Driving us Mad

I don't know if it is in my genes, but I like to thwart bad driving when I can. If I am on the road, and I notice someone in my rearview mirror who is weaving in and out of lanes, usually without signaling, in an attempt to (I am guessing) get to Walmart faster, I will do my best to match speeds with someone in the lane next to me. The best is when the idiot gets right behind us (me and the other driver) and we start playing the pull ahead game. I'll pull slightly ahead, and the idiot will jump into my lane. Then, ever so subtly, I'll let the other driver pull ahead, causing the idiot to again change lanes. Usually this only works for about half a mile, before one or the other of us turns off to get to our destination.

And yes, nearly ever time, the person behind us does turn into the Walmart parking lot.

It's a small town. Very little to do.

WHOA!   That's not even funny in a roadrunner cartoon!!! My best piece of advice to all (and remember what I drive,and the fact that I may have driven close to 1 million miles,most professionally,the rest recreationally)  Here is rule number 1 = COURTESY...rule2, DEFENSE...AS IN "LET THE IDIOT BE IN FRONT OF YOU SO YOU CAN KEEP AN EYE ON HIM"....

Remember, he just wants to get to the stoplight ahead of you....

Oh, and by the way, it IS possible to teach almost ANYbody to drive well,but it has to be taught,it is not universally intuitive...

All I'm really doing is driving the speed limit, or slightly under the speed limit, in my lane.

Cell phone use and/or texting drives up the wall, across the ceiling and out the door.  Are all these people neurosurgeons answering that all important life saving call?  Now that I'm home during the day, it seems that more and more what I see are women with a car full of children simply not paying any attention to the road or the other crazies on it. 
 
As well, does not a red light mean stop any more?  There are certain areas that you can count on a three car continuation after the light turns red --- this is, of course, after the three that went through the amber light.
 
Then of course, let us not forget the people who continue driving in a lane that is going to end.  That has everything but fireworks and a large arrow pointing to the driver still in it, marking it as ending soon.  I just love getting cut off after sitting in that lane for a long time because I, well, silly me, paid attention to the signs.
 
As far as Michael's post, I hope it's tongue in cheek.

If bad driving is genetic, then I propose we give people a regular blood test (starting) at birth to determine who should get behind the wheel and who should not.
 
 

I don't drive.  Its not necessary in most of NYC.   But even as a pedestrian I can spot a  bad driver.  The thing that makes me crazy is the people on the phone who suddenly go in reverse.   If you stand in front of any school or shopping center you will see  someone going backwards for half a block or more.       

I don't drive (very long story behind it) but I agree the roads have gotten scary bad. It seems that almost everyone is driving in their own little bubble, completely oblivious to everything surrounding their vehicle. To them, it's always someone else's fault as they hold no responsibility whatsoever for anything that happens to them behind the wheel. Most drivers are too easily distracted from the task at hand, be it reading the newspaper, applying make-up, texting, using the computer, eating, smoking, being amorous, that they forget they're operating a 4000lb weapon on wheels. If it's not "life's little distractions" then it's the videogames and movies. With my tongue placed firmly in my cheek, I feel like tearing up the streets after watching several Steve McQueen movies, and I know of a few people whose driving is wholey influenced by the Grand Theft Auto series.

The Grand Theft Auto series is the most dangerous diversion of the last decade.

good morning all!!! hoping all have had a wonderful holiday and will have a great new year.
 
that said,
well written roadyacht!  courtesy!  i bet you even stop and help! a true road hero.

JULIA- I like your idea about a blood test- now let's just extend it to giving birth & the world would be a much better place w/ happy drivers & happy, cared for children.
 
The most amazing thing to me is the video player in the car- & on the steering wheel...
 
You have to be a courteous, careful driver as your very life depends on it.
 
I do love to get in my car & drive - I feel so free & alive.

bebe~ what you propose is awfully close to Eugenics. What if instead of engineering a better society through selective breeding, we encourage and educate those who are not as intelligent.

Good morning cuukoo1 !

I set my cruise control for the speed limit and drive in the right hand lane....just like a little old lady I'm told. I HATE aggressive drivers and tailgaters.

