Driving Pet Peeves

[Molandfreak]

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....

That is hilarious! Sounds like it's pretty effective; I wish I were able to do that.

[NE2]

Whenever someone pisses me off I whip out my dick. Shame it's so small

[J N Winkler]

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.

I don't do that--at all.  I remember it being recommended in newspapers ten or so years ago as a fun way of responding to tailgating, but I have found it only invites retaliation (tailgater passes aggressively so he can dump his windshield wiper overspray on your windshield), including in cases where I really just want my windshield clean and have no intention of punishing a tailgater.

So here is what I do:

*  If it's a dry day and the windshield needs to be cleaned (generally to remove water spots and the like), I run the washer and wipers immediately after starting the car, while it is not moving.  This saves aggravation all around.

*  If I am being tailgated, I drop my speed to leave between myself and the car in front (1) the space I need to leave, (2) the space the tailgater should be leaving between himself and me, and (3) additional space equal to either (1) or (2) (whichever is greater) to compensate for the tailgater's reflexes and response time, which are doubtless retarded since he is clearly not focused on driving properly.  I extend time spent signalling, coasting before stops or turns, etc. by comparable amounts.  Usually this encourages tailgaters to pass if that is compatible with their itineraries, and if not, it insulates me from the risk of a rear-end collision.

[Jardine]

I live in a rural area, and if I am being tailgated, I just look for loose gravel on the edge of the road from a driveway or county gravel road intersection and run over it.

Doesn't even look like I am doing it deliberately, but I am.

[kkt]

If it's a 2-lane road and there's no safe place to pull over, but there are passing opportunities, the slower vehicle should reduce speed to the speed limit so the faster vehicles can pass more easily.

[PColumbus73]

When it comes to urban surface streets, I regard the left lane for through traffic and the right lane for people turning or entering the road. Especially on a parkway or divided highway. If it's a 6-lane road (3 lanes each way), I stick to the center lane except when I'm approaching my turn.

[Buck87]

People who either refuse to use cruise control (or don't have it) and are unable to maintain anything close to a constant speed. It's annoying as hell to get stuck behind someone on a busy 2 lane who can't quite seem to decide if they want to drive 5 under the speed limit or 2 over, making it impossible for you to set your own cruise for more than a minute or two before having to adjust to their latest speed change.

This is something I am known to be guilty of when driving in unfamiliar areas and the reason I do it is because my speed swings up and down with my confidence that I won't get pulled over for it at that precise time and location. You might see me doing 75 in a 70 and then suddenly speed up to 80 if someone passes me going 85. Likewise, you might see me going 80 in a 70 and then suddenly slow down to 75 if I realize I seem to be the fastest car in my immediate vicinity. I will also sometimes speed up if there is clearly nowhere for any cops to hide nearby. But I'll slow down when I see a median break to avoid being nabbed by a cop coming the other way and u-turning. It's all a constant risk analysis.

What you're describing here doesn't seem to be that bad. I was mainly talking about people whose speed is constantly wavering up and down over an extended period of time for no apparent reason (as in their speed changes by 1 MPH every 10-20 seconds or so, probably due to some distraction)

[Molandfreak]

People who either refuse to use cruise control (or don't have it) and are unable to maintain anything close to a constant speed. It's annoying as hell to get stuck behind someone on a busy 2 lane who can't quite seem to decide if they want to drive 5 under the speed limit or 2 over, making it impossible for you to set your own cruise for more than a minute or two before having to adjust to their latest speed change.

This is something I am known to be guilty of when driving in unfamiliar areas and the reason I do it is because my speed swings up and down with my confidence that I won't get pulled over for it at that precise time and location. You might see me doing 75 in a 70 and then suddenly speed up to 80 if someone passes me going 85. Likewise, you might see me going 80 in a 70 and then suddenly slow down to 75 if I realize I seem to be the fastest car in my immediate vicinity. I will also sometimes speed up if there is clearly nowhere for any cops to hide nearby. But I'll slow down when I see a median break to avoid being nabbed by a cop coming the other way and u-turning. It's all a constant risk analysis.

What you're describing here doesn't seem to be that bad. I was mainly talking about people whose speed is constantly wavering up and down over an extended period of time for no apparent reason (as in their speed changes by 1 MPH every 10-20 seconds or so, probably due to some distraction)

1 mph? Dude, that's well within an acceptable margin of error for a modern cruise control.

[Buck87]

1 mph? Dude, that's well within an acceptable margin of error for a modern cruise control.

I'm not talking about something that looks like 55-54-55-54-55-54-55.

I'm talking about something that looks more like:
53-54-55-54-55-56-57-56-55-54-53-52-53-52-51-50-51-52-51-52-53-54-55-56-55

[realjd]

Here's another one I encountered today: people who think they can't pass a cop. On a 4 lane road with the speed limit 40, if there's a cop in the right lane going 35 that doesn't mean you have to block the left lane going 35 as well. The cop won't pull you over for going faster than him if you're at the speed limit.

[Jardine]

Some people are so unwilling to use their turnsignals to change lanes for passing that they will not pass a cop going below the limit.

