More driving pet-peeves...

[StooGrimson]

I was told by my insurance agent *TO* leave my fog lights on all the time. I drive a Monte Carlo so they're not "in your face" like the truck lights are, but they said it helps to see a dark car in the distance.

Your insurance agent is an idiot for suggesting that. As someone who works in the insurance business, I'm not surprised he/she might say thatb/c many agents are pretty stupid (not all of them, but a majority are). I might shop your policy next time it's up for renewal...

Anyway, I can't stand folks who tailgate...period. Tailgating at high speed is even dumber. My wife is a repeat offender and still can't understand why it's idiotic. However, with that said, the stupidest people on the road are drivers on cell phones. Study after study shows how disruptive talking on a phone is, yet morons continue to do it.

SG

 

[PrincessPeach]

You just proved my point. Thank you.

No, he didn't. If the people had been going the same speed as the semi when they merged in front of it, they would not have gotten hit. They must have been driving slower than the semi, possibly because they stopped on the on-ramp and didn't have time to get up to speed.

But yes, sometimes you have to stop. If traffic is at a dead stop. Wait - that follows the rule of get to the same speed as traffic!

 

[Pheasant]

That's exactly what I'm saying, sometimes when there is a yield sign you sometimes have to stop. 40 ft. to merge isn't a very safe distance.

You just proved my point. Thank you.

First, I don't believe you that there is a 40 ft merge area. Second, if there was a 40 ft. merge area and you were going the speed of traffic it wouldn't be a problem.
This isn't rocket science. You match speed and pick a hole. If you fail to match speeds with the freeway traffic and try to merge anyways, you are an idiot.

 

[OSUsushichic]

Anyway, I can't stand folks who tailgate...period. Tailgating at high speed is even dumber. My wife is a repeat offender and still can't understand why it's idiotic. However, with that said, the stupidest people on the road are drivers on cell phones. Study after study shows how disruptive talking on a phone is, yet morons continue to do it.

I hardly ever talk on the phone in the car, but one time I did I rearended someone on 161. Like so many people talking on the phone, I wasn't paying enough attention to the road and couldn't stop in time. :! It was the day I was offerred the job in Boston -- Needless to say, it was a day of highs and lows! (And I never talk on the phone while driving anymore!)

 

[Pheasant]

Your insurance agent is an idiot for suggesting that. As someone who works in the insurance business, I'm not surprised he/she might say thatb/c many agents are pretty stupid (not all of them, but a majority are). I might shop your policy next time it's up for renewal...

Anyway, I can't stand folks who tailgate...period. Tailgating at high speed is even dumber. My wife is a repeat offender and still can't understand why it's idiotic. However, with that said, the stupidest people on the road are drivers on cell phones. Study after study shows how disruptive talking on a phone is, yet morons continue to do it.

SG

The stupidist people on the road are people who are oblivious to their surroundings. Talking on a cell phone isn't any more dangerous than talking to the person in the back seat. It certainly isn't more dangerous than the 3 kids I had in my back seat yesterday, who were repeatedly squealing and slapping each other. People who can't drive and talk on the phone at the same time shouldn't do it, right Sushi.
The phone isn't the problem. If you replaced the phone in your "studies" with "playing with the radio" the results would be the same.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

First, I don't believe you that there is a 40 ft merge area. Second, if there was a 40 ft. merge area and you were going the speed of traffic it wouldn't be a problem.
This isn't rocket science. You match speed and pick a hole. If you fail to match speeds with the freeway traffic and try to merge anyways, you are an idiot.

It might be more than 40 ft, but not by much. The one I'm thinking of (the exit with all the hotels, #159 maybe) has you getting on 70 W right below the crest of a hill, so you can't see whether anything is coming or not, either. I am ecstatic to say that I don't have to spend any more time in Zanesville.

And as far a Massachusetts driving, the "Massachusetts Merge" is ridiculous. A two-lane road becomes a fou-lane road right before a traffic light. Neither lane is marked as turn only, so there are people going straight in both lanes. Right after the light, the fucking lanes merge back together.

 

[Thump]

It might be more than 40 ft, but not by much. The one I'm thinking of (the exit with all the hotels, #159 maybe) has you getting on 70 W right below the crest of a hill, so you can't see whether anything is coming or not, either. I am ecstatic to say that I don't have to spend any more time in Zanesville.

That's the one, where you turn by the old Shoney's and have to go uphill to enter the freeway.

 

[StooGrimson]

The stupidist people on the road are people who are oblivious to their surroundings. Talking on a cell phone isn't any more dangerous than talking to the person in the back seat. It certainly isn't more dangerous than the 3 kids I had in my back seat yesterday, who were repeatedly squealing and slapping each other. People who can't drive and talk on the phone at the same time shouldn't do it, right Sushi.
The phone isn't the problem. If you replaced the phone in your "studies" with "playing with the radio" the results would be the same.

I certainly agree with some of what you said. Since I bought my Sirius radio I've realized how dangerous it can be to screw around with a radio while driving and riding with my dog in the back seat can be distracting when she starts howling (she's an idiot basset hound who howls at random). However, repeated studies by the Institute for Highway Safety have shown that talking on a cell phone actually is more dangerous than talking to someone else in a car. There are numerous theories why this is the case, but the underlying fact is that talking on the phone (even if it's hands free) is a dangerous proposition. One study in Great Britain even had results indicating that it's just as dangerous as driving while drunk (Mythbusters had a show attempting to debunk this unsuccessfully).

 

[Pheasant]

I quit :(.
You guys win.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

I don't. There is no way in hell there is any on-ramp where you are supposed to merge with 65MPH traffic that is only 40 feet long. Impossible. 40 feet is less than the length of four cars.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

I gotta back Thump up on this one also.....sometimes you have to stop because the fucksticks just wont get over and let you in.

 

[Buckin' A]

I gotta back Thump

Homo.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Well, okay, fine. It's more than 40 feet. It just doesn't seem like it. :p The speed limit is 55 mph at that stretch and through traffic is supposed to jump over to the left lane. But nobody really does either. It's just a terrible entrance.

Rt 70 through Pennsylvania is a bitch, too. They do have stop signs at the bottom of entrance ramps. In the curvy, hilly areas, it's just about impossible to tell if you are okay to go. Ugh. Terrible.

 

[ScarletBlood31]

i love how some idiots try to make a turn, but are looking the opposite way. ive had some guy (probably late 70's) pull out of a parking lot going left, and i had to get in reverse and back up to avoid him running straight into me. its amazing these people have licenses.

 

[Brutus1]

1) Cell users suck. Specifically the ones that actually hold the phone. They hold the phone to their left ear, and then attempt to change into the left lane. Holding the phone in that hand increases the blind spot, but people are too damn stupid.

2) There are 2 sides to the merge/yield debate. If you're attempting to yield and the far left lane is open, but the idiot refuses to pull over to the open lane, that pisses you off.

If you're driving in the inside lane because your exit is right after the on ramp, and those idiots refuse to either a) yield/stop ro b) speed up enough to get in front of you. That's a pisser, too.

3) People that try to speed up to pass you before the left lane ends. It's usually women and they try it all the time on rt 11. Instead of slowng down, they try to speed up and pullin front of you with 20 ft or roadway left. I don't mind saying, I speed up to prevent that happening. If you're in an ending lane, it's up to you to beat the car in the right lane or just slow down and get behind them.

4) I really get pissed when women(almost always), block a roadway that turns onto another road. If they're in traffic at a light, and pull up to block the side street, preventing someone from pulling in or out of the street, that pisses me off.

5) People that tailgate really pisses me off, too.