lousy drivers, open road, pet peeves!

[Gary - K7GLD]

SO, what is YOUR "pet peeve" as to lousy drivers you frequently encounter?



I'll start!



Yer towing your overloaded 45 foot Bulgemobile down a deserted country road towards the freeway - nobody in front of or behind you as to stay at the 45 MPH speed limit. You see a car pull up to the stopsign at a crossroad WAYYYYy up ahead, and they just continue to SIT there as you get closer and closer - then yep! They wait until yer amost to the intersection (NO stopsign on YOUR road) - THEN they casually pull right out in front of you as you mash the brake pedal thru the floorboards, lock up all wheels, and start considering things to toss overboard to lighten yer load...



THEN, as you finally come to a stop mere inches from their sheetmetal, all brakes smoking and the echo of various appliances bouncing of the floors and walls of yer trailer still ringing in yer ears, they casually just motor on down the road ahead of you as nonchalant as if nothing had happened...



And after that, as you gather speed once again, they travel ahead of you at about 20 MPH for a couple of hundred yards, nearly come to a complete stop in the middle of the road in front of you, and then slowly turn into a driveway alongside the road... .



GOTTA LOVE IT!

 

[A Johnson]

Good one.



Mine is the four lane highway or just a passing lane, your tooling along and one other car pulls up beside you to pass, has 5 miles of empty road in front of him, but pulls in 10 yards in front of you just to throw rocks all over you, because he can.



A Johnson

 

[TPCDrafting]

Following someone through traffic, they pull into the left hand turn lane, so you proceed to pass and they feel the need to turn right (halfway back into your lane) before turning left.



Gary, when your situation happens to me, I just turn on the brights and leave 'em on, noncholant as if nothing happened...

 

[Got Smoke?]

Gary... ... get you a Grover! :-laf



I need to get mine back on the truck for THOSE specific reasons. It got the point across several times while it was on the truck the first time! Oo.

 

[The patriot]

All those things are the norm here. My house is surrounded by senior citizen developments.



The two things that really get me are:

Someone in front of you (usually on a two lane road) going substantially under the speed limit. You go and pass then, then they tailgate you with the high beams on. (This is why I have to fix my attitude adjuster (150 watt ea) lights in my back bumper. They havent worked for about a month now. )

This happened to me last night, cept on a 4 lane rd.

When we both got to the next light, I made sure I was next to them. I rolled my window down and said "Hey you have high beams, do you have a radio and wipers too?"

#2 is traveling under or at the speed limit in the left lane.

KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS!! I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS!!!

Eric

 

[mcoleman]

Wifey has been after me to get a Grover setup for these exact reasons listed here. I usually try and put my 5 inch exhaust at window level for several miles on the offenders. They get the idea. Especially if we are pulling the horsetrailer loaded on the interstate and hit some long hills.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

Pulling my 5th wheel RV on I-540. Ford Ranger next to me in left lane. Cruise control set at 65 mph. Kid in Hyundai Santa Fe on the On Ramp with plenty of time to kick it and get out ahead of me. Instead he ***** foots around matching my speed and then stomps his brakes at the end of the On Ramp.



He pulls out behind me. Meanwhile Ford Ranger has already passed me. Kid pulls out around me, passes me, pulls back over in front and hits his brakes. I dive for the clear left lane and almost draw even with him when he punches it. I pull back in right lane and kick it down, hoping to plant my rear bumper in his rear glass.



Finally, at 85mph, I catch him and he ducks into the next exit. I roll down my window and tell him what an idiot he his. I'm still looking for him and hoping I'm not pulling my RV when I get behind him!!



I'd just hate myself if this kid went through the rest of his life without getting a PROPER a$$ whooping!!

 

[klenger]

Jumbo Jet



I'm all steamed up just reading about it.

 

[RustyJC]

Jumbo Jet,



We currently pull a 36' 13,500 lb 5th wheel that puts us on the road at 21,180 lbs GCW (21,500 lbs GCWR). I can't count the times I've had similar things happen to me - people cutting right in front of me and then slamming on the brakes. The closest I came to taking one out was a teenaged girl in a Ford Escort who cut in front of me from the left lane then immediately slammed on the brakes to make a right into McDonalds. Since another car had already come up beside me in the left lane, I was standing on the brakes trying to keep 10. 5+ tons of truck and RV from going right over the top of the Escort.



Regardless of who winds up getting the ticket, I guess people don't understand that the laws of physics say that a 3,000 lb car is going to lose if it tangles with a 21,180 lb truck and RV.



Rusty

 

[NETim]

We were toting our Lance home after buying it. Obviously it was our first time with it on the truck. We were tooling along I-80 in western Nebraska and I pulled into the LH lane and passed a slow poke in the RH lane.



We got ahead of him and just when I thought I was far enough ahead of him to pull in safely (I admit I was being very cautious as rear visibility suffers when the Lance is onboard), some yahoo pickup with a bowtie on the front whips into the RH lane from behind me. He passes me on the right and then pulls in front of me in the left and hits his brakes. Fortunately he didn't hit them real hard.



I guess he showed me. Thanks for the consideration pal!!!



The truck had green license plates on it BTW.



Tim

 

[TPCDrafting]

Wyo Highway patrol LOVES them green plates. In the summer when they're all headed for our lakes, we call them the green navy.

 

[loncray]

Growing up in Casper, my dad always used to call those green plates the Green Wienies! We just had a 16-car pileup out here in Northern Virginia caused by somebody cutting in front of somebody else, then everybody else following too closely. Of course, leaving a good space is an invitation to get cut off around here.

