Driving Pet Peeves

[PColumbus73]

- Timid drivers in inclement weather.    If you're going to go no faster than 2 mph down the snow-covered freeway, STAY THE FUCK HOME! There's a BIG difference between being cautious and being a danger to everyone else on the road.

This. Especially at the beginning of the winter. Half an inch of snow and everyone slows down to 60 km/h (35 mph) on the freeway.

Conversely, I am annoyed by the idiots who drive in snow like the road was completely dry and don't slow down. Especially by truckers who continue to barrel down the road at 55-65 mph when most of the rest of the traffic is going 45. I always chuckle when I see some truck jackknifed or overturned when the road is slick because I know they brought it on themselves by driving too fast for conditions.

I've mentioned this before, but in the winter of 2004 I was driving home from a conference in Washington, D.C. It began snowing not long after I passed Haymarket heading west on I-66, and by the time I got to I-81 the snow was already sticking to the pavement and I knew that more snow was in the forecast. Trucks were still driving at or above the speed limit and that got worse when I hit I-81 south. I had no desire to be on the road with those menaces all the way down to Lexington and the I-64 west split, so I bailed at Strasburg and took Corridor H. At the time, the four-lane was only open between Baker and Moorefield, and from Kerens to Weston. Even though there was a lot of snow on the road (WV 55, US 220, WV 42, WV 93 and US 219) and the terrain was mountainous, I felt a lot safer driving those two-lane mountain roads than on the interstate with trucks flying through the snow.

(Photos at http://www.millenniumhwy.net/Washington_CD_2004/index.html)

I'll agree with this, especially during the first snowfalls before the plows have their run, I keep it around 50 MPH on the freeway

[Jardine]

Deer pet peeves:

*GET OUT OF THE FRELLING ROAD!

*Mommy deer:  if you've already had one kid get splattered, how about leaving the other one home the next time you want to go out ?

*NO!  You cannot outstare my headlights!

*When the guy in the oncoming lane nails a deer and flips the remains in MY lane!  Hey buddy, you hit it, you keep it
!

*Collateral kills; predators munching on a dead deer and not paying attention to the traffic and getting run over themselves

*BUCKS:  turn your head before impact, I don't want an antler in my radiator!

*Fawns: please run in the direction I am traveling, if I am overtaking you, you will still get squished, but there will be less damage to my vehicle.

[1995hoo]

I will second people who don't turn their headlights on when it's dusk, foggy, rainy, or misty.  Instead of speeding tickets, why don't the cops spend their days ticketing these people?  There are more of a danger than people going 5 over.

....

I've always assumed the cops don't much feel like getting wet out in the rain any more than the rest of us do.

[corco]

I felt a lot safer driving those two-lane mountain roads than on the interstate with trucks flying through the snow.

For sure- I avoid interstates whenever I can if it's snowing, even if the interstate has been plowed better. I'm comfortable with my own ability to keep the car out of the ditch. I'm less comfortable that some other jerk or ass-hauling truck is going to not do something stupid.

I'll go faster off-interstate if it's a straight, flat road- I don't typically go much more than 50ish on snow packed interstates, but I'll crank it into the 60s if I'm on a wide open two lane road with good visibility like US 93 in Nevada.

[Takumi]

When you slow down to let someone coming off an on-ramp in...and they then slow down.

[Brandon]

When you slow down to let someone coming off an on-ramp in...and they then slow down.

ARRRRRGH!  I fucking hate that!  When entering a freeway, you are supposed to match your speed to those already on it, not expect those on it to slow for you.  If you cannot get up to speed on the entrance ramp, stay off the goddamned freeway.

[roadman]

I felt a lot safer driving those two-lane mountain roads than on the interstate with trucks flying through the snow.

For sure- I avoid interstates whenever I can if it's snowing, even if the interstate has been plowed better. I'm comfortable with my own ability to keep the car out of the ditch. I'm less comfortable that some other jerk or ass-hauling truck is going to not do something stupid.

I'll go faster off-interstate if it's a straight, flat road- I don't typically go much more than 50ish on snow packed interstates, but I'll crank it into the 60s if I'm on a wide open two lane road with good visibility like US 93 in Nevada.

I second Corco's comments.  When I plan on traveling anywhere and there's a possibility of inclement weather, I map out two routes - an Interstate/freeway one, and a non-Interstate/freeway one.  The non-Interstate/freeway one may be a little slower, but I find it's more reliable (and less stressful) when snow (other than flurries) is falling.

[corco]

When you slow down to let someone coming off an on-ramp in...and they then slow down.

