Driving Pet Peeves

[1LtCAP 4,262]

I make a DWG to Hudson County trip daily. 80 to 280 at 5:00 AM.

 

The most annoying thing for me is highbeams. I'd love to wire in driving lights on my roof rack in both directions to flash people.

wwaaayyyyy back in the 80's i had a lifted chevy 4x4. i plowed with it. during summer, i took the plow lights off the mount, and mounted big assed off road lights. plus the 2 on the front bumper. plus the 4 on the roof. cruising down laurel road one night, otw home from work, car comes at me with high beams running. i flashed mine. he didn't lower his. so i lit every light on the truck. then i got pulled over, 'cause i didn't see the cruiser in the parking lot, lololol

[AverageJoe 95]

Having to take a mandatory lecture driver school at DMV on a saturday for 8hrs back when I was 19(lol)...if there one think I took from that was getting into a highbeam war with someone lol...best thing to do is give a quick flick to let them know, if they dont get it just look down and to the right at the line as they pass.

[Newtonian 453]

All these gripes come down to a combination of this short list of deficiencies:

 

1. stupidity

2. recklessness

3. selfishness 

4. lack of sensible enforcement

5. lack of driving skill

 

19,000 deaths and 2.3 million (with an "m") serious incidents. I think we should ban cars. Er, I mean "vehicles." 

[Newtonian 453]

wwaaayyyyy back in the 80's i had a lifted chevy 4x4. i plowed with it. during summer, i took the plow lights off the mount, and mounted big assed off road lights. plus the 2 on the front bumper. plus the 4 on the roof. cruising down laurel road one night, otw home from work, car comes at me with high beams running. i flashed mine. he didn't lower his. so i lit every light on the truck. then i got pulled over, 'cause i didn't see the cruiser in the parking lot, lololol

This is not a Hoboken miracle. 

 

In 2001 we were driving late at night on back roads from Ramsey to Newton. Guy in what looked like a truck of some kind was tailgating and shining his high beams so I pulled over to let him pass. He pulled over as well, about 150 feet in front of me. I waited for a few minutes and pulled out, but he then pulled out in front of me. He started driving about 15 mph on a 35 mph road but I kept a safe distance. Suddenly he turned on a bank of lights in the back of his "vehicle" that temporarily blinded me. Then the fukcer took off, I hope to perish in a fiery blaze with Beelzebub welcoming him into the brimstone pit.

 

Luckily nobody else was on the road at the time.

[InFamous 311]

I got chased down Clinton Rd one time by a pickup, but I guess that is for a different thread. True story BTW...

 

Actually twice, once I was on foot..

[Malice4you 627]

Indecisive and/or timid drivers piss me off to no end. These are the people who won't make a left turn if the nearest oncoming traffic is within a half mile of them. These are the people who don't know if they need to take the left or the right at the Y, so they slam on the brakes in the middle of the road to decide.

 

The people who, after finally coming to the conclusion they want that left after all, will then proudly show off their newly found navigational skills by simply turning, and ignoring the oncoming traffic that narrowly misses them.

 

The people who feel that doing 15 under the limit is ever acceptable on a clear dry day if there is traffic behind them.

 

Of course, cell phone users are another favorite. It is so wonderful having to deal with the dozens of clueless idiots who feel that talking about their day or some other useless bullshit is far more important than paying attention to the road.

 

I have got to find a train horn that fits into a car. Nothing would please me more than making some of these braindead drivers shit themselves when they are jolted back awake from whatever unimportant crap is distracting them. They might actually learn to pay attention, but I suppose thats just wishful thinking...

[Malsua 1,422]

There is an explanation for people in late model vehicles with their lights out during a cloudy, rainy and or foggy day; Their automatic highlights aren't adjusted to come on.

 

In my 2015 Acura, I've had to turn them on manually twice during super foggy/misty/rainy day travel but I'm aware of my surroundings.  Probably 99% of the people I know wouldn't notice or bother.

 

I can adjust them but other than a few instances, they work how I like.

 

 

My biggest peeve is when two cars pace each other and I can't get around one way or another.

[bhunted 887]

I think I might have yaz beat as to witness of the worse and stupidest thing I've seen. Merging from Rt46 heading East onto Rt 3 is a disaster every morning due to a multitude of arseholes.

But one day I seen just this one that took the cake of stupidity. I was behind this sedan with a female driver. When you are on 46 merging,you start in the middle lane and once on 3, it tends to keep people left.

