I drive a big truck and all these pesky cars and SUVs are darting around me with their agility and sometimes they do stuff I can't or wasn't expecting. I wish they had their own support infrastructure so I didn't need to exercise caution when driving my big truck. I guess it's totally OK if I kill them when they do this even if they are operating within the bounds of law because I am a myopic cranky bastard.
jstand wrote: Courteous people. Not the kind the stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk, but the one that don't follow traffic rules because they think they think they are been courteous. The type that stop and wave for you to pull out o the side street rather than just making their turn into the street. It messes up the flow of traffic and can cause accidents since people aren't behaving in the way that is expected if the rules of the road and right of way are observed.
OHOHOHOHOHOHOH YESYESYESYESYESYESYES!
Ian F wrote: I generally try to merge into traffic at a higher speed than the flow of traffic, going on the theory a car can slow down to match traffic speed much faster than it can speed up. Scares the crap out of my passengers sometimes.
I thought that was how you're supposed to merge. People that are scared to merge correctly are another peeve of mine.
I hate it when people leave their wipers on long after it has stopped raining. Seeing the wipers strain and hop across the dry windshield really grinds my gears for some reason.
In reply to old_:
So you're in Britain? They probably weren't working when it was raining, but since it isn't anymore, they're unable to be turned off.....
old_ wrote: I hate it when people leave their wipers on long after it has stopped raining. Seeing the wipers strain and hop across the dry windshield really grinds my gears for some reason.
I like it when it is barely raining.. and people put their wipers on "high"
mad_machine wrote:old_ wrote: I hate it when people leave their wipers on long after it has stopped raining. Seeing the wipers strain and hop across the dry windshield really grinds my gears for some reason.I like it when it is barely raining.. and people put their wipers on "high"
YES! Idk why but it drives me crazy.
Vehicles that have two rims on the front or back end of the car and the other two wheels are regular steel wheels/hubcaps/crappy alloy wheels. It really looks like the driver of that vehicle has the rims on some sort of layaway plan.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I drive a big truck and all these pesky cars and SUVs are darting around me with their agility and sometimes they do stuff I can't or wasn't expecting. I wish they had their own support infrastructure so I didn't need to exercise caution when driving my big truck. I guess it's totally OK if I kill them when they do this even if they are operating within the bounds of law because I am a myopic cranky bastard.
Lol. Awesome
92dxman wrote: Vehicles that have two rims on the front or back end of the car and the other two wheels are regular steel wheels/hubcaps/crappy alloy wheels. It really looks like the driver of that vehicle has the rims on some sort of layaway plan.
I wanted to agree with you, but at the Challenge my car was all like
but only because at the autocross, two of my tires were all like
Another peeve that I had to deal with repeatedly today: People that cannot decide at what speed they wish to travel on the highway. If you want to do 80, that's cool with me, I'll get out of your way as soon as it's safe and you can be on your way. But, for the love of all that is holy, why do these people have to drive at 60 until I'm just about ready to move out of the left lane and then decide to go 80 until I let them pass and move back in behind them?
oh, don't get me started on people who have to pass. I have cruise control, I love my cruise control. On the highway I set it to 70 and unless I need to get by somebody quickly, I leave it there.
A couple of years ago I was doing 70 and passed a large MB. About a mile down the road, he passes me.. another mile, I pass him again as he had slowed back down... rinse and repeat about a dozen times...
A couple of years ago I was doing 70 and passed a large MB. About a mile down the road, he passes me.. another mile, I pass him again as he had slowed back down... rinse and repeat about a dozen times...
i do a lot of highway driving and it's annoying when there are people who can't seem to control their throttle and seem to go from 70 to 80 and back again.
I pass a guy going 80 because hes going 70 then he passes me then he slows down forcing me to pass him again. Annoying as berkeley.
Speed limit here is 75.
mad_machine wrote: oh, don't get me started on people who have to pass. I have cruise control, I love my cruise control. On the highway I set it to 70 and unless I need to get by somebody quickly, I leave it there. A couple of years ago I was doing 70 and passed a large MB. About a mile down the road, he passes me.. another mile, I pass him again as he had slowed back down... rinse and repeat about a dozen times...
