Sometime ago I was on an Autobahn that had a lengthy stretch which was limited to a pathetic 120 km/h (75 mph). In such situations I always tend to drive 5-10 km/h over the limit, but in this case I was actually driving 125 km/h (78 mph) and on the left ("fast") lane overtaking a bunch of cars that were driving at or below the limit.
I was fast approaching a column of six trucks traveling at 80 km/h (50 mph) on the right ("slow") lane. Behind these trucks was a small economy car, a Fiat Punto - tailgating the last truck. Experience tells me that these drivers tend to be morons and they will spontaneously merge into your lane without signaling. I've have learned to prepare myself and watch them as I am approaching them and about to overtake them.
And surprise, that's exactly what this person - a young female driver - did! She pulled out in front of me - and without using the blinker - when I was what I estimated to be less than 30 meters. The thing is, I was doing 125 km/h and she was barely driving above 80 km/h (50 mph). Even at that "slow speed" I was rapidly closing the short distance and had to slam the brakes!
To make matters worse, this fucking idiot wouldn't accelerate. She was sticking to a speed slightly above 80 km/h which meant she was slooooooooooowly, agonizingly slowly, "overtaking" these six trucks! I slowed down to 80 km/h and kept a safety distance of over 40 meters. At first I didn't want to flash her because the thought occurred to me that she might panic and perhaps slow down even more. I was raging inside and wanted to honk my horn, but that equally may have "shocked her", I don't know I'm just wary of such idiotic drivers.
By this time there was a convoy of cars behind me, impatiently waiting for this stupid fucktard to overtake and get the hell out of the way.
Eventually, EVENTUALLY, she finally overtook the leading truck as she had increased her speed - to around 90 km/h (56 mph). And once she had overtaken the leading truck, I expected her to merge back into the right lane - but she didn't. Just kept going on the fast lane at a pathetic 90 km/h. That's when I lost it and just flashed the fuck out of her. I also drove up a little closer hoping that she'd get the god damn message. Yeah, she got it and finally, FINALLY, moved into the slow lane where she belongs.
When I overtook her I glanced at her car to get an impression of what this idiot looked like. A young girl, looked very nerdy - didn't even look at me, like she was lost in her own world or something. Seemed like she was distracted and she clearly didn't realize what she did and was doing wrong! How the hell did this girl get her driver's license? I should have taken down her license plate and reported her. She's a danger on the road and if she continues to drive like a fucking moron I can see her causing serious accidents in the future - on all kinds of roads.
But you know what really pissed me off? Earlier, before she spontaneously merged into my lane and when I was about to overtake her there were no cars behind me. None. If she was an attentive driver and had situational awareness skills she would have seen that I was rapidly approaching behind her on the left lane. The normal, smart and logical thing to do would be to let me pass on the left, then pull out and overtake the six truck convoy as fast as possible before merging back into the slow lane. Because that's how you're supposed to do it on the Autobahn. Left lane is for overtaking only, and you're supposed to do it as fast as possible. Period.
Unbelievable how stupid these people are. I'm sorry for the foul language but I just had to vent my frustration here.
It just seems to me that so many drivers on the road just have no skill and situational awareness and/or are extremely poor at judging in/oncoming speeds of surrounding traffic. How dumb do you have to be to pull out in front of someone on the Autobahn and then remain at your slow speed!? :rage:
That was just one recent and rather dangerous example in my driving life. The majority of other idiots I encounter tend to be stupid city drivers who don't know what a signaling light is for or are "sleeping" at a green traffic light.
Ugh...
Be thankful; we Americanos long for bad driving of that ilk.
If that was the USA, even without you flashing your lights, when you passed, the driver would take extreme offense at your audacity to offend them with your brazenness to pass them, and at a minimum would speed up on you to try to prevent you from merging, passing, taking the exit, etc. A non-zero portion of the time, such behavior would be accompanied by flashing lights and obscene gestures, and every so often, assault (swerving into your lane to prevent you from passing).
The world is full of lousy drivers, ones who straddle lanes, ones who suddenly pull out in front of you when you're overtaking and do all manner of annoying and dangerous things. Germany may have been less effected by them than most places, but now they're everywhere. Get used to it or you'll go nuts. :huh:
If the worst you have to complain about is somebody cutting in front of you in the passing lane and then not really speeding up to complete their overtake, you're doing pretty well. I run into that every time I'm on the interstate. In addition, I routinely see people who run red lights. In the past week I saw one illegal U-turn at an intersection clearly marked "no U turn", along with several right-on-reds at intersections with multiple signs forbidding the practice. I've seen two people make left turns from the right lane in the past week. I saw somebody in a left-turn-only lane decide to go straight through the intersection on a green arrow when the signal for through-traffic was still red and nearly get T-boned by cars from the oncoming lane who were turning left.
Yeah Germany has no contest against how bad they are here....
Take a chill pill, Wimmer, Jesus. Greta Thunberg really has your asshole all up in a bunch, hey?
Quote from: GoCougs on January 26, 2020, 07:48:01 AM
Be thankful; we Americanos long for bad driving of that ilk.
