Drivers I'd like to strangle.

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
I'll start it off with the guy, who pulled out in front on me, this morning. He pulled right out from a store parking lot, right into my lane. I had to stomp on my breaks to keep from back-ending him. Then, he goes 20 miles under the speed limit. He was doing 24m/h in a 45m/h zone. It's a two lane rural road with lots of traffic, there was no way to pass him. He cuts me off, then does 24m/h for mile after mile.
Yeah, the thought of strangling him did occur to me.
 

People are in a hurry, and they don't care to be courteous. They'll cut you off and run you over to get where they're going. When you're doing the speed limit, you're going too slow. Yep, they'll tailgate you, pass you and then slow down when they get in front of you. When they pass you, they'll curse you and shoot you the finger. People are nuts.
 
I think 3 things have contributed to so many bad drivers on the road;

1) At US high schools, driver's education class is no longer available, and where it is available, parents have to pay $300 to $450 for it....per student.
2) Driver's education is no longer available through the INS/immigration services.
3) anyone who wants to ace the test to get a drivers license can watch cheat videos on YouTube and a bunch of other platforms.

I don't even see driver handbooks at our DMV anymore. Maybe you can only get one when you apply for a learner's permit, and maybe you have to pay for it.
 
It is simple. Much like with many other out of control crimes in this era it is due to a lack of ENFORCEMENT and PUNISHMENT ! Yes many of us can be trusted with the Honor System to do the right things. But our way way overpopulated world is now dominated by selfish, inconsiderate, ignorant, cheats, liars, law breakers, unethical, immoral, humans.

Unless some law breakers feel pain, they will not comply with laws and policies. Some will then blurt out, "That would cause our jails and prisons to fill up even more than in the past. That is not an issue given my second recommendation. Our Western societies need to bring back what most psychologists have seething hate for, CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. Psychologists that ironically don't truly understand the nature of many of we Earth monkeys. Instead they let many low wage earners, homeless, and illegal immigrants, off unpunished, not even fined, because they are too poor to pay and just say "Don't do that again". That is why within actual criminal organizations their masters start enforcement by breaking fingers. There are endless stories in news like the below though politicians want the rest of us to ignore it all.

https://dcist.com/story/23/05/24/dc-unaware-driver-fatal-crash-prior-dui-convictions/
snippet:

...that D.C. resident Nakita Marie Walker, 43, had been charged with three counts of second-degree murder for the mid-March crash that killed three people in another car. Walker had three prior DUI convictions in D.C. — in 2015, 2018, and 2020, the last of which was only sentenced last year — prompting questions from lawmakers about whether the DMV had taken steps to revoke her license or otherwise stop her from driving....
 
Remember when the drivers manual said to leave one car length for every 10 miles of speed. Yeah, right. Nowadays, you leave two car lengths between you and the car in front of you and five cars will try to fit in.

My special curses go to the guy who's three inches off my back bumper like I can go any faster than the guy who's half a car length in front of me.

I'll admit, I'm a lead-foot but if there's someone behind me who wants to go even faster than me, I'll pull into the right lane. Heck, on a 2-lane country road, I'll pull OFF the road as soon as I safely can to let you continue on your way. I wish there was an overhead sign on the highway that said, "IF YOU'RE IN THE FAST LANE AND EVERYONE IS PASSING YOU IN THE SLOW LANE, YOU'RE IN THE *WRONG* LANE!"

And road rage? Whoo-ee, there's a lot of that going on. I was on the freeway last weekend and saw a guy trying to "block" another guy from passing. The one who wanted to pass was whipping back and forth trying to get ahead and getting more and more agitated. It was a high-speed accident looking for a place to happen. I'd never try to block someone......just let them go. One of my dad's favorite sayings when he saw something like that was, "Hurry on, fool....hell's only half full!"
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I'll start it off with the guy, who pulled out in front on me, this morning. He pulled right out from a store parking lot, right into my lane. I had to stomp on my breaks to keep from back-ending him. Then, he goes 20 miles under the speed limit. He was doing 24m/h in a 45m/h zone. It's a two lane rural road with lots of traffic, there was no way to pass him. He cuts me off, then does 24m/h for mile after mile.
Yeah, the thought of strangling him did occur to me.
Click to expand...
You should have strangled him. This would have been your good deed for the day and the world would never miss this offensive jerk!
 
