Don't be "that guy"...

[SirBrass]

I like a practical touch screen with reasonable accuracy tolerance. On mine, you can miss the button but still hit the vicinity & it will acknowledge it correctly. Unlike stock, this means I can have minimal eyes-down time to hit things like "pause/play", "answer/hangup ", or "next" or "previous".

On phone I am. Therefore, if mistakes I make, Frank Oz blame you should.

[zdr93523]

Good article!

I don't do any of them, and they are definitely all idiot moves, but I disagree with #2's example pic. The mini is way too close to the Merc. If the Mini was backed off enough so that the driver can see the bottom of the Merc's tires (proper distance), then I think the Jeep is in the correct spot. When people creep up like this Mini, it also delays the traffic since the line of traffic can't release the brake and smoothly accelerate to speed when the light turns green. The mini has to now wait until the Merc gives him space to accelerate. It also causes multi-car collisions. This is kind of difficult to explain without demonstrating but I hope it makes sense.

[zdr93523]

#11 Making an inconsiderate and dangerous left turn into a parking lot across multiple lanes of traffic instead of a making right turn into the same location by utilizing proper route planning.

#12 The idiots that leave gaps in traffic to allow the other idiot to perform #11.

[Gixxersixxerman]

I do #2 all the time, I give at least a car in front.. I was rear ended, and he hit me so hard I hit the car in front, I was liable for the damage because I was to close.. It was a long legal battle to get it dropped off my driving record and finally have insurance pick up the bill from the one that hit me.. The officer blantely told me if I wasn't so close I wouldn't have hit the guy.. Which may have been true, but I feel if the guy didn't rear end me I wouldn't have hit him either, I always try and give space driving down the 15 here in Vegas, and if you give a car length someone will take that during the rush hour or busy congested parts of the highway.. My biggest peeve that draws the rage out of me is lazy fuckers that do t signal and lazy fuckers that sit in the left lane. Growing up in Texas we were taught, left for passing only.. Period.. No that's how I still drive today..

[fang_gt86]

#11: Speeding in city traffic. Often, I see cars zipping and cutting off other cars just to stop at the next light or stop sign. Yes, I understand you're late to or in a rush to a hot date, work or just doesn't care about the speed limit. But what's the point? Really. All you're doing is risking a really pointless speeding ticket for a chance to pass the next light. Unless you're planning on running lights and stop signs, it's practically useless.

Got to admit I actually enjoy driving above posted speed limit. Just not on roads with stop lights or signs every other block.

#12: Cutting-off just to exit. This happens mostly when exit off highways. I have had cars behind me that actually sped up, cut me or other cars off just to exit. If you're behind and going to exit less than a mile, what's the point of speeding up, cut the cars in front of you and brake really hard like an idiot just to exit?

#13: Merging/Turning opposite of turning signal. Saw this multiple times. I still can't figure out how anyone can do this.

#14: Driving in the dark: Saw this all the time. Yes, you got good eyesight and night vision but I don't!

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

Who ticks off all these checkboxes as part of his normal driving:
Oppo: 10 things that make you look like a massive idiot while driving

I do #9 at times if I'm passing people as I'm merging onto the highway, especially the idiots that are going 20mph+ less than the speed limit and merge immediately, if not before the solid line becomes a dash.... I make sure that no one has to change their driving because I do so though.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by fang_gt86

#14: Driving in the dark: Saw this all the time. Yes, you got good eyesight and night vision but I don't!

Huh? I think you make have missed some bit of explanation here. Did you mean without headlights on or something? I'm pretty sure driving at night doesn't make you "that guy".

[fang_gt86]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Huh? I think you make have missed some bit of explanation here. Did you mean without headlights on or something? I'm pretty sure driving at night doesn't make you "that guy".

To be more specific, it's regarding cars without headlights on during my late evening drive home.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by fang_gt86

To be more specific, it's regarding cars without headlights on during my late evening drive home.

I hate when people do that. Though often enough it's just a mistake b/c they are driving in well-lit areas and don't notice the lack of forward lighting b.c the DRL's + street lighting and cabin interior lighting give enough for them to see by.

Happened to me once in my WRX. Cop pulled me over a block from my apartment thinking my tails were broken. After a momentary "huh? my lights work fine officer" exchange he asked "Sure you have them on?" I checked, and... oops, nope.

At that he let me go (probably to investigate a suspicious gathering, which may have been his real impetus to pull me over... to fool them into thinking he hadn't noticed them). I've been careful since then b/c the cop's admonition of "you could cause an accident if folks can't see you" is VERY true, and it's annoyed me to no end to see folks who are driving at night without their lights on... b/c that means their tails aren't lit EITHER, and in black cars one often can't SEE them when surrounded by others who have lit tail lamps. I've nearly been hit or hit them myself b/c they blended into the asphault too well except for an occassional "thought I saw movement" flicker in my mirrors.

