Look out!!! Lots of Americans just can't drive..more than 1 in 5

[Aikouka]

aikouka, do you live in Los Angeles and take the 405 every day? I drive 30 or so miles of it every day. I see that same shit everyday, there is always going to be traffic you can NEVER expect it to occur, when traffic is occuring leaving extra space between the car in front of me does TWO things like I mentioned. It lowers the chances of me having to come to an abrupt stop which may cause an accident and it also helps keep the flow of traffic going. The less I have to slow down or stop, the better it is for the people behind me. It's a traffic reducing driving technique. If you have to ask WHY I do these things, you fit in the category of slightly shit or worse drivers.

Your last statement is a direct result of the answer of your first question. No, I do not live in Los Angeles nor have I ever driven on this supposedly ubiquitously known "405." Given I have not driven on it or even know anything about it, I have no idea what the condition are like on it. If you just tell me, "there's a lot of traffic"... that tells me nothing.

For example, there's a road around here... in fact, it's the same 65mph highway that I mentioned earlier. How about I tell you that from 3:30PM to 5:30PM, "there's a lot of traffic" on that road. The thing is... this tells you nothing about what it's like to actually drive on it. In fact, the highway in question literally turns into a traffic jam consisting of constant stop-n-go traffic (yes, a 65mph highway). It's not very much fun to drive on.

All in all, I know jack shit about this "405" and would prefer understanding what is the underlying cause to you keeping such distance. You say there is the possibility of "abrupt stops"... what's usually causing these abrupt stops?

Also, usually the only time I'll pull in a tighter space between two cars is if I'm exiting soon. I should say that I usually try to get into the proper lane (usually the right-most) sooner rather than later, but sometimes it just happens.

 

[Squisher]

On a little drive to Home Depot just now I saw a cop using the center turn lane as a merge lane to complete his left turn onto the roadway. I was thinking, now how do I do this citizen arrest thing again.:sneaky:

 

[destrekor]

Most women on average are terrible drivers where as I would say most men on average are just slightly shitty drivers.


Juddog, I watched 8 cars turn right when there was a big "NO TURN ON RED" sign at the Slauson exit on La Cienega. Wtf man?

Hey, sometimes we see that sign... and then promptly ignore it.
Like Yield signs. I refuse to treat those like stop signs, unless of course there is anyone that has the right of way - be it vehicles or pedestrians. Otherwise I tend to slow down but do a fast roll through said intersection.

As for no right on red - well... I treat it like a red light, and if it's a busy area - I follow the sign. Especially if I'm not familiar with the area, or there is some kind of authority that could witness such dangerously illegal activities as turning when it's obviously safe to do so.
I'm sorry - as much as I enjoy driving, sometimes I also just want to get done that which I set out to do, and specifically I like to get such things done as fast as possible so I can get back to enjoying my free time. I'm going to back down and basically obey most of the local vehicular laws. However, if conditions permit, I absolutely rape said legal guidelines. Sorry, I'd rather go fast and get away from morons on the road as soon as possible, and also get to where I'm going sooner.

Hell... when I'm obviously ignoring the legal guidelines, I am actually a better driver. I'm more in sync with the language of the vehicle, and I'm far more alert and responsive. Half of that is due to anxiety/paranoia, since I'm constantly scanning for anything that might make the future slightly more worrisome - be it a cop, a creature of some sort out to give me and my vehicle one hell of a surprise, or another motorist making a moronic decision at the worst possible time.
Typically I'm able to predict most other motorists, and alter my speed/location on the road if I think there's a decent chance a moron would do something that could ruin my life at that point in time.

 

[gevorg]

In other news, the average driver thinks that their driving is better than average.

 

[bfdd]

Your last statement is a direct result of the answer of your first question. No, I do not live in Los Angeles nor have I ever driven on this supposedly ubiquitously known "405." Given I have not driven on it or even know anything about it, I have no idea what the condition are like on it. If you just tell me, "there's a lot of traffic"... that tells me nothing.

For example, there's a road around here... in fact, it's the same 65mph highway that I mentioned earlier. How about I tell you that from 3:30PM to 5:30PM, "there's a lot of traffic" on that road. The thing is... this tells you nothing about what it's like to actually drive on it. In fact, the highway in question literally turns into a traffic jam consisting of constant stop-n-go traffic (yes, a 65mph highway). It's not very much fun to drive on.

All in all, I know jack shit about this "405" and would prefer understanding what is the underlying cause to you keeping such distance. You say there is the possibility of "abrupt stops"... what's usually causing these abrupt stops?

Also, usually the only time I'll pull in a tighter space between two cars is if I'm exiting soon. I should say that I usually try to get into the proper lane (usually the right-most) sooner rather than later, but sometimes it just happens.

I deal with traffic jams worse than what you describe daily. Try 7am to 7pm you're lucky not to get stuck in bumper to bumper. For instance yesterday I had to meet with someone so I was leaving for work later than usual. I actually left my house around 12:00pm give or take a few minutes. 95% of my drive is on the freeway. I got to work 45 minutes later. 18 miles.

Honestly having driven in a lot of other parts of the country(not for any really extended amount of time mind you), you have to be on your A game when you drive in California because we drive everywhere. The rest of the country has no fucking clue. I think I'm the only person I know who puts less than 15k miles on their car a year, some of my friends are in the 30-50k a year mark.