Maybe this is a west coast thing or I'm wrong (I'm not a city driver by nature), but from they way  I've always understood it the car driving on the freeway should maintain their speed and the burden is on the car on the ramp to adjust their speed to move into a gap smoothly. I'd probably be one of those cars that slows down because I expect you're not doing that and was planning on getting in behind you, and then I'd be surprised to see that you did too. When I merge, I operate under the assumption that you're not going to slow down and prepare for that. I try to monitor through the side windows to see if there's a change, but that can be tough sometimes.

That said, I'm basically self-taught on merging, so it's not at all out of the question that I've been doing it wrong this whole time.

[Duke87]

I've always understood it as whoever gets to the end of the gore point first goes first. If I see someone coming on clearly ahead of me I will ease up or move over to let them in, since me continuing at speed in the right lane would end up with me abreast of them when they need to merge unless they slow down, and them slowing down is counterproductive to them merging onto the freeway.

Of course, I also grew up in an environment where people tend to drive aggressively and sometimes letting someone in even if you shouldn't is preferable to getting into a pissing contest with them, 'cause they ain't gonna just let you go first without a fight.

[corco]

I've always understood it as whoever gets to the end of the gore point first goes first.

Oh for sure- if you're in stop and go/slow traffic yeah, gore goes first. What's the proper procedure when you're moving at speed though and the vehicle on the ramp looks like they'll hit the gore at the same time and speed as you unless one of you slows down/speeds up?

[Takumi]

In the instance today, the vehicle coming off the on-ramp got to the gore before I did, and was going faster than I was. There was traffic ahead of me in my lane and beside me, but not behind me, so slowing down was really my only choice. Normally I move over, but in this case I simply couldn't.

[Jardine]

And the people coming down the on ramp, THAT GET THEIR OWN LANE, and still want to move into my lane. 

I hate that.

And they NEVER signal either.

[Duke87]

I've always understood it as whoever gets to the end of the gore point first goes first.

Oh for sure- if you're in stop and go/slow traffic yeah, gore goes first. What's the proper procedure when you're moving at speed though and the vehicle on the ramp looks like they'll hit the gore at the same time and speed as you unless one of you slows down/speeds up?

Same. I'd move over, or if I can't, slow down. Unless the onramp has no acceleration lane and ends at a yield. Then I'll move over but I won't slow down since it's established that they're supposed to yield to me.

And the people coming down the on ramp, THAT GET THEIR OWN LANE, and still want to move into my lane. 

I hate that.

And they NEVER signal either.

Not signaling and cutting people off are legitimate complaints. But I might as an entering car in this circumstance move over simply because I want to get over to the left and go faster. Or if I'm unfamiliar with the area I might not be aware that there's an added lane (it isn't always signed properly).

[corco]

Often times added lanes drop pretty quickly too- I'll almost always try to get out of the added lane as quickly as possible, though I do signal and don't cut people off to do so.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

I recall a situation where I made a point of going right on the speed limit when there was an "average speed check" zone set up on the M4 somewhere between Reading and Heathrow and the speed limit was 50 mph. "Average speed check" means each camera reads your number plate and it then calculates your speed based on how long it took you to pass the multiple cameras. Too fast and you get a ticket. It's specifically designed to prevent what we all do in DC and Maryland, which is to drive along at whatever speed suits us and then slow down when we pass a speed camera.

Since I don't speed to save time, I would just continue to drive what whatever speed I saw fit, then pull over for a minute or so to fuck up the average, then pull back onto the highway and resume whatever speed I pleased.  Possibly while flipping of the 'end' camera.

[Brandon]

When you slow down to let someone coming off an on-ramp in...and they then slow down.

Maybe this is a west coast thing or I'm wrong (I'm not a city driver by nature), but from they way  I've always understood it the car driving on the freeway should maintain their speed and the burden is on the car on the ramp to adjust their speed to move into a gap smoothly. I'd probably be one of those cars that slows down because I expect you're not doing that and was planning on getting in behind you, and then I'd be surprised to see that you did too. When I merge, I operate under the assumption that you're not going to slow down and prepare for that. I try to monitor through the side windows to see if there's a change, but that can be tough sometimes.

That said, I'm basically self-taught on merging, so it's not at all out of the question that I've been doing it wrong this whole time.

It's not just a west coast thing.  I got taught that by may parents, both Michiganders from Detroit, one of whom is the daughter of a Detroit policeman.  If you can be polite and move over, do so, otherwise, maintain your speed.  The person entering the freeway has to adjust to you and find a spot.  If it's you entering, match the speed of traffic well before the merge point.  Usually that means get your ass up to 70+ mph.  Around Detroit, much different than Chicago, they'll run you off the road if you try to merge below speed.

