I was getting dinner with auto-journal colleague Mike Bumbeck. We were sitting in the left turn lane behind a minivan, about to turn onto a four lane street. The minivan is going slowly. It appears to be heading into the left most lane. OK, I think, I'll swing into the right lane and go around the lumbering kiddie carrier. Suddenly, from the left lane, the white blob cuts hard right, swinging in front of me and heading into the strip mall. "Crazy Ivan! Crazy Ivan!" Bumbeck shouts, referencing The Hunt For Red October. If you've forgotten, submarines can't look behind them– the propellers cause enough noise and disturbance to effectively create a sonar gap. Russian subs took to the practice of suddenly making sharp turns in order to look behind them. Bumbeck said he developed the term when he used to ride motorcycles. The good news? My car has great brakes. What driving habits really piss you off? [Look for former Car and Driver editor Stephan Wilkinson's feelings on the subject in an editorial tomorrow.]
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High-beams in town.
There’s so much!
-Tailgating.
-Hanging in the left lane.
-Crossing the center line.
-No turn signals.
Too many more to list.
Getting on an on-ramp, not accelerating and then trying to merge into freeway traffic at 30mph.
People not using their turning indicators, or driving with no lights on when it’s dusk, or pulling out in front of you because their all in hurries to go watch NASCAR or do pilates. Perhaps it’s all the “ballers” driving around with their stereo turned up to 11.
People that drive on the shoulder during traffic jams or in long stoplight lines.
I could overload your server with it all, but I would have to say lack of turnsignals. Last I checked, all cars have them!
John
Large (old) pickup trucks changing lanes on freeways without signaling has to rank high.
Worse I think is the habit that some drivers with a passenger have when entering the freeway of trying to get to their “birthright”, their very own HOV lane as fast as possible and damn all the other moving traffic in the three lanes in between.
Geographically I have to say that the denizens of Cupertino, CA take the prize for the most low speed aberrant driving. They have all agreed apparently that use of rear view mirrors and turn signals is forbidden except for the few occasions when it is instead confusing (e.g. signaling right when actually doing a left u-turn).
Stopping, mid-turn, in front of a sign that states “Keep Moving”.
Swerve into another lane without checking to avoid potholes!
Talking on a cell phone and any combination of the above.
1) Speeding to the very front of the bottleneck during lane closures. It is the Epitome of the collective action breakdown. If only we all merged ahead of time traffic would flow normally for all.
2) The left lane hog. “Yeah, I see you in my rear view and I know this is the passing lane, but I am not moving, I like it here.”
3) The “anti-samaritan” While waiting to turn right from a parking lot or side street, the person who will drive right up to stopped traffic and block you from entering traffic in what would normally be the opportune time.
Basically, inconsiderate driving upsets me. I can handle idiots, or the absent minded. But the people who do it on purpose and know that how inconsiderate it is should be deprived of their driving privileges.
hangin in the left lane. refusing to move when flashed. its so stupid to do that
Just had another one: the assumption that parking absolutely anywhere is perfectly fine as long as your hazard lights are on. I had someone block an entire street the other day to run in a store by leaving her her Corolla parked in a driving lane with its turn signals on. People had to cross a double-yellow into oncoming traffic (and it was already bumper-to-bumper) to get around her. I waited for perhaps five minutes in that mess and she still wasn’t back.
“Getting on an on-ramp, not accelerating and then trying to merge into freeway traffic at 30mph.”
-This is probably the single most dangerous thing I see on a daily basis. It makes absolutely no sense either, since it slows them down and makes merging more hazardous for them as well. As much as I hate people not signaling, not paying attention to the road because of cell phones, etc. those behaviors are understandable because they make life easier for the driver. Trying to merge at 30mph makes no sense for ANYBODY. Anybody who does this should immediately have their license revoked and/or be thrown in an asylum because their brains no longer have the capacity to think logically.
I’m fortunate enough to drive a car with 400hp and a 6-speed manual, so when I see someone doing this I usually cut over to the next lane, floor it and get in a position that makes it extremely hard for the slowpoke to merge. This probably makes things more dangerous for everybody involved, but somebody has to teach these people a lesson
A few things:
Tailgaters that think I’m going to speed up and tailgate the car head so that somehow the whole string of traffic will go faster. Tailgating tends to make me slow down, not speed up.
Left lane bandits. Especially the ones that wait till just before their exit to dart across multiple lanes of traffic. I hate to say it, but the fairer sex are the most guilty of this (including my wife).
Cars that pass at high speed and then jam on their brakes, especially on the right, when it is obvious that there is solid traffic ahead.
When towing, vehicles that merge after I have change lanes with my trailer and then pace me so that I can’t move back in the right lane. I speed up, they speed up. I slow down, they slow down.
