Minor things that bother you

[webny99]

As long as we're talking about a driving, I have a couple from my time in Japan.

Where I live in Japan, there is a lot of Americans too. Generally speaking, both American and Japanese drivers here are quite good, but there are two things that Americans sometimes do that irritate the hell out of me:

* stopping way too early on yellow
* waiting behind the line when turning across traffic (right turns here)

For the first, obviously entering on red isn't "legal", but it's expected to some degree, because stopping on yellow isn't generally done. Americans though, I guess from training in the US, sometimes stop way too early on yellow. I've seen a few close-calls from drivers who nearly rear-end someone because they expect them to keep moving, but then they stop. Invariably, it's almost always an American (we have unique license plates, by the way).

...

Interesting. Slowing down/stopping on yellow is definitely one of those things I feel like drivers in other countries would be baffled by. Out of curiosity are yellow phases in Japan similar length to those in the US/Canada?

[elsmere241]

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but when the driver of the lead car at a red light is too busy on their phone or zoning out to notice that the light has turned green.

Or when the driver of the car in front of you is too busy on their phone to see that the lane is ending.

[kphoger]

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but when the driver of the lead car at a red light is too busy on their phone or zoning out to notice that the light has turned green.

This one bothers me less and less as time goes on.  It's almost to the point that I could post it in the Minor things that DON'T bother you thread.

Speed is another thing that bothers me less and less.  If you want to drive slow or fast, I don't care.  But if you're slow, just keep right.  And if you're fast, just don't tailgate.  Other than that, drive whatever speed you want.

[webny99]

I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but when the driver of the lead car at a red light is too busy on their phone or zoning out to notice that the light has turned green.

This one bothers me less and less as time goes on.  It's almost to the point that I could post it in the Minor things that DON'T bother you thread.

I agree that if you're going straight, it's not that big a deal. But for protected turns, inattentiveness can waste half the length of the cycle or more so I do tend to be more bothered by those... especially at protected turns that are backup-prone to begin with.

[ZLoth]

This was triggered by this tow video:

The first part of the video is the tow from a handicapped spot at a service station... that is located across the street from an Atlanta area hospital.... that charges to park. But, my gripe extends also to colleges and universities that charge for parking as well. It's bad enough that those institutions charge an arm and a leg for the services they render, but then the parking charge or the semester parking permit gets under the skin as it feels like nickle-and-diming. So, the people try to find alternatives like parking in the nearby residential area. I know that my university included a free transit pass, and before I switched jobs, I would park at my workplace which was located about two driving miles from the university and take the bus to school and back. (I had the work schedule of Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and school on Tuesdays and Thursdays). When I switched jobs, transit wasn't exactly an option especially for night classes, so I had to drive and pay for parking.

[hotdogPi]

Too many places ban parking even if it's a typical hour (e.g. 8-5) business or if the parking lot never fills up. Two entrances to the Methuen Rail Trail, both in the "never fills up" category are that way. (The MSPCA and IHOP parking lots allow it, though, as does the "official" entrance.) Reading (MA) Town Hall gets it right where it lists the hours the town hall is in business, and it says you are allowed to park there for non-town hall purposes as long as it is outside those hours.

[kkt]

The reason the lot never fills up is that parking is very limited by time and they tow.

And I have no sympathy at all for non-handicapped people parking in handicapped spaces.  That lot had loads of parking spaces, why take that one?

[ZLoth]

And I have no sympathy at all for non-handicapped people parking in handicapped spaces.  That lot had loads of parking spaces, why take that one?

Just as long as people understand that not everyone who has a disabled placard may appear to be "ok", but have some legitimate mobility issues. My 82yo mother actually looks younger than her actual age, but has some mobility issues. Also, as I don't allow my mother to drive, I am her chauffer, and dropping off my mother at the entrance of a store, then parking and waitng at a nearby handicapped slot (because the ones near the store were quite full) with a placard displayed is very legal. On the other hand, I never touch that placard when my mother is nowhere around.

