Driving pet peeves

I would agree

In the last month alone, i've almost t-boned 3 people turning left across my right of way thinking they had room when they very clearly didn't. Twice on my motorcycle, once in my truck. Any of them would have been bad, motorcycle being self explanatory, truck would have destroyed the little econobox that cut me off.

Then to make matters worse, they panic and freeze up, and come to a complete stop blocking my lane of traffic and usually others too. The hell are they thinking?

 

My 2012 Kia either had hill hold or the clutch was just so precise that I never needed it. (I never bothered to figure out which.)

 

My old tC was the same way, you really only rolled backward if you wanted to. My truck is the complete opposite, same with my 4runner both 5spd. Might just be a difference in fwd vs rwd manuals.

 

A new peeve that has recently manifested in my area.

People have a right turn lane, but they will slowly wallow over to it while straddling the normal lane and the turn lane.

They will wait until they are at their turn and then slow to an almost complete stop before making their turn, all the while still occupying the normal lane.

USE THE TURN LANE! Amazingly enough, that's actually what it's there for.

 

Yeah. I think they think if they turn too sharp too fast they will flip over.

 

My least favorite thing:

Holding up 4 or 5 cars behind you to wave in someone else who does not have the right of way.

Close second:

Not entering the intersection on a green light while waiting for traffic to clear for a left turn.

 

Oh yeah that first one gets me all the time. Wanting to "be nice" doesn't take precedent over the rules of the road, it just confuses and throws off efficiency. Can even be dangerous in some cases.

 

Totally. If I'm stopped anyway and nobody is behind me, I'll be nice if you are using your blinker and whatnot. If I have someone behind me, sorry..my safety is first.

 

I agree 100%. Inconveniencing 4 or 5 behind you to be nice to one who doesn't have the right of way is actually dangerous. Not to mention, rude to those behind you.

Here's one that bothers me. Someone is stopped in the lane to turn left. There's room to pass on the shoulder but rather than passing or just waiting for the left turner in the lane, the driver in front of you decides to block half the shoulder and wait.

 

When people don't use the shoulder to turn off highways, but instead slow down in the right lane to turn

 

Two lane road, obviously no oncoming traffic, and no one at your left turn, either. How about being polite, and getting the hell out of the way in the empty oncoming lane to make your turn and clear the way for the traffic behind you?!?!?

Arrrrrgh!!!

 

One I deal with every day leaving for work...

turning left out of a parking lot that gets very busy (no light), into a street that has a lot of traffic. There is a center left turn lane, but for some reason nearly everyone who leaves my work parking lot does not realize you can turn into that middle lane to wait for traffic to open and merge into the driving lane.

So you'll get one person who needs to turn left and doesn't have the confidence to jump into a decent gap, and will back up traffic in the work parking lot by 10-15 cars, waiting for a huge pause in the lights nearby, when they could have turned into the center left turn lane and waited to merge, allowing traffic behind them to turn right.

 

Doing so -- entering and stopping in the intersection -- is illegal! Don't do it.
That is very clear in every state's printed driving regulations.

It plainly says: "do not enter any intersection unless are able to clear it completely".
And other paragraphs state: "it is illegal / unauthorized to stop in intersections".

Easy enough to understand because stopping out in the middle of an intersection can absolutely block emergency vehicles from getting around the legally stopped operators. Especially if ignorant drivers do it from both directions. (Obviously, this is more of a concern at some intersection than for others - but the law is written for ALL intersections.)

 

I’m sure it’s been said somewhere here in the previous 79 pages, but my biggest pet peeve while driving is drivers who stop 2 or 3 full car lengths behind the stop line (or behind the car in front of them) at a red light.

I get leaving 1 car length so you can maneuver out of the lane in an emergency.
But 2 or 3 car lengths (or more…I’ve seen more, usually from texters) is just wrong.

1) Why?
2) It inevitably causes me or the person behind them to almost rear end them.
3) Why?
4) Get off your phone because I know that’s what you’re doing.

 

a lot of times the sensor that triggers the timer on a light are up close to the cross walk too, so it ends up taking forever when someone doesn't pull up far enough.

 

Exactly. I usually go around them and get in front to help move things along and also to prove a point lol

 

I once sat at a light next to someone like this, while I was riding my motorcycle. after the first cycle without our light turning green, I tried repositioning my bike over the sensor. After the second light cycle, I looked to my left and saw the person "next" to me was about 2 car lengths back, not tripping any of the sensors. Emphatically motioned for her to pull forward, and once she did our light turned green. She thanked me, I rode off shaking my head lol.

 

I had a similar problem in my i3 back when I was commuting. Those sensors are often magnetic, and when you're driving a carbonfiber car, there aren't a lot of ferrous materials onboard to trip the sensors.

Eventually figured out that I had to pull into the crosswalk to trip lights, since the rear-mounted motor had enough iron in it to register. I hate how much that car made me look like an asshole. haha

 

Yeah makes sense, I've heard that some bicyclists wear shoes with a metal piece on the bottom to get the light triggered as well since it won't otherwise.