I don’t know if anyone else experiences this, but in relation to merging onto a freeway: Pennsylvanians (Pennsytuckians?) from the quarter of the state surrounding Pittsburgh default to “if I brake until ALL the traffic goes by, I can merge” mentality. Of course, the traffic never ends and a line of 20 cars quickly builds up behind them on the ramp. They still won’t move. They’re ten feet from a loaded freeway of cars doing 70+ mph and they’re sitting still with their turn signal on (if you’re lucky) and refuse to move. I’ve never seen this behavior anywhere else in the country that I’ve driven, but have seen PA-plated cars doing this outside of their native environment.
thetopdog: Just watch out for Crazy Ivans!!
Left-Lane Vigilantes.
I don’t care if the speed limit is 60mph, and you are in the left lane goine 60mph. Its not your job to keep everybody at the speedlimit. Move over and LET ME PASS!
And flashing my high beams means, “Move over please”, not “I hate you”
In L.A.:
I hate those drivers that insist on hogging the left-most lane in rush hour freeway traffic who keep about 5-car-length “cushion” zone in front of them so they can safely talk on the cell phone while driving without paying little to no attention to what’s going on around them. Can’t pass them, can’t shoot them.
In Nashville, TN:
Whenever I’m in Nashville driving around town on one of them one-lane-per-direction streets, there’s plenty of idiots that cut me off from a side street only to force me to slam on the brake: and I’m staring at this guy’s broken tail lamp for the next ten minutes at about 10 miles an hour: can’t pass them, can’t shoot them.
The people who try to ‘teach someone a lesson’ when someone does something they do not like – i.e. someone cuts you off and you strike back by following three inches from their bumper. I’m sure we’re all guilty of this, but it makes a bad situation worse, and to date I don’t believe anyone has said “Gee, with this guy up my tailpipe, I now realize the error of my ways!”
Talking on cell phones is easily my number one. I’m always amazed when during my 6am commute somebody has one stuck to their ear. Who could anybody possibly be talking to at that time in the morning?
What annoys me most are not the drivers but the people who think all drivers are bad.
In fact, most drivers don’t want to get into crashes and do the right thing most of this time.
This “drivers are nuts” attitude reinforces anti-driver measures like low speed limits and traffic calming.
U-turns on cuts in the median (that aren’t turn lanes)- this usually results in a nearly stopped car that is blocking the PASSING lane in traffic – dangerous! I’ve seen more of this as time goes by..
Sudden lane changes at intersections- I know it may have dawned on you last minute that you should’ve turned at that intersection. Why can’t you make a u-turn up ahead (in a legally sanctioned turn lane, of course) or cut into a parking lot up ahead? So you made an mistake, big deal. Why make everyone else around you pay for it?
Pacing the car next to you on the highway- Traffic should be about flow, people. If you’re going the exact same speed as the person next to you, you’re essentially a single entity that is taking up the space of two lanes wide. Get behind the other guy or get ahead of them!
Besides that, basically any behavior that I cannot hope to predict. I generally don’t get upset when I get cut off if I can anticipate it happening before they even do it. Which, with enough experience and attention, I think most people are capable of doing quite often.
Definitely people who merge at 30mph are the worst because they make things dangerous for everyone behind them, and there is usually no way around it. At least you can generally just pass left lane pirates on the right. The on-ramp idiots are the scariest for me, as opposed to just annoying when people hang in the left lane.
I prefer empty roads, like in the TV commercials.
So many, so little time.
1) Not using your turn signal properly.
2) Not merging onto the freeway at the speed of oncoming traffic.
3) Not maintaining lane discipline while making a turn.
#3 is a frequent problem at an intersection I either cross or turn through after work everyday. It’s a signalled intersection from a moderately travelled street on a (maybe “the”)major street. The cross treet features two lanes at the intersection. The furthest left lane is left hand turn only and the right lane can turn left or go straight. If I’m at the head of the line of cars in the outside left turn lane, I always go as fast as I can, because rarely do the cars in the inside left turn lane want to remain in the far left lane once they have turned. When I’m not in front, I’ll turn into the far right lane and work my way back to the center lane. Three times in the seven years I have been working here, a driver in the inside left turn lane has gone straight while I was trying to turn from the outside left lane.
I always assume that every driver on the road will do something completely stupid.
In general, though, I have to agree with the poster that pointed out selfish, boorish behavior is probably worse than the general lack of attention or sanity that results in the above violations. I always love it when somebody is weaving in and out of lanes of traffic and then I pull up next to them at the next off ramp.
Having been rear-ended twice in the last three years by cell-phone-distracted drivers, this is my number one pet peeve not only in driving, but in LIFE….how in the world did all you people get all your conversations in BEFORE cell phones existed? It is almost like the majority of drivers save up their phone calls to make while they are driving.