 

[duaneparks]

Amen Rusty. My folks and I share a 39' Fleetwood diesel pusher that weighs in around 25K lbs by itself with us and our gear, and when we pull another vehicle behind us we're closer to 30K lbs and 60' long.



In Chattanooga about 2 years ago we were motoring along through an interchange where I75 meets up with I35 (IIRC) right before the GA line. An old POS Crown Vic with what appeared to be 9 kids and an adult decided to cut across 8 or so lanes of traffic to get to the highway she needed to be on. I was driving and saw her coming, but thought that she was merely trying to avoid an accident. She continued in front of me, and if I hadn't seen her first, she'd have hit the right front of our coach with her driver's rear door. I laid on the (thankfully AIR) brakes and horn (air horn) though and she missed us by literally inches. Cars went every which way behind us while this was going on. Meanwhile, as she crosses the next 4 lanes at once (!) she's flipping ME off!



Luckily no one was standing up in the coach at the time. So, it's oblivious drivers that get me riled up.



Duane

 

[Peter Campbell]

Some/most are just clueless and inconsiderate. Then there are those that are looking for an accident. Lots of people " witnesses" in the "struck" car and another car to keep you boxed in. Happens in NY and CA. takes 3 cars to do it right. A car in the left that boxes you in, a car that gets in front "struck" and slows down to let you creep up too close, then another one cuts him off, he slams the brakes- you hit him and you are 100% at fault. And all 7 occupants have neck injuries requiring at least 5-10 thousand in treatment and lost wages.

It was very nice when a tractor trailer jacknifed and fell over on the car in the left lane that was boxing him in. I think 4 spanish fluent defrauders got thier just rewards. The occupants of other two cars go vehicular manslaughter out of it. And the truck driver was not found in any fault. - unless someone dies they would not bother to prove the conspiracy over a 100,000$ in insurance- your carrier any you are holding the bag. Another reason not to go overloaded.

 

[dustoff]

ya know I think we all have had some dealings with these *I am totally void of any common sense between my ears* drivers , but for me anyway the positive thing from these events has been my ability to master the use of sign language

 

[greyghost]

Posted this in the "Smoke Stories" thread. This happened awhile ago.



I had the G/N trailer on this morning with about 7k LBS on its back. I was running down a 2 laner coming up on a side road. Well ya know the kind of driver that see a big truck moving down the road and has to be in front of it come he!! or high water. You guessed it the punk pulls right out in front of me turning right. Well I tap the brakes and there was no way we're getting Bessy to whoa, looked left no one coming in the on coming lane. So I mashed the petal, left blinker and pulled the soot pipe up to the rolled down window. Truck was smoking like a house fire and the noise of 5. 9 Liters of P!ssed off Cummins between the two vehicles was so sweeeetttttt!



oh and the little punk, he hit the skids and bailed to the shoulder and did a u turn. Guess he needed to go change his shorts.



Garrett

 

[MCummings]

Originally posted by dustoff

for me anyway the positive thing from these events has been my ability to master the use of sign language

LOL.



First a little background of my truck. .

180HP Honed DD injectors

PDR HX-40/18

Drag Comp

6-speed



What I do when I see one of these people that are going to pull out right on front of me, is unleash my smoke.



When I'm about 300 yrds before the intersection with the vehicle, I'll let my boost fall off as much as I can, and since I am heavy, grossing 30,000 Lbs, my truck doesn't slow much, and tehn about 250 yrds from him, I lay on the throttle to WOT... this creates enough smoke to thoroughly fill the air about 20' high, (from the ground), and about 40' wide,,, when they see me comin' like that, I rarely have people pull out in front of me,, more effective than grovers.

If they really looked like they were going to pull out in front of me, I'll lay dwon another 100' worth of smoke after I pass them, so no matter which way they were going to turn, they are going to encounter some #2 Highway Perfume.



Merrick



I think I need to get a picture of this phenomena

 

[jgallentine]

Right turns into left lanes.

Left turns into right lanes.

X number of lanes going one direction, X number of cars side by side going the same speed.



Jeff

 

[QRTRHRS]

Saw a good one today. Sitting at a delayed green, 3way intersection, light turns and I start to proceed forward. Idiot in a minivan placarded School Students flys in on the right, sees my Freightlinger, barely stops, I guess figuring no way I want to be behind a truck and starts to hook a right. Just happens to be a bicyclist on my side coming at me trying to make a left in front of me. Said idiot missed that dude by a fraction.



Of all the close calls I see everyday, the right turn on red without a proper stop tops the list. People hate to get behind a truck so bad, all common scense is off.



Four lane backed up entrance ramps: These are good ones too. Drivers don't know how to use a side mirror to blend in correctly and/or stop at the end then have no room for proper acceleration. You have the jerk who can't wait and passes drivers stopped waiting their turn. A small gap appears so maybe the first vehicle can jump out into traffic. Some jerk decides he will take advantage of that gap to pass and jumps into the right lane only to clash with the driver trying to get on. It's also nice when the jumper decides to move back left or gets pushed left and collides with the hammer lane vehicle then the fun really starts.

 

[KBennett]

People that need a good pounding....

TDRMADD = TDR Members Against Dumb Drivers



I was driving with a guy from the office today in the far left lane with the cruise on 75 in a 65 limit. A guy merges from the entrance ramp right over to the left lane and stays at 70. My passenger thought it should be legal to give him the NASCAR bump!



I think it should be legal to help push those semi's up the hill that pass on the left but lose steam when they get to the top of the next hill and can't complete the pass.