This female's arms where flailing about like a lunatic. First thought she was Italian on a rampaging argument on the phone. She was swerving back and forth in the left lane as I was still right behind her. She simply would not move over. My intent was to get her over to the right before she killed herself of someone. I went into the middle lane, got next to here and was ready to point her over and I've seen it. Thought I saw everything in my years of driving the same route for decades. She had a plug in hair dryer and was styling her hair. She flipped me off and that was that. Got in front of her and slowed the left lane down to a crawl till she moved. WTF are people thinking when doing shit like that? Bad enough we have tech to give us hands free driving that will pretty much do away with the crick in your neck, but people still refuse to use them. But doing your hair in the left lane doing 50? Egads...

[Displaced Texan 11,737]

Talk about utter WTF moments while driving...I once observed a woman, with her left foot up on the dash, painting her toenails at 80mph on the turnpike. Astounding.

[bulpup 98]

The last two years I have been on the road 32 weeks out of the year, flying in, renting a car and such. I can say without hesitation that NJ is just about the worst place to drive. This is because of the the sheer number of drivers with contempt for their follow men and women. Sure MA has it share if people doing the OMGWTF!? moves, but the collective bullshit of New Jersey is nearly un-matched.

Most states doing 65 to 75 in the left lane is about the maximum you'll ever see anyone do. Here in New Jersey if you're doing 75 in the left lane you're still going to get that guy that needs to pass you 80,90 100. That kind of bullshit doesn't even happen down south, at least not to the minute to minute extent that it does here in New Jersey.

 

The lack of use of turn signals in New Jersey is just plain rude, and it seems everyone has an excuse. It's always shocking say when I come back from Missouri, for instance, and I'm waiting to make a left turn And approaching traffic from the left just simply turns into a parking lot or another street just to my left without a turn signal. All I can think is "Dick! I could've turned if I knew you were going to be making that turn" other states? They're signaling 400 feet out.

 

Or how about in a parking lot? You know you have to look around when you're backing up out of the spot. I know when I'm backing up out of the spot I have to look around. But sometimes you have to move 2 feet before you can see anything. Here you have the guys they see you backing up 2 feet and they practically speed up to go through a parking lot at 25-30 miles an hour honking at you, like oh my god why are you pulling out while I'm driving by? As if it never occurred to them that someone could be pulling out of a spot in a parking lot. They don't even do that crap in Los Angeles.

 

But if there's anything that bugs me more than anything are those people that couldn't square a turn if their lives depended on it.

I was in Kentucky and saw this very attractive blonde woman in a black Ford F350 maneuver that beast through some of the smallest roads I have ever seen. Making turns without going into the oncoming traffic lane, not riding the center yellow on a two lane but giving plenty of room for oncoming traffic. Here? Everyone seems to have a problem clipping corners or staying too wide for fear of that curb. It's like no one ever teaches how to be aware of the actual width of your vehicle.

 

Most other places I've been to it seems people would prefer to be "that friendly guy" vs here where everyone is the entitled asshole teaching the other asshole some lesson that no one will ever understand.

[Oleg 8]

I mostly drive locally and see all kind of stupid all the time. I got a dash cam a couple months ago to record crazies. Sure enough everybody around became very polite; there is nothing to show so far

[1LtCAP 4,262]

Having to take a mandatory lecture driver school at DMV on a saturday for 8hrs back when I was 19(lol)...if there one think I took from that was getting into a highbeam war with someone lol...best thing to do is give a quick flick to let them know, if they dont get it just look down and to the right at the line as they pass.

nope. i just turn mine on till i'm past the crackhead running his. i just don't go full retard like i did with my old chevy is all.....

[1LtCAP 4,262]

I think I might have yaz beat as to witness of the worse and stupidest thing I've seen. Merging from Rt46 heading East onto Rt 3 is a disaster every morning due to a multitude of arseholes.

But one day I seen just this one that took the cake of stupidity. I was behind this sedan with a female driver. When you are on 46 merging,you start in the middle lane and once on 3, it tends to keep people left.

This female's arms where flailing about like a lunatic. First thought she was Italian on a rampaging argument on the phone. She was swerving back and forth in the left lane as I was still right behind her. She simply would not move over. My intent was to get her over to the right before she killed herself of someone. I went into the middle lane, got next to here and was ready to point her over and I've seen it. Thought I saw everything in my years of driving the same route for decades. She had a plug in hair dryer and was styling her hair. She flipped me off and that was that. Got in front of her and slowed the left lane down to a crawl till she moved. WTF are people thinking when doing shit like that? Bad enough we have tech to give us hands free driving that will pretty much do away with the crick in your neck, but people still refuse to use them. But doing your hair in the left lane doing 50? Egads...

how about a lady riding in the back seat of a car, putting on eye shadow and mascaras? while the car's moving?