If that was the USA, even without you flashing your lights, when you passed, the driver would take extreme offense at your audacity to offend them with your brazenness to pass them, and at a minimum would speed up on you to try to prevent you from merging, passing, taking the exit, etc. A non-zero portion of the time, such behavior would be accompanied by flashing lights and obscene gestures, and every so often, assault (swerving into your lane to prevent you from passing).
Damn, that sounds really extreme. I have not encountered such behavior here [yet], and hope that I never do, but based on how the lack of driving skill and driving manners I am encountering these days it's probably only a matter of time before some true wackos start causing a scene. :lol:
Quote from: FoMoJo on January 26, 2020, 07:50:53 AM
The world is full of lousy drivers, ones who straddle lanes, ones who suddenly pull out in front of you when you're overtaking and do all manner of annoying and dangerous things. Germany may have been less effected by them than most places, but now they're everywhere. Get used to it or you'll go nuts. :huh:
I would like to claim that I have witnessed the steady decline in driver quality here. It is my impression that around the early 2000s that people still actually knew how to drive. The traffic flowed better.
These days the traffic flow on the Autobahn is often hampered by these idiots who pull out at slower speeds and just don't accelerate, or use the middle lane on a three-lane highway at speeds that are barely faster than the trucks on the right lane.
Quote from: MX793 on January 26, 2020, 08:00:07 AM
If the worst you have to complain about is somebody cutting in front of you in the passing lane and then not really speeding up to complete their overtake, you're doing pretty well. I run into that every time I'm on the interstate. In addition, I routinely see people who run red lights. In the past week I saw one illegal U-turn at an intersection clearly marked "no U turn", along with several right-on-reds at intersections with multiple signs forbidding the practice. I've seen two people make left turns from the right lane in the past week. I saw somebody in a left-turn-only lane decide to go straight through the intersection on a green arrow when the signal for through-traffic was still red and nearly get T-boned by cars from the oncoming lane who were turning left.
Running a red light is severely punished here.
But this was a dangerous situation. Remember, I was doing 125 km/h and she pulled out at a speed barely above 80 km/h. In the end I was actually more pissed off at the fact that she could have let me pass, then pulled out to overtake the trucks. Even if she was driving barely 80 km/h, it would then have become the problem of those behind her, not mine, as I would be far ahead in front. Out of sight, out of mind. ;)
But the truth is that I encounter such situations quite often. Usually the spontaneous lane changers are not that slow, though.
Quote from: giant_mtb on January 26, 2020, 06:41:35 PM
Take a chill pill, Wimmer, Jesus. Greta Thunberg really has your asshole all up in a bunch, hey?
:lol:
(https://starecat.com/content/wp-content/uploads/nissan-gtr-greta-thunberg-eyes-rear-lights-tail-lights.jpg)
Quote from: cawimmer430 on January 27, 2020, 06:43:07 AM
Damn, that sounds really extreme. I have not encountered such behavior here [yet], and hope that I never do, but based on how the lack of driving skill and driving manners I am encountering these days it's probably only a matter of time before some true wackos start causing a scene. :lol:
You need to take a cross country driving trip in the US.
We have such sights to show you.
Rush hour traffic is usually insanely crowded here, but the majority of drivers are reasonable and predictable.
But on the weekends, the people who shouldn't be driving come out, blocking lanes, cutting people off with no turn signals, trying to do 90 miles an hour in the slow lane and 45 in the fast lane.....
Gotta watch 'em.
This is why I sold the motorcycle.
I see bad driving all around.
On commutes, the typical aggressor is the left lane camper who won't move, and when one goes to pass on the right, said left lane camper speeds up to block - happens 75% of the time.
On weekends/nights, the typical aggressor is a pickup truck, usually a slow-ass smokey terrible-sounding diesel with aftermarket rimz in which the owner thinks is a sports car.
At all times, it's common that people simply pull out on you, expecting you to slow down.
Also, every day I see people driving in the dark with their headlights off.
Quote from: MX793 on January 26, 2020, 08:00:07 AM
If the worst you have to complain about is somebody cutting in front of you in the passing lane and then not really speeding up to complete their overtake, you're doing pretty well. I run into that every time I'm on the interstate. In addition, I routinely see people who run red lights. In the past week I saw one illegal U-turn at an intersection clearly marked "no U turn", along with several right-on-reds at intersections with multiple signs forbidding the practice. I've seen two people make left turns from the right lane in the past week. I saw somebody in a left-turn-only lane decide to go straight through the intersection on a green arrow when the signal for through-traffic was still red and nearly get T-boned by cars from the oncoming lane who were turning left.
I routinely ignore "no u turn" signs because they're only necessary during high traffic times like rush hour. At 10 pm on a road with light traffic where the perpendicular lanes are clear, there's no reason not to take a u turn. "No left turn" out of a business parking lot I always ignore if there's light traffic and I have clear views. I also generally ignore "no right turn on red" if there's light traffic and I have clear views of all lanes. Generally I have very little confidence in those who determine which traffic signs go where.
Left lane campers suck. There is no attempt by any jurisdiction to ever ticket anyone who left lane camps but I think that's because the speed limits on highways in the US is kept too low. Someone who is driving the speed limit in the left lane is by definition a left lane camper.