My pet peeve? Needing to make a left hand turn, signal on, slowing down for the turn and there is usually some out of state (sorry you northerners, but 9 out of 10 times it's one of you) ridding my bumper. US 13 is not an interstate. Many use it like one, as an alternative to 95. We have begged the State for more troopers, but we only see a beef up in speed enforcement after some tragedy.

In the summer months (heavy traffic heading to OBX etc) most of us use the back roads. It takes a bit longer to get there but the drive is much more pleasant.

By the way, most kids around here start driving at the age of 12 or so; short trips to the post office with Mom or Dad riding shotgun. Many teens drive Daddy's tractor or other farm equipment long before legal driving age .It's not unusual for them to own and operate boats for pleasure or even work. We gave our daughter a boat at the age of 12, a 13 ft 1967 refurbished whaler with a 35.

I am also of the (unpopular) opinion that persons over the age of 75 be tested yearly in order to keep their license. My 80 year old parents have no business driving; I plan to make a call to DMV next week (as I had to do with my mother in law after she was seen on 3 occasions driving the wrong way down 13) and complain. Only then will they be called in for a test.

By the way, my husband and I are retired "professional" drivers.

He has driven tractor trailors for 30 years and I logged 8+ hours a day on the road for the State for 13 years. No moving violations for either of us.

I've taken to trying to remember to say a little prayer before I pull out of my driveway. Not only is it a good thing to request divine intervention when having to face the crazy drivers out there (LOL!), but because putting myself in the correct mindset to pray means that when I do pull out of the drive, I'm calm and not distracted; which makes me a much safer driver for others to be around. 
 
I also have made sure that I know three or four alternate routes to take to my usual destinations for those days when the highway is packed, or there's an accident that has backed up traffic in all three lanes for miles.  It might take longer to get to work by doing surface streets at the local speedlimit and dealing with red lights, but it will be a lot faster than sitting in a 2-hour long tailback on the interstate, fuming, and then being so agitated that I'd end up driving crazy myself once I got past the original problem.
 
I'm not saying that I don't get mad when I'm on the road (usually at someone who has done something dangerous or stupid), but I've made a conscious decision to try not to let that anger affect my driving.  I'm successful most of the time.
 
And sometimes I just pull off the road myself to let the idiots go by.
 
Have a great day! :)

  
The Garnet brothers numbered five, all between the mid-twenties and thirties.

When the eldest of three who worked at the same construction site, was severely gashed in an accident, they were told to get him to the emergency room quickly as the ambulance was out.

It would be impossible to say for sure that the moments lost stuck behind two drivers who sought to control the speed limit driving side-by-side were the reason that he suffered a fate worse than death.

But, you couldn't convince the brothers of that and they undertook measures.

The driver in the right lane, slightly less culpable but not free of guilt, got the picture pretty fast, sold up and moved away.

The perpetrator, a prominent figure in town, sought to justify what he had done in the larger context of civilization by writing letters to the editor.

He became, in short order, unemployed and then unemployable. He could not get a seat in a restaurant, his phone-in orders went undelivered, prescriptions unfilled and persons who had worked for decades in service to his family, found better offers.

I read, at the request of a friend, two different accounts of the story and it seemed clear that his undoing revolved around one sentence: "It is unfortunate that someone had to pay dearly to establish a point." That evidently having been that drivers were ignoring speed laws.

When I see someone coming from behind in a hurry, I get the hell out of the way and have, when necessary, used the shoulder to do it. I don't concern myself that someone may be losing blood, in labor or just nuts.

They come, they're here and then, they are gone, long gone. It is not my business to worry about it and we have several levels of professionals around here whose business it is.









 



 

Daniel~  Both Bebe and I work with kids so we already educate the less fortuanate and the common sense impaired.
 
I'm not sure if engineering a new society would put me out of job or  inspire me to  write a curriculum for world peace.  

DZ- It was a play on what Julia suggested- relax- no eugenics implied. (The twisted joke might make you laugh if you worked w/ children who are born & then not really raised by anyone- it's hugely frightenning for this country -the lack of good parenting that many of us had & which many children still have today.)
 
I'm really rather creeped out that you even attributed eugenics to my post...

