Stamps1962 Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I am encountering an epidemic of thoughtless drivers who get into their car, either in a parking lot or their own driveway, start up and just back right out, not even looking. It happens to me almost daily. Sometimes it's when I am walking down the street or in a lot. More often it's when driving. I lay on my horn and always.. they look like they just woke up and seem stunned. I sometimes wonder if it isn't the meds so many people are on today. It seems so stupid not to think someone else may be back there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yrth Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 I watched something like an hour of youtube videos last night, all of which were of senseless drivers causing major accidents. People are crazy on the road. Crazy. And yeah, someone backed up into a major road without even looking to see that I was coming a few weeks ago. He really almost hit us, it was a close thing. *shakes head* What can you do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stamps1962 Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 A woman down our street has daycare with lots of drop offs mornings. One of these, a woman driving a huge SUV was doing what I described above. Nearly daily we'd encounter each other as I ws leaving home with my kid going to school in our car. She'd drop her kiddo off while leaving the engine running them run out, get in her car and just zoom back out of the driveway, not looking. Twice I had to swerve out of her way. I tried leaving notes at the daycare persons house (not her fault but I thought she could let her know there's a problem) but it just continued. Finally one morning I saw her getting ready to leave just as I was starting up the street. Knowing she'd not look I let her back right our in front of me; I laid on my horn and kept it blasting while driving behind her for blocks, also yelling out the window. I figured that was the only way to get through to this numbskull. She never did that again. I also think she found another daycare which was too bad for my neighbor but that's life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeasabird Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 When walking our son to a store from the parking lot, my wife thinks he is safer on the inside, while I firmly believe he is safer on the outside further away from backing up cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugene39 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 I have nearly hit several people who were obviously lost, did a u-turn in the road into someone's driveway, and then just pulled out without looking. It is terrifying when you are driving a vehicle that weighs nearly 40 tons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrotherJosh Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 The best is the no look lane change, with the half ass blinker 3/4 of the way through the maneuver. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Driving becomes like riding a bike or walking in that the subconscious does most of the work. The conscious mind only gets involved if something is amiss, like a blaring horn, especially if your thoughts are elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted September 17, 2012 Super Moderator Share Posted September 17, 2012 Get back to me after you've driven around Florida for 25 years. We have had several legally blind people with a valid driver's license. One old coot drove off an airport runway into the water; thought it was the freeway. Got one stuck teetering on the edge of a half raised drawbridge. One plowed through a half dozen kids waiting for the school bus; thought he'd hit some garbage cans and kept going. One hit six parked cars on his way to a driving test. Another took out half of a big bicycle race. Several times people have stopped and asked for directions thinking they were in an entirely different city on the other side of the state. Bad drivers? I could do a 45 minute set at the comedy club. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 As a regular I-95 commuter the last two years I have seen many driving maneuvers that make zero sense. Why the hell do people suddenly take it into their heads to dart over two or three lanes? What is that? And forget about turn signals either. Weird lane change shit all the time. One day I was on the exit ramp (2 lanes). I wanted to get over one more lane. As I put my signal on I hear honking. This guy was right on my tail in my blind spot and getting ready to pass me on the right and nearly hit me. However, after he saw me trying to get over, he suddenly gets over to the left and back onto the highway full speed! WTF!. Why did he get in my way in the first place? We were on the exit ramp for crying out loud. Just last week someone in a Mercedes went across three lanes of traffic into the emergency lane and hit several people who were working on a disabled truck. Three dead. The crazy driving the Mercedes had a suspended license, beyond that who knows what was wrong with her? It does seem like the worst drivers are people in the expensive cars - Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, etc.. There are regular slow downs on my route where traffic is apt to come to a sudden stop. On a daily basis there are accidents at these points. People drive too close to each other and also don't pay attention and so do not have time to stop. This happens mostly in the high occupancy vehicle lane(fast lane). I stick to the middle lane. It is safest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raoul Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 My wife and I were talking about this very thing the other day. We believe it's becoming almost an epidemic out there because the majority of drivers we encounter are clueless regarding their surroundings, cars behind and alongside them, etc. I am just so grateful that in my very first job which involved alot of driving, they put me through a week long defensive driving course. The very first rule they drummed into our heads was 'to expect the unexpected' at all times while driving. IE: when approaching an intersection where I have the green, take my foot off the gas and be prepared to brake in case someone runs the red. Or while driving when I began overtaking a car to the side of me, glance at its wheels to make sure it's not turning to come into my lane. Or, while stopped at a red, look in rearview mirror to make sure some idiot, behind you, doesn't see the light or you and is not slowing down - this one rule saved my ass twice in the past few years. I saw it coming and ran the light both times after checking to make sure the intersection was clear. It's a freaking war out there and getting worse. I think one of you hit the nail right on the head regarding many of them taking meds. That plus lack of proper sleep is a fatal combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryper Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 The best is the no look lane change, with the half ass blinker 3/4 of the way through the maneuver. add to that make it a double lane change, one handed and on a cell phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Babylonian Dream Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 You gotta love how people drive. It gives you hope for humanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chikirin Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 I think drivers should be re-tested and every five years. The govt. could make some money from it, but this would be an example of a tax that would actually be useful. Every day I see accidents, usually at the exact same spots - at the exit ramps from one highway to another, people are in such a rush they end up rear-ending the car in front of them who obviously must slow down in