Impatient Driver Issue Getting Worse?

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Every year about this time, my town swells with thousand upon thousands of Canadians that come to sunny Florida to enjoy the weather and winter here, rather than back home. And for the folks that live and work here, it sucks. A usual commute to work that took 20 min now takes 30 min. Mostly because people use the left lane as some sort of travel lane where they go 5 to 10 mph under the speed limit, when historically the left lane is used for passing and those that want to go 5 to 15 over the speed limit. It’s infuriating trying to get to appointments on time thanks to these folks that don’t care about left lane courtesy.


Most likely people from Quebec lol...they do it here alot..

 

[Rolla07]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Some out of towners just love to hog up all lanes of traffic driving 10 MPH slower than posted speed limit.


Thats your fault!! Move away from WDW!!!!

Its pretty normal that out of towners drive slower, they dont know the area and are on vacation

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Society's behavior in general is getting worse....no reason for this not to translate to the same behavior on the roads.


Good observation with which I agree.

 

[jaj]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
... people use the left lane as some sort of travel lane where they go 5 to 10 mph under the speed limit, when historically the left lane is used for passing and those that want to go 5 to 15 over the speed limit. ...


The role of the left lane has definitely changed over the years. It used to be the fast lane, but now it's "the safest lane" - it's the one you take to escape the mayhem that arises at every interchange. Really. When I drive the interstate, which I do fairly often in summer, I get over to the left lane and move with the traffic. In the lanes to my right, and often there are 2 or 3 or even 4 to my right, there's a wild dance of cars changing lanes and dodging between other cars as they get ready to leave the interstate or as they enter it. It's chaos. So, I settle into the left lane, keep up with traffic and keep an eagle eye open for the occasional car that comes out of nowhere driving diagonally across the highway headed to or from the HOV lane.

This interchange chaos can be pretty wild - one day, just south of Tacoma, a family sedan came onto the highway at high speed on the entry ramp and dodged across the first lane, settled into the middle lane for a moment, then did a snap lane change into my lane, just ahead of the car ahead of me. Except, it didn't work - his snap lane change turned into a flat spin and the car went completely around and ended up stopped across my lane ahead of the car ahead of me. As we were slowing down, the driver floored it, swung it straight and got going before they got hit. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. It's a miracle nobody was injured.

 

[Tony10s]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: CKN
Society's behavior in general is getting worse....no reason for this not to translate to the same behavior on the roads.


Good observation with which I agree.


+2

 

[researcher]

I'll jump in here and tell you what happened today while I was out..

I had some woman in an SUV (of course) trying to get up on my rear bumper as if I was in HER way.. I didn't speed up (on a normal 45mph road) at all. She was turning into the same parking lot where I was going. I went to park off on the side where the auto parts store is. She floors it to speed past me, then into a parking space, slams on her brakes. But then SITS THERE for the next 15 minutes!! Wow.. all that rush to sit? lol..

I went into the auto parts store, got some stuff, came out, she was still sitting there! too funny.

Another thing that was crazy.. Maybe I'm officially "getting old"?? But this was really nuts. Here in Michigan the highway speed has been getting out of hand. 80mph is the norm, but today I was able to figure out that they were all doing 90-95mph! With cars that are not maintained well, tires bald, let's go to ludicrous speed! Is this Darwinism in action?

Another thing about agressive drivers. I'm in the right lane (slow lane) and I'm doing 75mph trying to save fuel. But every SUV/truck driver feels the need to fly up on me.. sit there like as if I'm supposed to get out of THEIR way? use the right lane, it's for faster travel! Then after awhile they violently jerk the wheel to the left, get over and proceed to "show me" by slamming on the gas. ok.. good for you buddy, hope ya feel better. But it seemed like me doing 75 in the right lane wasn't acceptable!

For my car the fuel economy is the best at about 70-75, anything above that the civic begins to drink fuel, gulping it. anyway aggressive drivers is an understatement!

 

[JTK]

It is annoying, but unless I'm stopped dead somewhere, I don't care what the driver behind me is doing. I keep my eyes moving ahead and to my sides. Then again, I'm one of the few who stays to the right unless I'm passing.

 

[Tony10s]

Originally Posted By: JTK
It is annoying, but unless I'm stopped dead somewhere, I don't care what the driver behind me is doing. I keep my eyes moving ahead and to my sides. ...


Exactly. Unless it's a police car, ambulance, fire truck, or some other emergency type of vehicle, I don't pay attention to drivers behind me and I certainly don't allow them to make me drive faster (speed excessively) because they are tailgating me/following too closely. Tailgating/following too closely is illegal and is why these drivers rear-end cars.