Sometimes worse (in my opinion) are another kind of driver, the bike rider. Never can be absolutely sure what’s next with them. We have bike lanes around here, and those who ride on the line, but presumably still expect cars to grant them 3 feet clearance. And then there are the electric bikes, basically motorcycles with big wheels that pretend to be bicycles. Grrrr.
 
I think it should be against the law to deliberately drive to irritate others. For example, driving slow in no-pass areas but then speeding way up in passing areas. Also, deliberate lane blocking on freeways. It would be hard to prove, but with new technology and dash cams, maybe not so difficult.
 
Michael Z said:
I think it should be against the law to deliberately drive to irritate others. For example, driving slow in no-pass areas.
Click to expand...
That's what my guy was doing by driving 20 miles under the speed limit. I remember an old psych study about that. Turns out, it is a "power" thing. The driver gets to control those behind him. Everybody has to go at his chosen speed and the more cars behind him gives him more power. It makes the driver feel important.
 
There’re are laws against driving well below the speed limit and erratic driving. Perhaps if you called it in, the police would arrive and pull him over. If nothing else it would help ruin his day.
 
Murrmurr said:
I think 3 things have contributed to so many bad drivers on the road;

1) At US high schools, driver's education class is no longer available, and where it is available, parents have to pay $300 to $450 for it....per student.
Click to expand...
I'll swear that these "kids"(anyone under 50) have learned to drive by playing the video game Grand theft Auto.


Murrmurr said:
I don't even see driver handbooks at our DMV anymore. Maybe you can only get one when you apply for a learner's permit, and maybe you have to pay for it.
Click to expand...
They have them, my wife had to go in to take the written test to renew, earlier this year. They gave her a printed copy of the DMV handbook, although it can be downloaded here -> https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/california-driver-handbook/

P.S. I personally loathe going to the DMV, hope I never have to set foot there again.
 
Nathan said:
I'll swear that these "kids"(anyone under 50) have learned to drive by playing the video game Grand theft Auto.:ROFLMAO:

True on all levels. ;)

They have them, my wife had to go in to take the written test to renew, earlier this year. They gave her a printed copy of the DMV handbook, although it can be downloaded here -> https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/california-driver-handbook/

P.S. I personally loathe going to the DMV, hope I never have to set foot there again.
Click to expand...
If the DMV is a standard for how gov't agencies work, then no one should wonder why so many throw shade at the gov't.

My wife told me the handbook is available online, so, yeah, I found it and checked it out. There's some stuff that used to be in there that isn't anymore, mostly on the topic of driver courtesy. No surprise. No surprise either that the entire section on hand signals isn't there....and I realized how dang long it's been since I read the DMV driver's handbook.
 
Murrmurr said:
I think 3 things have contributed to so many bad drivers on the road;

1) At US high schools, driver's education class is no longer available, and where it is available, parents have to pay $300 to $450 for it....per student.
2) Driver's education is no longer available through the INS/immigration services.
3) anyone who wants to ace the test to get a drivers license can watch cheat videos on YouTube and a bunch of other platforms.

I don't even see driver handbooks at our DMV anymore. Maybe you can only get one when you apply for a learner's permit, and maybe you have to pay for it.
Click to expand...
It has made a big difference after these types of programs stopped .......... when it was in high schools many more received better instruction .

the $$$ for drivers ED in high school ( i sent my kids through) was less expensive then private......... but some in school system thought it pointed out kids whose parents could not afford it..... so now not available in school........ if they needed private lessons would be far more expensive.....
so instead parents teach their bad habits or misunderstanding of traffic laws to kids .....

in my state under 18 need some sort of documented instruction but after 18 just take a test?
Does not inspire safety to me.
I knew a lady who has NEVER held a license but have driven for decades.
 
