Hell is other drivers
 

To paraphrase Sartre: Hell is other drivers.

Just wanted to make this thread to vent a bit.

I like Austin, but Texas drivers are all complete tools.

Case in point:

Coming home tonight from work. More or less bumper to bumper traffic. I always keep at least a couple of car lengths behind the car in front -- more if the traffic is running smooth. Tonight this ****wad followed me for 10 miles while maintaining less than 5 feet from my back bumper at all times. Since there was heavy traffic, I couldn't get away from him.

I'm not the road rage type, but tailgaters really tick me off.

We all know that we are awesome and have no bad driving habits, but what are the things about other drivers that drive you mad?

Everyone is in hell and everyone thinks they are the only one surrounded by demons

amirite?

Hmm... wasn't there a thread about others driving style in the past???

BTW, how fast were you driving when the other driver tailgate you?

5 feet in a crawl? That's not bad at all, here in California the standard following distance seems to be about 3-4 feet :P At normal highway speeds increase that to 7.

7 feet at 55-65? holy mother of pearl! I follow the 3 second rule at all times. Actually, I'm probably the bane of the other drivers because they all seem in such a hurry to get 10 feet in front of me.

Today the traffic was moving around 20 miles per hour in the left lane. But speed doesn't seem to matter, I get tailgated at 75 mph in the left lane by monster pickup trucks while passing cars going 60 in the middle lane. There's almost always a wreck I pass on the way to work and on the way home. Texas. No wonder my insurance rates are so high.

Yea see in driver's ed, they told me that you're supposed to keep 4 seconds following distance. On the highway once I actually counted how many seconds behind the next car I was, and I counted 2 seconds, and this was when there was little congestion and following distances were big! I've driven when the road was busy but moving along, and I was quite scared by how people were following at 7 feet ish going almost 60 mph. I guess I exaggerated, it's not typical per se, but people here definitely don't feel uncomfortable following very close on the highway.

Next to tailgaters, another traffic peeve I have is pending closed lanes. Not so much the lane itself, or the fact that it's closing soon, but moreso the assholes that decided to use the lane until the last possible second.

Instead of merging when traffic is moving smoothly, you know, to maintain flow, there's always a dozen FC*KWADS that absolutely need to fly down the empty lane (soon to be closed) to get past as many people as possible. Then, as if by some divine entitelment, they just wedge themselves into your lane like "oh, this lane is closing, and the cones are MAKING me merge into your lane without looking OR using my blinker". It fucks EVERYONE and I HATE THEM. DIE!

Like I tell my kids, quite your damn complaining.

Trying to control and regulate others is my peeve.

:laughabove:


Don't get me started on that. And how often is it a BMW SUV driving soccer Mom -- or I guess in Austin, it's picking the kids up from Karate class ....

It's good to vent. If people keep shit bottled up they turn into serial killers. Better a few harsh words now than dead bodies later. :D

You just brought back bad memories of High School Summer reading and French names I could never pronounce.

:mad0260::mad0260::mad0260:


I hate tailgaters too. Not as much as Summer reading though...

It rhymes with "dart" :)

(kinda)

As long as it is not raining, 20 mph with 7-10 feet gap is fine, if the driver behind you actually pay attention on the driving.

As to the passing left lane. Yes, running at 75 mph is 10 mph above the speed limit. However, if by running at 75 mph at the left lane and blocking all the traffic behind you, I would say you are running slow. IMHO when you pass on the left, make it snappy. Speed up, pass from the left, once clear, move right and move along. Simple as that. 75 mph may be fast to you, but that may not be fast for other people. No need to hug the left lane just because you think that is fast enough for you.

And I thought 2 seconds was the rule! :bonk:

In fact, I thought there was some study that human with good reflex and *attention* (barring cellphone use or chatting) should be able to react within a second or so to brake. Thus, the 2 second rules. The higher the speed, the more space you have in the front. Simple physics.

Actually, I believe I first encountered the 70 mph tailgating was in the SF area on highway 101 out of the airport. That was scary as hell, but then you got to adapt with the flow and go with it. Some days later I was tailgating other drivers at the same speed as well.