I used to get that a lot when driving an ACVW on the thruway .
With my above MB story.. I know that if my 15 year old BMW had cruise control.. that his almost new MB did as well. That was the part that annoyed me
The drivers in my home town. Its not that they drive slow... its just that they drive at a constant 45 MPH regardless of what the speed limit is. It could be 25 it could be 55.... they just dont adjust.
mad_machine wrote: With my above MB story.. I know that if my 15 year old BMW had cruise control.. that his almost new MB did as well. That was the part that annoyed me
quite a few people don't use cruse control ... I've asked them ... just get a blank stare ... like they don't know what I'm talking about
I seldom us it on my F150 .. it reacts way to slowly to keep the AT in TC lockup .. I can do much better with my foot .. I just stay in the right hand lane and if my speed slowly drops that's fine .. people can pass me as they need to ....
I us it ALL the time while in my Integra ... probably even times when I shouldn't
Although I believe crappy driving should be somehow dealt with, I'm really ticked at states that decide to balance the budget on the backs of the motoring public. Pennsylvania is considering the raising of all moving violations fines by $100...like we don't already pay enough. For the idea that crappy driving should be penalized, do you feel that it WON'T tempt a police officer to issue more tickets and the district justices to find EVERYBODY guilty of EVERYTHING to "fix the infrastructure" (what was the "stimulus" for, anyway?)
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I drive a big truck and all these pesky cars and SUVs are darting around me with their agility and sometimes they do stuff I can't or wasn't expecting. I wish they had their own support infrastructure so I didn't need to exercise caution when driving my big truck. I guess it's totally OK if I kill them when they do this even if they are operating within the bounds of law because I am a myopic cranky bastard.
That you would make that statement shows either your ignorance or your bias. Exercising caution around other drivers is something everyone should do, that should be plainly obvious. Its being forced to exercise EXTRA caution for a particular type of vehicle simply because of what it is. Other cars proximity to me, our difference is speed, my decrease in visibility as they pass or as i pass them, these are all things i already have to worry about with each and every vehicle i encounter on the road. What i shouldn't ALSO have to contend with is vehicles passing between me and another car when there is no lane between us, deafeningly loud exhaust in a small town or city center making it impossible to hear pedestrians, emergency sirens, other car horns, etc, and the general horrid driving that seems to came natural to most every human the moment he hops on to his organ-doner-mobile.
If you could somehow snap your fingers and require motorcycles to follow the same traffic laws that are already rigidly enforced on other automobiles, I would drop my argument instantly. Things like catalytic converters, emissions and decibel regulations, seat belt laws, crash test rating requirements that all automakers currently have to deal with, winshield and wiper laws, similar tire grip requirements (DOT doesn't regulate moto tires with the same qualifications as passenger cars), i could go on, but i feel ive made my point.
i suppose if i boiled all i've said down to one simple automotive pet peeve, it would be double standards. I cant understand why it doesn't make sense to require everyone on the same road to follow the same laws. If this doesn't bother you, well, then have at it. Climb onto that iron horse and ride blindly into traffic like a jack ass, for i care not. Ill be the guy in the Ram Power Wagon who pulled out in front of you, not because i'm a jerk or i thought it would be funny to cut off a motorcycle, or because im "myopic and cranky", no. it will be because you're wearing black leather at dusk and going 20 over and I simply didn't Frickin see you...
-J0N
hey jmthunderbirdturbo all he was doing was poking fun at you ... there are lots of bike riders on this forum .... while I agree with a lot of what you said ... I'm betting most of the riders on here wouldn't fall very far into the bucket you were placing all/most bikers ...
he was just poking fun 
in that case, im glad theres some sanity around here. i posted almost this same dialogue on another forum awhile back...not quite the same understanding.
have a great day everyone, and watch out for motorcycles! :P
-J0N
jmthunderbirdturbo wrote: in that case, im glad theres some sanity around here. i posted almost this same dialogue on another forum awhile back...not quite the same understanding. have a great day everyone, and watch out for motorcycles! :P -J0N
Oh... I don't understand it at all. Bikes are awesome but I'm here for the chuckles. No skin off my junk if you don't like 'em.