[chris327 30]

ive learned to let most of this stuff go. get mad a second but whatever there's bigger issues than that. the one thing that really pisses me off though is when it snows and assholes think their 4x4 or awd makes it like dry ground (and i have 4x4 or awd in all cars/ trucks i get). yes you might be able to move but what about stopping or turning at a high speed?  they come right up behind you and tailgate when theres snow or they drive like the road is dry and pass you and look like why are you going slow. And im talking more than a dusting ive had it when theres 4 inches on the ground and not plowed yet.

[siderman 1,137]

You guys are missing the good sides. Think of driving here as good situational awareness and patience training. You also get to scream at the top of your lungs certain verbal remarks you most likely wouldnt do in your house. Not to mention if you can make it here you can make it anywhere! 

[Displaced Texan 11,737]

ive learned to let most of this stuff go. get mad a second but whatever there's bigger issues than that. the one thing that really pisses me off though is when it snows and assholes think their 4x4 or awd makes it like dry ground (and i have 4x4 or awd in all cars/ trucks i get). yes you might be able to move but what about stopping or turning at a high speed? they come right up behind you and tailgate when theres snow or they drive like the road is dry and pass you and look like why are you going slow. And im talking more than a dusting ive had it when theres 4 inches on the ground and not plowed yet.

Lol. Growing up in Texas, and being a 4wd loving redneck, I DO laugh at the dumbasses who think that it makes them invincible. I'm smart enough to realize 2 truths about 4wd.

 

1). While 4wd may give you better traction in the snow, it doesn't make you STOP better in the snow.

2) 4wd just gets you stuck further out.

 

My fellow Texans, God bless them, don't have a clue how to drive in the snow.

 

On a side note, I was at the ranch in west Texas last Christmas, and we had a pretty big storm (for Texas). We got 6". Less than an inch of snow can shut down a town, because we simply have no way to remove snow, like they do up here.

By and large, most areas don't even have salt or sand trucks. You can imagine the chaos a little bit of snow can cause because of this.

My ranch is 7 miles from town, and all my roads are dirt. It's about 2 miles to the main road (paved). Because of this, I was snowed in at the house for 2 days until it melted. I had enough provisions for it not to be an issue, but a bigger/longer lasting storm could have sucked.

[Rob0115 1,105]

I think I might have yaz beat as to witness of the worse and stupidest thing I've seen. Merging from Rt46 heading East onto Rt 3 is a disaster every morning due to a multitude of arseholes.

But one day I seen just this one that took the cake of stupidity. I was behind this sedan with a female driver. When you are on 46 merging,you start in the middle lane and once on 3, it tends to keep people left.

This female's arms where flailing about like a lunatic. First thought she was Italian on a rampaging argument on the phone. She was swerving back and forth in the left lane as I was still right behind her. She simply would not move over. My intent was to get her over to the right before she killed herself of someone. I went into the middle lane, got next to here and was ready to point her over and I've seen it. Thought I saw everything in my years of driving the same route for decades. She had a plug in hair dryer and was styling her hair. She flipped me off and that was that. Got in front of her and slowed the left lane down to a crawl till she moved. WTF are people thinking when doing shit like that? Bad enough we have tech to give us hands free driving that will pretty much do away with the crick in your neck, but people still refuse to use them. But doing your hair in the left lane doing 50? Egads...

When I drove every day from Morris to Manhattan I would see women steering with their knees and doing their makeup in the vanity or rear view mirror.  Now on the days when I do that I see the people completely engrossed in their phone as if they weren't in a car, never mind a drivers seat.  

[bhunted 887]

What makes all the dumb shit worse, NJ has more people per square mile and the highest insurance rates. There's no way to avoid idiots.

 

When my wife drives and I get to ride shotgun, you really get a perspective. I haven't been a road warrior in over 15 years. If I had to drive the miles I did back then, today, I'd be in a rubber room. 8 out of 10 times I leave the house now and drive, I'm already pist before I get a 1000 ft away. Thats bad!

I'd be the poster child for road rage if I drove a lot like I did back then.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mipafox 438]

What makes all the dumb shit worse, NJ has more people per square mile and the highest insurance rates.

