I wish I had read about the tailgating before~

. . . and he was still at the same light where you caught up. People don't realize how little they gain driving impatiently.

HTC U11 ?

 

I've been noticing a trend lately, or maybe just a rule of thumb. The dumbest drivers around here tend to be the SUV drivers. It's like they want to spend as much money as possible getting from point A to point B, and if they can have a wreck on the way, they get bonus points. They ride your bumper no matter how fast you go, then they fly up to the line of cars at the red light as fast as they can, slamming on the brakes at the last moment, and go, "YES! Now I'm finally burning gas going nowhere."
<Looking for the head scratching emoticon now.>

 

I find VW's are often in a big hurry too, not sure why.

 

Yup. Happened to me today.

 

I actually had a "Z" (not sure of the year, but I think it was somewhere around 2005) pull up on my rear while I was driving. At the stop light, he pulled up next to me. (I'm assuming it was a "he", haven't met many ladies do this). After the light turned green, he drove at the same pace as me, but kept gunning his engine! Oh yeah, me, a nearly 60 year old in a Prius is going to accept his challange? I didn't know if I should be embarrassed or impressed! At the next light, he took off like greased lightning.

 

My comments are not going to endear me to any of the ladies here...

But it is my opinion that the worst, and most impatient, and most distracted, and most inconsiderate, and most unsafe drivers on the road are the younger females in the 18 to 35-year-old range.

And yes, I LIKE women! But if my daughter drove like some of those crazy women I have seen, I would take away her car keys!

(The traffic and the high-speed driving is getting so bad in California, I am almost ready to go buy a big Chevy Silverado pickup truck! I want some heavy steel around me!)

 

Having moved into "her" lane, I had a middle-aged lady just floor it, slam on the brakes just before impact, and lean on the horn.

Also, navigating a twisty residential road with parked cars both sides, plenty of driveways, I would let my speed fall about 10 kmh below the limit on some of the more blind corners. Happened to look in the rear view, there was middle-aged to elderly man, right on my bumper, shaking his head with rage.

They come in all shapes and sizes, I guess.

 

Yes, they sure do. My area just so happens to be loaded with impatient (and distracted) young soccer moms!

If the city speed limit says 35 mph, I can guarantee you most people are driving 50 or 55! It is totally out of control around here, in the sprawling suburbs of Los Angeles County.

Just this morning, I saw two cars, one right after the other, blow through a red left turn traffic signal, because they were too impatient to wait one minute for it to turn green. A red light? A stop sign? That means nothing to most of the drivers around here. I'm ready to throw in the towel, and start calling Uber!

 

Individuals in that demographic are also the most attractive and easy to forgive.

Better check the safety rating on that pickup. The Prius may be safer.

 

When I first bought my Prius 18 months ago? I had all these plans and high hopes of taking some nice long trips. But I've given all that up. The freeways are just too darn stressful. I can maybe drive them for 30 minutes max, and then I exit. Most of the drivers are just too crazy.

Maybe it has to do with being older now, and I just don't tolerate the irresponsible drivers.

If I want to take a long trip or vacation, I will fly there. I've been driving for 47 years, since I was 17, and I have never seen it this bad.

 

Yeah, you may be right. I don't know, driving is just not as fun as it used to be in years past.

CBS News recently did a report on the speeding. They were in Virginia at the time, riding along with one of the officers. The officer commented on how out-of-control the speeding is, and he said, "where do I begin?" He could write 200 speeding citations a day, if he wanted to.

It's a fact, that the states that have raised the speed limits are also seeing a big increase in traffic related accidents and fatalities. I just don't understand it. Why everybody seems to be in such a BIG hell of a hurry! Are they that anxious to get to work??

And then you got the people who are constantly late, wherever they go. It's a terrible habit that they never seem to break. I worked with a lot of people like that. So of course they have to speed, to make up time, and the rest of us innocent folks are at risk for their stupidity.

(And don't be naïve and think all Prius drivers are these safe, peaceloving, green, courteous, responsible drivers! These guys in their Gen 3s are blowing by me like I'm going backwards! I'm doing 75, is that not fast enough???! "GET OFF THE HIGHWAY, OLD MAN!")

Just another wonderful day in Southern California.......
Welcome to La-La Land!

 

Someone recently told me that, if they started enforcing speed limits, the courts would be jammed. My response is, "So?"

 

A lot of the courts in Los Angeles have cut back the hours, due to budget cuts and staff reductions. In my opinion, that's a pretty stupid place to trim money off the budget.

 

Here more-or-less nobody does a legal stop at a stop signs. Or even understands why they should...

 

I know Mendel, I see it every day too. Is there no more drivers training classes in high school? I don't believe there is.

A lot of these young people go get a drivers license, they pass the written test, but they've never really had any or much practical driving experience prior to getting a license. They don't seem to know the rules of the road.

Sorry for the long rant, and I am certainly not perfect, but this is a subject that I could talk hours about.
Another thing I see, every day, is drivers who fail to pull over to the right of the road and stop, when an emergency vehicle with lights and siren is approaching from behind. Half the people don't even notice the fire truck behind them, and the other half just slam on their brakes right in the middle of the lane!

 

they teach you in driving school that if the stop sign has a white border around it then you can roll through them without stopping

Pixel XL ?

 

I work at a Federal prison. Speed limits are 25 mph on the approach road after the security check point. There are all way stops at each of the two staff parking lot entrances. Recently someone, the warden I assume, added a professionally created sign under the speed limit sign depicting an analog speedometer and the comment, "this is what it looks like!" At the stop signs, the added message was, "This means STOP." The first time I saw these I LMAO and recalled a line from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure as they looked into a mysterious property: "There's something very Canadian about this ..."

You sir, have confirmed this...

 

I RARELY see any traffic enforcement being done in the cities in my area. In fact, I rarely see a police car! But in all fairness, I'm sure they are pretty much very busy with more important calls. I listen to a police scanner occasionally, and it's just one call after another.

Not until recently, I started seeing a deputy in my city doing lots of traffic stops. Never seen that before. So I wrote a letter to the sheriff of Los Angeles county and put in a good word for that deputy. He's the only one I see stopping the speeders.

 

That's great! You work at a federal prison? I don't live too far from FCI – TI. Federal Correctional Institution– Terminal Island. Low security facility, I believe now days. Al Capone and Charles Manson had brief stays there.

So did one of my former coworkers. No kidding. Then he was transferred to Louisiana I think. He did some type of computer crime.

Back on topic... THE PRIUS IS A GREAT CAR! Please don't tailgate us. Thank you.

 

Not a big deal. Lives are cheap, apparently.