I know the fat dude on Family Guy coined the term, and Berkowitz adopted it, but man– did this dude grind my gears yesterday. Many of the freeways in Los Angeles have traffic lights at their entrances. This is a very well thought out system to temporarily delay you from getting stuck in traffic. I mean, 10 seconds at a red light beats sitting in traffic (somehow) right? And many of these very same freeways have carpool entrance lanes. This means that if their are two of you in the car, you can bypass the red light and get stuck in traffic immediately. See, that's progressive. Anyhow, today I'm getting on the 134 in Glendale and even though there isn't any traffic, I have to wait for the light. Clocking my rearview I notice the white white Honda Civic with exactly one passenger in it is going around me on the right in the carpool lane. Solo. As my bile is building — I don't like cheaters — I notice when he passes me his car is slathered with yellow High Occupancy Lane access stickers. It's a fragging hybrid! That's right, if you drive a Prius-like vehicle you can bop along in the carpool lane all by your lonesome while the rest of us sit still. But here's my point — I don't care how good your city mileage is, a hybrid under hard acceleration getting on a freeway is going to make as much pollution as my car. Probably more, as its puny NA engine is going to have to work harder to schlep the extra battery weight. Thanks for always thinking ahead, California! And am I weird for being more upset that a hybrid was essentially able to cheat it's way in front of me legally than if the putz had just broken the law and ran the light? Maybe I am. But I'm calm now. So, you?
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I’ve got a similar gear grinder. The company that owns the building where I work has special front-row parking for hybrid and electric vehicles. Yes, there is an electric car that is there every day. Somebody modified an old VW Rabbit. The vehicular choices of folks are of no business to employers and nobody should be rewarded at work for their off-the-job purchases. It irks me every time I have to walk past the Prius line on the way to the door. I do get a chuckle out of the ratty old rabbit though…
I would answer this question but I really don’t feel like typing that much today. I could probably write a really thick book on this subject.
When I can’t find the droids I’m looking for.
Just kidding.
When a domestic auto maker says “this car is as good as the Honda/Toyota/Nissan _________” and it isn’t even close. Heads should roll when this happens. (Examples previous Malibu, Cobalt, etc etc.
Tailgating – the people who do it are morons who tend to look like they’ve got the reactions of a sloth.
People who drive the speed limit.
Mouth-breathing bureaucrats who confuse fuel (and environmental) conservation with congestion mitigation.
Crap like that burns my butt. I hate it when people park in no-parking zones, don’t merge early, pass on the right in intersections, etc… I guess they think they are better than everyone; or maybe they’re just idiots.
I don’t think it’s any better when stupid stuff is legal. I don’t think that motorcycles and hybrid should be able to use the HOV lanes unless they are transporting more than one person.
Is it time to revise that old saying, “I’d rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona”?
The lights at the entrance of freeways are an interesting idea in an of themselves. They put an extra time burden on entering the freeway for the benefit of those already on the freeway. This effectively reduces the burden of those with a long freeway commute at the expense of those with a short freeway commute. So, to the extent that this system speeds up the freeway, it is encouraging people to drive long commutes (i.e.: making congestion worse).
An issue with carpool lanes is the vehicle that gets on the highway, shifts over 4 lanes, drives just a few miles, shifts back 4 lanes, and then exits. This is a huge burden to the regular flow of traffic for minimal gain.
I suppose the biggest “gear grinder” I have with carpool lanes is those that use them with kids in the car. The very people who are responsible for the traffic congestion in the long-run (excessive population) are the ones who get to use the special lanes? Makes no sense.
Reduced bridge tolls during rush hour are another stupid idea. Why are we encouraging drivers to hit the road during rush hour? Instead, the tolls should be increased during rush hour.
I suppose a better situation would be to convert all carpool lanes to pay-as-you-drive lanes whose price per vehicle can be increased during rush hour. If you have 4 people in the car you only have to pay 1/4 the toll per person (encourage carpooling). If you drive on off-peak hours you pay less because the price is lower (encourage driving off peak). If you have your kids in the car then those responsible for the kids will have to pay (don’t encourage increasing population). If you are only going a few exits then there is not much value in entering the lane (better traffic flow for all). If you drive many many miles, then you pay more (encourage less driving and freeing up the public resources for others).