 

[StevieC]

The only time I have a problem is when people park themselves in the left lane and they are oblivious to the cars behind them. You can putz along in another lane. MOVE OR MOVE OVER!

Otherwise no issues. I will not tailgate but I will give you the lights and/or the horn if you are holding up traffic in the left lane.

 

[andyd]

I dunno,since I retired, I hardly drive. When I do drive, I try to drive off peak, in daylight. Plus, I'm still learning the nuances of a newish third millennium appliance. Its a whole n'other trip compared to rush hours. Observing my fellow travelers, I'm not impressed by their situational awareness.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
I will not tailgate but I will give you the lights and/or the horn if you are holding up traffic in the left lane.


I recall seeing this during my brief driving experience in Canada. It doesn't work here. I've tried it. they either ignore you, or move over and then get very angry when they realize you are not a cop or emergency vehicle. I would bet money that if I did it routinely someone would eventually follow me to my destination or pull a gun.

It shouldn't be that way, but it is here in the "great" state of Tex-ash.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

If someone wants to go faster than me, I always get over and let them go. It's not my job to control how fast traffic is going, I hate it when people act like their speed is the only speed and mess up the traffic flow.

 

[Tony10s]

It's also not their job to control how fast those in front of them have to go. In other words, it's not their place to decide that someone else has to be a speeder just because they are. And I am not talking about the left lane on a four-lane or about any highway/road where there is a lane that can be used by excessive speeders to pass those who are driving at the speed limit or 5 miles over the limit. People don't have the right to speed excessively on two-lane roads (or on roads that have no center line at all) where it puts pedestrians' and everyone else's safety at risk. And they find out through experience that they don't have that right when they get speeding tickets or end up doing something much worse like hitting a pedestrian or another vehicle.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Originally Posted By: StevieC
I will not tailgate but I will give you the lights and/or the horn if you are holding up traffic in the left lane.


I recall seeing this during my brief driving experience in Canada. It doesn't work here. I've tried it. they either ignore you, or move over and then get very angry when they realize you are not a cop or emergency vehicle. I would bet money that if I did it routinely someone would eventually follow me to my destination or pull a gun.

It shouldn't be that way, but it is here in the "great" state of Tex-ash.


I will hold on the horn until they get annoyed. (Yes I have had to replace horns)

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Originally Posted By: Tony10s
It's also not their job to control how fast those in front of them have to go. In other words, it's not their place to decide that someone else has to be a speeder just because they are. And I am not talking about the left lane on a four-lane or about any highway/road where there is a lane that can be used by excessive speeders to pass those who are driving at the speed limit or 5 miles over the limit. People don't have the right to speed excessively on two-lane roads (or on roads that have no center line at all) where it puts pedestrians' and everyone else's safety at risk. And they find out through experience that they don't have that right when they get speeding tickets or end up doing something much worse like hitting a pedestrian or another vehicle.


On a two lane road, I'd rather pull off and let them pass than be tailgated constantly. Costs me maybe 15 seconds to do. If they want to risk a ticket, that's their own business.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
If someone wants to go faster than me, I always get over and let them go. It's not my job to control how fast traffic is going, I hate it when people act like their speed is the only speed and mess up the traffic flow.


Yup this. I also use 4 way intersections to get the most cars through per minute, even if it delays me, or even if I "cut" someone doing two straights simultaneously. Realistically we just all need to get where we're going. Use your blinkers, be predictable, and pay all of your attention to the road. I don't mind if someone's a total bung hole if their intentions are clear and both hands are on the wheel.

 

[fdcg27]

On a two-lane, I figure that if your's are that big, pull out into the other lane and blow on by, especially since under good conditions I'm already ten over or so.
I won't try to stop you.
OTOH, there are those who can't seem to grasp that safe speeds are much lower in fog and heavy rain, not to mention snow and ice conditions.
There are also those who I've seen make incredibly risky passes on two lane roads. I cringe when I see someone passing into oncoming traffic with little room to spare. A head on collision with one vehicle traveling at sixty and the guy trying to pass going maybe eighty are typically going to be fatal for everyone in both vehicles.
I'll eventually see one of these on my commute and while I'll stop and see what I can do beyond calling for Fire and EMS, I know that it won't be pretty.

 

[LoneRanger]

Bumper humpers are the only thing that really tend to annoy me on the road.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Bumper humpers


Never heard that term before. LOL

 

[oilpsi2high]

It’s a superiority complex thing with most drivers. Don’t take it personally. Also best not to confront or anger those types of people.