[roadman]

Wouldn't that be "some people are unwilling to pass a cop going below the limit" instead.  I've seen that a number of times over the years.  Of course, that's normally not a problem on Massachusetts freeways (except in construction zones, which are double fines for speeding), as our state police are known for driving at least 5-10 over the posted limit on a regular basis.

[mass_citizen]

as our state police are known for driving at least 5-10 over the posted limit on a regular basis.

I would say more like 20-30, and  if youre on some of the roads like US 3 and 128 where the speed limit is under posted at 55, the police can often be seen going 30-40 over. although they aren't going much faster than the prevailing traffic speed anyway.

[hbelkins]

It's typical to see Kentucky state police driving well in excess of the speed limit without their emergency equipment operating. Law enforcement officers traveling in their cruisers outside their jurisdiction -- for example, a police officer or sheriff from eastern Kentucky driving down the Mountain Parkway or I-64 -- often do this as well, knowing they won't be stopped because of what they call "professional courtesy."

When I was commuting from Winchester to Frankfort along I-64 several years ago, there was this one state trooper who would often drive at the speed limit, which at the time was 65 mph. He would stack traffic up behind him pretty badly.

[renegade]

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

We have stumbled upon the magic word!

I go out of my way to not follow too closely, especially when I am on my Harley.  But when I do that, the guy behind ME usually gets pissed off.

I just can't seem to win.

Sometimes, the guy behind me just TAKES my lane, regardless of where I legally am positioned within it.

Don't get me started on the text-messaging generation.  I think they are the ones who have been sent to kill me.

[getemngo]

as our state police are known for driving at least 5-10 over the posted limit on a regular basis.

I would say more like 20-30,

It's typical to see Kentucky state police driving well in excess of the speed limit without their emergency equipment operating. Law enforcement officers traveling in their cruisers outside their jurisdiction -- for example, a police officer or sheriff from eastern Kentucky driving down the Mountain Parkway or I-64 -- often do this as well, knowing they won't be stopped because of what they call "professional courtesy."

Similiarly, I have never in my life seen a member of the Michigan State Police signal while changing lanes.

However, a(n off-duty) village sheriff in my county was convicted of a DUI a couple years ago after being pulled over by county police, so thankfully, "professional courtesy" doesn't always apply when lives are in danger.

[hbelkins]

However, a(n off-duty) village sheriff in my county was convicted of a DUI a couple years ago after being pulled over by county police, so thankfully, "professional courtesy" doesn't always apply when lives are in danger.

Hopefully not in his official vehicle.

[hm insulators]

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.

except in SoCal.  here, we get a moderate rain, and half of the population slows down to about 15 on the freeway.  the other half continues to go 90.

Interesting things happen when somebody doing 90 meets somebody doing 15.

[Scott5114]

It's typical to see Kentucky state police driving well in excess of the speed limit without their emergency equipment operating. Law enforcement officers traveling in their cruisers outside their jurisdiction -- for example, a police officer or sheriff from eastern Kentucky driving down the Mountain Parkway or I-64 -- often do this as well, knowing they won't be stopped because of what they call "professional courtesy."

When I was commuting from Winchester to Frankfort along I-64 several years ago, there was this one state trooper who would often drive at the speed limit, which at the time was 65 mph. He would stack traffic up behind him pretty badly.

I remember reading somewhere that many police departments instruct their officers to do either 10 under the limit or less or 10 over or more as a matter of policy to avoid this phenomenon.

[formulanone]

On my early-morning airport commutes to FLL, it was a lottery whether the said "pace car" preferred a posted 65, 75, or even 80-85 on the local freeway.

I've encountered only a small handful who would troll traffic by going 5-10 under, but that never stopped me for long...although, if you see a weaving cop car doing that, there's probably a reason.

[1995hoo]

I recall when I was a little kid on a family trip to New York we encountered one of Maryland's infamous "rolling roadblocks" where the state police would form essentially a moving wall across all lanes going 55 mph. It was an effort to "enforce compliance" with the national speed limit because federal law penalized states with "insufficient" compliance. Many years later I saw a picture of one of those and it looked rather comical given the dated-looking police cars, but I do not remember where I saw that picture (though it was probably in the book American Autobahn).

[agentsteel53]

although, if you see a weaving cop car doing that, there's probably a reason.

that's a traffic break, and usually it means there is debris in the road ahead.  the cop stops everyone behind him, gets out of the car, moves the debris off the road, and then lets everyone continue.

[codyg1985]

Tailgating is my number one pet peeve. It really makes my blood boil more than just about anything. I shouldn't slam on my brakes, but if someone continues to tailgate me, then I will be more than happy to do so and watch them back off or run into the back of me. I try to get out of situations like this like when I'm stuck behind someone going slower than I want to on a two-lane road and someone is behind me tailgating me. I try to pass the person in front or go a different route to get out of the situation.

The lack of use of cruise control on a rural freeway also grinds my gears. Most cars have it. USE IT. This slowing down, speeding up affair when you don't have to do so just annoys the hell out of me. Likewise, if you pass me, I expect you to either maintain a distance away from me so that I don't have to pass you again later.

Another thing I hate is when I'm in a turn lane and the person in front of me or behind me doesn't have their signal on and they got to the turn lane a little bit before I did. I put my turn signal on, and then low and behold they decide they should turn their signal on too! Well, I would have NEVER guessed you were turning too!