[vdeane]

This was triggered by this tow video:

The first part of the video is the tow from a handicapped spot at a service station... that is located across the street from an Atlanta area hospital.... that charges to park. But, my gripe extends also to colleges and universities that charge for parking as well. It's bad enough that those institutions charge an arm and a leg for the services they render, but then the parking charge or the semester parking permit gets under the skin as it feels like nickle-and-diming. So, the people try to find alternatives like parking in the nearby residential area. I know that my university included a free transit pass, and before I switched jobs, I would park at my workplace which was located about two driving miles from the university and take the bus to school and back. (I had the work schedule of Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and school on Tuesdays and Thursdays). When I switched jobs, transit wasn't exactly an option especially for night classes, so I had to drive and pay for parking.

Clarkson had free parking when I was there, which was an annoyance due to how tight parking was.  As I understand it, the situation got even worse after I graduated, due to the increasing size of the student population.  At the time they were even planning to get rid of one of the parking lots, but I don't believe that happened.

[kkt]

And I have no sympathy at all for non-handicapped people parking in handicapped spaces.  That lot had loads of parking spaces, why take that one?

Just as long as people understand that not everyone who has a disabled placard may appear to be "ok", but have some legitimate mobility issues. My 82yo mother actually looks younger than her actual age, but has some mobility issues. Also, as I don't allow my mother to drive, I am her chauffer, and dropping off my mother at the entrance of a store, then parking and waitng at a nearby handicapped slot (because the ones near the store were quite full) with a placard displayed is very legal[/i]. On the other hand, I never touch that placard when my mother is nowhere around.

Yes, absolutely.  A good friend of mine had lung issues which didn't show on the outside at all, but walking 50 yards across a parking lot for her was comparable to taking the stairs up a 10-story building for most people.  Sometimes she got the side eye from people who didn't realize there were such things as invisible disabilities.

[kphoger]

Then there's my perfectly able-bodied sister-in-law, who likes to drive her relative's vehicle, leave the tag hanging from the mirror, and get front-row parking at every store she visits...   

[bm7]

Maybe she thinks "being a selfish person" is a disability.

[zachary_amaryllis]

My wife seems to HATE it when I pass on a two-lane road, no matter how safe it is to do so.

I *can* do it, and frequently do, but I don't care for it. Flat roads, it's hard to see just how far I can really see ... if that makes sense.

So you just hang it out there and flog it. Unless someone's coming.

[Takumi]

I don't have any apprehension about passing on two-lane roads as long as I can tell there's sufficient room. The only time I have is when I was driving my right-hand-drive Japanese-market Toyota, because the line of sight is obviously much worse for passing. I did do one two-lane road pass in it, but the car I was passing was something small and slow with an open top like a Miata or something.

[Rothman]

I was passing on two-lane roads like a madman on a recent trip.  Passed a slow semi and he honked at me for some unknown reason.  He didn't turn left and no one was coming the other way at all.

[jakeroot]

As long as we're talking about a driving, I have a couple from my time in Japan.

Where I live in Japan, there is a lot of Americans too. Generally speaking, both American and Japanese drivers here are quite good, but there are two things that Americans sometimes do that irritate the hell out of me:

* stopping way too early on yellow
* waiting behind the line when turning across traffic (right turns here)

For the first, obviously entering on red isn't "legal", but it's expected to some degree, because stopping on yellow isn't generally done. Americans though, I guess from training in the US, sometimes stop way too early on yellow. I've seen a few close-calls from drivers who nearly rear-end someone because they expect them to keep moving, but then they stop. Invariably, it's almost always an American (we have unique license plates, by the way).

...

Interesting. Slowing down/stopping on yellow is definitely one of those things I feel like drivers in other countries would be baffled by. Out of curiosity are yellow phases in Japan similar length to those in the US/Canada?

From my experience in the US, I recall some drivers slamming on the brakes when the yellow came up, even if there was plenty of time to enter before red. You never see that here...except some Americans.