Number two on my list is Driverus Impatientus, who will turn onto a two-lane road in front of me, when there is a larger, safer gap immediately after me. This idiot saves maybe 5 or 6 seconds, while endangering the lives of himself, me and the drivers of oncoming cars I may have to swerve into trying to avoid him….
People who drive 85 on the interstate and then jump in front of me right before my ramp, take the ramp, and then slow it way down. They can drive 20 over the limit on the highway, but when it comes to some curves, their crappy pick up truck can’t handle that, so they have to slow me way down, ruin my fun, and waste my fuel.
Tailgating
Hoarding the left lane
No turn signals
Waiting too long after a stop lihnt changes
Slow unsure drivers
I also hate drivers that steal your parking spot that you had the eyes on first, and they know it too: Happens alot in K-Town, L.A. where people are desperate for a spot. One time, I saw an open space on the other side of the street, so I turned my car around. Got the car in a position to get ready to back into the spot: of course, this asshole has to just “slide into” the slot from behind me as I’m trying to back into the space. I contested to the other driver, but all he did was raise his arms up through the window of his car with the proud acknowledgement that he physically occupies the coveted space now, and he’s not going nowhere…So now I know where writers for TV shows like in Seinfeld get their ideas from!
L47_V8 :
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Just had another one: the assumption that parking absolutely anywhere is perfectly fine as long as your hazard lights are on. I had someone block an entire street the other day to run in a store by leaving her her Corolla parked in a driving lane with its turn signals on. People had to cross a double-yellow into oncoming traffic (and it was already bumper-to-bumper) to get around her. I waited for perhaps five minutes in that mess and she still wasn’t back.
Way back in college, somebody parked a VW beetle on a corner in the red zone within 6 inches of my truck’s rear bumper. I was planning on a quick trip to campus. When I got back to my truck and saw this I just went to the library for a few hours to study. I left when I needed to get to work and the Beetle was still there. I had to get to work and my truck had a distinct weight advantage over that beetle; so, I just pushed it out of my way. One more reason for owning a truck, especially when gas was $1/gallon.
Tailgating – especially because the people who do it appear to have the lowest IQ, a lack of attention that stops them keeping both eyes pointed in the same direction and a reaction time measured in days.
Using mobile phone – especially texting.
Without a doubt it’s the guys (and girls) who cross a solid line (either into the oncoming lane or on to the shoulder) to cut into a lane ahead of you when you already have your turn signal on and are waiting for the right (legal) moment to do so.
Honorable mention: the idiots who, upon seeing a sign for a lane closed ahead immediately cut into the soon-to-be-forbidden lane and accelerate to the point of the merge…then dare you not to slam on your breaks and collide with them as they cut back in front of you.
Where are my missiles?!?
“Pacing the car next to you on the highway- Traffic should be about flow, people. If you’re going the exact same speed as the person next to you, you’re essentially a single entity that is taking up the space of two lanes wide. Get behind the other guy or get ahead of them!”
-These people should be executed
Funny thing.
A lot of things American drivers do used to irritate me a whole lot until I spent two weeks in Taiwan. My girlfriend drove us to dinner the first night I was there and I thought it was going to be my last night as well. Serious. I think I was curled up in a ball in the passenger seat. These people are frickin’ nuts. So, now I don’t get near near as tweaked by what I see some Asian drivers do here as I learned that where they came from their driving behavior is considered normal…despite what Sam Kinison had to say.
However, I will rank the whole not getting up to speed on the on-ramp as close to the top thing that gives me a strong urge to help these drivers get up to speed.
a prius needlessly in the high occupancy lane – but he had his sticker – driving slower than the speed limit, blocking other traffic, randomly moving out of the way by barging, no signals, into other traffic, which was also going faster.
witnessed during these christmas holidays. the driver, of course, was a bearded twit …
I’m angry at carmakers for making those worthless stalks on the left side of steering columns. It only raises my expectations that the driver ahead of me, but one lane over, will actually use the thing.
@ssholes that STOP in the high speed merge for an Interstate. I swear, if these people are so terrified of the high speed merge, USE SURFACE ROADS!!!!
Tonight coming home from work I think the only reason that the Acura TL (you know, with it’s anemic 275HP engine and insanely high HP/weight ratio) in front of me didn’t stop when merging onto the Garden State Parkway was the fact that my truck was barreling up behind her and wasn’t slowing up.
Not that I’m an @sshole, just everyone else.
I hate left-lane bandits. Them and the people who pace them on the right.
@ssholes that STOP in the high speed merge for an Interstate. I swear, if these people are so terrified of the high speed merge, USE SURFACE ROADS!!!!
