the building manager. She called him down and made him move his car so I could get in to my car. He grumbled about having to do that because the guy in the next spot was encroaching over into his spot. I read him the riot act on that (we don't have assigned parking spots, so there was no requirement that he park there, even if his story was true, which I doubt).

And not that I would ever do it (or advocate doing it), but those jerks who are so afraid of getting a nick on their new car so they take up 2 parking spaces are just asking to be keyed by someone... Especially if they park close to the entrance. (The ones who have the courtesy to at least park at the end of the lot, where no one parks anyway, can get a pass.)

[Matthew1980]

>>Okay, it's not exactly driving, but people who have the inability to park within their own parking spot.

Definitely!

My mother has the Uk disability badges so when I take her out we use them for mobility access to the shops, and I really hate it when the BMW driven by someone in nappies pulls up in the last spot leaves the engine running with the peroxide mess sat in the passenger seat waits for him to get his pocket money out of the ATM... Seriously would it hurt to WALK! Grr!

I have to be careful of my mother though, she tends to give them what far with her walking stick!

Police now have the power in the UK to crush peoples cars if they aren't licensed to drive or have no valid insurance cover. I only learnt this after watching one of those generic cop shows!

Cheers,
MRb