It's one of the things that really pisses me off here in Illinois.  Few around here enter at speed.  They try to enter at 40 or 45 mph on a 65 mph freeway where the flow is 70-75 mph.  Then they bull their way in and expect you to let them in.  They give you a funny look when you don't.

[allniter89]

Some truck drivers believe because the truck weighs far more than other vehicles the weight holds the truck the ground. I dont know if thats true but I've tried the theory several times with good results, maybe luck, maybe not.
I remember driving the NY Thruway while it was snowing in the middle of the night and running 60 mph but I weighed nearly 80,000 lbs and I was young & dumb. I didnt drive like that everytime, it depended on many things like how much traffic, time of day, terrrain and highway condition. I think snow is much easier to drive on when its still fluffy (virgin) than a plowed road or packed down.
My driver pet peeve is when traffic is stopped by either a traffic light or volume and there are people on the minor cross streets that only have stop signs that want to either cross the road I'm on or turn onto it. We are stopped by the light and drivers block the cross streets so those drivers dont have a chance to cross because once our light goes green and our traffic clears there will be another group of cars coming from the previous light. There is a very short time, if any to safely cross. Traffic here has gotten so bad during daylight that the cross traffic backs up 4-7 cars and if u have granny in front of you she's too scared to move quickly so she misses times she could have made it. I usually go a little out of my to cross/enter at a controlled intersection. Anyone else do that?
Same thing sometimes at controlled intersections, the light turns red for them and they didnt clear the intersection so they are blocking cross traffic that has green. They cant move because they are blocked by stopped traffic ahead of them. In stop & go traffic dont enter an intersection until the car in front of you clears the intersection and there is room for you!

[corco]

I do believe that weighed down trucks are probably safer to drive fast than most other vehicles as long as there isn't too much of a cross wind, and also your higher position gives you better visibility in white out. That said, it scares the shit out of most of the people in cars to be passed by an 18 wheeler on a bad road.

The scariest trek I've ever taken was a drive from Laramie to Cheyenne in late 2010 to go see a concert. We got on the ike right before the freeway closed- a text from a friend confirmed it closed 10 minutes after we left. The conditions were white out- I had to go 25 MPH and depended on my co-pilot to help me identify the edge of the road, and I wasn't going faster than any of the passenger cars (in fact, I passed several). The trucks were still capable of 35-40, which is great for them but when you're in a car and you can't tell exactly where the road edge is that's scary as fuck when they pass you.

As far as:

Same thing sometimes at controlled intersections, the light turns red for them and they didnt clear the intersection so they are blocking cross traffic that has green. They cant move because they are blocked by stopped traffic ahead of them. In stop & go traffic dont enter an intersection until the car in front of you clears the intersection and there is room for you!

Yeah, that used to drive me nuts in Tucson- Tucson has a horrible freeway network and I had a 12 mile commute on surface streets, so I had to deal with that shit all the time.

[J N Winkler]

I'll share just the irritations that haven't already been mentioned by others.  The context is generally either a freeway or a multilane arterial with at least two lanes in each direction.

*  Cars that tailgate each other going down a freeway on-ramp, forming a "wall of steel" that forces you out of the right-hand lane of the freeway as you approach the merge point

*  Impatient following drivers who swish around to pass you on the right instead of waiting for you to leave an appropriate headway between yourself and the car you have just passed (having taken pains to do so at a reasonable speed differential of ~10 MPH) before you move right

*  Drivers behind you on a driveway who honk at you because they think you should turn right into a lane that is clear instead of waiting for all lanes in your intended direction of travel to be clear

[J N Winkler]

Maybe this is a west coast thing or I'm wrong (I'm not a city driver by nature), but from they way  I've always understood it the car driving on the freeway should maintain their speed and the burden is on the car on the ramp to adjust their speed to move into a gap smoothly. I'd probably be one of those cars that slows down because I expect you're not doing that and was planning on getting in behind you, and then I'd be surprised to see that you did too. When I merge, I operate under the assumption that you're not going to slow down and prepare for that. I try to monitor through the side windows to see if there's a change, but that can be tough sometimes.

That said, I'm basically self-taught on merging, so it's not at all out of the question that I've been doing it wrong this whole time.

I'd say your understanding of how to merge is correct and not really regionally specific.  The problem (at least in cities like Wichita which are big enough to have freeway on-ramps controlled by signals but not big enough to need ramp metering) is that drivers queued up to enter a freeway who get green maintain more or less the same headways going down the ramp that they did while waiting for the light.  This leaves very little room to maneuver both for them and for cars already on the freeway ("wall of steel" problem).

