Covid Affecting People's Driving

win231

win231

SF VIP
Location
CA
After 53 years of driving with only minor incidents, yesterday I'm driving along at 40 mph (speed limit on that street is 35) & look in my rear-view mirror & see a guy in a big pickup truck a few inches behind me; the "GMC" & part of the grille are all that's visible in my mirror. After a few seconds of tailgating, he whooshes around me, speeding in & out of traffic. A few blocks later, I see the same truck smashed into a light pole on the sidewalk and a woman lying on the pavement. Apparently he lost control, went up on the sidewalk & hit her before hitting the light pole.

I've also seen many close ones, lots of speeders & also lots of horn honking.
 

SeaBreeze said:
What makes you think Covid had anything to do with it? Maybe it's just holiday madness. I hope the woman is okay.
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Maybe, maybe not. But over the past few months, I've seen more speeders & reckless drivers than I've seen in 20 years. The logical reason is the frustration, loss of jobs, loss of income, increased stress etc.
 

Around here, other than the weekend drunks, the biggest hazard, and cause of accidents, is cell phones. This virus hasn't changed anything other than fewer people are venturing away from home....so that has created a slight downturn in traffic.
 
A lot of times there are accidents because people are in too big of a hurry or because they're not paying attention. One of the nurses we work with got hit by a car recently and she was in the crosswalk with the light in her favor when she got hit. People getting hit by cars is becoming more frequent especially with texting and all.
 
SeaBreeze said:
What makes you think Covid had anything to do with it? Maybe it's just holiday madness. I hope the woman is okay.
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It would be quite a miracle if she is okay. The truck probably crushed her against the light pole. And from the front-end damage, he hit the pole pretty hard.
 
Sunny said:
I've never heard of any connection between Covid and reckless driving before. That certainly is a new slant on the subject.
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I think you are misinterpreting the connection as a physical connection. Not what I'm saying.
 
I've definitely noticed a difference in driving and drivers since the Covid crisis started. More people are going faster through stop signs knowing that there are less people on the road. When driving I've definitely noticed more aggressive drivers, more tail gaiting and also more people driving faster than one normally sees.
 
I'm literally appalled at the driving of some, if not many. Tailgaters, gunning the engine to pass you. Sometimes they make the next light ahead, but many times you meet them at the light or even pass them as they sit in the turn lane. I don't get the mentality. I'm not in such a big hurry. I drive the speed limit and yet that's not enough for some.

I'm sorry you witnessed this accident and I too hope the woman is OK.
 
One thing I've noticed on the major highways, in recent months, is the Lack of police monitoring for speeders, via radar, etc. There used to be parts of the roads we travel to/from the city, that almost always had a "speed trap". My radar detector would go off making me glance at the speedometer to be sure I wasn't over the limit. Since Mid-Summer, the cops haven't been there, and traffic is often moving at 80MPH. Perhaps this virus has taken a toll on the numbers of officers, such that they are only responding to emergencies????
 
win231 said:
Maybe, maybe not. But over the past few months, I've seen more speeders & reckless drivers than I've seen in 20 years. The logical reason is the frustration, loss of jobs, loss of income, increased stress etc.
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My sister said exactly the same thing the other day, and she blames the same factors that you do. She also says there's a lot more angry drivers out there, more road rage and more just plain bad manners. One incident - she was taking me to a store and there was a handicapped spot near the door (I have a placard). As we started to pull in, a pickup truck shot past us, nearly hitting us, and took the spot. It didn't have a handicapped plate or placard and the driver was a young man in his 20s. When my sister pointed out that he was parked illegally, he told her to F-off. I've never had anything like that happen before.
 
Autumn said:
My sister said exactly the same thing the other day, and she blames the same factors that you do. She also says there's a lot more angry drivers out there, more road rage and more just plain bad manners. One incident - she was taking me to a store and there was a handicapped spot near the door (I have a placard). As we started to pull in, a pickup truck shot past us, nearly hitting us, and took the spot. It didn't have a handicapped plate or placard and the driver was a young man in his 20s. When my sister pointed out that he was parked illegally, he told her to F-off. I've never had anything like that happen before.
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Just a FYI: I'd strongly suggest advising your sister to NEVER say anything to a driver who parks illegally; especially one who takes a handicapped space. The person already KNOWS it's a handicapped space when he parks there, which indicates he's an inconsiderate slob, so telling him/her is pointless & can lead to violence - which it has:
 
Oh yes. I have noticed this also and it has been since the virus hit us in March cuz there was only me and maybe 4 other cars on the road going 90 MPH, (except me), and acting like hotrodders. Since most people were self isolating they wouldn't know this and could not corroborate.
 

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