You beat me to the punch. I wonder how people fail to see the illogic in slowing down to merge on a highway where cars are whizzing by at 70 mph. It’s maddening when I’m in my regular car and they force me to slow up when I’m behind them, but it’s downright scary when I had a rental Escape with a 4-cyl engine that barely had enough power to get out of its own way.
What drives me crazy is all of the same things the other folks have said. All these thoughtless,selfish ,so called drivers,that consider themselves to be entitled to do anything they want and that you and I have alot of nerve being on the road,or should I say “their road”, Plus the obvious fact they are the worst drivers around.
The number one thing that drives me crazy are the drivers in Boston who suddenly decide the road is their parking lot, throw on the hazards and get out leaving me stranded behind them.
Next are the drivers who can not take the on ramp from Storrow Dr. onto 93N faster than 35 mph. It enters onto the left lane of the highway!!!!
Also, the people who hog the left lane going 55 mph then try to race me when I finally give up waiting for them to move over and pass on the right. They are almost always driving minivans.
Finally, and I see this most in Jersey, the drivers who exclusively pass in the right lanes and ruthlessly tailgate regardless if the lane/lanes to the left are empty.
A wanna be guy from the hood or a real guy from the hood crouched real low in his “hoopdee” WFO in the far right lane of the interstate.
I never expect to passed at 90+ on the right and it always freaks me out.
Which brings us to my pet peeve; people who don’t “stay to the right except to pass”.
Riding in packs. Good God, are you afraid to be alone? Get heck away from me.
I don’t think that the server has enough memory for one of my rants on this subject. So I’ll bullet point and try to remain calm:
-No turn signals
-Tailgating
-Left-lane slugs
-Aggressive passing on the right. (We need a mandatory keep right/pass-on-left rule.)
-Using right-turn lanes to go straight (increasingly common)
-Failing to use the center lane for left turns, blocking traffic
-Those who dart across lanes or hit the brakes in order to reach an exit (If you miss it, go to the next exit and turn around. Your mistake or bullying are not my problem.)
-Those who stop short of the limit line at stop signs so that they can claim the right of way. (“But I stopped first!!!….”)
Honorable mention belongs to the dolts who pack their trailers and trucks so poorly that they end up dumping stuff on the roadway. Mattresses belong in your bedroom, not on the center divider of an interstate.
Jonny man… you got me started here. These are a few of the most annoying (to say the least) things I see drivers do:
1) Drivers that have no idea how to use their turn signals. I know it has been said before a million times, they do it all wrong or not do it at all, but nobody tells them how to do it right. Most of the time I see people in front of me slamming on the breaks and then start signaling about half way through the turn or lane change. THAT IS THE WRONG WAY TO DO IT! At that point signaling the turn is superfluous.
The reason for the turning signal is to make the other drivers know of your intentions AHEAD of time. Therefore you should start using the turn signal way BEFORE you slam on the breaks or start turning.
2) The “good Samaritan” drivers. Let me explain. I see a lot of people slamming on their breaks and stopping in front of me, in town (35 mph speed limit) because some pedestrians were trying (still on the side walk but kind of looking around for a gap in traffic) to cross the street where there was no cross walk. So what a lot of drivers do is stop and let them cross, out of courtesy believing they did a very good thing. What happens next is they get hit by the driver behind them or the driver behind them gets hit from behind because everybody had to brake too hard to stop. Same thing when they stop to let drivers from the side roads get in the main road.
3) I hate drivers that do not use their head lights when is foggy or rainy. Because the head lights do not help them directly, they do not understand the idea that those headlights are there not only to help you to see but also to help you to be seen.
All I know is that probably more than half of the drivers out there should not be driving a car. And sadly enough nobody does anything about this.
This is the main reason I like this website. Most of the times indirectly and sometimes directly it educates the drivers out there.
Being from the Malibu area,I would have to say that backing on to PCH,on the cell phone,starbucks in hand,smoking,with a dog in her lap is not an uncommon site…………!
Hello!!
1) Grey-/Blue-/No-hairs RIDING(not driving) their Sedan deVille 52 mph in the left lane with their left turn signal on for the last 15 minutes.
2) Boom-boxes set to “STUN” in stop-and-go traffic.
3) 9 kids jumping up and down in the back seat of a clapped out sedan, not a belt or child seat to be found.
4) Stick-on “Buick Ventiports”, gold grilles, diamond or heart-shaped back glass.
5) Drivers reading their favorite novel at highway speeds, looking up every 4 seconds or so.
6) Air fresheners or…NO-PEST STRIPS dangling from the inside rear-view mirror.
7) “Car Magnetism” You pass a car, or a car passes you and suddenly they are inches from your door. The pass is made, and they return to the center of their lane.
