Driving pet peeves

I can’t remember when exactly this was, but I am 99% sure it was after COVID; I started dating Amanda in January 2023 and can’t remember if it happened before that…

Once again, I was on 611 South, and I was stuck in slow moving traffic in the right lane; I got an opening and signaled to get into the left lane. As I was doing this, in a case of bad timing (and reckless driving by the part of the other guy), a green 1990s Mazda Miata blew past me going way too fast. The Mazda driver blasted his horn, swerved into the center turn lane to go past me, and then cut back in front of me.

Whatever…

The Miata then sped ahead and got into the right lane; I thought nothing of it, but then he purposely swerved back in front of me as I passed. He swerved back into the left lane at the last minute.

I’m no expert in physics, but I think that even a 5-lug RC Taco is winning a fight with any small sports car. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I likely would have driven THROUGH that Miata. The driver would have been very badly hurt at a minimum, and I would have suing him and/or his family for damages to my truck.

 

Having the wife in front passenger seat while i'm driving. This make me realize how stupid I am. Opps, I meant how stupid she thinks I am.

 

I love having my wife in my truck, when she chirps I tell her to sit in the back seat. She reminds me my truck has no back seat. To which I say "that means no back seat driving allowed!"

 

Lately I'm a magnet to overly cautious lunatic. Keeping 20 car lengths on mid speed limit roads with few stops. Keeping 20 car lengths on the freeway in the LEFT FUCKING LANE.

You don't have to speed, you don't have to do 90mph, but please SLIDE OVER if you're not going to pass slower traffic.

Running the middle and left lane until they are 0.10 miles from their exit and then expecting to be let into the far right lane.

Elephant racing semis in both lanes on 2 lane I-95 south.

People who stop at roundabouts when NOBODY IS COMING from the left.

People who SIGNAL in the roundabout.

 

How else are others supposed to know whether you're exiting or continuing around?

 

You yield to the traffic from the left, when it's clear you enter the roundabout. Signals are not used.

Then again, Americans don't understand roundabouts, for good reason, the states started putting them in not that long ago, some places sooner than others. And dumb ideas spread with state DOTs typically. Not looking for a political debate, but American culture has proven they don't know how they work, and we shouldn't be trying to undo decades of American driving culture and installing a driving mechanism from another part of the world.

There's a roundabout 2 blocks from my house. Half the people stop when they don't need to. Another half the people don't yield and try to sneak into the roundabout. Then don't even get me started on semi trucks going through them.

Roundabouts are a dumb idea in America. We're 15-20 years into them and people still don't know how they work or refuse to follow the rules.

 

^^^^^^This^^^^^^^

 

And recently I started working for a company that is 100% an infrastructure company. We design everything from roads, to freeways, to tollway plazas, to runways, railways, etc.

Wisconsin DOT, where I'm from originally, redesigned major freeway interchanges in Milwaukee. Just further my point about changing the way people drive - or trying to - the DOT trying to change habits of millions of people - is a dumb idea.

Here in this new interchange, right hand lanes go WEST, left lanes go EAST and north, and where the blue X is, you get people who are confused, and criss cross and cause accidents.

The interchange used to be normal, right hand lands go east, left hand lands go west. But the DOT decided to spend BILLIONS and get cute with peoples driving and lives.

Even my coworkers can't explain this design.

 

If it's your first time in Pittsburgh this is a terrifying situation without a GPS.

 

Yea there is like three round abouts in truckee near my cabin and people sure is hell dont know how to use them especially in the snow.. dont get me started on the semis making one lane of them running people off the road

 

Truckee!!!!!

Yeah, to make a roundabout for semis, they have to be so insanely large, you can't do it many places.

Imagine a trucker driving doubles or triples through a roundabout lol.

 

Oh boy

 

In Europe they all drive those MAN semi trucks, much smaller, more manuverable. It can work there.

 

Drive this thru a roundabout

 

Signaling your intent to exit improves the flow into the roundabout. Traffic in the outside lane also has to yield to the inside lane, if applicable.