Some yellows in Japan are longer, but most are 3 seconds I believe. There is also an all-red phase. Here is the typical phasing when protected-permissive signals are used:

1: green
2: yellow (3 seconds)
3: right turn green arrow
4: yellow (2 seconds)
5: all-red (2 seconds)

[vdeane]

How lazy people are with disposing of their trash.  I am constantly going over to the garbage dumpsters (I park near them, so I see them whenever I arrive/leave home) at my apartment and fixing issues like the side doors being left open (thereby leaving garbage exposed to the elements) or the gate to the dumpster area not being closed.  Many people are too lazy to even put their garbage in the dumpster in the first place.  Today I was taking my trash out when I saw a bag left by the side of a dumpster by one such f***tard.  To make matters worse, it turned out to be overfull (and the pouring rain all day couldn't have helped), so when I went to put it in the dumpster like someone who isn't a lazy asshat, the bag gave out and left a pile of garbage on the ground.  A pile that will probably be there for two weeks now, because our regular garbage pickup is Friday (if it doesn't vary for some random reason, which it often does), and often gets skipped entirely on weeks with a holiday. 

On the recycling side, this also manifests as stuff like not distributing things evenly (so the dumpster overflows on one side but is empty in the back), not collapsing cardboard, etc.

Why can't people just put their garbage in the dumpsters and then close up like they're supposed to?

[gonealookin]

Choosing a motel because you know you'll have some extra time and this place advertises a pool and hot tub...and then finding out, after checking in, that said pool and hot tub are closed and padlocked by order of the county health department.



Granted, it's a Motel 6 (Kingsburg, CA) and I shouldn't have expected any different from them.

[kphoger]

not collapsing cardboard

This is a big one for me.

[Bruce]

Drivers who insist on tailgating when I'm already going the speed limit on a narrow and busy urban street...even in a fucking school zone with kids around. Some people really do not care whether they might hit and kill pedestrians of all ages and sizes.

[1995hoo]

Drivers who insist on tailgating when I'm already going the speed limit on a narrow and busy urban street...even in a fucking school zone with kids around. Some people really do not care whether they might hit and kill pedestrians of all ages and sizes.

I like to set my cruise control right on the speed limit in such places simply to ensure that I don't inadvertently speed up when someone tailgates.

[formulanone]

Choosing a motel because you know you'll have some extra time and this place advertises a pool and hot tub...and then finding out, after checking in, that said pool and hot tub are closed and padlocked by order of the county health department.



Granted, it's a Motel 6 (Kingsburg, CA) and I shouldn't have expected any different from them.

That's a new one...though the pool/hot tub closure seems to be common to about 20% of my hotel experiences. And the comments always have this concern at some point or another.

not collapsing cardboard

This is a big one for me.

This is my weekly ritual after being away for a week (possibly at a hotel without a functioning pool). Nobody in my family breaks down nor cuts a box apart for recycling.

[kphoger]

not collapsing cardboard

This is a big one for me.

This is my weekly ritual after being away for a week (possibly at a hotel without a functioning pool). Nobody in my family breaks down nor cuts a box apart for recycling.

For me, it probably stems from my having worked in a warehouse for several years, and having broken down and baled zillions of cardboard boxes during that time.

[gonealookin]

Choosing a motel because you know you'll have some extra time and this place advertises a pool and hot tub...and then finding out, after checking in, that said pool and hot tub are closed and padlocked by order of the county health department.

(see photo above)

Granted, it's a Motel 6 (Kingsburg, CA) and I shouldn't have expected any different from them.

That's a new one...though the pool/hot tub closure seems to be common to about 20% of my hotel experiences. And the comments always have this concern at some point or another.

They are now on the receiving end of my wrath, with that photo and my comments posted on TripAdvisor.  The place wasn't actually bad compared to some of the other cheap motel hellholes I've stumbled in to, but the health department issue with the pool deserves to cause them some damage.

[webny99]

not collapsing cardboard

This is a big one for me.

This is my weekly ritual after being away for a week (possibly at a hotel without a functioning pool). Nobody in my family breaks down nor cuts a box apart for recycling.

For me, it probably stems from my having worked in a warehouse for several years, and having broken down and baled zillions of cardboard boxes during that time.

That's what box crushers are for.