8) Women performing “Eye Makeup Maintenance” at highway speed.
9) Backing up along the shoulder because they missed their exit–as if they couldnt turn around at the next exit.
Nobody mentions drunk driving, driving like drunk when not drunk, or eating behind wheel. I see lots of these. Many ways to not pay attention to driving when driving.
Forgive Boston, it has no linear relationships between any streets, its all circular or triangular or one way or all 3 so these people never learn linear behavior. They do not understand moving to right lane to get off to right etc. Plus so many are new they are just lost and act it at speed. Its just a crapshoot there. This does not excuse taxi drivers who just haul around across 4 lanes of busy traffic with u turn with heavy brakes and gas and its up to you to miss them.
In Rochester NH they do not understand high speed on ramps. They come to dead stop and wait for clear traffic which can take a while then hop to right lane with left and right turns and step on it. This is out on northern inland backwoods frontier of Richmond to Portland megalopolis so I find myself assuming they only ever saw their one intersection in the larger interstate network.
In rural VA, I remember people customarily coming to full stop in lane, with blinker on, then turning right, with no stop sign or other car in sight in any direction except me to the rear waiting patiently in neutral.
In Pinehurst NC I remember people driving off to right into dirt then back. They have both hands on wheel and are looking out front as if paying attention. Rumbling along at 20 or 40 or 60, cloud of dust behind then back on pavement. I ride bicycle there so this scared me to death. Young and old, men and women.
In Naples FL they slowly roll forward through red lights into heavy traffic and get hit. They also take a full minute to get Ferrarri to a stop and door open and one skinny old leg with cane down to pavement, parking at 7-11.
In California they eat meals and do household stuff while driving. Makeup, newspapers.
Forgot one….and didn’t see it elsewhere….may not really be a “driving” issue, per se.
Idiots who toss lit cigarette buts out the window, or other litter….from a car moving at 75 miles per hour….they don’t realize that WE drivers behind don’t know WHAT it is they are tossing, so if it is heading toward my windshield, I don’t know whether to try to dodge it and risk a multi-car pileup, or let it hit me, risking damage to my car, and a multi-car pileup. Once I saw a guy toss a half-full big gulp out the sunroof of his pick-up…straight into the open t-roof of the guy behind him (next to me on a 3-lane highway….I got his license number and called the state boys and reported it, but doubt they did anything. Someone could get killed….These jerks should be forced to pickup all the trash from a mile of the interstate, and then EAT it, without catsup….
Easy.
On a two lane road, no passing, go 10-15 UNDER the posted limit. Don’t move over, and be sure to vary your speed with no logic.
When the single lane opens up into a passing lane, suddenly speed up so that any pass has to be done with far more drama than is necessary.
I have some routes where the four laner is longer, but I have learned that the shorter two lane takes more time if I get one of these bozos.
Sacramento drivers are a pretty insufferable lot:
1. Tailgating. I know people tailgate everywhere, but Sac drivers have gone to great lengths to perfect the art. The concept of an unobscured view must scare the crap out of them. On a virtually empty road, you’ll often find a single car with another one about 20 inches off of its bumper, even if the adjacent lane is empty. Bonus points if it’s a raised pickup.
2. Stuff in the road. I haven’t seen anyone’s poorly-packed jalopy actually shedding this junk, but someone must be doing it. I’m glad my car can swerve around a discarded desk chair, but I’d rather not try it out weekly on I-80. CalTrans doesn’t seem to clear it out quickly, either; they just shove it to the side of the road. I swear I’ve seen the same Acura Integra bumper on the US-50 shoulder for a month now.
3. Tour buses in the fast lane. Sure, you’re not a truck. You’re not a car either. Stay right.
4. Slow drivers driving parallel to each other in the leftmost lanes. One is bad enough. Two ensures you’re stuck behind these bozos unless you want to hang far right and squeeze around them.
5. People who squeeze into gaps on the freeway they barely fit into. This is most often caused by item number 4. Yeah, I would like to go 75 too. Yeah, I could do so if I changed lanes every 5 seconds, squeezing through traffic gaps. But I also like my airbags undeployed. Deal with it and drive behind the slow bozos.
6. Inching up at red lights. Trust me, it doesn’t make the light change any faster.
3 things-
1. Tailgating. Michigan must the the worst state for this. Everyone thinks they’re a NASCAR driver and they’re drafting. Every time there is snow (which has been all the time lately) there are chain rear end collisions because people follow too close. We went over this in Driver’s Ed.
2. Drivers who don’t understand that if the traffic light is out of service, the intersection becomes a 4 -way stop. People will drive right through, or they won’t know who’s supposed to go first, who next, etc. We went over this in Driver’s Ed.
