I was out one day in my 66 F250 and a fat housewife in a minivan rolled into me at a light. My hitch extension went right thru her grille. She was convinced it was my fault until the police explained it to her differently. I was hauling a 16' 4x4 pole with a flag on it when another minivan rolled into it and it took out the windshield. Same as before, had to be my fault. The flag,along with the pole, was in her car. The cops had me on my way in a few minutes. she got cited.
it's like that here when it comes to picking and planting season,and tobacco drying, anyone non hispanic is outnumbered about 3 to 1 , go to walmart and they walk like they drive, stand and block the isles. I know cops here and they say the same thing i said earlier,they all tell the police they have the same name, anyone try to serve a warrant on someone named Hose? you might as wel go house to house, they all claim the same name, problem here is they swerve in front of you, then hit the brakes and slow down. Got stuck behind a van one time with cheesy hubcaps, curb feelers, and those 500 reflectors they stick on the cars, Mexican music blasting out of it, and he's doing 20 in a 55, impossible to pass too because it's two lanes and way too much traffic coming the other way.
Aside from you relating the incident I'm glad you included the most important element........."I flipped him off"................good boy. Even in the heat of combat you didn't forget to utilize an important procedure which at a minimum can add a positive element to the outcome. I'm hoping some of our younger , more impressionable members are paying attention. These lessons should be learned early so they can be perfected, so, just in your case they can be used automaticly, without thinking. The operative phrase being "without thinking". Frank
That's it! If it were me I'de do the full on crochedy old man gig & shake my fists- "damn kids with your sporty cars fast computers and things" Brilliant!
Something that works well for me: When tailgated, vary your speed just a bit up and down (no brake lights). They'll either fall back or go by you.
basic rules forgotten by todays motorists. #1- slower traffic keep right. #2-while not neccecary, turn signals on a 2 lane road are considered courteous. #3. - if there is an emergency vehicle behind You, PULL OVER AND STOP. #4-and this one is of personal interest- In the event You pull out in front of a large ,red dually in Your 15.m.p.h. geo storm, do not act surprised when said dually driver offers You a good kick in the stomach to dislodge Your head, which is clearly stuffed into Your rectum. Yeah it's modern, yeah it stops pretty damn well. but that does not mean You should be bold enough to test these functions.
Bingo. It's that simple. Manners and respect...what's that Sometime if it's another guy scewing with you when your in your rod it's because they are jealeous cuz it ain't theirs. That Alpha Male Bull shit..
Oh, I thought about it. I was going slow enough I felt safe taking one hand off the wheel to do it - plus the state cop was ahead and to my right and couldn't see my hand out the window. Of course he takes the lane off into the airport and me and asshole are in the lane back onto the main highway. I mean I could have brake checked him or something else to be a real dick if I wanted to, but I didn't. As soon as we get to merge to the actual interstate, the guy veers across three lanes to the left lane and zooms by and flips me off too. And this clown had white hair, he was no kid. Had a handicapped plate on his truck, apparently they give those to people with mental impairments these days given the number of perfectly able-bodied people I see get in and out of cars with them on. Let's face it you have to be able to move around to look to see nothing coming in all three lanes to pull that move - or just go blindly and hope you don't hit anyone. What it boils down to is the guy not paying attention or just not giving a damn, I had my signal on and the douche beside me wanted in my lane and I wanted in his.. someone had to give, so I did. Apparently that was wrong, I should have stomped the gas and zoomed ahead to get in the left lane. But with a state trooper ahead of me, I figured that was a bad idea. Had I been behind this and seen it happening, I would have backed off to let the other guy in. People are courteous like that so rarely any more it surprises me when they are.
If these clowns would get up 15 miniutes earlier, look at thier watches more often, or shut thier cake holes and drive, maybe, just maybe, everyone wouldnt be running late EVERYWHERE...but thats probably asking too much, thats too easy for these morons ....
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I didn't even get to the end and this struck a chord with me... Now mind you I'm not the typical get your toaster in the mail citation writer.... BUT If I catch someone doin 10 UNDER in teh PASSING lane and holding what they got and not moving....they'll get some education from me....usually in the form of a piece of paper. That's what the slow lane is for... Just recently I pulled over a middle aged dude for doin 15 under in the left lane, full traffic, he was plugging things up and nearly causing accidents. I stop him, explain that the left lane is for passing and that he is impeading the flow of traffic...we come to an understanding (so I thought) and I cut him loose with a verbal warning, BTW I also cut him loose with a verbal for the inop right tail light as well as not wearing his seatbelt. I hadda do some paperwork and pull into a parking lot for a few...get done and hop back out on the road...who do I see a few miles down the road...yup ol' boy crusin' at 15 under... I stop him again...and tell him I thought we hadda understanding... He then informs me that he "has seizures and is afraid that if he does the speed limit that when he has a seizure he'll kill himself." I shake my head, ask him to turn the car off and step out of the vehicle. Procede to write every ticket I formerly warned him on, take his license and submit him for a drivers re-exam due to his admision. If YOU dont feel safe following the rules of the road cause you'll hurt yourself what makes you think I want you sharing the same road as everyone elses wives and children? Hard assed....yup...for the greater good? you betcha.
