posted August 25, 2010 12:47 PM         

Its a wonder that as human beings people can wear so many different hats and claim to be so spiritual and righteous and church-goers and friendly neighbors, but when they drive it is all-out war?

These are my experiences as a driver:

I have my signal on but no one wants to let me over.

I am trying to back out of a parking space but the cars in that isle keep driving by, no one stops to let me pull out.

I am driving slow through a parking lot, b/c you are supposed to drive like 5 mph, looking out for pedestrians, as well as find a parking space, and the person behind me is impatient so honks at me.

I didn't see that the light turned green 2 seconds too late so the person behind me honks at me.

When going to the farmer's market, I am waiting for someone to pull out of a parking space, and the driver behind me is impatient so squeezes by me, prevents the driver from pulling out, all so he could go ahead of us. He couldn't wait.

So this morning driving to work, the exit that I take was backed up and suddenly everyone coming over the hill had to suddenly slam on their breaks b/c you couldn't tell from far away that all of a sudden you had to stop.........so everyone is trying to squeeze into the exit, no one wants to let anyone in, people are honking at one another and flipping each other off.

So are these the same people that claim to be so spiritual, so righteous, go to "church", my friendly neighbors?

How does that look to a child in car with a parent, seeing adults flip each other off?

I think that people are just sooooo selfish, rude, and have forgotten their generous, spiritual selves when driving.

Does the 2 seconds that was so important to cut someone else off really matter? I mean, what were you in a hurry for? To watch some dumb superficial reality show on TV? To sit on your a__ and contribute to your beer belly?

posted August 25, 2010 01:38 PM         

Anyway, so Nephthys.. I notice you're from California... nuff said? lol
I grew up in Los Angeles so I know what you're talking about.

It takes a lot to get me worked up while driving. I can only remember a couple of times that I got seriously upset. These days you don't want to go flipping someone off. You never know if they have a gun or what not with them and may be crazy enough to use it for looking at them wrong.

My first ex (a Taurus). We were dating when I lived in Los Angeles and he had to drive 30 minutes to come see me. When he'd get there, he would be all worked up and told me that he needed about 30 minutes to calm down from driving. He told me once about getting in to the turning lane at a red light. I forget what he said the guy in front of him did. But he got out of his car, walked to the car in front of him and punched the window in. Now the first ex is a tall, muscular guy and kinda scarey looking. So I feel for the guy in front of him...must have wet himself. lol

posted August 25, 2010 01:38 PM         

I remember when I was first learning to drive people would slow down a little and wave me in on to the expressway. I feel like I'm the last person who still waves other people in. I was coming to a stop at a stop sign yesterday on a two-lane road, and a carload of teenage boys swerved around me and ran the stop sign! It was pretty unnerving, and really irritating considering that I watched them run another stop sign before we both arrived at the same stop light. So they ran two stop signs and endangered other people and didn't even gain anything from it.

posted August 25, 2010 02:11 PM         

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I've speculated that it's due to the extreme attitude of entitlement and lack of patience that a lot people have developed. There seems to be a huge movement of "Don't like a rule? Ignore it! Act like a a brat and impose your actions on others! After all, YOUR needs and feelings are the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER!" I really think overly aggressive/impatient driving is just an extension of that.

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quote:

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I feel like I'm the last person who still waves other people in.

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posted August 25, 2010 04:53 PM         

parking spot thievery...that is just wrong. i have a bit of a temper so i proboblly would have pulled behind thier car and waited for them to get out just to give them "the look"... they are the worse in november december...i hate shopping anyway..but...nothing like a great christmas shopping fistfight over a parking spot to start the shopping season off right.

random people can **** you off.

posted August 25, 2010 05:54 PM         

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litterers really get me!!! i want to stop them and make them pick it up. i picture myself taking them by the collar and making them pick up every paper or trash they threw out of the window and apologize to mother earth every step of the way..

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I wish I lived in the country, away from society........

To me, modern society = build, build, build, tear down, build again, renovate, drive, drive, drive, race around as fast as you can, buy nothing but electronics, rush out to get the newest one while cutting off Grandma who can barely see over the steering wheel as she sits on 2 pillows. It's all so fake!

posted August 25, 2010 06:06 PM         

i agree cmpletely, nepthys, but i also have some beefs about pedestrians. and BIKE RIDERS who are supposed to obey the CAR rules of the road but pretend they're pedestrians when in a hurry to cross over. or hog a whole lane when they could easily ride single file in the ubiquitous bike lanes round here!

i recently had a ticket for failing to come to a full stop and wait till a woman had REACHED THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. never mind that she had ALREADY crossed in front of me, passed the double yellow line and was in the other line of traffic when i slowed to make sure she was past and then sped up again. this is by the way bogus in california. the law says "Yield and ensure pedestrian has safely crossed", so if you get a similar "fullstop and wait two years" ticket you are being railroaded.

i always stop for bikes and peds, but some do take incredible liberties with the right of way. i have seen people wait until a whole line of cars was about to reach the crosswalk and THEN step out. or cross in the middle of the block because the crosswalk is 20 feet too far away...

in cali if you are IN the crosswalk you have right of way, not when standing there...but still if people would use common sense it would all be so much easier. if there's no one behind me i will carry on rather than slam on my brakes, it is quicker for me to cross than the walker...if there are plenty of cars behind me i stop to save the person waiting for twenty minutes, which i have done a few times(waited i mean), or risk dodging cars which i do ALL the time!!

right of way or not, hit a pedestrian and see how far your case progresses if you fight it!! and right of way or not i was raised to remember that CARS are bigger than i am and not worth arguing with!

posted August 25, 2010 06:46 PM         

With any approaching car, it is actually never safe and I don't trust anyone, especially with my dog.

