Driving rants

[grace0418]

I just need to get a few off my chest:

If you come to a four way stop AFTER me, a.) you're supposed to STOP and b.) YOU are supposed to YIELD to ME. Don't try to roll your way through without stopping, then stop when you see me moving, then wave me through as if you're granting me a favor. IT'S MY TURN, ASSHAT.

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And please, if you're in such a fucking hurry that you have to pull out of a side street and cut me off while I'm cruising along (even though the road is empty behind me if you waited 2 seconds), can you please FOR THE LOVE OF CLIFF drive faster than 10mph? I guarantee that will get you where you're going faster than cutting me off will.

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The following is my husband's driving rant, but it is annoying enough for me to rant about it as well... He was in a left hand turn lane last night around 6pm, waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so he could turn (there was no arrow at this light). Apparently what my husband didn't realize was that he was supposed to sacrifice his own life and take out a few cars traveling the opposite direction in the process so the asshole behind him could turn left immediately. The guy started laying on his horn, so my husband held up his hands like "what do you want me to do about it buddy, there's oncoming traffic?" but the guy wouldn't let up.

The incredibly stupid part was that the guy was second in line in the turn lane, which virtually guaranteed that he would be allowed to turn when the light changed to yellow anyway. But that wasn't good enough. He kept honking, which eventually led my husband to flip him off. The asshole, now livid, actually tried to turn left behind my husband, but then had to screech to a halt because he almost caused an accident BECAUSE THERE WAS A WHOLE LINE OF ONCOMING CARS WITH THE RIGHT OF WAY. And it's not like our car was blocking this guy's view of oncoming traffic. I'm pretty sure this guy could see over our Civic with his giant SUV. They eventually both made the left hand turn when the light changed and the guy literally had to pull over because he was so angry that he didn't get his way. It was nuts.

I told my husband that he shouldn't flip off guys like that, though. I'm surprised he didn't try to run our car over with his planet-mobile.

[prole_for_peace]

1. totally agree with your first two and one of mine.

when i put on my right turn signal and then start slowing down for the right turn, don't act all surprised by my reduced speed and honk and gesture at me like i am doing something wrong. i am not going to make the turn on two wheels just so i don't inconvience you, ass.

this happens ALL THE TIME when i am turning onto my street in the evenings.

[grace0418]

4. Oh yeah me too.

Plus, the door to our garage is right on the street with a very short driveway (this is unusual in Chicago where most garages are down alleyways). So I put my turn signal on, then slow down while waiting for the door to open enough for me to go in (the driveway is not long enough to fit my car). And people behind me will start honking. Like, what, I'm supposed to go crashing through my garage door?

[lpbk2713]

2. Regarding the event of last night......

Why is there never a cop around when you need one?

:shrug:

[grace0418]

5. They're too busy pulling over people who were driving

five or ten miles over the speed limit but otherwise not hindering traffic in any way. ;) No, just kidding. There are good cops around for sure, it just seems like it happens that way.

I do have one police/traffic related rant while we're on the subject though. Okay so the purpose of enforcing traffic laws is to protect the safety of everyone on the road and keep roadways open, right? So why do some cops completely BLOCK traffic when pulling someone over for making an illegal left or a broken tail light or something? I can understand making a hasty stop while busting someone for assault, robbery, etc. But if someone pulls over when you turn your lights on, can't you just pull over out of the way yourself?

[ChoralScholar]

12. Police officers who hide behind things

and lay in wait (like vultures) trying to catch speeders, and trying to get revenue for their shitty-ass towns, are a traffic hazard, period.

Hundreds of people who brake on the interstate, out of reflex, when they see a police car, are way more dangerous than a few people driving over the speed limit.

[SouthernDem2004]

20. The reason we block traffic sometimes...

Its to avoid being run over. If we approach the driver's side we are often out in the roadway. It is safer to use our vehicle as a sort of shield. Also, if we are going to have the driver get out of the vehicle we do not want him to get run over either.

Then there is the video camera mounted on our dash. To get a good view of the drivers side and rear of the vehicle we need to be off to the left.

Last but not least... Heck, I do not want to get stuck in a ditch. Better safe then sorry....

[radwriter0555]

3. I get irked when people don't pull far enough into the intersection far

enough to allow the vehicle behind them an extra couple of feet.

