Small case of road rage.

Even if there are 6 lanes in one direction, if they are all full of traffic, and you happen to be in the left lane and passing traffic in the adjacent lane, you do not have to yield to the idiot light-flasher behind you.

If the traffic is heavy, you aren't just passing one car.

If, there is a break in the cars to your right that you have been passing, yes, then, and only then are you required to merge to the right.

 

Yup, that's what he is saying. Our state is debating a law like that (yield to faster moving traffic), the counter situation is that you are rewarding those for breaking the law.

But what do you do when you move left because your lane WAS moving slow, you passed the slowpokes doing the speed limit, but now you can't move back right because those behind you keep moving right to blow past you doing OVER the speed limit, and even if none do move right, there are others on the right overtaking you. If you did move right, you would be interfering with them.

 

Article on CNN Money...:

"Survey ranks states with dumbest drivers
Test shows 1 in 10 licensed U.S. drivers don't know basic rules. In the East, 20 percent fail quiz.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - When faced with a written test, similar to ones given to beginning drivers applying for licenses, one in ten drivers couldn't get a passing score, according to a study commissioned by GMAC Insurance.

The GMAC Insurance National Driver's Test found that nearly 20 million Americans, or about 1 in 10 drivers, would fail a state driver's test if they had to take one today. GMAC Insurance is part of General Motors' finance subsidiary, GMAC."

It's the "wild west" of roads out here, it would seem. How do these people continue to pass the driver's license renewal?

 

I just HAD to jump in on this one... :mrgreen:

(I know this sounds "preachy", but hey, it's the way it comes out for message board use )

As you might tell from my avatar (yes, that IS me by the way), I'm an avid sportbiker, and in general, a driving enthusiast. I've had my license for 16 years now, been involved in more episodes of road rage, racing, and almost anything else with respect to vehicular related mayhem you can think of, that I want to admit to. Faaaaar more than most. I have just about seen it all. From people pulling over to get guns out of the trunk, to a school bus and 18-wheelers intentionally trying to nail me off my bike (yes, a SCHOOL BUS with a kid in the front seat).

Really, the only way to become an effective, knowledgeable driver is by experiencing what I'll put under the umbrella of a simplistic term, "bad things".

In brief, here are 10 little things I've learned over the years, and through my experience:


1. When someone comes hauling nice person up behind you, get out of their way. There is almost always something you can do, speed up, slow down, whatever. Rarely are you "trapped" in a situation where you have absolutely NO recourse other than to let them hang on your rear bumper. Yes, the flashing of the lights can be highly annoying, HOWEVER, you NEVER know what the situation is. Maybe their wife is having a baby, maybe they're being chased by drug dealers, maybe they're just driving fast because they feel like it. The WORST thing you can do is attempt to play "State Trooper" and slow them down (or try to by stabbing your brakes) because YOU think they are driving dangerously. If you think they're that out of line, get into a safe driving posture and call the cops on your cell phone.

2. ASSUME other drivers WILL do the most f'd up thing they can possibly do in any given situation.

3. Do not be a slave to traffic situations. Defensive driving is BS and puts you in far more harm as you have to react to traffic situations vs. creating traffic situations for others to react to. Ok, defensive driving is not total BS, but the proportion of aggressive/defensive driving should be something like 80/20. The masses are, to put it bluntly, too damn stupid. My life does not rest upon a traffic situation someone ELSE is creating...

4. Given that most drivers are too damn stupid (ok, maybe not stupid, but rather not giving the art of driving 110% of their attention), RESPECT THEM. They WILL be horribly inefficient and engage in maneuvers without respecting other drivers, frequently, oblivious to their own vehicular follies. Give them SPACE, and get away from them/the situations they are creating ASAP without making anyone "ill at ease" behind the wheel.

5. Yes, there are times when you MUST break various driving laws. I'm not even going to get into hypotheticals with this one. If everyone obeyed all traffic laws you could, in theory, drive in virtually 100% safety, but that is, of course, not on this planet.