You know what really grinds my gears?
A slippy clutch.
People who don’t signal lane changes
People who tailgate
People who think that cars automatically have the right of way in car/pedestrian situations
Cops who let drunk drivers off with warnings.
Anyone who leaves their car/truck idling while they nip into a store. Double or triple the annoyance if they have kids or pets in the car when they do that.
Speeders on residential streets.
Slowpokes on highways.
Toronto’s parking enforcement officers.
“Saftey Blitzes” (seriously, either enforce it all the time, or not at all).
The idea that you can plea-bargain down an offense to a less serious one just to save points. Is there anything else that more blatantly says “The traffic enforcement system is all about money” than this?
Online configurators that don’t include all fees and taxes.
People who stay in the left lane without passing, especially when there is a line of cars behind them. It causes very dangerous driving… tailgating, fast lane changes and passing on the right.
* Bicyclists not following road rules. I almost killed 2 children last weekend because DAD took them the wrong way down a 1 way street and let them lag 70+’ behind.
* People listening to headphones, texting, or talking on their cellphones while driving or riding a bicycle.
* People who call motorcycles “donorcycles”.
* People that don’t know the right lane is for sunday driving & the left lane is for passing
* Idiot motorcyclists who make the rest of us look bad.
* Cops who run red lights with no flashers. I was hit by one a few years ago.
* People who smoke and throw ashes out the window while driving. I have had ashes hit me (well rather, my riding jacket) when I was behind them.
* Politicians who want to bail out anyone (including homeowners, the big 2.8’s, banks, or wall street)
* People voting for the 2 “major parties” in the US because they figure any other party doesn’t have a chance.
* tailgaters & people who weave through traffic.
* People who don’t know how to use turn signals.
* People who do not properly secure their children/pets in their vehicle.
* Lack of choice of stickshift vehicles in the US, and the corresponding “are you an alien? What planet are you from?” look when I ask to test drive a car in stick configuration.
* Not listing “OTD” prices in motorcycle advertisements. I went in to a really big dealler here the other day to ask about a bike that was listed at $7999 and with 9% taxes + “Fees” they wanted over $10k for it.
Ok thats enough for now, I think my bp is up already :)
Pushing & pushing Electrics…..4 Cheap People everywhere..
Wimps and twits(wimp is male/twit is female version of same)The drivers of econo-box cars.What is up with these slow drivers, snails in the left lane….for many years the milquetoast buyer would test the knowledge of the “clerk”.
Armed with consumers guide these “flat hats” wrapped in second hand Wool-Rich would descend on the new car show rooms when a new fuel efficient model was introduced.And of course they wait several years After all one must never buy the first year !Consumers 101(right)+ thanks CG.
The very presence of yellow enveloped Consumers Guide clipped to a recycled material clip board sent veterans scrambling for a smoke.
Who were these people and why were they here?
The manager would shag us after the guests.NOT me!Please not me!
Bad breath was often strong as one can use too many chemicals.The female with a mustache and BO waited her turn at training the Green Peas.Please go away.stay away…
A deal may come some time ..(tic -tock)when my kids are in college.The simple truth is we can not work for nothing.Amazing we need food and these “cheap skates” were preventing that!I hope Toyota and Honda are laying em away with profit!It is amazing how many Prius cars are wrecked.Says a lot about the drivers.The hits are big!Crushed.Too bad the insurance companies have a auction to promote selling this crap..so it can be glued back together.
Alliant Energy of Minnesota is one of the biggest Salvage Auction Sellers.O.M.G yes! Save energy and sell wrecks! !What the hell is that about?
So what grinds my GEARS?
Slow ass econo-boxes backing up the PIPES of Enterprise…my 350 Chevy V8 Z-56 (still equipped with PUSH BARS)will inhale..never mind……
The Hybrid-in-the-HOV-lane thing is beyond ludicrous. There is absolutely no justification for it. Thank gawd that lunacy has remained confined to California and has never caught on here!