I see people waiting 20 feet short of the left turn....

[grace0418]

7. That's annoying too.

Have you ever had someone do that and then get freaked out when the light turned yellow and not turn? That's happened to me.

[maveric]

6. Those who pull out the cellphone as soon as they put the car in gear!

They must have a real need for a phone converstaion while driving.

[flvegan]

8. Stopping too far back to trigger the light to turn green!!!!!

Why? Why would you stop 20 plus feet away from the crosswalk, let alone the intersection? Oh, I see...you're talking on the phone and gesturing with your hands. Do me a favor fucknuts, when Darwin calls, click over, k?

[nytemare]

10. Yeah, they don't know what the big square shaped part

of the pavement right before the stopline is for.

[nytemare]

9. The purpose of an Interstate entrance ramp is to ACCELERATE

at least to the speed of highway traffic, so you can get on the interstate without causing any of the cars on the interstate or right FUCKING behind you to hit your stupid ass!

25 MPH is not a good speed to go onto an interstate where traffic is going 65-70 mph.

That is all.

:)

[SouthernDem2004]

21. Amen! /eom

[BreweryYardRat]

11. Mine...

For the love of Christ, put your turn signal on when you change lanes, especially on the interstate!

[sbj405]

13. Speaking of left hand turn lanes . . .

They are there for a reason. Move your vehicle completely into the lane and attempt the turn. I drive a very busy road with a left turn lane. People either a. stop in the flow of traffic before getting over or b. half get over. Either way blocking one lane of through traffic.

[BrewerJohn]

14. When there are double left-turn lanes

you need to turn into the lane that corresponds to the one you are in!

We have this situation downtown where the leftmost lane of the intersecting street ends as a turn-only lane to a not-heavily-used street in a couple of blocks, so almost no-one wants to be in it for very long. So about half of all drivers in the leftmost turn lane try to turn directly into the second-left lane, coincidentally the same one that I am trying to turn into from the second-left turn lane.

I'm simply amazed that there are not accidents at that intersection every single day.

[skygazer]

15. Here are some of mine

1. The moran who pulls into the fast lane in front of me to pass the semi but then when he gets right up beside it, puts on his brake. :wtf: The idea is to PASS the truck, not hang right next to it where the driver cannot see you and where you are certainly in more danger of being squished than in front or behind it.

2. People who don't know how to merge. This includes those who practically stop on the on ramp, thereby screwing up everyone's chance of getting in with the flow of traffic, and also includes those already in traffic who can't leave enough following distance for people to merge in.

3. People who make wide turns in compact cars. This is not an 18 wheeler, folks. You don't have to swing way out into the other lane to make it into that parking place or driveway.

Whew! That felt good!

[Nikia]

16. People who pass right before the lane ends

This happened to me once. The right lane ended a short distance coming out of the light. Some asshole passed me on the right while I was accelaerating and nearly hit the front of my car so he didn't go off the road when the lane ended.

[Wapsie B]

17. People who on a 4-lane street make left-hand turns

from the right-hand lane. Happens here more than I want to know.

[Telly Savalas]

18. When making a left turn cars aren't the only oncoming traffic...

with the right of way. Some people opt for a technologically sophisticated means of transportation called walking. Such individuals are called pedestrians and when they are in the crosswalk, it's considered rude to make a left turn into them. I had assholes on two different occasions try to do this to me this afternoon. :mad:

Last summer, as a pedestrian I was the oncoming traffic in a scenario similar to your husbands. I didn't notice if the driver in the front of the left turn lane flipped off the honker, but I sure as hell did. :mad:

[grace0418]

19. Holy crap I've had every single one of these things happen to me!

The one someone mentioned about cutting into the passing lane to pass a truck but driving even with it drives me CRAZY.

My brother told me about this thing people do in Utah that drives him up a wall (he lives there part of the year for his job but otherwise he lives in LA). It's called Dudley Do-Righting. Apparently, people in Utah take it upon themselves to enforce the speed limit. So they will purposely drive right next to one another in all the available lanes to force everyone behind them to stay at that speed (usually about 5mph UNDER the speed limit). He's not a total speed demon or anything but he said it is absolutely maddening.