DZ, bebe, Julia
 

Driving is a privilege and not a right. More stringent testing (written and driving) on a more frequent basis would be fine by me. The extra inconvenience would be offset by getting folks off the road that should not be driving. Good spatial judgment ,reflexes and yes a certain degree of" intelligence" must be required. I also think that the legal driving age should be upped a year. Take the unsafe, the inexperienced and the "too old and out of it" and other wise impaired drivers( this includes drunk and or drugged) off the road and we will have safer roads....and a efficient mass transit system will miraculously appear.

I'm a bad driver, I come from a long line of bad drivers...but I am not as bad as my brothers and my father. 
 
Once while we were on vacation at Camp Pendleton in California, my dad made a U-turn on the freeway...because "I missed the exit".  His justification was that it was in the early hours of the morning (still dark) and that no one else was on the freeway.  When we stopped at the light at the bottom of the off ramp, my mom jumped out of the car and refused to get back in until my dad had relinquished the driving seat to her.  It was a very quiet car ride to the airport after that.

morning miss blue !  i concur that driving is a privilege as well as flying.  i don't want to be dead right. 

 
 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwfmfMBLZiM&feature=related
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeRa3RtBiIU
 
 
 
 
 
keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.....

Went sking yesterday with my friends Matt & Nick ~ While Matt & I where on the lift watching the skiers this guy cuts right infront of this little girl & we hear her yell "HEY YOU'RE IN MY LANE".. I looked at Matt & stated how teaching the 7 yr olds how to ski is a great prep course for when they start driving...He laughed but the more we thought about it we actually realized it kind of is...
 
Stoney ~ I did see you're post from Christmas, (just been a bit busy)  Thank you you're too kind ~ and of course we're on for "Fat Tuesday". 
 
Mr. Peterman ~ Wore the Ona yesterday while skiing & had a lot of compliments & where did you find it ?'s ~  THANK YOU!! The wind picked up so I had to eventually put a hat on ~ but I LOVED wearing it & it kept my ears VERY warm :)
 
 
 
 
 
  

bebe~ sorry about that. too much cold medicine effects one's mental processes. I really should be napping, trying to get rid of this odd non-hog-virus ailment.

Miss Blue~ Great links.  Thanks.

Tailgaters are among my biggest pet peeves.  Recently, I have begun pulling over to the side of the road, if possible, and letting them pass me.  Apparently, I'm not in as big a hurry as they are.  Curiously, I have noticed that many of these people are young women . . .

 
 
 
 
julia...you will love this one then....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCMlSWlDX8
 
 
 
 
funny, how some of the greatest tunes are about impaired driving...

get your kicks on Route 66
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYApJtsyd0&feature=related
I'm old enough to remember the TV show!
 
 
 
Cyndy
  Too many places to be at the same time may contribute to this phenomenon.

Baby sitter, soccer games, meetings, grocery store or doctor's appointment on the lunch break etc.

What drives me mad is the person in the passing lane of a road with a 40 mph speed limit doing 20 mph. Pull over, PLEASE!!!

Like the clips, but how about something completely different:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZNSyP9v9M
 
or the always classic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Ts4mGIVW4
 
or the always wonderful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldyx3KHOFXw
 

Also the person in the left turn lane who pulls over into the middle of the right lane to make their left turn.

DZ- thank you for that post & I hope you are feeling better soon. Glad it's not H1N1.
 
It seems like driving dangerously & giving people who so clearly should NOT have a license is linked to all of the bad behavior that should be called out or even dealt w/ by the police- but because of the propensity to sue (for bad behavior at that!!!) I believe that many dangerous driving practices are left to pass. And that is the scariest thing of all. I don't, by any means, want a police state, but people who endanger other peoples' lives should not feel free to drive like crazy people. Pull them over, jail them, fine them- but keep us conscientous drivers safe. I used to get angry about the State trooper roadblocks and now I am all for them- get these people OFF the road!
 
This topic has made me determined to be a safe driver & more conscious of how a drive.

DANG it DZ ~ The tune from the last link will be stuck in my brain for weeks now!!!!!
 