I actually DO carpool frequently, and there are some HOV-lane specific “gear grinders” for me as well:
* Poking along slower than traffic to your right. This is made worse by moronic left-lane parkers who in conjunction with the HOV parkers create a 2-lane-wide rolling blockade. Grrr.
* HOV lane riders who brake just because the SOV lanes all are slowing down. If your lane is clear, by all means KEEP GOING. There is no need to slow from 60 to 15 just because they are. Sure, you need to be careful of merging traffic into the HOV lane, but dammit if you want to crawl along at 15 MPH, merge right!
* The afore-mentioned “merge all the way left, only to merge all the way right” two exits later HOV car. WTF??
* The HOV car that knows their exit is coming, but waits until the last possible second to leave the HOV lane… and coming to a complete stop while doing so, thereby blocking the HOV lane while they try to squeeze right. Seattle’s I-5 Express lanes under downtown are particularly bad about this.
* People using kids to get in the HOV lane. Sort of defeats the purpose of carpooling.
* Single drivers in the HOV lane. 764-HERO is on my speed dial.
–chuck
cyclopticgaze beat me to it…
Ahh, crap, I see chuckgoolsbee did it too…
I’m with Jonny, here. The situation with the hybrids using HOV lanes is the largest prime example of the law of unintended consequences. I mean, the damned things get their best mileage in stop and go traffic, and regular cars suck fuel and emit more pollutants in that situation.
The solution? Let the car designed for that kind of traffic deal avoid it, and the rest of the higher-polluting cars make even more pollution…
Tell me, how does this make sense?
wouldnt it make more sense to have the hybrids stop at the light since they turn off when stopped?!
There are 3 things that will pi$$ me off to the point where I will do something extremely dangerous/anti-social to get out of the situation:
1) People in front of me who drive 15mph below the speed limit while merging:
These people should die. I drive around them then cut them off whenever possible
2) People who drive side-by-side on a 2 lane (or side-by-side-by-side on a 3 lane) road:
I don’t care if you want to drive slowly, but there is NO reason to drive exactly as slow as the guy beside you, and give nobody the chance to get around. I will also cut these people off whenever possible and have been known to use the oncoming lane and/or shoulder to get around them
3) People who go out of their way to stop for a yellow light, or who show absolutely no urgency to get through a green that’s about to turn yellow:
I don’t expect people to have respect for my time, but if you don’t have respect for your own time, I don’t want to share the road with you. I’m not saying that everybody should blast through yellows, but if it takes more effort to stop for a yellow than it does to go through it, go through the f#$king yellow and get out of my way.
The same goes for people driving below the speed limit towards a light that has been green for a while. Again, you don’t have to drive at warp speed to go through, but maybe think about increasing your speed 1 or 2mph before the light turns yellow and I have to waste 5 minutes of my life sitting behind you at a red light
All I can say is that it’s nice to have 400hp/400lb-ft under the hood, so I’m usually not stuck behind people like this for long.
You know what really grinds my gears? When the big three label their gas guzzling SUVs as “fuel efficient” in the ads by showing their highway MPG, which is usually in the early 20s. Meaning that its city MPG is in the mid teens at best.
Guys who think that people who drive small cars are wimps and twits.
Semi-literate salesmen.
Guys who look for excuses to cut off other drivers. That grinds my gears.
Man I have many many things that grind my gears.
But the on thing that I absolutely hate about this city and totally drive me nuts is the police think they own the streets and are above the rules of the road.
Every day you see cops flash their lights on like there is some emergency just so they can get through a light, then they turn their lights off and drive into a drive throu.
Or the worst is the local college I guess owns the police force because they get full police escorts for the football players busses so they can get from where ever t the stadium as fast as a fully load bus can go. And I mean Presidential like escorts, 2 motorcycle and to SUV in front and 4 cruisers running chase whle the rest of the police force stops traffic at lights. I guess this is what I have to put up with for being named Title Town USA this year.