6. Implement the space cushion concept. ALWAYS have space to get out of the way should something "suddenly" happen. If everyone did this, there would be less frustration on merges, and far less rear ending due to sudden braking, amongst other things.

7. Probably ONE of THE MOST important tidbit I can possibly give anyone: DRIVE LIKE THEY ARE ALL OUT TO KILL YOU.

8. It takes TWO to road rage. Doesn't matter if you started it or not. People starting road rage get BORED really FAST to non-reactive drivers. If you feel you must retaliate, well, then try not to drag others into it or put ANYONE other than yourselves in danger. Pull over, fight it out, whatever, just keep in mind what if that were YOUR MOM in the car you just used as a "pawn" in your little game...

9. Simply PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR DRIVING. If you MUST talk on the cellphone, do it in the slow lane. Don't eat your damn breakfast/lunch/dinner behind the wheel. Slow down, enjoy your meal, plus, it keeps your car clean. Multi-tasking anything other than your driving simply puts us ALL at risk.

and THE BIGGEST tidbit I can offer you is:















10. If you can personally relate to items 1-9 due to your own actual experience, do yourself, the planet, and everyone a favor, buy a Prius.



arty:

 

I have a couple of comments to add:

These days with more and more cars on the road, drivers need to drive more aggressively to keep traffic moving.

Not everyone is at the top of their game so to speak - there are new drivers (inexperienced) old drivers (afraid) and foreigners (insecure and afraid) - lets have some tolerence for them.

Doesn't anybody have a gramma or mom or pop that dottering and still driving?

 

oops I mean a dottering old person in their life that is still driving.

My poor mother-in-law thinks everybody is always mad at her (they are) when she does her weekly run to the grocery.

For the most part I like to think drivers aren't doing all those annoying things on purpose or to "get me"

oh - except for maybe thisoldhouse

 

Yo. If you are driving in NY and you insist on staying in the left lane even with no one else on the road, they will ticket you. I've seen it three times in just one short drive on the thruway. I've never seen this before.

 

I'll add a corollary to your rule:

If you are not moving significantly faster than the vehicles in the lane to your immediate right, you have an obligation to move into that lane.

Herb

 

The one thing that really aggravates me is when a freeway exit backs up and there is a long line of cars waiting to exit.

Suddenly a driver arrives who feels that they are more important than the rest of the drivers who are courteously in line to exit, and they decide to bypass all of those drivers by driving in the lane adjacent to the exit lane as close as they can to the actual exit and use vehicular intimidation to force their way into the exit.

What often results is that they block another lane of freeway traffic due to their selfishness.

I don't buy into the excuse that those drivers did not realize the exit was approaching. Your duty as a driver is to know where you are going and to be paying attention at all times. If you are that much of an idiot, your penalty should be that you have to double back to the exit that you missed.

What really aggravates me is that people will reward their inconsiderate behavior by actually letting them in.

Herb

 

In Vermont? EASY - just send in your "driver's license tax" every 4 years. Unless you start getting tickets, you NEVER have to take another test or get your "I can't see the road signs anymore" vision checked.
It is pretty bizarre.

 

I hope they don't start that here. It is the law, but the section of I-89 S from Burlington halfway to Rte 100 is so beat up I hang in the passing lane (we only have 2 lanes each way) since isn't QUITE as bad until I get past the worst of it if there isn't someone going faster than me.

 

I don't pull over when flashed or approached rapidly by an impatient moron anymore.

I did once, and the guy tapped my rear bumper as he attempted to whip around my on the right as I was moving over. He didn't want to wait the one second it would take for me to move over, so he flashed me and passed as I moved to the right. Our bumpers kissed at 75MPH and the little shit sped off as I focussed on maintaining control of my car despite his near-"Pitt manuever." This was pre-cell phone days, or I'd have called 911 and had him arrested.

No more. I won't take the chance of another idiot pulling this stunt. If I'm going the same speed as the traffic ahead of me (as I always do, else I move over), and some dickhead zooms up behind me, I'm staying put. Let the fucker go around. Ignore the dude and let him focus on his next victim, not me.

 

In my mind, the golden rule of driving can be summed up as such

If there is someone behind you, and no one in front of you, move over.