3. Guys (It’s always guys) who stick an extension ladder in the bed of their pickup, one end against the tailate, and the other end extending several feet above the cab, and not tied down in any way. It should be illegal (if it isn’t) to carry ladders except on a ladder rack. They should go over this in Driver’s Ed.
Driving as if there is nobody else on the road.
This includes failure to signal, failure to pay attention because of the all so important cell phone call, failure to just plain give a ____ about anyone else.
You know, I’m just glad to find out that I’m not the only one who thinks “Crazy Ivan!” when someone does that.
Tailgating/in-attentive driving.
I was rearended last week by a chick who wasn’t paying attention. I was doing 70 in fairly heavy traffic in the left lane when a brand new Benz (08 C300) rode right up on me and had to nose-dive to avoid hitting me. A few miles later, same thing. A few miles later, traffic was stopped. I stopped, she didn’t notice it til too late.
People who rearend another car on the freeway should permanently lose their license.
I live in New Jersey. The question should be, What do other drivers do right?
All the people who try to kill me while I am riding my motorcycle:
-Riding in their 4 wheeled buildings on the cellphone or texting or putting on make up or picking their nose or doing God knows what with their head buried in the passenger seat instead of watching the road
-4 wheeled boats with drivers who can’t see over the dash or pacing cyclists on 2 lane roads or signaling for a left turn for 200 miles
-The police who constantly run red lights in this city to get to lunch quicker
-The 6 police escorts for the college football team buses running red lights at 50 mph in town
-All these new electronic nannies that are going to create even more bad driver that don’t pay attention and are out to kill me
-and the list goes on
I like that Crazy Ivan I think I’m going to start using that one when someone is about to run me down which seems daily.
1) As stated above, not attaining sufficient speed to merge onto the highway. This is especially irritating when the same person passes me down the road doing 90.
2) Even more irritating is people who don’t yield to the exit ramp when they are on the service (or feeder) road.
3) Going straight in turn lanes
4) Rushing up to the front of the line at merges, especially construction zones. This slows everyone down.
5) People who can’t stand to be passed. I set my cruise at a given speed. I pass a car. Soon, that car passes me back. Rinse and repeat.
6) People who don’t understand how 4-way stops work. Yield to the car which stopped first, even if they are turning left across your path; otherwise, yield to the car on the right.
7) Left lane enforcers; they think that if they do the speed limit, they are allowed to sit in the left lane forever. I can’t speak for all states, but in Texas, you can be cited for impeding traffic, even if said traffic would be speeding.
I could go on, but those are my biggest peeves…
Here are some more nobody else mentioned:
People who don’t pull over to the next lane when a disabled or emergency vehicle is off on the shoulder.
People with a temporary spare on, going faster than the limit.
People who slam on the brakes, then pull over to the right shoulder – when an emergency vehicle is coming in the other direction – on a divided interstate with a grassy median! (yes, I once saw this – guy nearly caused a pileup).
People who ignore yield signs, or assume that Yield just means “slow down for a second but don’t look”.
Pickups with crap in the back not tied down – once saw a pickup with a BBQ in the back that was starting to levitate, I stayed well back and sure enough in a few minutes there was a whole slew of brake lights up ahead. By sheer luck nobody was killed or injured, but I saw one really pissed off looking guy running from his pulled over car to the truck that was pulled over a few hundred yards ahead!
No turn signals, tailgating, getting passed while going the speed limit, people mis using turn signals, people who drive like maniacs, people that aim for every pothole on the friggen street (when I’m in the car with them), driving like they’ve never heard of drivers ed, people that don’t get out of the way of emergency vehicles, talking on a cell phone in heavy but fast moving traffic and not paying attention (on an empty interstate is one thing, downtown Corsicana, TX is another)
In response to TexasAg03: in the part of Texas where I live, the right lane has too many damn potholes, and even if the signs say “left lane for passing only” unless it is raining and/or really foggy, I have my cruise set to 69-73 and “pass” all the 90 year old men in there 50 year old trucks…so I guess that counts…but I refuse to drive in a pothole infested lane just so I don’t “impede traffic” because some 22 year old college kid wants to go 90 in his dad’s ford F-250
I was approaching an intersection where I was going to make a right hand turn, I was happy to see that the light was still green and the van in front of me was going to make it through the light. I would have been able to make a right turn on red as there is no sign prohibiting it there, but instead the light turned yellow and the van locked up its brakes and stopped. I was not happy, but resigned to my fate. Then the light turns green and van proceeds to turn right, when we were sitting there with no traffic in front of us!