I get more bent out of shape with people blasting through parking lots and driving around you while backing out of a spot.
Quote from: GoCougs on January 27, 2020, 08:58:55 AM
Also, every day I see people driving in the dark with their headlights off.
Or their high beams on. I swear I see 3-4x more people with their lights off or their high beams on than I did 5-10 years ago. I think there are a couple reasons.
1. dashboard are always lit up now, so you don't have the visual reminder to turn your lights on like you used to, when the gauges would be impossible to read without your lights on
2. replacing headlight bulbs has gotten very complicated and expensive, involving bumper removal, hundred dollar bulbs, etc. so people just turn on their high beams to cover up their burnt out low beams.
3. bright DRLs light up the road just enough to fool them into thinking their actual headlights are on
4. dashes are too complicated and people are too dumb to know what the symbols for headlights or high beams are
Quote from: CaminoRacer on January 27, 2020, 10:57:16 AM
Or their high beams on. I swear I see 3-4x more people with their lights off or their high beams on than I did 5-10 years ago. I think there are a couple reasons.
1. dashboard are always lit up now, so you don't have the visual reminder to turn your lights on like you used to, when the gauges would be impossible to read without your lights on
2. replacing headlight bulbs has gotten very complicated and expensive, involving bumper removal, hundred dollar bulbs, etc. so people just turn on their high beams to cover up their burnt out low beams.
3. bright DRLs light up the road just enough to fool them into thinking their actual headlights are on
4. dashes are too complicated and people are too dumb to know what the symbols for headlights or high beams are
But you see it on people with newer cars that have auto headlights..
Quote from: NomisR on January 27, 2020, 11:01:19 AM
But you see it on people with newer cars that have auto headlights..
Yeah, those ones are always head scratchers. Maybe they don't know how to use the knob and mess it up? Or they're too stubborn to use the auto feature for some reason? and then forget to turn their lights on like an idiot
What annoys me most about cars with the highbeams is the fact that they're the ones that drive UNDER the speed limit.. so they end up high beaming the entire freeway.
Quote from: NomisR on January 27, 2020, 11:01:19 AM
But you see it on people with newer cars that have auto headlights..
Quote from: CaminoRacer on January 27, 2020, 11:02:45 AM
Yeah, those ones are always head scratchers. Maybe they don't know how to use the knob and mess it up? Or they're too stubborn to use the auto feature for some reason? and then forget to turn their lights on like an idiot
People get used to leaving the switch on auto and not even bothering to think about headlights off or on. In my case, I had taken the car for service and they turned to light switch to off. The next time I was driving at night, people were flashing there lights at me and only then I realized that the switch had been turned off. In the city, there are so many lights you really don't notice whether the headlights aren't on.
Quote from: FoMoJo on January 27, 2020, 11:14:17 AM
People get used to leaving the switch on auto and not even bothering to think about headlights off or on. In my case, I had taken the car for service and they turned to light switch to off. The next time I was driving at night, people were flashing there lights at me and only then I realized that the switch had been turned off. In the city, there are so many lights you really don't notice whether the headlights aren't on.
In new Chevys, there isn't an actual "off" position that the knob can stay in - you flick the knob to the left but it retreats back to the resting center auto position. So if you turn off the auto headlights it will default back to auto when you turn the car on again. Seems like a good way to do it.
On (newer) GM vehicles, the headlight knob has a mechanism such that if you turn it to Off to defeat the automatic lights, the switch automatically returns to Auto so that next time you turn the car on, the lights are already back in Auto mode.
Only 25% of Americans, when asked to find Iran on a world map, could do it.
Now I ask you, how many do you think know what that little blue bright light symbol means? I had one person tell me the "Santa Claus" light was on. Turned out it was the airbag light. ;)
Santa Claus light?! Ha!
How does one even get Santa Claus from the airbag light...??
The city I work in (Bellevue, WA) features prominently in "Worst Drivers in the USA" listicles. It breaks my brain to see people try to turn left into traffic circles, stopping at an intersection with their noses halfway across the perpendicular lane, missing green lights completely due to distraction/inattention, and all of these sins are committed by huge huge huge luxury SUVs.
Quote from: giant_mtb on January 27, 2020, 11:51:55 AM
How does one even get Santa Claus from the airbag light...??
Dude sitting down with a massive gut, or carrying a bag of toys on his back.
(https://mechanicbase.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/airbag-light.png)
Ho..Ho...Ho! :lol:
Quote from: CaminoRacer on January 27, 2020, 11:46:30 AM
In new Chevys, there isn't an actual "off" position that the knob can stay in - you flick the knob to the left but it retreats back to the resting center auto position. So if you turn off the auto headlights it will default back to auto when you turn the car on again. Seems like a good way to do it.
Yes, a good feature. About time.
Something Toyotas should implement because I notice their drivers are the most frequent offenders of no headlight
Quote from: NomisR on January 27, 2020, 01:00:09 PM
Something Toyotas should implement because I notice their drivers are the most frequent offenders of no headlight
Toyotas and Subarus. Their DRLs are just bright enough and the dashboard is always lit.
