Never Ending Traffic RANT!!!!

[cheezydemon]

You know what I do in this situation??? A nice friendly game of freeway merge CHICKEN. Just keep merging in like you don't see them, but at a slow and steady pace. And you know what, as long as you keep moving in nice and steady the other guy will move.

This does only work if you have a crappier car. I drive a 98 jeep cherokee forest green, immaculate condition, I honestly just got a compliment this morning while pumping gas.

But it is a 98 jeep cherokee. When the guy in his shiny escalade with the spinners thinks he is going to speed up to deny me a merge, I just laugh. Anyone who owns one of those aint taking it off road. I just smile at them and see how close I get before they realize I aint buying their bluff. ( I only say "aint" when I am on a traffic rant)

If I drove an immaculate fire apple red ferrari, my balls in this kind of contest would shrivel rather dramatically.

 

[cheezydemon]

In light of recent gas prices, I have limited myself to 6 over and I now see how the other half lived.......man this sucks.

 

[brauhaus]

i drive the speed limit, sometimes 5mph over, sometimes just a little over... it annoys me when someone fails to recognize any speed limit and just drives 35mph b/c they feel comfortable at that speed....

being a fireman I've seen the uglier side of driving, not everyone has the pleasure of seeing the aftermath, the real aftermath, i'm not talking your local news coverage, i'm talking about being right there, right in the muck.

recently (this weekend) we had to extract a dashboard from a trapped passenger's legs, cut the car in half and remove the driver. I have seen things that make me just want to come home and hold my wife and daughter close and be thankful that I'm alive.

there is nothing worse then being at an accident, a serious accident, and having someone's family members standing off to the side looking for any sign of hope and praying against the inevitable.

accidents can happen to anyone, I just try not to be another statistic and try to avoid any possible danger.

if I am going the speed limit and come up on someone going well below it, not to be rude, but I put my flashers on, I don't want to get rear ended by anyone not paying attention to the slow speed I am being forced to travel... also, I increase the distance between me and the slow car to at least 2 car lengths, if I can pass them, I do. If I am going the speed limit, or a little above it and someone comes fast up on me, I allow them to pass me, but generally I'd rather just pull over and take a break to avoid being anywhere near someone who is driving with a death wish.

 

[bethlehembrewer]

i drive the speed limit, sometimes 5mph over, sometimes just a little over... it annoys me when someone fails to recognize any speed limit and just drives 35mph b/c they feel comfortable at that speed....

being a fireman I've seen the uglier side of driving, not everyone has the pleasure of seeing the aftermath, the real aftermath, i'm not talking your local news coverage, i'm talking about being right there, right in the muck.

recently (this weekend) we had to extract a dashboard from a trapped passenger's legs, cut the car in half and remove the driver. I have seen things that make me just want to come home and hold my wife and daughter close and be thankful that I'm alive.

there is nothing worse then being at an accident, a serious accident, and having someone's family members standing off to the side looking for any sign of hope and praying against the inevitable.

accidents can happen to anyone, I just try not to be another statistic and try to avoid any possible danger.

if I am going the speed limit and come up on someone going well below it, not to be rude, but I put my flashers on, I don't want to get rear ended by anyone not paying attention to the slow speed I am being forced to travel... also, I increase the distance between me and the slow car to at least 2 car lengths, if I can pass them, I do. If I am going the speed limit, or a little above it and someone comes fast up on me, I allow them to pass me, but generally I'd rather just pull over and take a break to avoid being anywhere near someone who is driving with a death wish.

I have always said people that drive like that probably cause more accidents because people start to get frustrated and then might pass when they shouldn't. Plus they tend to hesistate in intersections, also a cause of accidents. So I tend to think going too slow is more dangerous then speeding. I could be totally wrong but what does everyone else think?

 

[david_42]

Considering most solo accidents involve speeding and most people who pass unsafely are passing people who are doing the speed limit ...

 

[bethlehembrewer]

I only pass if they are doing at the most 45 in a 55. That drives me nuts.

 

[shafferpilot]

accidents involving high speed tend to be more deadly... But driving in any way that is significantly different than the traffic in the area is what starts accident chains; be it speeding or creeping.

 

[cheezydemon]

Agreed. If "fender benders" were counted, I bet slow driving would be the cause of more.

I passed someone yesterday who was stopped in the middle of a 2way street obviously looking at their directions.

That is moronic and inconsiderate as hell. I pull over.

As I passed the guy blew his horn at me because he had finally decided that left was where he wanted to go.(no signal)

Arguably, I could have been hit by him and been in the wrong. But am I supposed to sit there behind him for what could be 60 seconds, or could be 10 minutes?

Also (it has been mentioned) people who get to a 4 way stop first and then motion someone else on make an unsafe situation. The other driver is usually skeptical or not looking, so some hand signals and looks are exchanged, during which other drivers decide that they may as well go if noe one else is, and even when the intended driver goes, they are on their way even later than if the first idiot had just gone in turn and let things flow.

 

[Wind River]

I remember something said on a radio program a few years ago. The person interviewed was a member of the Professional Drivers Association and he commented that it wasn't usually speed that was the problem...it was speed differential.

This seems kind of self apparent but I really think most people (and definately Law Enforcement officials...don't even get me started about "quotas"...) don't get it.

The gist is that traffic has it's own rhythm and mind. Some days it's light and steady and other days it's super heavy and fast. Failure to respond to either of those situations is, at least, very annoying and, at worse, very dangerous. On heavy and fast days, going the speed limit may be "lawful" but pretty dangerous given the situation. On those rare slow and steady days. driving like the proverbial bat outta hell is gonna cause a great deal of trouble.

Now, having said all that...in my experience, most of the problems come from people just not paying attention (being in their own little world) and TALKING ON THEIR GOD***N CELL PHONES...Learn to be alone with yourselves for just a few minutes, hang up and DRIVE! (end of rant)

 

[cheezydemon]

Oh hell yes brother. I AM a very coordinated and observant driver, but when I am on the phone, there is no question that I am less observant and slower to react.

Anyone who says otherwise is either: ALWAYS inconsiderate, half blind, and collision prone, or they are just too stupid to know any better.

Cell phones while driving are illegal in some states, it needs to be all states.

The worst are.......(SORRY! I am not sexist when it comes to women drivers, it is the women cell phone addicts who occasionally drive too, that annoy me)

Oblivious Soccer moms, bimbo air heads, and the DAMN realtors who are the worst offenders.

The look on their face says " How do you expect me to use turn signals, and drive, and hold my cell phone up to my empty head at the same time????Gosh!!"

I now max out my speed at 69mph. It is harder to drive that way. If the right lane is going slow, but the left lane is going 75 and is fairly packed, you get stuck in the right lane sometimes. I am learning patience.