I honked, but he was clueless…
I also honk at people who stop at stop signs when approaching main roads. They seem to think that if they stop at the sign they are clear to enter the road-No matter if the traffic is clear or not! When I have to slam on my brakes to let them into traffic I honk my horn, and usually get a look like “What? I stopped!” This is even more annoying when there are no cars behind me, and they could have pulled out safely if they waited for me to go by…
Read a few I agree with the left lane pace cars…the dual pace cars on a 4 lane road…
Highway irritation, I am approaching at 5-10 miles per hour and a car changes lanes to go 1-2 MPH faster than the car it was following causing me to brake.
In town irritation, people who block intersections! It is annoying enough to be at a light without missing it several times because you don’t know how long your car is!
It also irritates me that we allow Hybrids in the HOV lane (VA), it is still one car taking up space, and they do not save twice the gas that a regular car with two people in it does!
Idiots, I hate driving with idiots!
I hate other people on my road when I am driving. I am King and therefore should have the road to myself. :)
Pretty much anything people do that is not driving bugs me. Doing makeup, talking on cell phones, etc. I’ve had more close calls from those people than any others. It only gets worse when I get back on the motorcycle in spring!
People who have forgotten the meaning of the golden rule, let’s pratice it a little and watch road rage disappear.
My personal anti favorite: The guys (’cause it’s almost always guys) who are doing 20+ over the speed limit on a highway during heavy traffic who think they have the right to flash brights at the car who’s passing at 10+ over…even if the guy moves over, there are still all those cars ahead who are still passing. It’s one of the single most stupid moves I can think of, it just messes with the social pact of heavy traffic.
This is not to be confused with the guy who flashes brights because the other is doing 10 under while basically pacing the guy in the right lane on an otherwise empty road.
One of a thousand…but not using cruise control when obviously you have it and it would be prudent(based on the road/traffic/etc.). Of course this makes it difficult for me to use mine when nobody has ANY ability to maintain a remotely consistent speed with the manual operation of the accelerator.
I saw where Ford was recalling some 10 million cars I believe and it was due to a fualty cruise switch and fires. I told my wife that Ford should just remove the switch, save themselves some money and not replace it because NOBODY USES THE &#$#*+&! THINGS!
1) The big rig that’s going .00025 mph faster than the one in front of him, so he has to get in the left lane to execute a 3.5 hr pass.
2) I second the jackasses who can’t stand to be passed. When I’m on the interstate in easy traffic, I’ll use my cruise control. I’ll pass somebody at my standard 72 (or whatever), and they’ll pass me back and resume their 70 mph. Grrrrr!
DRIVERS WHO DON’T USE TURN SIGNALS! (And the cops who ignore them!)
LEFT LANE HOGS. (And the cops who pull me over for passing these idiots on the right.)
BIG RIG DRIVERS WHO: don’t leave room between themselves for entry into their lane; WHO move into my lane when I’m still there; WHO tailgate; WHO don’t maintain their tires, (resulting in flying rubber that damages cars and even kills people) WHO block the left lane (read Rick’s #1 above) and WHO make ruts in the highway. Why don’t we ship our goods on trains anymore? Why don’t we charge these guys enough in taxes and fees to at least pay to repair the damage they cause to our highways? AND: why don’t we regulate the dimensions of these monsters just a little bit smaller?
On the way to work this morning there was an old beater pickup doing 25 on a county road with no headlights on (in a 55 mph zone). As I passed him (not hard to do when doing 58 vs. 25) he flashed his lights, then turned them back off. Sorry to interrupt your utopic drive with my presence.
1) The big rig that’s going .00025 mph faster than the one in front of him, so he has to get in the left lane to execute a 3.5 hr pass.
You must drive on the PA turnpike.
Rubberneckers! Why has nobody said this yet?
Why should one side of the highway slow down for a wreak or stalled car on the other side.
By far and away the most annoying thing that other drivers do is go slow in the passing lane, and even worse, pace the car next to them in the passing lane. I once drove behind a woman who did this for literally 5 minutes… first a quick flash to let her know I want to pass, nothing… another flash, then a series of flashes… still nothing, 50mph pacing the car next to her. Then I hit the horn and flashed, nothing still, finally just hit the high beams on and laid on the horn, after a seeming eternity she finally passed the car on her right and moved over. As I pass I see she’s giving me a look like “what the f is YOUR problem!” I could not believe it. People like that cause traffic jams and accidents.
Oh and in NJ (cause that’s the only place I’ve experienced it) all the people who pass you just to get in front of you and go slower than you were going.
@ CupcakeF: “Getting passed while going the speed limit”? So you don’t move over to let people pass you? You realize that makes you a total a-hole, right? Even if you don’t want to stay in the left lane, common courtesy is to move over and let faster cars pass.
1. People who see you coming down a two-lane highway at 60 mph but decide to pull right out in front of you anyway – even when there are no other cars behind you.