But also, on Toys and Subes, you can just leave the headlight switch in the "on" position all the time...when you shut the vehicle off, the headlights will automatically turn off when a door is opened, and then they'll automatically turn on next time you start the vehicle since the switch is On.
Quote from: NomisR on January 27, 2020, 01:00:09 PM
Something Toyotas should implement because I notice their drivers are the most frequent offenders of no headlight
That's something I noticed here as well, except here many regular Toyota drivers are horrible drivers and spontaneous lane changers. This also applies to other value brands like Dacia, Fiat and also Renault, and generally beat-up older cars of all brands.
Last night driving home, same thing, I counted 7 Toyotas with no headlights on, only one of them turned it on when I flashed them, it was a Prius. Everyone else was completely oblivious to what happened.
We should send this discovery to all the major automotive media outlets and get them to run shame articles so Toyota can improve their auto headlight feature
Quote from: NomisR on January 28, 2020, 12:06:09 PM
Last night driving home, same thing, I counted 7 Toyotas with no headlights on, only one of them turned it on when I flashed them, it was a Prius. Everyone else was completely oblivious to what happened.
It could be that they didn't know how to turn them on.
I have a theory:
The backlight on the gauges of Toyota and Nissan are super bright, so people probably don't realize their headlights aren't on.
I've definitely let people borrow my old Yaris, only for them to drive with no lights.
We recently bought a used Honda Pilot and had this issue. We were using the 'auto' setting which works great but sometimes we would forget and turn the headlights to the off position (or one of the children would mess with it) and it was hard to notice because the gauges were still lit up and the DRLs were on. The only easy way to tell is to check the button lights on the stereo and HVAC controls. I would prefer Chevy's method or not have the gauges light up so you have an indication that you need to turn the lights on.
On a separate note, I hate DRLs that can't be easily disabled. There are numerous situations over the years that I have been in where I want my vehicle running but I don't want the DRLs lighting up the world. On my Suburban you can push the parking brake in (even slightly) and it will turn off the DRLs. The BMW that I used to have couldn't be turned off at all. The Pilot you have to turn the vehicle off, press in the emergency brake and then start the vehicle. This works but one of the situations that comes up is driving through Christmas light displays where you are supposed to turn off your lights. I have to stop the vehicle, turn off the engine, put in the parking brake lightly enough that I can still drive it at low speeds and then start the engine again. And then there is the problem that if you go over about 5mph a chime starts blaring at you that the parking brake is engaged and you have to redo the whole process. Can't they just give you a button to temporarily turn off the DRLs?
Quote from: 2o6 on January 28, 2020, 03:23:16 PM
I have a theory:
The backlight on the gauges of Toyota and Nissan are super bright, so people probably don't realize their headlights aren't on.
I've definitely let people borrow my old Yaris, only for them to drive with no lights.
I tend to run my gauges rather dim at night but bright during the day, so a very bright IP backlight is often an indicator to me that the headlights aren't on. That's how I knew if I'd forgotten to turn the lights on with my Mazda. The Mazda also didn't have DRLs, so unless you were in a very well lit neighborhood, you knew your lights were off.
The VW had bright DRLs (90% as bright as having the low beams on), but the IP didn't illuminate unless the headlights were on, so not being able to see the gauges was a good clue that the lights were off.
My current Mustang will auto-dim the IP backlight depending on the ambient lighting conditions, not whether or not the headlights are on. But, the DRLs on that car don't put out enough light to drive by, so that's my cue. Though in a well-lit neighborhood, it's still possible to forget to turn your lights on.
The Rav is similar to my Mazda as far as the IP being set much brighter when lights are off vs on, but the DRLs are decently bright. Not as bright as the VW, but bright enough you could drive by them so long as it's not a super dark night. More prone to forgetting to turn the lights on with that one. I actually find that I frequently forget to turn the lights off for some reason. Maybe because of the DRLs. It also doesn't sound a chime if you leave the lights on and pull the key out of the ignition and open the door like any other car I've ever owned. I think they may automatically turn off, but I'm not sure and I'm not willing to risk a dead battery in the middle of winter to find out. May experiment in the spring.
Are the tail lights on with the DRLs?
Quote from: FoMoJo on January 28, 2020, 03:53:39 PM
Are the tail lights on with the DRLs?
No, which is really the major problem with them.
Quote from: MX793 on January 28, 2020, 03:58:37 PM
No, which is really the major problem with them.
+1
If the DRLs and dashboard are lit up, some people are just straight up oblivious.
Quote from: veeman on January 27, 2020, 09:31:34 AM
I routinely ignore "no u turn" signs because they're only necessary during high traffic times like rush hour. At 10 pm on a road with light traffic where the perpendicular lanes are clear, there's no reason not to take a u turn. "No left turn" out of a business parking lot I always ignore if there's light traffic and I have clear views. I also generally ignore "no right turn on red" if there's light traffic and I have clear views of all lanes. Generally I have very little confidence in those who determine which traffic signs go where.