 
 

Where I live, drivers are absolutely terrible about running red lights.  Often, while turning left just as my light turns red, I will see four or five cars behind me also turning left.  I have taken to driving just a tad slower than my normal blue-hair speed so that I can stop easily on the yellow and make all those behind me stop, too.  I see your point, Stoney, but running red lights is for people with loud sirens and flashing lights.
 
I really support the use of cameras to take photos of anyone running the red light.   Who cares if the owner of the car was not driving it at the time?  Maybe they'll get the point that they should only loan their car to a responsible driver.
 

Miss Blue~ Route 66 was on cable last year.  I think it was the American Life channel.  
 You're  right I loved that link.    I brought back lots of memories.
 

KORTHAL- Yes, people who go slow in the passing lane should be fined their entire paycheck for a year & their driver's license taken away for 25 years. They define stupid.
 My other favorite of really stupid people are the ones who pass one or even several cars as they approach a hill ( & really it is only by the grace of a higher power that these people seem to not crash into a car from the other lane- SINCE THEY WOULD NOT SEE IT COMING UNTIL THEY CAME UPON IT...)

just a reminder, people in the left lane need to slow down to make a left turn.
I hate it when the right on red folks coming from a side road to my left pull out in front of me and require a rapid deceleration on my part.
 

AAHHH, roadblocks.

The last time I was subjected to a road block/vehicle search what transpired could  be used as a comedy script.

10PM on a Friday before a long holiday weekend, 3 kids in the backseat one in the front, 4 book backpacks, 4 gym bags and girlie purses, several bags of groceries , back road( often used by the impaired and illegal drivers) and I run into a road block."Drivers license and registration please" as the officer scans the passengers and myself with a flash light to check for seatbelts. "No problem officer"....but no purse!

Sir, it must be in the back with all of the kids' stuff.'"Out of the car and look lady."

As the cars pile up in line behind me,( and in the other direction too as they must have been afraid to let the others through until I was cleared) I open the back hatch; pull all of the stuff out and onto the road, only to find the purse last. Then I have to dig in the purse to find my wallet and the license, and pile all of that junk back into the back of the car. On the way home, the kids confided in me they were sure I was going to jail.

 
 
 
that's right on red folks coming from the side road to my right.....I haven't had a drink either!

MISS BLUE- I'm glad you can laugh now because I bet you were not laughing then. One of the last times I was at a roadblock I realized my license had expired in the last month. When it was my turn I gave the trooper my license & he grinned at me & said,"You know this is expired, don't you?" I gave him my best shocked, home alone face & he was really nice & told me to get a new one. Which I did the next day.
 

How you are treated definitely lies in the demeanor of the trooper & what kind of mood he's in.

One time at a roadblock I saw a guy they had pulled over being led to the trooper vehicle. He had on leg chains & handcuffs attached to a belly chain & I thought- there's a story there & I'm glad I don't know it...

I drive 25,00 - 28,000 miles a year, mostly on Houston's freeways.  Whew!  My objective is to arrive alive, and considering what I see it's NOT everyone's top priority.... I offer my 'homebrew' advice for what it's worth.  (1) If there's no one for hundreds of feet in front of me, I can't hit them, even if they come to a dead halt.  (2) If there's no one behind me for hundreds of feet, chances are they can't hit me if I come to a dead halt.  (3) If no one is on either side of me, I don't have to worry about them changing lanes into my side.  (4) Exterior mirrors should be tilted 'outboard' so as to show as much of one's blindspots as possible. (5) Avoid all cars with dents; they came from an accident.  (6) If someone is in a hurry, let him/her pass.  If I arrive 23 seconds after he does, he'll still be getting out of his vehicle as I park closer to the Walmart than he is.  (7) Assume all persons coming up ramps think the word 'merge' means 'get out of my way; here I come!' (8)  Assume folks using cellphones are NOT deaf, but ARE blind.  (9) Find an 18-wheeler 'going your way', get back a few hundred feet, match his speed, and go 'cruise control'.   Rumor to the contrary, professional drivers drive more professionally than unpaid amateurs.   Also, they make fine linemen! (10) Keep looking way ahead.  (11) Never assume you won't come across ladders, chairs, tires, bags of clothes, and so on in the middle of the freeway.  (Some folks aren't good at tying knots or using tarps).  (12) If the speed limit on a ramp is 35 mph, and folks are driving at 70 mph, DO NOT obey the speed limit (especially on curves!). (13)  If you see folks slowing WAY down in front and no one in back seems to be slowing, hit the 4-way flasher for a few seconds; they may not notice break lights but SOMETIMES notice flashing lights.  (14)  If traffic is moving faster than the speed limit (duh!) always make sure some idiot is going way faster than you are; that way he can collect the ticket and have a leisurely chat with a friendly police officer as you pass them both.  (15) Assume someone in the left lane will cut across three lanes (in front of you, of course) to get to an exit he forgot while chatting on his/her cellphone.  Don't panic (if you're following rule #2).  (16) Never proceed through a green light without looking both ways.  If others proceed without looking they'll get T-boned a few feet from you, but better them than you.   .............  Geee ... I  was just getting warmed up.... time for a lunch break ;-) 