 

I agree.

What aggravates me even more are the inconsiderates who use the right breakdown lane to get to the upcoming exit (both cars and especially motorcyclists). Often a bridge abutment is in the way and they'll squeeze between the cars in the right lane and the bridge wall; practically scraping the sides of their car (mine included).

That's why I keep my eye to the right side mirror and look for those antsy motorists sneaking up from behind.

Oh yea!

When I see one coming, I just inch my way over - just a tad to the right - just enough to keep him from passing. And while I'm doing my best to inflame the inconsiderate's own road-rage, I usually I get a whole string of similarly pissed off people to do the same - thus opening up the center of the highway for emergency vehicles who have a legitimate need to jump to the front of the line.

And on the subject of motorcycles - don't you just want to quickly open your door when you see one screaming up from behind weaving to the left and right of the dashed center line as you're stuck in traffic???

Ok - time for me to take a chill pill. Sitting in traffic is a good thing with a Prius.

 

It is disturbing at times when motorcycles "split the lane" and ride the line between lanes. However, motocycle riders who split the lane sometimes get an appropriate "reward."

Several times I have observed motocycles come from behind, riding the line between lanes. They move ahead - on the line - between two large vehicles such as a bus and large truck. The normal vehicle movement while traveling forward has side-to-side variance. I've seen two large vehicles "come together", inadvertently lift the motorcycle up by the handle bars, then quickly move apart, leaving the motorcycle to drop and land sideways on the pavement.

In each case, all surrounding vehicle drivers are extraordinarily courteous, vehicles stop, the motorcycle and its driver are quickly moved to the shoulder of the road and then traffic cautiously resumes moving forward. I'm always amazed the situation does not turn out worse.

In the case of splitting the lane there is no road rage, only motorcycle driver poor decision-making. I am reminded there are often two kinds of motorcycles: down and going down.

 

Actually, you don't mean "dottering" at all - you mean "doddering." And the dangling prepositional phrase makes it sound as if you mean the life is still driving, not the person. And people are referred to as "who," not "that."

Sorry - Couldn't help myself! Ten points for my loss of control ...

--Mark, suffering from a mild case of grammar rage
'05 Seaside AM

 

It's people who think this way that precipitate road rage.

Why should this aggravate you oh mighty traffic enforcer?

Obviously, you haven't done this to the wrong person yet. When you do, you'll then realize that maybe you just better keep your vehicle in place.

I've seen cars run off the road by people doing just what you're saying, real BRIGHT.

When you do that to a biker, you threaten his life, and someday, you'll do it to some highly unstable person like me, and get not only your rearview mirrors punched out by carbon fibered knuckled gloves (I'm up to 5 at this point), but your doors kicked in (2), and sometimes, get your driver's side window shattered(1). In a car, you aren't NEARLY quick enough to out maneuver a biker who has it out for you.

I've learned to avoid road rage as much as possible, but when someone like yourself does something that INTENTIONALLY endangers my life, it's ON, and you will be chased down.

Nothing personal, of course...

:guns:

 

There's a right way, and wrong way to lane split. If traffic is barely, or not moving, it's totally acceptable (actually, this depends upon various States). If people are moving at like 20 or 30mph of semi stop and go, then, yes, it is obnoxious, and dangerous.

 

Personally, my pet peeve for this week is when everyone (except Prius drivers) hit their brakes and slow down while coasting down a hill and then slam their gas and accelerate once they start going up-hill again.

In my normal commute route, the road goes down a fairly steep hill for about two miles and then goes back up a fairly steep hill for about a mile.

Usually if no one is in front of me then I simply coast down the hill (reaching about 75mph) then start up the hill applying my gas as neccessary. I'm usually going about 60mph at the top up-hill. Unfortunately, there's usually others on the roard and EVERYONE (-Pri) hits their brakes going down the hill (drop from 70mph to 60mph by the time we reach the bottom) and then all of a sudden they slam their gas and accelerate up to about 85mph going up the hill on the other side. WHY WHY WHY!!!! I hate you ALL... Your messing up my mileage.