Left lane campers suck. There is no attempt by any jurisdiction to ever ticket anyone who left lane camps but I think that's because the speed limits on highways in the US is kept too low. Someone who is driving the speed limit in the left lane is by definition a left lane camper.
I agree with you. I sometimes ignore bans on u-turns, right on red and left turns at off hours and/or in light traffic when doing so won't cause any problems.
Left lane campers are the worst. They create danger by forcing people to maneuver to get around them.
Quote from: MX793 on January 28, 2020, 03:49:43 PM
I tend to run my gauges rather dim at night but bright during the day, so a very bright IP backlight is often an indicator to me that the headlights aren't on. That's how I knew if I'd forgotten to turn the lights on with my Mazda. The Mazda also didn't have DRLs, so unless you were in a very well lit neighborhood, you knew your lights were off.
The VW had bright DRLs (90% as bright as having the low beams on), but the IP didn't illuminate unless the headlights were on, so not being able to see the gauges was a good clue that the lights were off.
My current Mustang will auto-dim the IP backlight depending on the ambient lighting conditions, not whether or not the headlights are on. But, the DRLs on that car don't put out enough light to drive by, so that's my cue. Though in a well-lit neighborhood, it's still possible to forget to turn your lights on.
The Rav is similar to my Mazda as far as the IP being set much brighter when lights are off vs on, but the DRLs are decently bright. Not as bright as the VW, but bright enough you could drive by them so long as it's not a super dark night. More prone to forgetting to turn the lights on with that one. I actually find that I frequently forget to turn the lights off for some reason. Maybe because of the DRLs. It also doesn't sound a chime if you leave the lights on and pull the key out of the ignition and open the door like any other car I've ever owned. I think they may automatically turn off, but I'm not sure and I'm not willing to risk a dead battery in the middle of winter to find out. May experiment in the spring.
At least on both Land Cruisers, the only Toyotas I've ever owned, the lights will turn off, even if left on in manual.
Quote from: dazzleman on February 01, 2020, 05:39:04 AM
I agree with you. I sometimes ignore bans on u-turns, right on red and left turns at off hours and/or in light traffic when doing so won't cause any problems.
Left lane campers are the worst. They create danger by forcing people to maneuver to get around them.
Left lane camping, on its own, should be an automatic felony with a maximum 1 day in jail and $5000 fine.
A few years ago I had a wonderful nanny who heard me ranting about a left lane camper. She was a real "safe" driver who always drove the speed limit, which is a good quality for a nanny who drives around your kids. She told me she often drove in the left lane and sometimes people gave her dirty looks but she didn't care. I asked her why. She said that when she drove in the right lane on a highway, merging traffic from on ramps made her nervous. She never knew if she should pass them or brake to let them merge. I thought about it for a few seconds and said "oh that makes sense but you should probably drive in the right lane and when you see merging traffic, move over to the left lane if it's clear and then move back into the right lane. Really, you have the right of way and merging traffic should yield to you but I agree it can be tricky." I doubt she listened to me.
I didn't care too much. I've had nannies who I've fired because they were terrible drivers. One lady who was in her late 60s but didn't look it because she was thin and had a lot of plastic surgery couldn't see right. Her car was all scraped up on all sides which should have been a warning to me. She bumped another driver at low speed in a school pick up line, dented my car's rear bumper backing up into a retaining wall at my house, and drove hunched over the steering wheel with both hands tightly gripping the top of it. Another lady kept scraping the sides of my car against the garage door side wall. She then slammed into another car on the highway because she didn't notice it had braked (luckily my kids weren't in it). She was also in general just a distracted driver.
A left lane camper I could live with. Usually she wouldn't be on the highway with my kids anyways.
Quote from: veeman on February 01, 2020, 10:13:27 AM
A few years ago I had a wonderful nanny who heard me ranting about a left lane camper. She was a real "safe" driver who always drove the speed limit, which is a good quality for a nanny who drives around your kids. She told me she often drove in the left lane and sometimes people gave her dirty looks but she didn't care. I asked her why. She said that when she drove in the right lane on a highway, merging traffic from on ramps made her nervous. She never knew if she should pass them or brake to let them merge. I thought about it for a few seconds and said "oh that makes sense but you should probably drive in the right lane and when you see merging traffic, move over to the left lane if it's clear and then move back into the right lane. Really, you have the right of way and merging traffic should yield to you but I agree it can be tricky." I doubt she listened to me.
I didn't care too much. I've had nannies who I've fired because they were terrible drivers. One lady who was in her late 60s but didn't look it because she was thin and had a lot of plastic surgery couldn't see right. Her car was all scraped up on all sides which should have been a warning to me. She bumped another driver at low speed in a school pick up line, dented my car's rear bumper backing up into a retaining wall at my house, and drove hunched over the steering wheel with both hands tightly gripping the top of it. Another lady kept scraping the sides of my car against the garage door side wall. She then slammed into another car on the highway because she didn't notice it had braked (luckily my kids weren't in it). She was also in general just a distracted driver.
A left lane camper I could live with. Usually she wouldn't be on the highway with my kids anyways.
Some roads have too much traffic volume for the keep right/pass left ideal to work. Traffic volume requires the use of all lanes for things to move at all.
