This is the thread where we talk about bad driving/riding/walking

[Sad, little man]

As per RWA's request, here's a thread where we can talk about bad driving. This was sparked by a video in the meme thread of a motorcyclist passing a car on a double yellow and then that car swerving and hitting the bike as it passed. (I'm posting from a phone, so posting the video here is tough, somebody help me out.)

Anyway, there I stated that basically everyone in the video was an asshole, and that's about it. For my part, yes, I realize that the video warrants a more nuanced emotional response. I realize that the driver is an infinitely worse piece of rodent shit than the biker. Unfortunately, I've seen so much evidence of how many awful things people are capable of recently that I just don't have the emotional gumption to parse this whole thing out right now.

You're all assholes, as am I. The next civilization ending asteroid needs to hurry it's sweet rocky ass up. That's all I can really say right now. Ask again tomorrow when I may be able to scrape together some faith in humanity and myself.

Ok, continue discussing the video now and keep your outraged little mitts off my meme thread. That thread is for silly internet shit, and motorcycle accident trauma is decidedly not silly.

[thesameguy]

1. You can be as much as asshole to fellow man as you like, so long as nobody is physically hurt
2. You can pick and choose the laws you want to follow, and you can expect that others will still be required to follow the law, or where they are participating in Part 2, they must respect Part 1

These are good rules. I'm in.

[Kchrpm]

So robbery is legal as long as no one is there to physically intercede?

[Freude am Fahren]

I don't think he's talking about laws, just whether citizen justice fits the crime maybe?

The driver was an asshole, which caused the motorcyclist to be an asshole, which caused the driver to cross the line (both figuratively and literally) from simple asshole to attempted murderer.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L13Z7Aa7ZXQ

[thesameguy]

Yes. The status of the action is unchanged, but you can't do anything about it beyond yelling and screaming. You are definitely not allowed to take any physical action in response to, well, most anything. I don't fully grasp whether it's okay to take violent action in response to violent action. That, as far as I know, is untested.

It's really pretty cool. The freedom to do whatever you'd like to do at any given moment with the full assurance that everyone else has to follow ethical and legal imperatives is an amazing feeling. What could possibly be better than "your rules don't apply to me unless I want them to?" Very cool.

[Dicknose]

Most road users do pick and choose which rules they obey, which they bend a little and which they totally ignore.
What tends to happen is that different types of road users tend to ignore different rules.
Car drivers ignore different rules than cyclists. Pedestrians ignore different rules than truck drivers. I'd say motorcyclists ignore more than the others.
The big issue is that most of this sort of road rage comes when you get upset at another type of vehicle. And it seems to me that it's mostly from ignorance. And is usually justified by "but road user of type X always breaks the rules". And that somehow that allows the person to also break the rules and sometimes to also deliberately try to hurt them.
What's amazing is this faulty logic usually results in the person also breaking rules. You cut me off, I'll cut you off. You speed, I'll speed past you. You cross lines, I'll cross lines.
If the person was that concerned about the law, how could they justify breaking it themselves? Should a 3rd party who sees it happen pull out a rocket launcher and shoot both of them, in the name of safety.

It's purely road rage. The only bit about "but they broke the law first" is that it's a trigger for their rage.
It's also something that can escalate. You road rage someone who is also a road rager or has friends with them who are, then it can get very ugly. That car driver who ran the bike off the road, some groups of bike riders would have assaulted the driver.
I don't agree with that sort of action, but it could happen. And it would be because the people involved have a similar logic to the driver.

Live and let live.
Let the cops look after other people.
If it's bad enough, pull over and call the cops to report someone.
Enjoy your time on the road.
If you get red mist, learn to turn it away and do something positive rather than aggressive.

[thesameguy]

Hey, I'm totally onboard with live and let live, and totally onboard with the insane sequence of events that results in everybody doing stupid shit. Yep, that's for real.

What I am not okay with is people breaking some laws and looking to others for protection. That's tripping and falling while breaking and entering stupid. That's evading taxes so you can donate to charity stupid. That's speeding and suing for roadway design failure stupid. When you do stupid shit and stupid shit happens to you you're a stupid shit.

Car guy is a fucking psycho. The fact that he even had the thought to swerve at another human being is insane. But that doesn't change the fact that the motorcyclist broke the law and he got hurt, and now he's whining that it's okay that he broke passing laws but not okay that fucking psycho guy broke the staying in his lane and not swerving at other vehicles law. Sorry, I'm not buying it. When people chuck societal rules-following responsibilities out the window and then get hurt they can go merrily fuck themselves. I don't care what happened or who was involved. If that motorcyclist had followed the rules nothing bad would have happened. Period, end of story. If you want my sympathy you have to earn it, and "following some of the rules when they suit you" is not how that gets done. Passing over a double yellow is stupid shit. When you get hurt doing stupid shit you're a stupid shit.

