Driving horror stories

[GoCougs]

A lot of people want to rebel (against the law/society) and driving like an idiot is an easy way to do that; or public urination.  Shooting people for a perceived threat is an extreme.

IMO it's more that so many people are broken they simple can't control themselves, and doing so on the roads is the last bastion of anonymity.

[AutobahnSHO]

I really really wish there was a way to enforce mandatory cruise control in the left lane and tickets for anyone getting passed by anyone in any lane to their right.

[MrH]

Mandatory cruise control???

[giant_mtb]

I really really wish there was a way to enforce mandatory cruise control in the left lane and tickets for anyone getting passed by anyone in any lane to their right.

Sometimes there's a legit reason that somebody needs to be in the left lane, even if they are going slower.  Say, they have a left turn coming up they need to make. 

Say, a 4-lane highway. A split is coming up where two lanes go left, two lanes go right. So, somebody needs to make that left, so they get into the second lane from the left a mile before the spliy...the "slow" lane for the 2 lanes that will be diverging left. Meanwhile somebody in the lane to their right is in the "fast" lane for the 2 lanes that will be diverging right.  They should get a ticket because they get passed on the right?

[RomanChariot]

I really really wish there was a way to enforce mandatory cruise control in the left lane and tickets for anyone getting passed by anyone in any lane to their right.

That sounds like it would just lead to left lane camping which causes congestion because all lanes end up going the same speed and cars have a hard time moving from one lane to another.

[CaminoRacer]

I think each lane should have it's own speed limit, going up by 5 mph each lane as you go into the left lanes.

[MrH]

Not allowing cruise control in the left lane makes a lot more sense to me.  It's a passing lane, your speed should be variable and you're actively engaged in trying to get around the traffic to your right.

I think each lane should have it's own speed limit, going up by 5 mph each lane as you go into the left lanes.

That's unofficially how it feels in Germany.  But it's more so the vehicles in the far right can't go much faster  

[AutobahnSHO]

Sorry, I meant on interstate. And yes of course people would need to be passing. It was early. I wuz dumb.

[Laconian]

I've been tagging some funny incidents on my dashcam to get a feel for the workflow.

Here's a blooper from Bellevue, a soulless glassy city filled with ginormous luxury SUVs and absolutely terrible drivers.

[GoCougs]

I see that all the time. Sometimes I'm even in the car.

IME, it's all international drivers.

[Laconian]

In this case, an Oregonian driver.

[AutobahnSHO]

People are morons.

[Morris Minor]

...
IME, it's all international drivers.

That was my first thought.

[veeman]

Honestly I do that occasionally in an unfamiliar area (although I wouldn't pull out in front of a car, and especially a semitruck). I get stuck in the wrong lane (either being in the turn lane and wanting to go straight or being in the non-turn lane and wanting to make a turn).  If traffic is dense I'll mutter an expletive and not hold up traffic.  I'll have to figure it out how to get back on the right road which is easy using Waze. If traffic is pretty light, I'll keep my turn signal on and wait for someone to let me turn. Sometimes I get honked at. Almost always a man will let me turn. Rarely a woman. 

Sometimes in NYC, if I make the wrong turn I might be delayed by 15 minutes to my destination so I'm not going to do that. I'll wait for someone to let me pass.

Although I'm not international (born and raised in the U.S.) it is probably an international thing.  In India the driving culture is you turn when you can whenever you can. I'm assuming a lot of very densely populated high traffic Asian countries are like that (China, Vietnam, Philippines, etc).

Whenever I'm behind a car who is stopped with their turn signal on and trying to get in the lane they're supposed to be in, I will always stop and let them go. 

[GoCougs]

That was my first thought.

One can tell it's not done with recklessness, malice or inattentiveness. It's just someone who doesn't know the driving laws/culture in the USA.

[GoCougs]

Honestly I do that occasionally in an unfamiliar area (although I wouldn't pull out in front of a car, and especially a semitruck). I get stuck in the wrong lane (either being in the turn lane and wanting to go straight or being in the non-turn lane and wanting to make a turn).  If traffic is dense I'll mutter an expletive and not hold up traffic.  I'll have to figure it out how to get back on the right road which is easy using Waze. If traffic is pretty light, I'll keep my turn signal on and wait for someone to let me turn. Sometimes I get honked at. Almost always a man will let me turn. Rarely a woman. 

Sometimes in NYC, if I make the wrong turn I might be delayed by 15 minutes to my destination so I'm not going to do that. I'll wait for someone to let me pass.

Although I'm not international (born and raised in the U.S.) it is probably an international thing.  In India the driving culture is you turn when you can whenever you can. I'm assuming a lot of very densely populated high traffic Asian countries are like that (China, Vietnam, Philippines, etc).

Whenever I'm behind a car who is stopped with their turn signal on and trying to get in the lane they're supposed to be in, I will always stop and let them go. 

Women indeed be savages (save for meth heads and bro dozer LIEs) for many reasons, prominent among these because they know that, unlike for a man, physical violence for poor public behavior is vastly less likely.

[CaminoRacer]

I assume they thought the trucks were parked

[giant_mtb]

I assume they thought the trucks were parked

Yep.