Some of your nannies had great driving skills... :lol:
Quote from: dazzleman on February 01, 2020, 11:01:09 AM
Some roads have too much traffic volume for the keep right/pass left ideal to work. Traffic volume requires the use of all lanes for things to move at all.
Some of your nannies had great driving skills... :lol:
On nanny interviews I now have the person get in my Camry and drive to the kids' school with me in the passenger seat on the pretense that I want to show them where the school is. I'm really assessing their confidence and competence in driving to an unfamiliar address. Do they look and act nervous or not. They still might suck at it but I can at least potentially weed out someone who royally sucks at driving.
Quote from: veeman on February 01, 2020, 12:34:18 PM
On nanny interviews I now have the person get in my Camry and drive to the kids' school with me in the passenger seat on the pretense that I want to show them where the school is. I'm really assessing their confidence and competence in driving to an unfamiliar address. Do they look and act nervous or not. They still might suck at it but I can at least potentially weed out someone who royally sucks at driving.
That's a good technique. Do your nannies know about your propensity for lead foot speeding? :evildude:
Quote from: veeman on February 01, 2020, 12:34:18 PM
On nanny interviews I now have the person get in my Camry and drive to the kids' school with me in the passenger seat on the pretense that I want to show them where the school is. I'm really assessing their confidence and competence in driving to an unfamiliar address. Do they look and act nervous or not. They still might suck at it but I can at least potentially weed out someone who royally sucks at driving.
Do you check to see if they have a driver's license?
Quote from: FoMoJo on February 01, 2020, 05:10:07 PM
Do you check to see if they have a driver's license?
Having a driver's license doesn't mean you know how to drive.
Quote from: dazzleman on February 01, 2020, 05:21:14 PM
Having a driver's license doesn't mean you know how to drive.
Law of the Universe #4
Quote from: dazzleman on February 01, 2020, 05:21:14 PM
Having a driver's license doesn't mean you know how to drive.
If we had the resources, I think it would be a good idea to make people take the driving test every 4-5 years when they renew their license.
Quote from: dazzleman on February 01, 2020, 05:21:14 PM
Having a driver's license doesn't mean you know how to drive.
The mystery is how some of them passed in first place.
For the past decade we've contracted with an overpriced caregiver agency that does background checks etc. If the nanny doesn't work out, gets sick, or can't make it for any reason, the agency provides a substitute. They also provide nannies for interviews when one doesn't work out or leaves. We've had a lot of turnover. It's cheaper to get an au pair, usually a young woman from another country who lives with you, but I don't want to have someone live with us.
I don't check the nanny's "papers". My assumption is the agency has screened them for felonies, DUI, whatever. These aren't "craigslist" or "backpage" caregivers although I'm sure many people who post nanny services there are fine.
The nannies kind of know I have a lead foot but not really. Usually when I'm in the car with them, they're driving me in their car to and from the dealership where I dropped off my car for service.
Some of the Indian ethnicity folks I know have an older Indian lady watch their young kids. That's cheaper but the problem is they usually can't drive and the nannies main job is to drive our kids around.
If someone came up with a dedicated Uber for kids (where the driver is a woman and keeps parents aware via text when they picked up and when they dropped off, and made sure the kids got to where they needed to go) they would make a killing.
Quote from: FoMoJo on February 01, 2020, 05:58:24 PM
The mystery is how some of them passed in first place.
It's not really a mystery. The test is too easy, and once you pass that flimsy test, you are never tested again. I have not had my driving tested in any way since the state passed me, on the basis of a drive around the block, basically, over 41 years ago.
I think it would be very hard to make a test which weeds out bad drivers who already have their license, outside of a simple vision test.
A lot of places you need to be able to drive to get to work. You fail a person, you're taking away their livelihood and therefore the well-being of their kids. How would you test for poor reflexes? Or general inattentiveness? Or texting? Or left lane camping? You could make a test for knowledge about what various signs mean but that's rarely the culprit of a bad driver.
You'll also have all the race/gender bullshit politics of who got failed and why and by whom.
Not to mention the massive cost and cost of everyone missing a morning or afternoon of work.
I think we're just stuck.
The only reason for autonomous cars.
Quote from: veeman on February 01, 2020, 07:39:06 PM
I think it would be very hard to make a test which weeds out bad drivers who already have their license, outside of a simple vision test.
A lot of places you need to be able to drive to get to work. You fail a person, you're taking away their livelihood and therefore the well-being of their kids. How would you test for poor reflexes? Or general inattentiveness? Or texting? Or left lane camping? You could make a test for knowledge about what various signs mean but that's rarely the culprit of a bad driver.
You'll also have all the race/gender bullshit politics of who got failed and why and by whom.
Not to mention the massive cost and cost of everyone missing a morning or afternoon of work.
I think we're just stuck.
It would be very costly to administer regular testing, and any type of in-depth testing would be even more expensive
Theoretically, people can be retested if they have too many accidents, but I never really hear about that happening
I think maybe stronger training requirements when people first learn to drive, coupled with a harder initial test, would improve the situation.