[overpowered]

The motorcyclist didn't get hurt because he broke the law. He got hurt because a psychopath assaulted him. That's a bit different than getting hurt due to tripping or cutting your hand on the window you broke while breaking and entering.

In some states, what the motorcyclist did would not be illegal. Those states have laws that you can cross double yellow when safe to do so in order to pass traffic that is going far below the speed limit. It's common sense and common practice. Texas doesn't appear to be one of the states that allows that though.

[overpowered]

usually justified by "but road user of type X always breaks the rules". And that somehow that allows the person to also break the rules and sometimes to also deliberately try to hurt them.
What's amazing is this faulty logic usually results in the person also breaking rules. You cut me off, I'll cut you off. You speed, I'll speed past you. You cross lines, I'll cross lines.
If the person was that concerned about the law, how could they justify breaking it themselves? Should a 3rd party who sees it happen pull out a rocket launcher and shoot both of them, in the name of safety.Yep. There was a story a few years back about a cyclist who got shot because he was dragging his kid in a bike trailer on the road and the kid didn't have a helmet on. It's a special kind of stupid.

[thesameguy]

The motorcyclist didn't get hurt because he broke the law. He got hurt because a psychopath assaulted him. That's a bit different than getting hurt due to tripping or cutting your hand on the window you broke while breaking and entering.

So he would have gotten hurt if he hadn't tried to pass? You're choosing arbitrarily the step in a series of events that led to the injury. Bottom line is, had you not broken the law you would not have gotten hurt. You can make whatever excuses and reasons you like for what specifically caused the incident (hey, the burglar wouldn't have gotten hurt if I'd cleaned up the yard or installed tempered glass). It's insane to pick and choose blame points when the root cause is don't start none won't be none. If you don't break the law and then you get hurt, hey, we have something to talk about. Otherwise, piss off.


In some states, what the motorcyclist did would not be illegal. Those states have laws that you can cross double yellow when safe to do so in order to pass traffic that is going far below the speed limit. It's common sense and common practice. Texas doesn't appear to be one of the states that allows that though.

I don't care what other laws are in other places. In other places slavery is legal and you can dump oil on the ground. In either places you can put a Cadillac 500 in a Honda CVCC or grow corn in your front yard. What's true elsewhere doesn't apply to you here.

[Freude am Fahren]

So when you're creamed by a drunk driver while doing 58 in a 55, we shouldn't give a damn? Afterall, if you were doing the speed limit, maybe you would get to the intersection after the other driver passed through the red light.

[thesameguy]

And if you were going 100mph you never would have even crossed paths. Really, if you drive 100mph you'll be on the road less total time and thus your exposure to accidents is lessened. Clearly, driving 100mph is the safest way to drive. Oh, wait, I get it, you're trying to draw some sort of line between "kinda breaking the law" and "totally breaking the law." Right. Got it. At what point does one become the other? At what point do harmless transgressions become potentially lethal infractions? Who makes that distinction? You? A group of your peers? I'm truly curious.

(As for your specific scenario, 3mph could be 100' traveled when you factor in reaction time. So yeah, it is critical. Like all the ads say, slow down and save lives.)

[Dicknose]

So he would have gotten hurt if he hadn't tried to pass? You're choosing arbitrarily the step in a series of events that led to the injury. Bottom line is, had you not broken the law you would not have gotten hurt.

As you say "the step in a series of events". Yes it does make a huge difference which step you talk about.
The only way "action A led to action B which lead to result X" was due to the brain of the driver. It is not a natural or expected outcome of overtaking (legal or illegal) that another driver would attempt to run you off the road.
That both steps are required doesnt mean that the steps are equal or that the people taking the steps are equal in responsibility.

The steps of "deciding to ride that day", "illegally overtaking", "swerving at a passing bike" are all required for the end event to happen. But they are not equal.
All of them took deliberate decisions by people. That is important - they were not some physical process. They were human actions.
Each action should be judged on its own - you dont judge the riders decision to overtake on his decision to ride that day. The are independent decisions.
That two of them were decisions to do something illegal also doesnt magically remove responsibility and mean you are to blame for all future events.

The drivers action was based on his decision. It was the final decision that could cause or avoid the collision.
The collision was not in anyway inevitable, it happened only because all these decisions were made.
And yes order here is extremely important.

The final outcome radically changed from what anyone would expect due to the drivers actions. The result was not an outcome of physical processes set in motion by the rider that could only be avoided by him not acting that way. It was not inevitable because the riders decided to do something illegal.
The legality of the riders overtake made no difference to the physical processes. It only affected the decision made by the driver.
Ill say that again - the legality of the overtake only affected the drivers decision. It did not in any physical way contribute to the result except thru the brain of the driver.
That makes that LAST decision the SINGLE CAUSE of the collision.

