On my way home from work, taking the usual route, I approached an intersection protected by a green left-turn arrow. As I made my turn, a big, red - I think it required a flatbed wrecker. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. I still have no idea what possessed the driver of the truck to squeal their tires and rush into a busy intersection. :| To think - I was 5 feet and a fraction of a second away from getting back onto a waiting list!
Maybe they were listening to the radio and just heard their Ford was recalled. I'm watching the news and they've just recalled a bunch of Fords (don't remember all of them) for.....wait for it.....STALLING. (BTW they just showed the new 'batmobile' on the news and it has to be the butt-ugliest car I have ever seen in my life. Then again...I haven't watched a Batman movie after Batman II.)
Here's the article on CNN. Ford recalls over 250,000 trucks, SUVs (06.13.2005) Ford Motor Co. is recalling over 250,000 vehicles, most of them large pickup trucks, to fix safety defects that include sudden stalling of diesel engines, federal safety regulators said Monday.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva\";p=\"98093)</div> I just saw the report on Fox News' "G Block" (and no, I don't know why I was watching Fox News). They made sure to emphasize the word, "stalling." Oh, the irony!
That's the one! So...I wonder if the 250,000 Fords being recalled are going to trump the 33 Prii being investigated in the news?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva\";p=\"98159)</div> Nope. It seems, in america, we like to crush innovation. "Them pick ups got room for my guns and fish'n poles." Who cares about Ford. The only reason they haven't got belly up yet is becuase of Volvo!
My wife witnessed a similar event a couple of years ago. You know how some people don't have the sense not to enter an intersection if it's not clear enough to travel all the way through it, and then when your light turns green, there's this line of cars blocking the intersection? Well, one Christmas season at a Mall, my wife found herself in just such a situation. Every time her light was green, a line of cars would be blocking the intersection. Well, the guy in the car next to her got a bit angry and after a couple of cycles of the light, reved his engine a few times and then floored it into one of the cars that was blocking the intersection.
Yes, you described precisely the worst possible road rage situation...most people around here accept, mostly, that traffic jams will happen on highways, but forget about heavy shopping seasons at malls with poorly designed parking lots. In San Jose, CA, Oakridge mall is especially bad, and after going there just ONCE on a saturday afternoon, I guarantee I'm never going there again. I also see this every year in my own town of Redwood City, where the Independence Day fireworks show is especially popular and every parking lot close to the viewing area (movie theater, seaport, restaurants) is jammed to capacity and murderous to exit after the show is over. I learned after the first time to park in the spot closest to the lot exit and furthest from the viewing spot, you get out quicker that way by walking the distance...best to use the same strategy at malls during the busiest season.
Speaking of July 4... I used to live a block away from the city park used to set off our town's yearly fireworks. We decided to have people over and etc so we were at home when the crowds came. But some of our neighbors who weren't home had strangers parking in their driveways and walking to the park to watch the show. That made for a lot of angry people. People do stupid things when cars are involved!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee\";p=\"98635)</div> Hmmm, you and your neighbors could make a little bit of money by contracting with a towing company to tow all the cars that parked in the driveways. You might have to post "No Parking" signs in the driveway, but then again maybe not. You'd get maybe $10 or $20 for each car towed, along with the much greater value of the satisfaction of watching the people who come back looking for their cars.
rcroft, that would be a great idea except we moved out of that house a few years back. We don't even live in the same state anymore!
Yea let's not go and act like we are above recalls! Our very own lil Toyota has a problem... Regardless of what the common misunderstanding of Toyota's is- they are NOT perfect... not even close!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee\";p=\"98645)</div> Might be better to rent out your driveway space for $50 a day, or even more...if people are willing to risk getting towed, they'll be willing to pay that price. I was considering doing that last year, but they changed the parade route so that it no longer sets up in front of my house, mores the pity, because lots of people leave once the parade is over (at least, there was plenty of parking on the street on the afternoon of the 4th last year), I guess to drive the 1-2 miles to jam the other lots up for the night fireworks.
My town and three others combine their July 4 fireworks budgets for one big show. I can view it from my house and others drive to a big shopping intersection, with a shopping center and lot on each of the four corners. The simple rule to make life bearable after the fireworks is RIGHT TURNS ONLY as you leave. Spectators are urged to remember this as they choose their viewing location. It works!