I am here to tell you that the worst drivers in America have got nothing on the Europians!!!! 1. If pulling up to the gate at the base, I work for the Italian Air Force, They will pass you if there is 100 ft to go before you get to the gate. 2. Stop signs a mear suggestions !! The only people that stop at stop signs are tourists !!! 3. Speed limit signs are Mear suggestions. 4. They will ride your ass just to pass you and take the nexr exit!! 5. No passing zones must mean you can only pass 5 cars instead of 10 6. Parking !!!! they park on the side walks, Left right forwards or backwards it makes no diffenence. 7. If there is no room to park they just double/ triple park and put their flashers on!!!! then go in and have dinner or wine. Driving in California, My home, Is absolutly paradice compared to driving in Europe !!!
i loved tailgaters and rude drivers back when i had flamethrowers, you would just drive around all night waiting for them to come up in the rear view mirror, then block them off and hit the button
Being from Georgia, I missed some of the quaint Southern customs, such as people stopping for red lights, during the 15 years we lived in Baltimore. But it's getting worse here. I have a friend who is a driver with the Cedartown GA Fire Department. He tells me that he has had many close calls when he has been on an emergency run, fire engine lit up like Times Square at Christmas, siren howling and air horns blaring, yet somebody won't get out of the way or, even worse, pulls square out in front of him.
I love living in a small town! Traffic conjestion is when the beer truck is parked main street making a delivery to the bar. You have to take turns going around it. Only happens once a week, on Wednsdays. Rush hour is 4 cars on main at once and you wave at each other as you go by because it's the neighborly thing to do. Mayberry had it right
This says it all... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDilD3wAxt8 ... As for the jerks that ride 5 miles below the speed limit in the left lane...when I can get ahead of them, I gradually slow down until they eventually move into the slow lane...
The wife and I was leaving the Nat's In Louisville last nite some dumbass and his female rider was speeding up and slowing down trying to take pictures while we are trying to merge onto the interstate, and running out of lane to go east on 264. Kenyucky interstates are crazy enough with out people trying to take pictures when trying to get on the hiway.
Pretty much the same thing here. Population 3500, in the middle of the prairies. Biggest headache are the odd blue-hairs driving at 10-15 mph through town.
The cops need to follow the emergency units and give the first buthead that doesn't yield a ticket should only take a few months to stop this crap. I have a friend who is a driver with the Cedartown GA Fire Department. He tells me that he has had many close calls when he has been on an emergency run, fire engine lit up like Times Square at Christmas, siren howling and air horns blaring, yet somebody won't get out of the way or, even worse, pulls square out in front of him.[/QUOTE]
Driving home from work the road is being worked on and one lane is partially blocked in several places. When I drive my off topic turdmobile I notice it's a rat race to see who can pull out in front of me first. However when I'm driving my old '47 Ford Truck I fidn out that nobody pulls out in front of me - they've yielded the right of way everytime (so far anyways). I figure since it's stock height it must be more intimidating than a "normal" car. But YES I've noticed the same thing that people also ASSUME that OLD is SLOW - you can see it in their drving habits when I'm in an OLD car. Most of my old cars have fair sized motors (392 hemi in my old truck for instance)- so I will ocassionally give 'em a burst of speed to let them know I can - nothing crazy just enough to make sure we all understand one another. Seems to help.
So true, you forgot about the constant horn beeping. Driving in european cities is like joining a continuous rally race without a prize, only personal ranking on that stage of the day. No speed limits on oneway streets, especially if you go the wrong way as a short cut. The further you go east and south, the more dangerous the driving gets with little to no regard of road and traffic rules. Every drove in Turkey ....? Roads that have no signs which end on a cliff into the ocean, with old wrecks piling up down below. On our own soil I found great difference in driving between states. WA and LA is like the conservative vs. the wild....on the opposite ends of the spectrum. When I lived in TX, it seemed EVERY modern truck had to be in front of my old chevy truck, despite going the same speed. That inferiority complex came to an end when I moved to Los Angeles. Driving there has its own rules. Speeding and racing is rarely possible with all the slow traffic. But I never forget all the road rage and people stopping at lights to yell at and hit each other. But that's all behind me now. These days, I enjoy putzing around in my small town in the mountains and empty freeways and country roads leading to the next bigger surrounding cities. Driving around here feels like a long time ago. Especially with all the other old rides on the road. Occasionally I encounter the odd impatient ones in the faded small ricers or the 'superior' luxury cruiser, which I gladly let pass.
Just think of what the guys on cycles go through. I was starting to go down an entrance to the Mass. turnpike some ol guy in a toyota pickup crowds me out so I had to stop or hit the guard rail. Then this 18 wheeler passes me and waves. I get to the bottom of the ramp and there sits the toyota pickup in the guard rail with the whole side smashed flat tires and radiator steaming. I looked at him and gave him a wave. a few miles done the road I pass the same 18 wheeler get along side he yells out I ride a cycle too and thought I'd take care of that toyota for you so I squeezed him into the guard rail. I said thanks , he said no problem have a good trip.
The funnest place to drive used to be France when they had 'priorité a droite' - which meant that any vehicle coming from the right had automatic priority over the vehicle going straight ahead. So if you were driving on a two lane Route Nationale - with positive camber and lined with poplar trees - aka death poles, the farmer in the tractor coming in from a dirt road on your right would just pull out in front of you at 10 mph or less and he was in the right and your were in the wrong. You were meant to slow down or stop for him. And France was the country of the Citroen Deux Chevaux - literally 'two horsepower' - and you know how prone the French are to exaggeration! The traffic circle at the Arche de Triomphe was about the most fun driving place on earth! Luckily the European Union changed that rule for good.
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