The driver can say "but he was riding illegally" and blame it on the riders previous decisions. But the riders actions did not cause the driver to do what he did.
Humans are responsible for their actions. You cant say "the riders actions caused the driver to swerve". It wasnt some automatic response or result of a threat. The driver chose with complete free will to swerve. His decision is 100% of his own making.
The driver can say "but the rider broke the law" - but the riders actions did not cause the collision, they only caused the driver to make a decision. The responsibility for the outcome of that decision is only with the person who made the decision.

Both parties should be held responsible for their illegal actions - the rider should get a ticket for illegal crossing of a line.
The driver should be charged with assault or equivalent.
The rider is not in anyway responsible for the collision.

You want to victim blame, but its faulty logic and the sort of thing that leads to people doing this sort of thing.
It requires someone with your mindset to do this sort of action in the first place.
Your lack an understanding of "responsibility" indicates that you blame others for outcomes from your actions. And yes Im saying "you", because your logic should hold up if you swap yourself for that driver. You are saying what the driver said "it was the riders fault because he broke the law and had it coming".

There is no sharing of blame here.
I find it scary that people think that way, even scarier that they are on the road.

[thesameguy]

This is where I am coming from, and this is the last thing I am ever going to say about stupid people doing stupid things with or to other stupid people. It’s my manifesto, so to speak.

I think I’m an intelligent, responsible person. I’ve got skills, knowledge, and talent that true or not I credit for my survival and success. I believe that I am the person best suited to maintaining my health and my prosperity. I believe I am the person looking out for me. The idea that I am reliant on others is an awful feeling – knowing that I was unable keep myself happy and healthy would probably destroy me.

The bulk of humanity is not very effective. A significant part of humanity is, in fact, anti-effective. To be reliant on random people out there in the world for my continued existence is an idea that I simply cannot accept. They can’t take care of them – why would I even want them taking care of me?

As such, I take responsibility for my success and my failures. When I accomplish something it’s because I put in sufficient effort to complete it. When I fail at something it’s because I did not put in sufficient effort. I examine events in my life and capitalize on the things I’m good at, improve the things I’m not good at it, and avoid the things which are unfixable. I don’t expect others to make up for my inadequacies unless I am paying them. I am in charge of me.

When I get bitten by a dog it’s not the dog acting against me, it’s me not planning for the dog. When I get rained on it’s not the weather acting against me, it’s me not planning for the rain. When I nearly die in a boating accident it’s not the water or the boat, it’s me being a shitty wakeboarder and not learning my lesson. I don’t blame the dog or the weather or the water in the same way I don’t blame the dude in the other car or the road or Bill Cosby. They are monsters and animals and mindless forces of nature. They aren’t looking out for me. I am. My welfare being dependent on monsters and animals and mindless forces of nature is cripplingly depressing. Why would I want to live in a world where I am reliant on these types of things to keep me safe? It is utterly nonsensical.

So when I say don’t pass people where the law says it’s not safe to pass and when I say don’t take blue pills from a celebrity and when I say don’t get in the way of a car on your bike, what I am saying is take responsibility for your own welfare and pretend like everyone around is at worst out to get you, and at best indifferent towards you. Because they probably are.

If you have limited mental faculties or physical capabilities and you need a 2nd party caretaker this probably doesn’t apply to you. But assuming those are not your issues, you should be reliant on you for taking care of you, and when you fail to take care of you and you get hurt, you need to take a big step backwards and think about where you went wrong. There is a high probability that something in your path immediately preceding getting hurt led to you getting hurt. A thing you might not have done, or a thing you might have done differently.

It is of course possible you did not go wrong. It’s possible you were victimized by a unstoppable force totally beyond your control, prediction, and most importantly your ability to avoid. But that really doesn’t happen very often. That is the drunk driver on the sidewalk, that is the stray bullet through your house. Hell, maybe you took sound-seeming advice from a reasonable-seeming person and that steered you wrong. The best of us get duped. That is you doing everything right and still getting hosed. But these are the exceptions in life. In my experience, they don’t happen very often.

If you pass that guy in that place at that speed and you get hurt and can’t figure out what happened or why it happened to you, I don’t have a lot of sympathy. I wouldn’t have or expect sympathy for me, either. Because I am pretty smart person, I would have evaluated the risks, I was the one who took the action, and I believed I had the ability to complete it. If I went wrong, then my judgment or talent was lacking. Because the guy in the Thunderbird is a fucking animal who doesn’t care one iota about me, and I know that without ever having laid eyes on him.

If you want to live a life or in a world where everything is beyond your control and you need other people to keep you safe, well, I guess that’s good for you. I find that nerve-racking, depressing, and sad commentary on my capabilities and, quite frankly, just maybe a little component of a greater evil at work in the world today… a lack of personal responsibility. A little too much “not my fault” and not enough “you made your own bed.”