 
 
 
 
hitting the road...a 1 hour and 45 min trip, over a 21 mile bridge/tunnel and through some of the worst traffic in Virginia to get from one rural setting to another ,on the other side of a piece of megalopolis, for the weekend. Big horse show Saturday....be safe and remember, speed kills.
 
 
 
 
Doc, I use the flashing lights  on the bridge tunnel to warn those behind me of the stopped traffic at the mouth of the tunnels on busy weekends.
 
 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsmRuRp4cM

Miss Blue~ Have you ever considered a career as a music editor? 

I agree with you, stoney.  I'm off the road when I find that the car behind me just can't stand the idea of a car being ahead of them -- and are considering to go through me.
 
I don't know what their problem is, I never have, I suspect it's got to do with relieving them of agression or whatever, but I don't care.  I really don't care.
 
When I pass the smoking, twisted pile of metal and plastic and god knows what else, up the road -- half of which is the car that was behind me 5 minutes earlier -- I only care that I'm not the other half of that heap of metal.
 
Life's short.
I'm not interested in making it any shorter.
 
 

Lest anyone think, 'Gee, Doc is such a great driver...' (There are always some gullible folks....) think of the old saying, 'How do you get wisdom?  By experience!  And how do you get experience?  By not being wise!'  I'd be embarrassed to admit half the bone-headed things I've done while driving over my lifetime -- to the point I still shake when I think back on some of them.  (No, I'm NOT telling!).  BUT, having seen way too much heartbreak in my life (haven't we all?????), I'm getting better.  (Now, if senility just doesn't step in and reverse all the progress I've made.......... ).   Here are a few statistics:  In the past decade about 425,000 Americans have died in auto accidents.  The United States lost 407,000 men in World War II, 54,000 in Korea, and 58,000 in Vietnam.  These three wars spanned about ... one decade.  I won't even get into murder and suicide stats, except to say that they don't even come close to war and automobiles as killers....

Speaking of bad driving... 
 
This is a video of my friend Donna, driving in the snow.  A little preface, Donna is from Australia, she lives in Scotland just outside of Glasgow...they don't get a lot of snow and she definitely isn't used to driving in it. 
 
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/noonaspud/Crash?authkey=Gv1sRgCKuZy5nsuebc3wE#5417241670478751794
  
 
Then her boys decided to recreate the auto accident with sleds.
 
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/noonaspud/Snowy2?authkey=Gv1sRgCIaAn8Gs8v7YVg#5418016461477783698
 

I remember when highway death statistics were part of every holiday newscast. And, they even forcast how many,some days in advance!!!   .   Now, of course, driving under the influence has received a lot of attention, but I am here to tell it is far worse to drive fatigued, a somber thought; you have little clue to the sleep deprived driver about to get on the road..

My favorite curse to wish upon a person driving badly : May you have a human urgency....