No lie I was making a right turn at the light not far from whre I live. A busy 4 way intersection in both direction. To see the cops with their lights run the red light at about 45-50 mph followed by 2 busses that ran that same red light at the same speed swerve around the traffic stopped at the light into oncoming traffic almost flipping the busses. Then continue on to where ever they were going at high speed. How can this be even remotely legal when there could have been an innocent person killed just to get the football team to a game 5 minutes early.
Ohh that really grinds me.
Inexperienced drivers who don’t push the clutch all the way down.
People with preoccupations about the sort of vehicles other people drive.
People who stop in right-hand-turn merge lanes. This really cuts into my heel-toe practice time.
I agree, hybrid drivers should not be able to circumvent the HOV rules. It’s unequal protection of the law. Come on, some of you lawyers should stop defending heinous animals who rob, rape, and murder…and take up a righteous battle!
Aside from the HOV issue, you all have lots of similar gripes. I’ll say it one more time. Okay, lots more times.
Those are all prime examples of INCOMPETENT DRIVERS.
Slow in the left lane, weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, not using signals, etcetera.
They are incompetent, and should simply be removed from the roads. Put THOSE PEOPLE on trains and busses, and most of our traffic problems will pretty much disappear!
We should strive for a 5% driver elimination rate per year. Make them retest for competency to get their licenses back. I mean take a REAL TEST, with a REAL DRIVING COMPETENCY TEST.
Do this, and after two or three years, we’ll see a vast difference.
Don’t do it, and we’ll all be saying and hearing the same bitches and gripes next year, the next year, and the year after that.
I agree with all of the above. I hate them all. Am I angry? Maybe, but I haven’t shot anybody. Today.
People who drive the speed limit.
This is #1, though. Then I read about American politics, or I remember High School, or I go to Wal-Mart and THEN I am reminded of why the government attempts to save people from themselves.
How many people here can honestly claim that they have never done something to anger a fellow motorist? My biggest gripe? Hypocrisy.
Lanes that just end with little or no warning. Particularly bad in Texas but can be found anywhere, you’ll be driving along in the left lane in a fairly heavy traffic and high speed area, then you see the “left lane ends ahead” sign, about fifty-freaking-feet before the lane dead ends with no shoulder and no time to merge.
What are you doing in California, to start with?
grinds my gears when an article promotes a Death Watch article to follow later in the day and I have to wait til the next. such a tease.
And here it comes…
– Cops that hide at the bottom of hills to give laser/radar tickets
– Speeding cops, drunk driving cops
– Tailgaters
I watch my rearview and wait for them to look away to the radio or something else, and then I let off the gas to close the already-too-small gap. The ‘oh shit’ look on their face once they look up is pretty good. Two of those and they usually back off. My sister used to climb in the back seat if somebody else was driving and stare at them through the back window. Tailgaters would get so uncomfortable they would either back off or change lanes. Whenever I see 4 or more cars pulled over with smashed bumpers I laugh because they were all tailgating.
But if I’m in the fast lane and somebody comes up behind me, I’ll always let them by. It bugs when people don’t get this: it doesn’t matter if you are going the speed limit or faster, let others by. People may actually need to get somewhere in a hurry. I came to understand this after I had to rush to the hospital twice. Which reminds me,
-Citizen Traffic Cops
What the hell is up with these people. They feel it is their duty as a citizen to block people that want to go faster than the speed limit. Nobody else should go through yellow lights either so let’s just slam on our brakes and pileup. These jackalopes are also the first to call the tow truck if a car is two inches in their neighbor’s driveway.
-Hybris SUVs
-Speed/red light cameras
-Cars getting heavier by the year
-Planned obsolescence in automobiles
-Trying to post a long comment then the page goes down
Those who feel that everyone else has to listen to their stupid music. I was at a gas station a few days ago and some douche had his music cranked up (very) loud while he was pumping gas. This also applies to morons who drive down our quiet street with their crappy music cranked up so loud that the whole house shakes, the baby wakes up and all the car alarms go off.