 

[ahenkel]

I don't know if it's been mentioned because I'm too lazy to read the thread, but people that can't merge or let people merge in should me forced into a ditch.

 

[bfdd]

I don't know if it's been mentioned because I'm too lazy to read the thread, but people that can't merge or let people merge in should me forced into a ditch.

dont you hate the assholes that throw the blinker on for about 3 minutes, then take another 3 to merge into the lane while still doing 65-70mph but slowing down? WTF are those dumbfucks thinking... you're half way in the lane, just merge ALL the way over it's fucking clear already jesus christ...

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

My pet peeve is no one in the city of Tucson knows what a flashing red light means. If the car stopped in the front of the line, once he goes, everyone goes. If there's a cop present, no one moves until it stops flashing. /facepalm

 

[DrPizza]

Then there is another big one: schoolbusses. If you see a school bus with the flashing red lights, that means stop. Don't be a fvcking retard and just drive by on the other side, because that's illegal. Don't zoom by the bus super fast. Just stop and wait. There is another spot on the way to work where a schoolbus stops every weekday morning. Every morning some retards fail to stop on the other side, and the cops setup a trap because so many people were doing it, so day after day I see people pulled over without fail.

I hear about people passing school buses in other states, but I can't recall ever hearing about someone passing one around here. If I'm not mistaken, passing a stopped school bus is on a par with getting a DUI. Perhaps harsh penalties are the reason people who think their time is too important to stop for a school bus don't actually dare pass one.

 

[dmcowen674]

Look out!!! Lots of Americans just can't drive..more than 1 in 5

Yike!!!

Don't let me start with uninsured drivers.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/26/autos/american_drivers/?section=money_latest#0_undefined,0_

ATOT has the worst drivers in the country, just look at all the ticket threads.

Certainly don't want to be in front of any the posters in here, that's for sure.

 

[DougoMan]

Count me among them. When two cars meet at an intersection, I'm never sure who has the right of way. Though I think it is the car on the right.

 

[ahenkel]

Count me among them. When two cars meet at an intersection, I'm never sure who has the right of way. Though I think it is the car on the right.

I always learned the above as counterclokwise to you goes first.

 

[lxskllr]

I hear about people passing school buses in other states, but I can't recall ever hearing about someone passing one around here. If I'm not mistaken, passing a stopped school bus is on a par with getting a DUI. Perhaps harsh penalties are the reason people who think their time is too important to stop for a school bus don't actually dare pass one.

I've never seen that in MD either. They just passed a tougher law regarding it, but I don't know what the penalty is. Just something to make people think the worthless twats are doing something important instead of actually doing something important.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Count me among them. When two cars meet at an intersection, I'm never sure who has the right of way. Though I think it is the car on the right.

I always learned the above as counterclokwise to you goes first.

The one on the right goes first.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

The one on the right goes first.

I cant believe people do not know this, ok actually I do.

 

[ShawnD1]

Not to mention the Jersey Slide and Philly Roll (which I do more often than I should).

There's also the Pittsburgh Left. That's when you're at a red light waiting to turn left, the light turns green (no arrow), and you turn left before any of the oncoming cars have a chance to go straight.
I see that every once in a while and I laugh every time

 

[OCGuy]

ATOT has the worst drivers in the country, just look at all the ticket threads.

Certainly don't want to be in front of any the posters in here, that's for sure.

Amazing...I always thought you fantasized about being in front of most of the posters here.....

 

[dank69]

Most women on average are terrible drivers where as I would say most men on average are just slightly shitty drivers.


Juddog, I watched 8 cars turn right when there was a big "NO TURN ON RED" sign at the Slauson exit on La Cienega. Wtf man?

Those 'No turn on red' signs cater to the lowest common denominator. 35% of the population can't figure out when it is safe to turn right on red at those intersections. It's usually because oncoming traffic has a left turn arrow, which to many people is just too much to handle, especially when in the middle of a really important text.

 

[Aikouka]

I deal with traffic jams worse than what you describe daily. Try 7am to 7pm you're lucky not to get stuck in bumper to bumper. For instance yesterday I had to meet with someone so I was leaving for work later than usual. I actually left my house around 12:00pm give or take a few minutes. 95% of my drive is on the freeway. I got to work 45 minutes later. 18 miles.

Honestly having driven in a lot of other parts of the country(not for any really extended amount of time mind you), you have to be on your A game when you drive in California because we drive everywhere. The rest of the country has no fucking clue. I think I'm the only person I know who puts less than 15k miles on their car a year, some of my friends are in the 30-50k a year mark.

Well... I guess all I can say is that sorry you get caught in such bad traffic . I try to go into work later and leave later so I don't get caught by it, and it works out fairly well. The difference in commute time is literally 8 minutes vs 16-25 minutes.

Heh, I'm at about 29.2k miles on my car and I've owned it for over 4 years now . It would've been even less if I didn't live about 35 miles away from work for 6 months or so.

I hear about people passing school buses in other states, but I can't recall ever hearing about someone passing one around here. If I'm not mistaken, passing a stopped school bus is on a par with getting a DUI. Perhaps harsh penalties are the reason people who think their time is too important to stop for a school bus don't actually dare pass one.

I recall some rather tough rules on it in NY, but the thing is... most buses are really nice about pulling over and letting you pass. They know they slow traffic down and they like to be thoughtful... or at least the ones I've been behind did.