I got to see something demonstrated on the road that should have been recorded and be shown to everyone renewing their license, and have the answer who was in the wrong in the following situation, which I got to witness from a safe distance:
Four-lane highway, two lanes each direction.
Two cars, one car driving in the slow lane at 60 mph. The other car, in the "fast lane", was - you guessed it - also driving 60 mph.
The problem was that they very slightly overlapped such that no one could get through. I preface this with, both cars contain couples that are discussing things, you know, being oblivious.
I'm marveling at the incredible cluelessness of humans, when a kinda-scruffy-looking guy (SLG) comes up going maybe 70, in one of those classis faux-wood sided/green station wagons from the 1970s (think, the Griswalds.)
So he gets stuck, and this is where it gets interesting. Both clueless drivers ahead think there's no problem, but you could tell that SLG felt that they're blocking him.
First he tries coming up behind Fast Lane Guy, and seeing no response, gets over behind Slow-lane guy. No reaction there, so he goes back and forth a few times, slowly inching his way forward as he becomes more and more certain that they're blocking him on purpose.
Over time, Fast Lane Guy SLOWLY is inching his way past Slow Lane Guy, obvious as being shear chance/luck because it was clear he had no spatial awareness whatsoever.
The moment there was enough of a gap, SLG swerves to the right in front of Slow Lane Guy. What happened next was classis, properly identifying all humans as, in general, morons. He swerves back in front of Fast Lane Guy and stomps on his brakes, completely locking them up.
Fast Lane Guy totally freaks out, as SLG repeats it two more times. Fast Lane guy finally swerves his MR2 into the slow lane, and I could see an animated discussion going on as SLG went on his way.
It was interesting looking at what happened through the eyes of the two parties involved. SLG got pissed at a dude who was "obviously" blocking him and taught him a lesson. Meanwhile,Fast Lane Guy (now Slow Lane Guy #2) was positive that a madman had just tried to crash into him for no reason at all, and it was only his cat-like reflexes that saved them... he STILL didn't get it.
But he was in the slow lane now...
If I had to sum up all my road irritations it comes down to one thing: Lack. Of. Awareness.
In that situation, everybody is wrong.
Two people: being oblivious instead of paying attention. One person: Aggressive driving.
While we're bitching about crappy drivers: here in Massachusetts, there are three very annoying trends:
People come flying up behind you (in any lane) and put on their RIGHT signal, hoping it will make you move over. Number one, I drive fast enough that if you come flying up on me, you're on the wrong side of 100 & number two, its the LEFT signal you use for that!
Highway "pacers" also seems to be a Massachusetts thing. These people go 60 in the left lane until you finally give in and try to pass on the right. Then they speed up to 100+ to make sure you can't get by. Then, if you slide back in behind them they go 60 again!
mad_machine wrote: oh, don't get me started on people who have to pass. I have cruise control, I love my cruise control. On the highway I set it to 70 and unless I need to get by somebody quickly, I leave it there. A couple of years ago I was doing 70 and passed a large MB. About a mile down the road, he passes me.. another mile, I pass him again as he had slowed back down... rinse and repeat about a dozen times...
I hate that stuff. That being said, Atlanta has hills. I didn't realize until I rented a car (which had a slushbox) the reason why it's so common around here. I don't use cruise, I just maintain a steady speed with my own car over hills and around curves with my right foot.
But in the automatic, it was a lot more difficult. The small throttle changes that keep me steady in a manual weren't possible. There were a couple of places where I had to get the thing to kick down a gear to climb a hill..and lift abruptly coming down the other side to keep from speeding up. I really can't see a 'civilian' (as opposed to an enthusiast) bothering to make the effort I did when driving an automatic.
I guess I'm saying that I might finally understand why folks do that stuff around here..but I still hate it. Funny thing: the part of North Carolina where I grew up (mid-1970s), not holding a steady speed was considered "probable cause" for the State Patrol to pull someone over when they suspected a driver was drunk. Maybe that's why this whole 65 uphill and 75 downhill stuff the muggles do drives me so crazy in the first place?
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