We just got back from vacation, and it involved a bit of driving. With this recent additional experience, I can list a few things on the road that really annoy the heck out of me.
- Not getting to the right (left) side of the lane when making a right (left) turn. Using the shoulder to pass someone who's making a left turn is perfectly fine as long as it can be done safely. But if they don't make a little room, it can be dangerous. Unnecessarily swinging wide on a turn qualifies in this category.
- Hitting the brakes on the highway for no good reason. It doesn't just slow the car, it also flashes this big red light at all of the trailing cars. Then the next guy has to hit his brakes, etc.
- Driving slow in the second lane of a 3- or 4-lane highway. For part of the trip I was driving a U-Haul, so I couldn't always legally use the left lane(s). But some people just sat there doing 5-under in the 2nd lane. It was pass on the right or wait.
- Cutting people off from behind when merging. Picture some shy person trying to merge onto US-22 E from McArthur Rd south in Whitehall. More aggressive people behind them sometimes get impatient and merge at speed (like you're supposed to do) but then drive right past the shy person who was trying to merge in front of them. If you can't get over to the passing lane, this is actually illegal.
- Slowing down early. Deceleration and left-turn lanes are (usually) there for a reason. People who slow down before getting over just make all the other traffic slow down (and then speed up again), wasting gas and spitting out pollution.
- Following trucks, vans, and SUV's. Yeah, I guess they have a right to the road as much as I do, I just hate following them. When driving in traffic, I actually watch through car in front of me. That way if something happens down the road, I get to find out at about it sooner and often slow down before the guy I'm following. Big vehicles block my vision of the road and of street signs, so I drift back to leave a larger gap than normal. Of course, someone then squeezes in there, but as long as I can see around him, the restricted view is now his problem, not mine.
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6 comments:
My driving pet peeves:
a) People who try to pass you on the right.
b) Idiots that tailgate you with their high beams on.
c) Grandma making 20mph in a 25mph zone where everybody makes 40.
d) People that drive side by side blocking every single lane of the highway.
e) Townies that try to merge onto US-22E from McArthur Rd S at 5mph. The laws of physics are clearly against that one.
f) Dudes that are desperate to pass you when there's nowhere to go after you they do pass you.
g) Retards that slow down to watch the accident.
And, of course, most of these points could be summarized in two words:
Jersey drivers
I absolutely hate people who can't merge onto highways. The mentioned MacArthur Road exit is one of the worst in the area. If you need to stop to find a hole, do it at the yield sign, not the other end of the ramp, so that you can actually accelerate to get into the hole.
I also hate people who brake hard to let someone onto the highway. Adjust your speed, yes, but don't say "Two hundred feet ahead! A car that's not moving at the end of that ramp! I must begin to drive half the speed limit as soon as possible! Death to everyone behind me!" Traffic naturally sychronizes speeds to onramps when the conditions are right (Schuylkill Expressway, 22 West at Airport Road during rush hour) and we can all see the result (Schuylkill Expressway, 22 West at Airport Road during rush hour) so why force it?
I also hate everything else that you guys mentioned.
The passing on the right thing is something I would really like to see go away. Unfortunately, because we don't enforce laws about keeping right except to pass, faster traffic often must pass on the right.
This was especially true when I was driving the truck and the left lane was verboten. I can understand people who don't want to deal with merging traffic and use the 2nd lane as a driving lane, but if that's the left-most lane a truck can use, get the heck out of the way once in a while.
I'd like to add low-riders & granny-looking-through-the-steering-wheel. They can barely see ahead.
Lowering the drivers' seat makes it impossible to check your blind spots, especially with the higher headrests of modern seats. I saw one guy whose eye level was at the dashboard, and he was peeking over it like a soldier in a foxhole. Add granny's cataracts, and you've got someone driving blind.
I'm not opressing urban hispanic culture or the elderly. I'm concerned for the saftey of every other driver near them.
My biggest pet peeve is the slow-poke who wasted all that money on the sports car but drives it like it's a golf cart. Why, oh, WHY spend $50,000 on a Corvette when you're going to drive it like it's an underpowered Kia???
If you're going to buy a sports car (any model) then USE it... or let me pass you up aboard my Kia.
i have a few for your good collection
1. people who stop at a stop sign way before you (and are coming towards you), but then they wait for you to stop before making there turn.
2. the retards that try to cross an intersection when its uber busy who then caught in the red...
now when the light is green for the other direction half those people cant go cause some idiot could not spare another 40 seconds...
3. people who tailgate you even when you are not driving in the left lane.
4. when you are behind a bunch of cars in traffic and people still tailgate you...
5. poeple who come within inches of you to make there turn...while you are walking across the street...
6. those yuppies at the mall that jam up traffic by prowling and waiting for a spot close to the entrance just to save 2 minutes of walking. Then they walk around the mall for hours on end and that dosent seem to bother them...
7. people who double park, jamming up a lane of traffic cause they cant bear the extra minute of walking from a proper parking spot into the store and back.
8. people who park across several spots infront of a gas station cause they dont have the skill to pull into and out of a spot.
9. people that dont center there car in a space, forcing you to sqeeze into a door that can barely open.
10. people that park in a space with one end of there car sticking out allot... especially in narrow underground lots.
i really wish that it was more difficult to qualify for a license, seems like all the idiots got retard examiners...
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