order to negotiate the exit. Drivers think that traffic has to yield to the person entering traffic -WRONG! - the person ENTERING traffic has to Yield! But of course they do not do this. It's basic driver ed., that people have clearly forgotten, hence the need for re-testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yrth Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 FL can get back to me when their driving conditions look like this: This kinda weather makes everyone a potential menace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted September 17, 2012 Super Moderator Share Posted September 17, 2012 Hey, pockets! I grew up driving in that kind of shit in the City of Seven Hills. It is the sole reason I relocated to Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Pockets, That's how I grew up. Some winters we could get 5 feet of snow. Flash ice and sub-zero rain were the worst things. I have experience of barely being able to open our house door, then shovel snow for an hour to get to the car (20 feet away), and then try to get 2 feet of snow covering the car... but on top of that, shovel the driveway so I could even get out on the barely plowed dirt road. But, then, other winters we had no snow at all but lots of rain and winds only. So much easier here in California. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stamps1962 Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Four way stop signs are really challenging to a lot of people. It's like they never learned about right of way. Countless times, I have yielded to someone on my right then started to take my turn when the guy in back of the car I yielded to tries to sneak through behind him. Sometimes it's two or three cars, none of whom make a pretense of stopping. I have been known to force them to stop by proceeding right towards them, usually get a stunned look. I do honestly wonder about those sleep medications- the ones where people wake up suddenly at work with no memory of going there. A ton of people are taking those, I think they may be part of the problem, it's sure something. I just started noticing some of this stuff in the past few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 I tell you, the average person (at least here in Germany) shuts down at least half of its brain the moment it starts the engine. One major reason I sold my car years ago was that, if you have to get to work and back during shift change times close to the Volkswagen factory in nearby Wolfsburg, you can just as well run into a minefield. Feels like 2 million braindead morons on the streets. For more fun, take these two: Me on the Autobahn between Hildesheim and Göttingen, some 120 km distance. After about one third of the journey it starts to rain. People slow down accordingly. Rain gets heavy. People slow down even more. Rain gets so damn insanely heavy that you can barely see ahead for more then maybe 10 meters... and people go fucking faster again. Must have been a collective case of "I can't see anything so there's no danger!". Me in early December on my way home on a normal road. People in front of me have slowed down to a crawl. I think WTF, start do try and overtake them... and wow do my tires slip on the black ice I didn't notice before. Some of the most slippery streets I ever encountered. So, trying to get my racing heart back under control, I take my place in line again and crawl along with them. Then, about 1 km after that place... I see that dark shape starting to overtake me. I stare at the car in disbelief. I see the Mercedes star on it. I remember that I thought "Yeah right. Deadly black ice on the road, you with a rear wheel drive. Really good idea". Well he managed to pass me to about two thirds before he started to rotate and ram me off the road. Him to the left into a ditch, me to the right straight at a tree. Some 15 minutes later, me and the other driver in the back of a police car reporting our respective versions of what happened... and all of us (we two and the cops) stare at people whizzing by on the still almost frictionless road. You don't need alcohol, meds, drugs, whatever to make the roads deadly. Plain old idiocy is enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryper Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Pockets, That's how I grew up. Some winters we could get 5 feet of snow. Flash ice and sub-zero rain were the worst things. I have experience of barely being able to open our house door, then shovel snow for an hour to get to the car (20 feet away), and then try to get 2 feet of snow covering the car... but on top of that, shovel the driveway so I could even get out on the barely plowed dirt road. But, then, other winters we had no snow at all but lots of rain and winds only. So much easier here in California. uphill in both directions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 When we had hurricanes it was weeks before most of the traffic lights at intersections were working properly. I found out that to expect people to understand a four way stop is asking a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Pockets, That's how I grew up. Some winters we could get 5 feet of snow. Flash ice and sub-zero rain were the worst things. I have experience of barely being able to open our house door, then shovel snow for an hour to get to the car (20 feet away), and then try to get 2 feet of snow covering the car... but on top of that, shovel the driveway so I could even get out on the barely plowed dirt road. But, then, other winters we had no snow at all but lots of rain and winds only. So much easier here in California. uphill in both directions? And against the wind and sun in your face, going there and going home. Imagine when you had to walk to school through the forest with barely any clothes and polar bears throwing ice rocks at you. We had to make toys out of rocks and acorns. Actually, we had a squirrel throwing acorns at us one summer. Every time we walked out, these hard things came flying. Really annoying. You guys don't know how easy your life is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted September 17, 2012 Super Moderator Share Posted September 17, 2012 And against the wind and sun in your face, going there and going home. Imagine when you had to walk to school through the forest with barely any clothes and polar bears throwing ice rocks at you. We had to make toys out of rocks and acorns. Actually, we had a squirrel throwing acorns at us one summer. Every time we walked out, these hard things came flying. Really annoying. Yeah, you try telling that to kids today and they don't believe you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
older Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 An IQ test should be part of the license exam. Had someone pull in front of me and slam on the brakes hard. We were on an open highway with at least 100 yards of clear road ahead of us. We came within about 12 inches of a collision. There is no question that it he was trying to get me to rear-end him. I've been looking at dashboard cameras and will buy one in the next week. A lot of truckers run with them now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Yeah, you try telling that to kids today and they don't believe you. Yup. Those whippersnappers have no clue. We had to make wood boxes from scratch, hugging down the tree and everything, just so we could build something similar to a TV and put our little siblings in there to give us a show. The reception was horrible at times. Had to whack them with the antenna to change the channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted September 17, 2012 Super Moderator Share Posted September 17, 2012 We had to make wood boxes from scratch We had to make our wooden boxes from dirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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