Quote from: dazzleman on February 01, 2020, 07:42:59 PM
It would be very costly to administer regular testing, and any type of in-depth testing would be even more expensive
Theoretically, people can be retested if they have too many accidents, but I never really hear about that happening
I think maybe stronger training requirements when people first learn to drive, coupled with a harder initial test, would improve the situation.
Society pays the cost of having shitty drivers in the form of accidents, injuries, deaths, and being unnecessarily slowed down in the left lane. I think it's cheaper to test!
The issue that causes many scared drivers to left lane camp is people don't know how to accelerate and merge. So you have idiots doing 10-20mph too slow when they try to merge.
Years ago Montana ran tv ads that explained how to do it. Supposedly it helped a lot!
I think signs at the bottom of the ramp "Speed limit X" and "Accelerate Now" could help?
Quote from: Laconian on February 01, 2020, 08:38:13 PM
Society pays the cost of having shitty drivers in the form of accidents, injuries, deaths, and being unnecessarily slowed down in the left lane. I think it's cheaper to test!
Testing is the final point in the process, and if the test is too easy, it serves no purpose. I think better training requirements at the outset are more of an answer. I learned to drive well because I took a 6-week driver's education program at my local high school during the summer. The road test itself was nothing - It was basically a drive around the block, with little to no traffic. I had to parallel park with one car, no curbs, and the U-turn was on a wide street with no curbs. And on the basis of that nothing test, I have been driving for 41 years.
I don't think testing can measure whether people will pay attention when they drive, and they don't test for highway skills, which are a big part of the problems we are talking about here.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on February 02, 2020, 05:14:48 AM
The issue that causes many scared drivers to left lane camp is people don't know how to accelerate and merge. So you have idiots doing 10-20mph too slow when they try to merge.
Years ago Montana ran tv ads that explained how to do it. Supposedly it helped a lot!
I think signs at the bottom of the ramp "Speed limit X" and "Accelerate Now" could help?
Yes, it's true that people don't get up to highway speed quickly enough when they get on. They get on and go 2 mph, fouling up traffic flows.
Quote from: dazzleman on February 02, 2020, 01:28:53 PM
Testing is the final point in the process, and if the test is too easy, it serves no purpose. I think better training requirements at the outset are more of an answer. I learned to drive well because I took a 6-week driver's education program at my local high school during the summer. The road test itself was nothing - It was basically a drive around the block, with little to no traffic. I had to parallel park with one car, no curbs, and the U-turn was on a wide street with no curbs. And on the basis of that nothing test, I have been driving for 41 years.
I don't think testing can measure whether people will pay attention when they drive, and they don't test for highway skills, which are a big part of the problems we are talking about here.
I think the threat of a test would help a little bit to trigger people to think about their driving more.
Quote from: CaminoRacer on February 02, 2020, 01:38:01 PM
I think the threat of a test would help a little bit to trigger people to think about their driving more.
You may be right about that. Maybe drivers should be retested about every 20 years until they reach a certain age, and then more often after that. But I still think the initial training and testing requirements should be more rigorous. People's driving skills generally don't improve as they age, after the initial few years of driving.
Possibly driving record could be used to determine frequency of testing, and those with bad driving records could be retested more often or sooner.
Connecticut has driver "retraining" for those with too many tickets, but I don't think they retrain for multiple accidents, which is a big loophole. The retraining is all classroom though, nothing on the road. People with crappy driving records should have to pay for retraining that goes beyond watching a few videos.
Quote from: dazzleman on February 02, 2020, 01:47:01 PM
You may be right about that. Maybe drivers should be retested about every 20 years until they reach a certain age, and then more often after that. But I still think the initial training and testing requirements should be more rigorous. People's driving skills generally don't improve as they age, after the initial few years of driving.
Possibly driving record could be used to determine frequency of testing, and those with bad driving records could be retested more often or sooner.
Connecticut has driver "retraining" for those with too many tickets, but I don't think they retrain for multiple accidents, which is a big loophole. The retraining is all classroom though, nothing on the road. People with crappy driving records should have to pay for retraining that goes beyond watching a few videos.
Agreed
Wouldn't that mean though a speeder, who is an excellent driver, but has a history of a lot of points on his/her record would require to be retested every few years whereas a left lane camper who has no points on their record but is a crappy driver would not be required to be retested?
Retesting for rudimentary driving skills every two years at let's say age 65 makes sense but, senior citizens are the ones that turn up at the voting booth... also there's just no funding for this and any sort of significant cost for the person taking the test would not fly either. Financially poor old people would be priced out of being able to drive and then that becomes a big political issue.
Quote from: veeman on February 02, 2020, 10:31:44 PM
Wouldn't that mean though a speeder, who is an excellent driver, but has a history of a lot of points on his/her record would require to be retested every few years whereas a left lane camper who has no points on their record but is a crappy driver would not be required to be retested?
Retesting for rudimentary driving skills every two years at let's say age 65 makes sense but, senior citizens are the ones that turn up at the voting booth... also there's just no funding for this and any sort of significant cost for the person taking the test would not fly either. Financially poor old people would be priced out of being able to drive and then that becomes a big political issue.