There is no square mile in Jersey that has more people than square miles that can be found in other states. Other states have HIGHER population densities in a square mile than the most densely populated square mile in Jersey. If you are in Salem County you can't suddenly crash into a driver in Bergen Count 100 miles away, so the irrelevant observation that Jersey has more people within the boundaries of state lines divided by area has nothing to do with what you experience where you live, work, drive, shoot, hunt, or carry.

[Scorpio64 5,153]

Here, I fixed this for you.

 

All these gripes come down to a combination of this short list of deficiencies:

 

1. selfishness

2. selfishness

3. selfishness 

4. selfishness

5. lack of driving skill

 

19,000 deaths and 2.3 million (with an "m") serious incidents. I think we should ban cars. Er, I mean "vehicles." 

 

 

Additional peeves not yet mentioned.

 

1) Keeping pace with the already fast flow of traffic in the left lane and being tailgated by someone who believes they are more important than everyone else on the road. (selfishness)

 

2) Another type of left lane Dick, the kind that does not get in line for the off-ramp like every other decent person exiting a freeway, they stay to the left and cut in line as close to the exit as they can get. (selfishness)

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot 358]

Bicycle riders in spandex who ride in packs and hog the road...

[Newtonian 453]

Here, I fixed this for you.

 

 

 

Additional peeves not yet mentioned.

 

1) Keeping pace with the already fast flow of traffic in the left lane and being tailgated by someone who believes they are more important than everyone else on the road. (selfishness)

 

2) Another type of left lane Dick, the kind that does not get in line for the off-ramp like every other decent person exiting a freeway, they stay to the left and cut in line as close to the exit as they can get. (selfishness)

 

1) Just move over. And remember those sage words, "It isn't worth it." Especially at 75 mph.

2) We need a name for your second example. Exit Dickhead? 

[Newtonian 453]

Bicycle riders in spandex who ride in packs and hog the road...

You could have stopped after the first two words. 

 

I know, "not all bicycle riders are assholes." But enough believe they not only have the right of way, but God-given rights to create dangerous situations.

[Newtonian 453]

Has anyone mentioned pedestrians in towns and cities? They're the most arrogant, babyish pieces of smug self-righteous crap anywhere. They just walk into the intersection wearing their earbuds not even looking because they know we'll stop. Baby carriage? No worries, they have the right of way.

 

They refuse to make eye contact but if you come within 60 feet of them they snarl as if you've just stolen their iPhone. 

[bhunted 887]

Has anyone mentioned pedestrians in towns and cities? They're the most arrogant, babyish pieces of smug self-righteous crap anywhere. They just walk into the intersection wearing their earbuds not even looking because they know we'll stop. Baby carriage? No worries, they have the right of way.

 

They refuse to make eye contact but if you come within 60 feet of them they snarl as if you've just stolen their iPhone.

They do that a lot in Paterson. They want you to hit them so they can sue you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mipafox 438]

Bicycle riders in spandex who ride in packs and hog the road...

I got flip plates and touch up paint.

[brucin 923]

Has anyone mentioned pedestrians in towns and cities? They're the most arrogant, babyish pieces of smug self-righteous crap anywhere. They just walk into the intersection wearing their earbuds not even looking because they know we'll stop. Baby carriage? No worries, they have the right of way.

 

They refuse to make eye contact but if you come within 60 feet of them they snarl as if you've just stolen their iPhone. 

NJ law clearly states you must stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Some pedestrians will just walk out and expect your car to miraculously stop in an instant, they suck.

[Newtonian 453]

NJ law clearly states you must stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Some pedestrians will just walk out and expect your car to miraculously stop in an instant, they suck.

If they're in a crosswalk ok. I've been stopping for them for 44 years as has every other sensible driver. I'm talking about as I'm entering the intersection some broad pushing a baby carriage and on her iPad just strolls into the crosswalk without even looking. Given how bad most city drivers are those practices are rude, disrespectful, selfish and dangerous. 

 

P.S. I often drive 5mph below the speed limit in Hoboken, which has very narrow streets and too many pedestrians with delusions of immortality. Pretty much the same in town here. I once saw a girl get hit by a car on Main St. in Newtonia and it was an awful sight. 

[chris327 30]

NJ law clearly states you must stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk. Some pedestrians will just walk out and expect your car to miraculously stop in an instant, they suck.

most dont use the cross walk. they step out between cars and expect you to stop.

[Howard 538]

Talking about bicycles, in Morristown they now have signs saying bicycles have the right to the entire lane. What that means is if one is going three miles an hour screw you driver you get to go three miles an hour too even though the speed limit is 25 mph. What a joke.