As a sound engineer, I can understand wanting to hear every detail of a song you like. But it doesn’t make sense when these ‘boom car’ guys add so much bass that it takes away the intelligibility from whatever they’re listening to. All you can hear is boom and fizzle, no middle. I know it’s all for show, but the quiet neighborhood where I live isn’t a place for that type of thing.
I swear we’re going to have a LOT of deaf people walking around in the future if this keeps up. Perhaps I should invest in a hearing aid company.
How timely. My idiot neighbor down the street that has conversations with another idiot neighbor in the middle of the street instead of on the sidewalk and has the nerve to motion me to slow down after I’ve already braked to nothing from a stunning 25mph because I can’t get around their fat asses.
Mentioned in another post- the Mitsu Ecilpse/Honda Civic driver with Fartmaster muffler and erector set wing weaving in and out of traffic.
OTTO SALES- all the wimps/twits are in SUVs now. They have to go from 0-40MPH in a minute and a half because the lady on the news told them it would give them better fuel mileage.
Victell- planned obsolescence?
SacredPimento- a worse aspect of the “boom and sizzle” car audio crowd is that there is no marketing of truly good sounding car audio equipment.
windshield antennas- the amplified window antennas put on for vanity’s sake get poorer FM reception than old fashioned metal whips and the antenna amplifiers ruin AM reception.
SacredPimento crystallized my biggest gear grinder perfectly. It’s almost painful to witness the absolute stupidity of these idiots in their booming douchemobiles.
Another bit of idiocy are those who feel the need to put the manufacturer in large-type vinyl across the top of their windshields. Just in case you didn’t realize that bitchin’ fox-bodied Mustang was in fact a Ford, there it is: F O R D.
I’ve seen T O Y O T A, as well, on a surprising number of the otherwise-sensible appliances. Camry, Avalon.
Lack of self-esteem is apparently a precursor to depression, suicidal behavior, and putting the manufacturer in large type on the windshield whilst playing loud music through a subwoofer.
Most of the above, and on/off ramps on freeways that are on the left. How does this make any sense?
As for road hypocrites, I agree. Most people think anyone going slower is going to slow, and anybody going faster is going way to fast. People need to learn to get over. As for doing something stupid to piss off somebody else, if it hapens, I feel like an Idiot for the rest of the day and do not make gestures at the other guy who has he right to be pissed.
Jonny, minor nitpick: s/if their are two/if there are two/
Now my buttons:
1. Carpool lanes. They make no economic or environmental sense and end up blocking traffic and vastly increasing pollution. But hey, limo-driven politicians can now sail unobstructed while the peasants going to work are stuck in traffic. If there must be a special lane, make it a paid lane.
2. Left-lane hogs.
3. Tailgaters.
4. People who can’t be bothered to use turn signals.
5. Highway patrol who will hide behind overpass pillars hunting for carpool lane single drivers posing no traffic danger, but who cannot be bothered to drive a mile ahead to investigate the reason for a sudden and unexplained traffic delay. I have seen so much of it in SF Bay Area, I have completely lost respect for CHP.
Grinds my Gears?
1. Stupid, Pathetic, Illiterate, Humans!
2. Those that Slow Down to Change Lanes! SPEED UP to change lanes Motards! (Moron/Retard) Slowing Down causes all the people behind you to change lanes, thus blocking you from making your lane change. Also, if you see someone with their signal on, LET THEM IN THE LANE!
3. People that come flying out of the Carpool Lane OVER the DOUBLE YELLOW Lines! You should be shot on sight because you are eventually going to kill someone else!
4. I hate the cluster when Two lanes merge. This is simple people! Alternate every other car and get it done! Stop slowing everyone down by not alternating properly. Motards!
5. Flash to Pass. If someone behind you flashes their lights at you . GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!!! You do not own the road!