...that is a reference to needing the,er,convenience

Cell phones, eating cereal while driving, reading a newspaper, shaving, drying hair in the vent (!), arguing with the passenger, turning around to yell at the kids/dog/etc, "directing" the music (which I can hear from outside the car), and weaving new lanes are all "wall climbers."  But, as a motorcycle rider, my main pet peeve is that most car drivers don't actually DRIVE the car, they just aim it.  They don'y pay attention to road conditions--especially here in the Northwest--ignoring ice, rain, and fog.  I figure it's an even bet I'll make it home every time I throw a leg over my hog. Happy New Year to all!  I hope it's a joyous and prosperous one for everyone.

Korthal, the people pulling into the left lane to turn right bug me also.  And just to reassure everybody, when I am tailgated, I am driving at least the speed limit or five mph over.  I may be old, but I'm not that old!

CYNDY:
 
That too. OMG!!!!
 
Running up their butts if they are not giving you some space.
 
And you know they are not because they are in their own world of driver stuff!

I had to use the word "stuff" because I couldn't find the word I wanted to use.
 
Any help out there??

stuff works for me....... 

Wow.
I'm reading the comments, and I'm grateful we moved to the country.  It's better here.
 
Granted, hay wagons are slow, and there's a law in Wisconsin that says you can't pass a hay wagon in an automobile (true law), it scares the horse pulling the wagon -- but I admit to breaking that rule in the past and I intend to break it in the future, so country road driving is pretty easy going, most of the time.  Not to mention the landscape is beautiful any time of the year, gentle and rolling hills and meadows, and it's almost too calming, you have to remind yourself that you're driving a car.
 
Also, fellas in red pick up trucks tend to be prickly-natured, and no matter how fast you're going down a country road, they want to go faster, so if you see one coming, just turn off and wait till it passes.  I don't know what it is about red pick up trucks and country roads, but it's something to this.  Black pick up trucks don't tailgate, as a rule.  Or so I've observed.
 
So...........just so long as I don't get caught scaring the hay wagon horse, I like country driving.  Plus:  there's always a very good chance you'll make the wrong turn somewhere, and that will be the road that you've been looking for, forever, the most photogenic stretch of road in the entire county. 
 
And what a coincidence, you just happen to have your camera with you. 
 
Nice.
 
"Take me home country road..." -- after I get a few dozen pictures.

Two on TCM tonight:

8:00 PM EST
On The Waterfront (1954)
A young stevedore takes on the mobster who rules the docks.
Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger Dir: Elia Kazan BW-108 mins, TV-PG
Just look at the cast, it's as good as it gets, and then Elia Kazan directs and this can't help but bes one excellent movie.  RIP Karl Malden, we lost him just a few months ago; he's brilliant in this role.  As are they all...especially Brando, he created himself with this role. 

 
 
10:00 PM EST
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
A perpetual truant joins his friends for a day of adventure and self-discovery.
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Charlie Sheen, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara Dir: Kenny Ortega C-103 mins, TV-MA
Oh funny movie.  From the grit of the waterfront, TCM seques to the manicured homes and glass walled garage (gotta love the garage and the red Ferrari) of Highland Park on Chicago's North Shore...I still laugh at this movie, haven't seen it in a while, so I intend to watch it tonight.  Ferris' friend Cameron lived in "the house" which was up for sale last spring, glass walled garage hanging over the ravine and all the rest.   The slow real estate market had it going as a "steal" at...$2.5 million.  Neat house though, nice garage for your red Ferrari. Unless.....  No.  Spoiler.  Not going to say that.  ;)
 
 
Here's a link to the Ferris Bueller house, the actual one, with pictures:
 
http://raisingtheroof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/ferris-bueller-house-on-the-market/
 
 

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/370-Beech-Street_Highland-Park_IL_60035_1109385563#requestclose
 
 
This might be your lucky day.  I found the above listing and guess what?  The Bueller house at 370 Beech Street Highland Park Illinois, all 5,300 square feet of it, is still on the market.
 
And the price has dropped to $1,800,000.
 
Walk don't run to your realtor.
This is akin to a Blue Light Special.
 
Click the link for pictures.

Ah thank you Park; been looking to downsize

You're welcome Andy.  I'm always happy to be of assistance.
;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI

this is the one you will be singing tomorrow

The bigger the city...the bigger the driving problems. I know...I lived in Louisiana and now, I'm in Houston!