This is a totally academic discussion. None of this will ever happen because it's politically unpalatable, as you say. Your first point is probably correct, since there's enforcement against speeding but not left lane camping, for the most part. That's partly why I say accident record should be taken into account, but of course there are bad drivers who cause other people to have accidents but don't seem to have any accidents themselves. Enforcement patterns would have to change to make the idea really work.
Lots of metered on-ramps here in SLC which are basically legal drag strips. They may as well install some christmas trees.
Quote from: Speed_Racer on February 03, 2020, 10:13:23 AM
Lots of metered on-ramps here in SLC which are basically legal drag strips. They may as well install some christmas trees.
:rockon:
Unfortunately, they are often a race from 0-60-20.
Quote from: Speed_Racer on February 03, 2020, 10:13:23 AM
Lots of metered on-ramps here in SLC which are basically legal drag strips. They may as well install some christmas trees.
I wish it was like that.. i would get stuck behind someone that is still going 45mph by the time they hit the end of the on ramp. At least being in an EV, the instant torque makes it really easy to change lanes and pass, in any other car, it would annoy the hell out of me. Then there's times where i would be going 70+ by the times I hit the freeway only needing to slow down because there's assholes driving less than 55mph on the right most lanes.. with semis honking at them, while dragging a full containers going uphill.
Quote from: CaminoRacer on February 02, 2020, 01:38:01 PM
I think the threat of a test would help a little bit to trigger people to think about their driving more.
+1
There is a total different mentality in Germany than here. There it's expensive so not everyone has a car, they MUST take REAL driver's ed, and people are held super-accountable for accidents.
Thus the reason 20years ago German cars still didn't have many (if any) cupholders- people used cars to DRIVE.
Quote from: Laconian on February 01, 2020, 08:38:13 PM
Society pays the cost of having shitty drivers in the form of accidents, injuries, deaths, and being unnecessarily slowed down in the left lane. I think it's cheaper to test!
I went through misery when I was a kid in the UK getting my license. And it got a lot tougher after I left; I don't think I could pass the test there now without going through driving school again. In the US you just need to be able to walk upright.
It's pathetic and I agree with you. Test, and require periodic recertification.
I saw a new wall of shame moment on the way home from work...
Going down the interstate... On ramp from an exit merging on the right.... Car in front of me going down the interstate slams on the brakes, comes to a complete stop, throws it in reverse, and starts backing up the on ramp
:facepalm: :facepalm: :wtf: :wtf:
A guy turned sharply left onto a two way street. Meaning he was driving on the wrong side of the road. This lasted about a block or a block and a half until he saw some headlights ahead and thought "oh shit".
Entrance to my neighborhood is off of a 4-lane (2 each way) divided boulevard with a 45 mph speed limit (that everyone does 55 on). About 150 or 200 yards past the entry road, I see some idiot on the shoulder backing up against. Clearly they missed the turn into the neighborhood. This despite there being a traffic-light controlled intersection where they would have been able to make a U turn at (or turn onto a side road and turn around in a driveway or parking lot or something) about 1/4 mile ahead and clearly visible from where they were at. Had half a mind to pull up behind them and block them from backing up further. Seriously can't fathom what goes through people's heads on the road.
If you miss your turn, keep driving ahead until you find a driveway, parking lot, or side street to turn around in. If you're on a highway, get off at the next exit and turn around. Especially in the northeast, there are exits every few miles, perhaps every mile in an urban area. You're not going to be driving for half an hour before an opportunity to turn around presents itself.
If you realize you are in the wrong lane at a light (you want to go straight but put yourself in a turn lane, you want to turn left but are in the right turn lane, or vice versa), just go with the flow and turn around at your first safe opportunity. Don't make a turn from the thru-traffic lane. Don't hold up the turn lane so you can go straight. Don't make a turn from the opposite turn lane.
A couple of weeks ago, I watched somebody pull into the left-only turn lane, then when the arrow turned green, they suddenly switched to their right blinker and made a right turn from the left lane, while oncoming traffic was turning left. Same intersection I've watched multiple people get into the left turn lane and then decide they want to go straight and slice through oncoming traffic on the green arrow (red light for thru traffic) so as not to hold up cars behind them who actually want to turn left. Also seen cars get into a left turn lane, realize they wanted to go straight, and just sit and block traffic through the duration of the left turn arrow so they can go straight when the light for thru-traffic turns green, which is infuriating but at least safer than threading the needle through oncoming cars turning left in front of you. All of this witnessed during "rush" hour traffic times, not like it's 10PM and nobody's on the road.
We live in a world where we should realize that, at least, 20% of the people are not going to behave rationally in whatever they're doing. At best, we can shrug it off and try to avoid them. At worst, we get pissed off and ruin our day.
Quote from: r0tor on February 07, 2020, 02:37:35 PM
I saw a new wall of shame moment on the way home from work...
Going down the interstate... On ramp from an exit merging on the right.... Car in front of me going down the interstate slams on the brakes, comes to a complete stop, throws it in reverse, and starts backing up the on ramp
:facepalm: :facepalm: :wtf: :wtf:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/comments/f4bn5d/this_idiot_that_decided_it_was_a_good_idea_to/