Can someone explain to me...(crappy driver habits)
 

...as to why it's so hard for people to look behind them when they're backing up? Especially when they're in an SUV?

Some dude in a Jeep Compass backs up into my front end this afternoon and crushes my driver-side front fender, bumper, cracked my headlight, and that's just what I can see.

Just now in a parking lot at a mall, I'm already 3/4's backed out of a parking space and a freaking Nissan Murano parked in a spot behind me to my left decides to start pulling out as well and didn't stop til I honked. I would've gone ballistic on this person if I got hit twice in one day.

Seriously, WTF is wrong with people.:mad0260:

Our cars are pretty small. I could picture them, possibly, not seeing you.

^yeah... I drove an F150 for a while and it's hard to see when cars are so small and low. Good thing the 2012 F150 fx2 came with rear back up camera and sensors!

Honestly, I could totally understand and be forgiving if I was directly behind a big car, but in these cases, it was a matter of them not paying attention. If I can see the driver in their mirror, then they should be able to see me, which were the cases today. A simple mirror or shoulder check would've made all the difference because at least half of my car was in the next lane. At least the Murano stopped when they heard my horn...I just wish I could say the same about the Jeep.

This is the third time in the last year too. Call me crazy, but I always check all 3 mirrors, then shoulder check in two directions, and inch my way out while constantly scanning for people/cars that can pop out from the sides.

You should get bright hids so and a very loud exhaust to warn people when you are around. That's what I am going to do later on.

Wow you have really bad luck.. first the screwdriver break in and now this. :thumbdown:

Hopefully you won't have to pay a dime through insurance..

Probably the same reason people open doors into other cars, don't pull over while doing ten under on one-lane roads despite the presence of plenty of paved turnouts, roll through intersections totally out-of-turn, slop across painted lines on the roads for no particular reason, text / fiddle with their phones while driving, don't watch for motorcyclists, etc: they're lazy and don't care about cars, driving, or other people. Usually it's not a spiteful thing, they just "aren't/weren't thinking."

I really don't get it either.

Maybe people can't be bothered to think because they're driving massive, yacht-sized cars packed to the gills with safety equipment that they think will prevent accidents or at least eliminate most of accidents' health risks. Then again, accidents happened all the time when cars were really unsafe as well, so that's probably not the cause. People are just bad at things. Normally I like to give people the benefit of the doubt (who hasn't had moments were they did something stupid), but then you watch people driving and realize that they've had as many of those "moments" in the five minutes you've been following them as you've had in the past five years, and you realize there really are just some people who are awful drivers. Oh well: in fairness to them they were probably never taught how to be decent ones. Blame the state for issuing licences without actually providing or demanding any form of meaningful training (Or taking high-risk individuals off the roads-- I find it really funny that people who cause accidents due to being drunk get the runaround, but people who repeatedly cause accidents while sober just see their insurance rates go up... what difference does it make why someone's an awful driver! People with tons of at-fault accidents should probably get suspensions...).

Hahaha, loud pipes save lives.

"If you drive a rubbish car it means you have no interest in driving. If you have no interest in something it means you're no good at it, therefore you should lose your driving licence." Jeremy clarksonious

So true

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It's weird. This has happened to me twice now. The first time, I was waiting for this Asian woman :sigh: in a big SUV to back out of her parking spot so I could take it since it was busy at the mall and cars were lined up waiting for spots. Anyway, she reverse and turns her car so she can go the other way (the way I'm facing) so her rear end is coming towards my car. Apparently she didn't realize someone was waiting for her spot and kept reversing. I honked, and she stopped, and then kept reversing. And then I honked again, she stopped for a second, and then kept reversing. She wouldn't stop after multiple honks (people were even staring at this point) and she stopped a few inches from the front of my car when I just honked continuously and a pedestrian ran over to her car to tell her to stop until she decided to stop and finally get out to see that she almost hit my car. I guess she didn't see me in her rear view. How could she, with eyes like -.- ? (jk jk)
Second time was when I was parallel parked on a street behind a big F150 and the lady in it (white this time) started backing up, WAYYY more than she needed to and almost hit my car. Luckily, I had only just parked there so I hadn't left my car yet, so I honked and that got her to just move forward out of the stop. No idea why she kept backing up when there were no cars in front of hers that she wanted to avoid hitting. Maybe she was trying to hit mine on purpose? :iono: Mostly likely not, but I know our cars are basically impossible to see if you're in a big vehicle without a reverse camera and sensors.

I've made a habit of only parking next to sedans and smaller cars. No SUVs, no minivans, no trucks. If the only spot available is next to one of these bigger vehicles, I go and park further away. I'd rather walk an extra 20 seconds than risk having my car get hit.

I was bumped into by someone non-Asian and non-female just recently while he was reversing doing a U-turn on his Venza. Good thing I was driving my 10+ yr old Ford beater and it was a minor scratch.


Point is: there are plenty of bad drivers out there regardless of race and gender.


And driving/road skills tend to deteriorate with the reliance on technology and lack of strict training in order to acquire a license... and of course carelessness of such drivers.


Gotta learn defensive driving yourself too...

My pet peeve is when I am going to work in the morning, waiting to make a left turn out of my subdivision onto the main road. Cars facing the opposite direction looking to turn right to the main road frequently fail to use their turn indicator. As a result I am left sitting there expecting them to proceed straight through the intersection only to find I have waited for nothing when they make a right turn.

These fuckers must think they are exempt from using turn signals and the the other motorists are here to accommodate them in rush hour traffic. Admittedly, I do sometimes cut these people off without using my turn indicator as I pass them going down the main road.

There is a 4 way stop sign directly in front of my house and very few people stop for it or depart in proper sequence when there is traffic. Oh, and theres a high school on the opposite side.

I always thought this might be directly attributed to the large proportion of Russian immigrants in my neighborhood but thinking that they believe they are above the law is just prejudice on my part. Never mind the predominantly Asian area I work in. As if nobody ever observes the propensity for poor and discourteous driving there lol.

I'm always amazed at the number of drivers who put total trust in another driver that they know nothing about. They don't know if the driver of that other car is retarded, intoxicated, partially blind, deaf, or on the verge of going ballistic. If you drive like everyone else is out to get you it's possible you might be able to avoid a few fender benders (or worse) in your lifetime. It's called defensive driving.

I get it! As you have alluded to, many drivers are not totally responsible.
It therefore behooves one to be more vigilant and be "defensive drivers'. Some of it is just plain experience. I suggest that one drive like they are in a combat zone: Be vigilant, smart, cautious, always on alert. Of course many drivers don't know what I am talking about, i.e. combat zone.

This applies to the OP in his parking discipline/method.

As to "loud pipes saves save lives" this is no guarantee, in fact, not the best way to drive/ride DEFENSIVELY.

See post # 13.