I have more, but I would like to just say that I have a solution to the whole driving mess. It all falls back on Stupid, Pathetic, Illiterate Humans! They just need to be EDUCATED. The Government should come up with a list of 10 Driving Tips like the ones above. They should have a different tip posted every day on the Freeway Message Signs that they use for Amber Alerts. They should ask the media to give one of the tips with Every Traffic Report on TV and the Radio. They should create Public Service Announcements and visually show people what happens when they slow down to change lanes. Billboard advertising would not hurt either. The Stupid, Pathetic, Illiterate, Humans just need it pounded into their heads before they will ever pay attention. Wake up and Drive! When the light turns green, Hit the GAS!
What grinds my gears:
Overly negative people who post comments on websites. ;)
….that, and everything else mentioned in the previous posts
The douchebag motorcycle riders who think they’re cool by riding with only one hand on the bars.
And the assclown motorcycle riders who keep twisting the throttle and revving up at redlights….nobody but you cares what your Harley or sportbike sounds like.
What’s grinds my gears? When people think a saying as old as dirt is new just because a cartoon character says it. ;-)
This may not be car related, but it is commuting related. You think a car passing by with a blaring stereo sucks? How a bout some A-hole on the hour long train ride with their iPod turned up to 11? Or hearing one side of a 30 minute phone conversation about milking some guy for drinks last Friday? Or a 250 pound guy/gal wedging themselves next to you, and feeling their fat bare leg rubbing against you for the next 5 stops? Nothing kicks off your day like two women chatting at 6:30 am about useless horse crap for an hour. Multiply this by 5 times a week, morning and night. Why there have not been any cases of “train rage” is beyond me. Kind of makes dealing with left lane bandits seem like a piece of cake to me.
I’m really late, but…
Bait-and-switch car ads. I despise it.
Non-metallic white paint that’s old and not shiny anymore. Yuck! White looks good new and if you wax it alot, ew if not. Worst are old white Hondas, which use water-based paint which ages terribly.
I hate going over 2.5 RPM. I always feel like I’m hurting the car since it’s whining and whirring so hard.
I hate braking.
Anybody else love the charming individuals who BLOW through red lights simply because they’re turning right?
I can’t count the number of times I’ve nearly been in a head-on collision because I’m turning left on a green, and some a-hole in a Yukon decides DERRRRR I’M TURNING RIGHT ON RED SO I HAVE RIGHT OF WAY OVER ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE HUR HUR HUR.
that is all. enjoy your day.
Saw a good example on the way home from work tonight. Some moron was at a complete stop at the bottom of an on-ramp waiting for his or her “turn” even though there wasn’t much in the way of oncoming traffic.
Also run into this one every now and then. I’m in the right lane of two moving at a reasonable clip (in excess of the posted speed limit but not unreasonably so) when some tard comes up from behind, considerably faster, passes (no problem with that), but then changes lanes back over to mine and then slows down. WTF!
Of course, rolling road blocks in the left lane are always annoying. Ever notice how many of those are lead by a Corolla or Camry? As long as I’m knocking Toyota drivers, gotta love it when you see the occasional Prius pilot exhibiting near hoon-like behavior. Good for a chuckle.
Non-residents who cut thruugh residential neighborhoods to avoid traffic/traffic lights, and who feel that my narrow, side-walkless street is (for him) a 50mph zone. Makes me want to start carrying balloons filled with dye….
I don’t live in a big city so I don’t have to deal with a lot of the crap posted, like carpool lanes and Hov lanes. I do get to interact with bad drivers daily. The things I hate the most are:
-People that don’t realize it’s a double turning lane. Yep I’m here and you almost hit me.
-People that don’t realize it’s a double exit off the freeway. Yep I’m here and you almost hit me.
-I work near a truckstop and semis just pull out of it like they are bigger than you or something. It upsets me because the speed limit is 40 on that street. I used to work for a catering business and had to slam on the brakes when a semi pulled out in front of me. All the food in the back of the van spilled and it was a mess. I damn near got in a fight over that.
Usta Bee> Some of us (mostly when I’m on a 150+ mile trip) will ride with one hand on the bars when nobody or almost nobody is around because it’s more comfortable. Do you also get angry when people drive with one hand on the wheel?