If there is a regional aspect to this, which frankly I doubt, it would likely be that people driving on the coasts are more likely to be experienced with heavy traffic and thus to have the foresight to let the following distance to the car in front increase as they go down a ramp so that they can merge smoothly and with minimum disruption to traffic already on the freeway.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Some truck drivers believe because the truck weighs far more than other vehicles the weight holds the truck the ground. I dont know if thats true but I've tried the theory several times with good results, maybe luck, maybe not.

It's not luck.  I was on US 131 S/B in Michigan coming out of Stanwood on morning in a snow storm.  Had just over 45,000lbs in the box, I was running 79,300 gross.  Coming up on Grand Rapids, the road was competely snow covered and I was running 60-62.  I blew past a straight truck.  When he saw this, he sped up and eventually passed me.  I noticed he was either really light or empty, as the back end of his truck was bouncing a lot going over bridges.  Things were fine for a few miles until a curve just inside Grand Rapids, where he started to go sideways.  He managed to save it, but needless to say I stepped on the brakes.  For me, the pavement might as well have been dry.

Heavy weight does make a difference.

On the flip side, in another snow storm, this time in Wisconsin, I picked up a load in Prairie Du Chien that was 2,600lbs.   You can't tell a load of less than about 8,000 is even there.  Under that, it feels empty, and this was no exception.  I was crawling at 30 or less going across US 18...and the relentless south winds still kept blowing my trailer a tad bit sideways.  Unfortunately, I couldn't just pull over, because I couldn't see where the road ended and where the ditch began.  That was probably my most hair-raising winter drive yet.

I should note that my speed in winter weather conditions depends on 3 things:  weight, whether or not there is ice, and sight distance.  If I have plenty of traction, but it is snowing heavily and my sight distance is poor, I'll be doing 40 or less like everyone else.  This is where you can really tell the super truckers apart from the rest: the super truckers will still try to barrel through at 55+ even when they can't see.

[Laura]

I hate when I am driving on a 2 lane road and the person in front of me intentionally slows down because they see a faster driver behind them. If you would pull over for 2 seconds, I could pass you, and we could both get on with our lives.

Anytime someone makes a post about how they hate tailgaters and intentionally slow down and randomly brake in front of them, I usually respond "Well I hope someone uninsured rear ends the hell out of your car".

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

I hate tailgaters, and I slow down/brake for them.*



*Disclaimer - in my car only, as I'm usually doing well north of the speed limit in my car.  You come flying up on me and get right on my bumper when I'm doing 10-12 over, I slow down to the speed limit.  If you get closer, you get a flash of the hazards.  Next comes a couple quick flashes of the left turn signal followed by a brake tap or two...and if you don't get the hint by that point and either back off or go around, I let loose the tire smoke. (Neither of my cars have ABS, so you know what that means.)  Sorry, but nothing pisses me off more than when I'm going 65 in a 55  in the right lane on the freeway and some jackass gets right up on my bumper but won't go around because his exit is 3/4 mile ahead and he wants to go 75 right up to it.

And if some uninsured rear-ends the shit out of me when I let loose the tire smoke, I'll drag 'em to court and run 'em dry.  I was going 65 in a 55 in the right lane and the left lane was clear, you could have just gone around, jackass.

On two lane roads, I pull over if I can.  If I can't, and a long passing zone opens up and is clear...the above applies.

But I simply don't tailgate.  Even if I think someone deserves it.  It's reckless and obnoxious behavior.  (Two wrongs don't make it right, people.)

[cpzilliacus]

I hate when I am driving on a 2 lane road and the person in front of me intentionally slows down because they see a faster driver behind them. If you would pull over for 2 seconds, I could pass you, and we could both get on with our lives.

This, IMO, is a variation on the theme of nestoring (details here on AAROADS in this thread).

Anytime someone makes a post about how they hate tailgaters and intentionally slow down and randomly brake in front of them, I usually respond "Well I hope someone uninsured rear ends the hell out of your car".

I don't like tailgating, but I do not deliberately slow down to piss other drivers off either.  If I am going noticeably slowly for some reason (as if I am looking for something along the road), I will try to find a place to pull over to let the people in a hurry pass me.

[1995hoo]

If someone tailgates me, I spray my windshield washers. They were aimed a bit high when I got the car and some of the spray invariably goes up over the roofline. I've never re-aimed them. If I'm stopped at a red light it winds up on my rear window, but if I'm moving at highway speed it winds up on the windshield of the car behind me. It almost always causes them to back off.

Motorcyclists don't seem to appreciate it much. But if they'd kept the proper distance, they wouldn't have gotten wet....