Traffic dangers/complaints

[Timestepper]

With more than 2 1/2 million miles behind me (and more to come) driving all 48 plus Canada and a little bit of Mexico all I can really say is, Welcome to the club.

 

I learned a long time ago that driving is kinda' like sex: Pretty much everyone who's ever tried it thinks they're really good at it when the fact remains that most don't know what the hell they're doing. Because of this they rely upon those of us who do know what we're doing to get them through to a successful conclusion.

 

I heard a joke years ago in which, after coitus, a woman had told a man, "You've got to be the worst lay in the world!" To which the man responded, "No, that would be too much of a coincidence..." That joke really became funny after I witnessed an accident involving a big truck and a passenger car and stopped to help. At one point,the driver of the car told the trucker (with a trooper present) "You've got to be the worst trucker on the interstate!" I swear the trucker replied, "No Sir, that would be too much of a coincidence!"

 

Sorry for your woes, but welcome to the club. It gets worse every year and all we can do is try to get a little better for the sake of those who don't care enough about what they're doing to want to do it well.

 

:shake:

[Mariner]

Trust me it is no better on the water. Small pleasure boats driven by weekend admirals have no idea that a tug boat pushing a 500 foot barge will mow them down and suffer only scratched paint. I always get amazed when I am on the bow running the bow thruster, at the stupid people in pleasure boats. I had to get a license to drive and I had to get a license to fly a plane. But if you have the money you can be the admiral of your own boat, no matter how stupid you are.

[bersaguy]

Also both east and westbound Briley Parkway between I40 and Gallatin Road. 55 my butt!!!

That stretch between Two rivers and McGavock Pike us to be a speed trap from hell for the biker cops. I have seen times their would be 10 Bike cops writing tickets through there. I guess some politician had a stop put to it cause I ain't seen a bike cop in that area for about 3 years now.

[bersaguy]

I think there are some people who just don't have the concept of stopping distance. They're not deliberately tailgating, they're just dumb.

I think a lot of that comes from the car advertising on TV where they tell you the car will stop on a dime and give 90 cents in change and people are stupid enough to believe it. Tire companies promise the same thing. In all honesty the new anti-lock braking systems actually takes longer to actually stop a car then the old original 4 wheel disc brake system did without anti-lock. If the computer in the new anti-lock brake system even blinks your in a crash so how much do you trust your computerized brakes. I drive old Jeep Cherokees because they don't have anti-lock brakes.

[TMF]

as devil's advocate, I would like to state that all of the people who want to just sit in the left lane (the fast, or passing lane), make the rest of us nuts. I think that is where 80% of the road rage comes from. All of those KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS or SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT signs need to be in flashing neon.
I am not condoning nor encouraging "ass riding" though. thats just stupid.

There are more roads than just the interstate. I deal with tailgaters when I'm in a mile long line of traffic down a two lane road. Tailgaters are the worse douchebags on the road. It has nothing to do with being in the proper lane.

[TMF]

I think there are some people who just don't have the concept of stopping distance. They're not deliberately tailgating, they're just dumb.

This is also part of it.

[tnguy]

This is also part of it.

 

I swear, I've seen someone tailgating at 55, the car they're tailgating turns off the road and the tailgater immediately accelerates all the way to... 55.

 

Heck, when I'm looking to pass, I leave more space. Gives a bit of a run-up to overtaking speed and better visibility down the road.

[TMF]

I swear, I've seen someone tailgating at 55, the car they're tailgating turns off the road and the tailgater immediately accelerates all the way to... 55.

Heck, when I'm looking to pass, I leave more space. Gives a bit of a run-up to overtaking speed and better visibility down the road.

Yeah, when I'm on the interstate I usually go only 5 over. If I'm passing I'll have some idiot come up on me and ride my bumper, so once I move over and continue my speed the person who was riding my bumper then matches my speed or even slows down once they get further up the road. Drives me nuts.

[mav]

Sorry to hear about your traffic experience on a date night.  Unfortunately, that is an everyday occurrence for me as I make my commute down I-75 into GA.  The absolute two worst drivers on the road are tailgaters and those who drive in the left lane 5-10 mph below the posted speed limit.  The later is often the cause of a lot of people tailgating.  I bitch about both of them every morning and afternoon.