Posted on 07/17/2006 8:41:13 AM PDT by Smogger
Are you really a good, conscientious driver, or are your driving habits the behind-the-wheel equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard to everyone else on the road?
A recent survey of 10,000 drivers conducted by Hagerty Insurance, a company that insures collector cars, determined the 10 things that exasperate other drivers the most:
10. You're taking a carefree spin down the road when you notice that the car in front of you has its turn signal on ... and on ... and on. Five or 10 miles later, your left eye twitching, you realize the other driver is clueless to the fact their indicator is on. You have just experienced the 10th-biggest irritation, according to the drivers surveyed.
9. Ah, men. Running a little late for work, they often can be seen grooming and shaving while driving. To be certain, this is never an issue for those of us of the female persuasion. Heads up, gentlemen. Grooming while driving was ranked as the ninth-most annoying driver behavior.
8. Due to the fact that I get into deep hot water with motorcycle riders every time I write something negative about motorcycles driving in between lanes, I feel it necessary to post the following disclaimer: I did not conduct the survey. Hagerty Insurance did. That said, the survey concluded that motorcycles that split lanes are No. 8 on the list of what infuriates drivers the most.
7. If you have been told on more than one occasion that you are a good candidate for an anger-management class, you should be aware that those of you who take your rage out on the road are the seventh-most disliked drivers.
6. Do you find that reaching up and turning on that pesky turn signal is more effort than you care to expend while driving? Not bothering to use your turn signal is the sixth-most irksome thing you can do when behind the wheel.
5. If you are a driver with a superiority complex, beware. If you speed up to keep other people from changing lanes or passing you, you were ranked as the fifth-biggest irritation on the road.
4. Some drivers weave in and out of lanes for the precious advantage of arriving at their destination two minutes earlier than those silly folks who actually drive safely. Traffic weavers, you have been forewarned -- you are the fourth-most reviled drivers.
3. You look in your rear-view mirror and see another car driving within inches of your rear bumper. If you were to stop suddenly, the driver behind you would no doubt be meeting you in your front seat for lunch. The survey found that the third-most exasperating driver is the tailgater.
2. If you've got to drive slow, you better know where to go. Those who putz in the fast lane ranked as the second-biggest driving annoyance.
1. And the Big Kahuna, the No. 1 act that survey respondents said made them grind their teeth down to a pulp when they saw other drivers doing it? You guessed it -- chatting on the cell phone. Some 28.5 percent of those surveyed would like you to hang it up the next time you hit the road.
I never play any sort of freeway games. It's just not smart, and could get you into an accident, or worse.
If an idiot thinks that lane swapping is really going to speed them up, I'll get enough satisfaction out of passing him later down the road in the same lane I've been in all the time.
You said something about tourists, and you're right. Lots of people on major interstates are on them for the very first time. You and I know which lane to be in as you pass through our own cities to make life easiest for us, but the poor tourist or other out of towner hasn't a clue. It can be a real problem, especially where three or four freeways intersect.
When I give directions to out of town visitors to our home here in Saint Paul, I tell them which lane they need to be in to navigate the spaghetti-like maze of I-94 through St. Paul. It's got three other highways merging into and out of it, plus left exits and all sorts of other confusion. But, if you drive it, you can get in one lane, stay in that lane, and ignore all the confusion around you until you get to your exit. It's not always the right lane. It's not always the 2nd lane from the left. It's a lane that continues all the way through the city as the freeway expands and contracts around it.
Tourists are completely at a loss with this mess, and I give everyone a wide berth. It's less stressful for me, too.
OK. Have it your way. It is obviously your contention that the roads are safer without a speed limit and everyone drives what they feel is a speed they can handle.
Therefore, put it to your representatives and change the law.
BTW, if you think that one video is enough to counter the many many accidents that have been caused by speeders, you're nuts.
Ruh roh.....
susie
I know I post it a bit too much, but only on anything to do with cars or driving. There are a bunch of us that chat a lot about the 60s muscle cars.
It could be that. Or...it could be the parrot was the brains of the operation! Wouldn't surprise me. All of you complaining about where you drive should come down to S. Florida and drive around here during the season!
susie
That is like saying someone posts too many Sharpova pics.
That thing is a beauty -- I was just having a little fun.
I don't blame you a bit. That's my dream car.
My daughter (high school) is a singer with aspirations to become a movie star. She is already under strict instructions that when she signs her first contract, she buys her daddy a Shelby.
Hey, you can drink Boone's Farm in travel mugs, you know. It's not just for styrofoam cups anymore.....
Well, when I play that game with the (usually young) jerks, they don't usually know that I am - I don't give them any indication, it just sort of looks like bad timing on their part, which it is. It just frustrates their desire to zig-zag down the road in an unsafe manner, really. But, I know that I probably shouldn't do it and just let them go on their merry way. They'll pull that kind of stunt around a cop sometime and get what's coming to them. Or they'll try and pass around the right of a tractor-trailer just as it decides to change lanes. Hopefully when it happens the only injuries will be to their ego.
I used to shave with a cordless electric shaver while driving to work. Took less brainpower than say, smoking at the same time as driving, and way less than using a cell phone while driving. Probably because it really isn't necessary to look at yourself in a mirror while doing it - you can do it by feel.
Nor 16 oz cans. Spill them all the time. :-)
California's law was intended for air-cooled bikes, which were predominate in my formative years. 100 degrees and above was normal and expected in the Sacramento Valley near where I grew up during the summertime.
I don't have an opinion as to whether that law needs to be revisited to account for water-cooled bikes, but I tend to want to leave well enough alone.
Bikers splitting lanes makes me envious, not angry.
The rules...
"More often then not here in CT I see them pulled over at the side of the road 5 minutes later with a stern looking Trooper lookin to make his quota. I just toot my horn and laugh as I drive by them.
"
Isn't that fun? It's always satisfying to see the buttheads pulled over. You can count on them having multiple tickets and very high insurance rates, too. It's sufficient payback for my momentary annoyance at their antics.
Sadly, I've also seen a couple of buttheads down the road in accidents with other vehicles. That bothers me a lot.
My dad taught me defensive driving when I was learning to drive. He's 82 now, still driving, although never on interstates any more...just into town and back these days. He never had a single accident in his driving life. Not one. I don't believe he ever had a ticket, either.
The most important thing he taught me was that I was the only one who could avoid accidents, and that I should never rely on other drivers to avoid them for me.
Driving always involved his complete attention and I learned that from him, too, along with how to back a trailer and shift a non-synchromesh truck transmission properly.
He drove every minute he was on the road. He scanned the road and his mirrors constantly. He told me that I always should know my escape route at all times, just in case something occurred.
He taught by example, and his lessons were very good ones. Now, I drive just like my dad always did. He was right. I've avoided dozens of serious accidents, had to use that escape route a few times, and have stayed safe.
My wife thinks I'm nuts, because I won't even carry on a conversation while I'm driving. She's learned to read a book while we travel.
And I still count only on myself to avoid accidents. So far, so good.
No problem, but if you get killed driving between cars and someone changes lanes and you are semi solid mush, your insurance should be excused from paying anything.
in the same vein, drivers that pull up to pass you and then just hang there side by side with you...you have your cruise control on so you know that they are the ones slowing down....
and another very dangerous type of driving....going down a four lane.....you're on the right....a car is catching up on the left.....in you lane up ahead, there's a slow moving truck or motorhome...and yep, that guy trying to pass you keeps you out of the passing lane, yet doesn't go fast enough so you can pass the truck....then you get to slam on your breaks ....
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