Once, a man actually HONKED at my dog and I, as if we were doing something wrong crossing the street? I called the police and they could care less.

Most of the time, we start crossing and don't even make it to the 1/2-way point when we have to turn around and go back where we started from, b/c all of a sudden a car is coming barreling through, and it is clear they have no intention of stopping.

I am just going to say this: people suck!!!

posted August 26, 2010 08:41 AM         

So many drive like there is nobody on the road except them.

On the issues of pedestrians and bikecycle riders...uggggg......

They both act like they own the road or parking lots! When I exit a store, I stop for cars and IF one lets me cross, I am appreciative, so many people just walk out in front of you like they own the place. Sure there are designated spots in store parking lots that give pedestrians the right of way, but still, the vehicle is much bigger! Once I did not stop for a pedestrian who was just about to enter a cross walk and he came up and hit my car! Looser!

The bikes think they own the road. They are supposed to follow the traffic rules, but never do.

I darn near ran over a jogger the other morning, in the dark, the guy was a tall, skinny black man and blended in with the morning...he was jogging on the road, right beside a sidewalk!

good thread!

posted August 26, 2010 12:41 PM         

As to bicyclists, they are supposed to use the lanes just like a car or motorcycle.
Yet on bike trips I took....
cars etc. were forever forcing me off onto the berm or into a ditch...too often intentionally playing how close could they
get to me up to including slowing down to reach out and push or slap/punch, or throw things at me.
Or the jerks who literally swerved all the way to the wrong side of the road to hit and kill my cat who was on the grass next to the berm.
And the time an idiot tossed a lit butt and my backseat caught on fire!
And another time...one landed on my chest and slid in to my bra! I thought it was a stinging bee at first until I found the butt.
Lastly, jerks using the handicap parking.
No idiots! If the card or plates are not yours, you may not use the HC parking unless the handicap person is with you!

posted August 26, 2010 06:00 PM         

here where i live the bikers are menaces. i have been a biker and i know how scary cars etc can be but here they use the sidewalks (illegal) but not their bells...the road but ignore the traffic lights and signs by pretending to be pedestrians for a minute...and ride several abreast frequently causing havoc and hornblowing for sure. it's hard to teach a child road rules when he sees everyone doing as they please!!

yesterday i was honked at for stopping to let a pedestrian go by!!

i grew up outside new york city where pedestrians are an endangered species - except at crosswalks where they cross en masse and it would take a lunatic to drive through them! - and i was taught a) look both ways and then the first way AGAIN and b) if cars approach while you're crossing, look them in the eye. few drivers will run you down if you visually say "go ahead, make my day" ...

posted August 26, 2010 06:57 PM         

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i have a new piece of advice for our modern age...have your cell open and point it at any approaching drivers as if you are taking their picture and license plate too.

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posted August 27, 2010 06:12 PM         

At lunch I parked in the parking lot, proceeded to walk to my building, and a male driver used parking spaces to make a U turn, and instead of stopping right in front of me, he waved to me, smiled, and kept driving. I had the right of way and he should have stopped (also what a gentleman would do, if there were any left in Calif, regardless of the fact that I had the right of way being a pedestrian in a parking lot) Dang!

posted August 28, 2010 08:56 AM         

Still, I say if you are going to take the chance to get out in the midst of idots driving in their metal bubbles, they you ought to know you have the chance of being hit. Just like everybody takes the chance every day, when getting on the road of being in an accident.

I know of a guy who drives a 600 lb sports cruiser motercycle and has handicap plates and is pacemaker dependent....complete with a defibrlator....what a terrible thing if he were "cruisin" at 100+ and he had a lethal arrythmia and he got shocked....dont even want to imagine that one(for everybody else on the road, not him.) And I think it is ridiculous that he even was awarded a handicap plate for a sports bike!

And he wondered why I would hardly ever get on the thing with him.

Lexx your story is touching. I wont even start on people taking up priviledges when deserving folks like yourself need them.

All in all, we take our lives into our own hands when we get out on the roads, be it in a car, bike or walking...

posted August 30, 2010 12:16 PM         

Just curious, how many & what other states is this illegal in?

I still think that teenagers should not even be driving. Every time I see one, they are racing around so fast, + have "attitude" written all over their faces. I just think that their minds are too immature to take it seriously and be respectful and courteous. I often see them speeding and getting away with whatever they can "as long as no one else is looking".

posted August 30, 2010 01:25 PM         

I agree that kids should not be allowed to drive so young. Here they have to be 16. I think it should be 18. Seems every time someone is driving crazy, you look at them and they either look like a kid or have a cell phone glued to their ear..oooo that gets me.

When I was 25 or 26 I was driving and had some semi truck right behind me. A huge truck with a trailer attached. But he was going very fast. I had to speed to keep him from ramming me...single lane road. I went on a turn off on the freeway and he was still right behind me. When I finally got to merge to the freeway, he switched lanes. But when I got home I looked at my rear bumper to find smeared white paint...from him!!

People are crazy!!