A pet hate of mine is when driving on a dual carriageway and there is no one behind me.
The car in the right lane will force their way in front of me instead of backing off slightly and moving into my lane behind me.
No, must be in front of me.
 
David777 said:
It is simple. Much like with many other out of control crimes in this era it is due to a lack of ENFORCEMENT and PUNISHMENT ! Yes many of us can be trusted with the Honor System to do the right things. But our way way overpopulated world is now dominated by selfish, inconsiderate, ignorant, cheats, liars, law breakers, unethical, immoral, humans.

Unless some law breakers feel pain, they will not comply with laws and policies. Some will then blurt out, "That would cause our jails and prisons to fill up even more than in the past. That is not an issue given my second recommendation. Our Western societies need to bring back what most psychologists have seething hate for, CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. Psychologists that ironically don't truly understand the nature of many of we Earth monkeys. Instead they let many low wage earners, homeless, and illegal immigrants, off unpunished, not even fined, because they are too poor to pay and just say "Don't do that again". That is why within actual criminal organizations their masters start enforcement by breaking fingers. There are endless stories in news like the below though politicians want the rest of us to ignore it all.

https://dcist.com/story/23/05/24/dc-unaware-driver-fatal-crash-prior-dui-convictions/
snippet:

...that D.C. resident Nakita Marie Walker, 43, had been charged with three counts of second-degree murder for the mid-March crash that killed three people in another car. Walker had three prior DUI convictions in D.C. — in 2015, 2018, and 2020, the last of which was only sentenced last year — prompting questions from lawmakers about whether the DMV had taken steps to revoke her license or otherwise stop her from driving....
Click to expand...
In Nevada if you have 3 dui’s in 7 years you go to prison.
 
Murrmurr said:
If the DMV is a standard for how gov't agencies work, then no one should wonder why so many throw shade at the gov't.

My wife told me the handbook is available online, so, yeah, I found it and checked it out. There's some stuff that used to be in there that isn't anymore, mostly on the topic of driver courtesy. No surprise. No surprise either that the entire section on hand signals isn't there....and I realized how dang long it's been since I read the DMV driver's handbook.
Click to expand...
A state DMV in general is a hot mess, having to manage records of both driver's and their licenses, vehicle ownership and registration, records of traffic violations etc. Plus, dealing on the frontline with less than happy / less than patient /less than courteous drivers...the public contact is almost as toxic as what the Sheriff's Dept. has to deal with. I understand and empathize with the DMV, however that being said- I want nothing to do with them, ever.
 
I think drivers who are too intolerant of other drivers' foibles and mistakes are part of the problem. There is no reason to take every act of the other drivers personally, create an imaginary explanation for their motive, and then react emotionally based on the made-up reason you attribute to them.

Almost all of us have to drive, so the road is at all times going to be a mix of tired people, hyper people, crazy people, low-IQ people, sick people, drunk/impaired people, stressed-out people, laid-back no-hurry people, late to work or to to catch a plane etc and feeling anxious/desperate to miraculously be on time in spite of having left late, and all the other capacities (or lack of) that humans have.

We'd probably be happier if we focused on how many good deeds we could do while driving (letting someone merge in or pass etc) instead of focusing on real and perceived slights.

If I'd had the original poster's experience of someone pulling out in front of me and then driving slow, I'd assume they were old or have poor vision. Or if I assumed something worse like they were drunk or evil, I'd still not take it personally and feel any extra bad feeling other than the tedium of yet another life educational experience in patience.
 
Bretrick said:
A pet hate of mine is when driving on a dual carriageway and there is no one behind me.
The car in the right lane will force their way in front of me instead of backing off slightly and moving into my lane behind me.
No, must be in front of me.
Click to expand...
Might have something to do with the fact that unless you are the lead dog, the scenery never changes.......
 
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