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.
427 Cobra.
Read my previous posts. I split lanes in CA, not CT.
Ah, Vague Movie Reference.....
It's dumb everywhere.
I looked at the 427. Too nose heavy and too much power for such a light car. My 289 FIA builds 325 bhp which is sufficient to get you in trouble in a 2,300 lb. car.
I have another one that trumps them all.
When you're sitting in traffic...driving down the highway...and traffic is backed up for miles at an odd time of day. You FINALLY get through the jam and what's the cause?
There's an accident ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DAMN HIGHWAY (as in, NOT IN OUR WAY!) and people are STARING at it like they've never seen a wreck before. They might as well ask the cops to bring pieces of the car over for them to look at.
1. TRAFFIC. Specifically, sitting in it.
2. TOLL BOOTHS: New Jersey should change its nickname from the Garden State to the tollbooth state. I spent 30 minutes waiting to get through a toll booth near Giants Stadium on Sunday.
3. POORLY COORDINATED ROAD CONSTRUCTION: Yes, lets shut down ALL BUT ONE LANE on the turnpike extention from Bayonne/Jersey City to Newark, THE ONLY WAY OUT OF TOWN to the rest of the state! Note the the NJ DOT: schedule all such construction LATE AT NIGHT, or at LEAST keep more than ONE FRIGGIN LANE open so that I can go more than four miles within an hour!
I agree when it comes to young recruits. However, my husband switched careers to become a sheriff's deputy, when he was 36. He doesn't feel he has anything to prove, so he's not on a power trip. This is the job he was born to do, he just found out late.
You would think my coming up on their rear end, honking, flashing my lights and flipping them off would be a signal. The ones who block traffic are dense.
Wouldn't do any good. They all protect each other.
The college I went to was overrun with Asians. I STILL drive with one hand on the horn because of it.
Every day the police blotter looked like the menu at a Chinese restaurant.
Chang Fong collided with a vehicle driven by...
Wang Ho collided with a parking meter...
Abrjraoieriaon Broeuouejordfklj hit a parked vehicle owned by...
The latter. In most of the world, including Europe, it's just assumed that motorcycles and the like will continue to move forward when possible, riding on the line between the lanes when traffic stalls, and in the city moving to the front of the line at traffic lights.
What's that got to do with people who use the *slow traffic keep right* lane to pass someone already going the speed limit or over when the left lane is free?
Speed limits are set for the lowest common denominator of people who don't even know how to signal, and are mystified by the tachometer.
Stay off of Colonial/50 in O-town.
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