All that said, I love having auto-activating lights.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

I hate when people do that. Though often enough it's just a mistake b/c they are driving in well-lit areas and don't notice the lack of forward lighting b.c the DRL's + street lighting and cabin interior lighting give enough for them to see by.

Happened to me once in my WRX. Cop pulled me over a block from my apartment thinking my tails were broken. After a momentary "huh? my lights work fine officer" exchange he asked "Sure you have them on?" I checked, and... oops, nope.

At that he let me go (probably to investigate a suspicious gathering, which may have been his real impetus to pull me over... to fool them into thinking he hadn't noticed them). I've been careful since then b/c the cop's admonition of "you could cause an accident if folks can't see you" is VERY true, and it's annoyed me to no end to see folks who are driving at night without their lights on... b/c that means their tails aren't lit EITHER, and in black cars one often can't SEE them when surrounded by others who have lit tail lamps. I've nearly been hit or hit them myself b/c they blended into the asphault too well except for an occassional "thought I saw movement" flicker in my mirrors.

All that said, I love having auto-activating lights.

I hate the guy driving with high beams on ALL THE TIME (almost as bad as people who type in CAPS ALL THE TIME) even more.

Especially when he's behind me (because then there's no way to point it out).

[extrashaky]

I do #2 when people are tailgating me for the reason already mentioned. If that dipshit hits me, or someone else hits him and causes a chain reaction, I don't want to be slammed into the car in front of me. Plus tailgaters really piss me off, and I don't mind returning the favor.

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

My peeve is when people don't accelerate on the on-ramp to a highway. For example, the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph (meaning everyone is flowing 65-70 mph), and without fail, there's some idiot holding a constant 40 mph down the merge-ramp with a bunch of cars lined up behind him.

Most people seem to want to tailgate that idiot. I have a different way of handling that, which I admit probably irritates some of the people behind me even though it works out better for everyone in the end.

I can usually tell at the beginning of the ramp when I'm behind some geezer who is not accelerating and who will have trouble merging. So instead of tailgating him from the intersection all the way to the dotted line the way most people do, I slow down even more and let grandpa get way out ahead of me on the ramp. Then, when there's sufficient room to work, I floor it, match speed with traffic and merge right in. I don't have to deal with grandpa, and the guy behind me isn't on my bumper. Often I'm going fast enough then that I can slip over into the left lane and get around grandpa altogether. People don't seem to realize that if there's a guy going slow in front of you, tailgating him makes it even harder to merge in behind him because you don't have any room to work.

That's the point of those merge lights on some busy interstates. They meter the traffic to keep the cars from piling up at the dotted line while one idiot tries to learn how to merge. I sort of make my own metered traffic.

Originally Posted by Shagaliscious

I always flash my lights when passing big rigs on the highway... Even they flashed their lights when passing each other.

Trucks usually don't flash their lights to signal that they're passing, but to let other trucks know they can get over. It's usually the slower truck flashing his lights, to let the guy in front know that his trailer has cleared the nose of the flashing truck. My long haul uncles taught me about that.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

My peeve is when people don't accelerate on the on-ramp to a highway. For example, the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph (meaning everyone is flowing 65-70 mph), and without fail, there's some idiot holding a constant 40 mph down the merge-ramp with a bunch of cars lined up behind him.

He's basically single-handedly creating a train of cars, all trying to merge on the highway at 40 mph at the same time at the same spot.

Oh dear lord, YES, agreed agreed agreed!

[Shagaliscious]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Trucks usually don't flash their lights to signal that they're passing, but to let other trucks know they can get over. It's usually the slower truck flashing his lights, to let the guy in front know that his trailer has cleared the nose of the flashing truck. My long haul uncles taught me about that.

When I drove on Route 80 they flashed their lights to pass, and they would turn their lights off/on a couple times to signal you have enough room to get over.

[subiestyle]

In San Francisco, we have a lot of intersections without left-hand turn traffic signals. So you have to wait for the regular green light, and then yield to oncoming traffic before turning left at an intersection.

But some of the streets are 1 lane and smaller, so the cars behind you that want to go straight can't move around you unless you move to the middle of the intersection.

Boggles my mind why people don't move forward closer to the intersection. This lets 2 big things happen. It lets the car behind you that also wants to turn left to also go with you as the light turns yellow because both of you will be in the intersection. It lets the car behind you go straight because he can maneuver around you.

And then I honk at the car in front of me that wants to turn left while I am obviously creeping up to go around him and would be able to go if he moves a foot forward. And he flicks me off for no reason. My mind is boggled.