I agree with your about revving at red lights. It is stupid.
4-Way stops. They all should be two way. Really why should everyone have to stop, it is terribly inefficient.
Texting and driving, also cell blathering and driving.
People who do not leave 2-3 car length behind you at 70+mph
Of course people who pass you only to slow down and turn at the next road.
Speed cameras. God, I hate them.
Speed bumps. You can’t pass them in legal speeds without wrecking your wheel alignment.
Roundabouts. They are OK in some places, but city planners seem to have a fetish for them.
Central guard rails on a 2 lane road. A single broken down semi or a slow-moving tractor can block the entire road.
Moped cars driven outside cities. In Europe, moped cars have a maximum speed of 45 km/h, and most of them look like smaller versions of normal cars. In cities they can move with the flow of traffic, but on the open road they’re just an accident waiting to happen. You sometimes can’t realize the speed difference and distance quickly enough. And of course moped cars can be driven by 15-year-olds with only a moped license and no idea of traffic rules.
The price of driver’s licences. 600e for motorcycles, 1400e for cars, 1700e for trucks, 500e extra for towing a trailer…
Car taxation. On top of the base price there is 50%-200% CO2-based car tax and 22% VAT. Then you have to pay a CO2-based yearly tax, 80-600e. Also if you have a Diesel or an alternate fuel car (such as an electric), you have to pay a yearly fuel tax based on the weight and type of the car (about 500e for passenger cars, 100e for vans). Then of course fuel is taxed heavily (gas 1.45e, Diesel 1.3e per liter) and using homebrew Diesel fuel or heating oil is illegal (fines range from about 15000e to ten million euros for getting caught.)
Speeding fines based on your income. The minimum fine is 115e, and there is no maximum. People have paid 30000e fines for speeding, the record being 100000e. I’m not making this up.
Yeah. Welcome to Finland.
The person who blocks you on an otherwise open road. Once the road opens to the point you can safely pass, he or she floors it, and what would be a simple 64 mph pass becomes a roll on drag race.
Tailgaters. There are those who will bull car by car up a line of cars, ignoring the stoplights and other impediments to traffic. Pickup guys do this a lot.
Those who drive 25 mph in a 40 mph zone. On a one lane road.
People who drive around railroad crossing gates.
An opposite of the tailgater problem- people who leave 5 car lengths in front of them when the traffic is moving at 10 MPH. I tailgate these people to get them to move up.
@Usta Bee:
“The douchebag motorcycle riders who think they’re cool by riding with only one hand on the bars.”
This helps one sit up straighter and relieves the strain on the wrist and shoulders. I ride no-handed when conditions allow for this reason.
“And the assclown motorcycle riders who keep twisting the throttle and revving up at redlights….nobody but you cares what your Harley or sportbike sounds like.”
Ditto. It’s sometimes a newbie with a new bike or new pipes; but usually it’s just an assclown. [If it’s a Harley I just assume that his P.O.S. bike won’t idle. ;-)]
I try not to get angry at anything, especially when driving. Thats when you make mistakes. Also going fast when you are late. I realy dont care what anyone else does on the highway, so long as they dont hit me.
I tend to go the speed limit. I have increased my mileage by alot doing that. I drive in the right lane. I do not tailgate ever.
However, the thing that gete me is people who do the speed limit in the left lane. I just go around them, tho.
I wanted to add one more thing that I saw again yesterday. People who paint their rear brake drums red. I mean what the hell? You want to bring attention to the fact you have shitty brakes? You can’t afford (and certainly don’t need) a brake upgrade but you can afford a $20 can of brake paint? Even a ginormous bat wing on a clapped out civic is not as bad as this.
People that do 45 in a 30 the last 200 feet before a red light that has been red, visible for a quarter mile, and will remain red for another 5 minutes.
I just want to turn left from the side street and enter the flow of traffic without having someone barrel down on my rear at 30 mph faster than I can make a 90 degree left turn from a complete stop.
To add to the fun something like 70% of the drivers treat red lights that way making it more dangerous to be between them and the red light than just about any other driving I do around town.