2. People who approach a two-way stop sign intersection with no intention of stopping unless they see cross-traffic. This is especially frightening if you are going through the right-of-way direction on a motorcycle.
Cupcake:
While I wouldn’t agree with Dolo’s estimation of your character, you really shouldn’t stake out the left lane as yours and expect people to pass you on the right because you don’t like driving in the right lane. There are a few highways in California where I would drive in the left lane because it was a lot smoother than the right lane, but I always kept a watchful eye for cars catching up to me from behind. When I saw one coming, I would put on my signal and pull over to allow them to safely pass. I typically drive a couple of mph over the speed limit as well, but I have no problem with somebody passing me at an even greater speed so long as they do it safely. And, I feel no need to try to enforce the speed limit on others. I will say that anybody who tailgates me while I’m doing my typical 72 to 73 mph will find that I can go even slower while passing that semi doing 60 mph.
Two lane moments:
People who meander down a city street, gently weaving back and forth, speeding up and slowing down, looking for something, anything, that seems to be where they want to go. Oblivious of the fact that a long line of traffic has built up behind them and obviously thinking they are on foot, not driving. It’s the epitome of the self-centered culture we now have. Screw anyone else. Send ’em to Montreal for a week, ha, ha. They may not come back. Ever.
The impatient slow driver. Turns out in front of you at the last moment, and proceeds at buggy speed. Self-centered and brain dead, with a genuine lack of depth and speed perception. In these Maritime provinces, mainly found in rural areas usually tending potato fields with tractors. Unfortunately, a lot more are moving into towns these days and show red/green perception problems. I mean, should there ever be a traffic jam in a town with 3 traffic lights total? On three different streets?
People who drive down country roads at the 30 mph speed limit, and STILL find it impossible to drive in their own lane, crossing over the centerline at every curve. You gotta watch out for these oafs if you decide to pass, because they could be anyone from the irate “I’m going the speed limit, and so should you” types with a swerve in their repertoire, to people who I have even thought to be drunk at 8am.
And I also include every other comment in this thread as being pertinent here in Nova Scotia. I read ’em all, and have experienced them all, too. Hey it’s the way people are generally. Totally stunned.
Like the brainiacs who join a car forum online and immediately ask a dumbass question about their car which is answered on page 4 of their owner’s manual. Duh..
Its not that I’m trying to be an ass, its just that theres a pothole every 5 feet in the right lane because noone in the DoT cares about state highways in rural areas. And if I’m going at or over the speed limit people are passing me, then they need to slow the hell down. Theres a speed limit for a reason. The only way I move out of the way is an emergency vehicle or someone with their hazards on (which are only supposed to be used in life threatening emergencies). And the people that decide to tailgate me, find that I keep pace with semis very well.
Coming to a stop to make a left turn over double lines. People that are in too big of a hurry.
but I refuse to drive in a pothole infested lane just so I don’t “impede traffic” because some 22 year old college kid wants to go 90 in his dad’s ford F-250
That’s fine, but you can still be cited for impeding traffic, regardless of the speed, age, or vehicle’s ownership status. The law says the left lane is for passing only and you can get a ticket for staying in it.
It’s rude to camp out in the left lane when other people want to pass. Period.
Get over yourself.
CupcakeF :
March 4th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Its not that I’m trying to be an ass, its just that theres a pothole every 5 feet in the right lane because noone in the DoT cares about state highways in rural areas. And if I’m going at or over the speed limit people are passing me, then they need to slow the hell down. Theres a speed limit for a reason.
Do you really drive like this?
You’re one of the problems the rest of us are complaining about, then.
It’s okay for YOU to go over the speed limit when YOU feel like it, but it’s not okay for anyone else to break it when YOU don’t feel they should be? That’s absurd, self-centered, dangerous, discourteous, and all manner of wrong, really.
You shouldn’t be allowed to drive if you drive that militantly on purpose.
TexasAg03 :
March 4th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
but I refuse to drive in a pothole infested lane just so I don’t “impede traffic” because some 22 year old college kid wants to go 90 in his dad’s ford F-250
That’s fine, but you can still be cited for impeding traffic, regardless of the speed, age, or vehicle’s ownership status. The law says the left lane is for passing only and you can get a ticket for staying in it.
It’s rude to camp out in the left lane when other people want to pass. Period.’
Get over yourself.
Thank you.
Okay, Cupcake, you need to learn to share. Ditto to the other commenters’ replies.
I just remembered another one:
People who drive with their fog lights on in clear conditions or a very light rain.
I have asked people why they do this and the most popular response is that they are “driving lights”.
The second most popular response is that they illuminate that 10-20 feet of road directly in front of the car that the headlights shine above. Of course, I inform them that even at 30 mph (44 fps), they cannot react fast enough to make that helpful.