Why can’t people gently break or at least coast towards the red light instead of standing on the breaks at the last second?
All of those attention whores who drive in the Gumball 3000 Rally.
Inadequate tail light systems. One light should NOT be used for both brake lights and turn signals. Furthermore, ONE light bulb should not be used for both, either. (Think current-gen Pontiac Grand Prix)
Turn signals should ALWAYS be amber, and cars shoulds be equipped with a system that senses when light bulbs are out so that people won’t almost be rear-ended when they have no working brake lights (I’m looking at you, almost all late model GM’s). Nevermind the fact that they should check their lights on a regular basis, that’s a gear-grinder for another day.
People who try to merge into freeway traffic at 30 MPH – added gear grinding points if then find that the traffic is too fast to merge into and then stop at the top of the on-ram or at end of the merge lane.
Drivers who turn way too early when they turn left and cut over the right lane of oncoming traffic.
Jordan Tenenbaum>
You shouldn’t always assume lights will go on when a vehicle is slowing down:
– bicycles don’t have brake lights
– almost all motorcycles are manual with TONS of engine drag. My sport bike slows down QUITE quickly just letting off the throttle
– All manual vehicles (that i know of) can engine brake, which, as far as I know, does not cause the brake light to come on.
– Even automatic cars can drop from D-> 2 or D->3 without the brake lights coming on.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I generally look for a vehicle to slow as opposed to brake lights, unless I’m really far away.
As do I. Unfortunately, not a lot of others do.
“Hybrid Only” parking spaces.
Not only is it stupid in principle alone, but why should a hybrid Tahoe get a spot based on its “greeniness” but my Miata (Which get twice the MPGs) doesn’t?
– People who exceed the speed limit;
– people who tailgate at speeds over 70 km/h (~45 mph);
– people who act unpatiently in public traffic;
– groups of cars passing at 160+ km/h (~100+ mph) with 1-2 car length between each other;
– people using cell phones while driving (sometimes obviously worse than driving drunk);
– Harley drivers with excessive sound, molesting 500 people at any given time.
I avoid Autobahn driving.
-People who drive the speed limit or under the speed limit.
-People who advocate that driving at these speeds somehow makes you a “safer” driver when it most certainly does not.
– Police who blantantly disobey traffic laws and believe they are untouchable.
– The same police who harass you when you are at the back of an mall parking lot smoking a joint with your friends at 11:35pm, bothering nobody.
A note to davey49 re: reverse tailgaters. If you notice, semis do that. I do as well because of the manual transmission. Traffic moving at 10mph does not stay moving at 10mph. It varies from 0-25mph quite erratically at times. I’d rather not have to constantly be on and off the clutch, so I allow an extended following distance at low speeds to soak up speed variations and minimize clutch engagements. Is the extra 75 feet really worth it? Thankfully, I have a commute where I don’t ever have to do this. The only times I do are in construction traffic and the occasional rush hour on the highway when I take extended trips.
As to what grinds my gears, general stupidity as listed by previous poster. I have always asserted that just because you know how to operate a motor vehicle, this does NOT mean you know how to drive.
*I REALLY hate people that don’t have proper depth perception. Don’t abruptly stop 3 car lengths before the car in front of you – ONLY to inch your way to their bumper while at the red. We all waste gas this way and less of us get through the intersection.
*Also a close second is the guy who blocks the right hand turn at the red. There would be enough room if you were more to the left!
Basically inconsiderate motorists are what really gets me. We’re all sharing the road. Add two seconds to your commute by letting me merge – I’ll return the favor.
As a side note I did get pretty annoyed the other day. This really was the trifecta for me: A duely Chevy Silverado, engine running, country music blarring, windows down WITH AC running, sitting in the bank lot while the guy went in to use the ATM. I had half a mind to steal it if it wasn’t for the pit-bull in the backseat. Seriously dude – do you make that much money that not only can you run your massive truck for no reason you can also cool the outside too??
@golden2husky: Awesome post btw.