[Yw-slayer]

I typed out something, but realised I'd have to bill you guys. So I won't contribute kthxbai.

[Sad, little man]

Just a parade of assholes, that's all I can say. An asshole pride parade...

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/21/us/child-road-rage-death/

Why are people so shitty? I am people. Why am I so shitty? Let's just start over, leave the assholes at home. Good people only. There are no good ones left... Fuck.

[Random]

On a slightly lighter note, but still aggravating, what is with people who decide that their lane is moving too slowly, so they merge into your (faster) lane, but don't speed up to match the speed of the faster lane?!

[thesameguy]

I dunno, but that just happened to me like an hour ago. This particular Einstein confused acceleration with speed, and after cutting me off went rocketing away from the stoplight and then set in at 35 cruise just like everyone else on Watt Avenue, blocking miles of open road that I'd previously had access to. The other day while driving home, I watched a guy who had previously been going with the flow of traffic hit the gas in order to prevent someone going faster from getting in front of him. I really cannot get in the head of someone who isn't interested in setting the pace, but doesn't want you to do it either. Sometimes I feel like it's just misplaced competitiveness - suddenly there is someone to beat and by God they will be beaten! Other times I feel like it's an unconscious reaction, suddenly someone is going faster so I should be going faster too. Both are examples of really poor situational awareness, and a failure of comprehension. It's like the person who, when you're totally riding their ass, keeps driving faster instead of just moving over. I mean, I generally like to be in front as I'm generally driving faster than everyone else. But sometimes I'm driving the Falcon or the Fleetwood and that's not practicable, so I get out of the way. No biggie. Like I said, they're all animals. Crediting them with more thought process than a cow is gross excess.

[thesameguy]

... or the guy who suddenly stops on the sidewalk or the hallway to text someone, or the guy who reads the menu once the server has appeared and won't let them go until he's figured out what he wants, or the guy stopped at a stoplight who could EASILY move forward a foot or two to give people access to a turn lane, or the guy at the check out who holds up the line while he organized his wallet, or the guy who stands with the refrigerator door open while he fingers every soda in the case, or the guy who keeps yelling WHAT??? to his kids instead of turning off the thing that's making all the noise.

[Yw-slayer]

I really cannot get in the head of someone who isn't interested in setting the pace, but doesn't want you to do it either. Sometimes I feel like it's just misplaced competitiveness - suddenly there is someone to beat and by God they will be beaten! Other times I feel like it's an unconscious reaction, suddenly someone is going faster so I should be going faster too. Both are examples of really poor situational awareness, and a failure of comprehension.

Pretty much. I mean really, there's always going to be a car and/or driver out there who's "faster" than you anyway, so what's the point? I suppose the only example is if you really think the other guy is a dick but if you want to escape him you really floor it and leave him behind, and if you can't then just let him run off and kill himself. Save of course for extreme examples where he is really threatening you with a gun/vehicular assault, in which case you can always try to pull over and call the cops...


... or the guy who suddenly stops on the sidewalk or the hallway to text someone

There are those people, then the other day I was walking along the street and this guy staring at his phone just decided to walk in front of me at a 30-degree angle. I let off a sound of exasperation as I swerved to avoid him and he looked at me and said "What for?" I kept walking and shook my head, in response to which he yelled some incoherent abuse at me. I just ignored him as I had much better things to do than argue with an idiot like that. I mean, really, originally you might have said it was questionable, as he was facing that direction and was sort of strolling, so I could be expected to have taken steps to avoided him (even though conversely it was his fault getting in my way by looking at his phone). But it was when he tried to escalate matters with that stupid attitude of his that I realised that he was just an idiot.

Then of course there was the dude who tried to run me over when his light was red (admittedly a confusing junction) and the crossing signals for me were green. I was crossing and kept pointing at the signals and saying "What are you doing? I can cross!" Yet he decided to stare at me and edged forward. So I ran to the pavement, took out my phone, which he sees me do and tries to wave either sorry (bit late you mofo) or bye. Reported it to the Police, he got prosecuted for driving through a red light with 5 points (out of 15) on his licence and a fine. WIN.

[LHutton]

There are those people, then the other day I was walking along the street and this guy staring at his phone just decided to walk in front of me at a 30-degree angle. I let off a sound of exasperation as I swerved to avoid him and he looked at me and said "What for?" I kept walking and shook my head, in response to which he yelled some incoherent abuse at me. I just ignored him as I had much better things to do than argue with an idiot like that. I mean, really, originally you might have said it was questionable, as he was facing that direction and was sort of strolling, so I could be expected to have taken steps to avoided him (even though conversely it was his fault getting in my way by looking at his phone). But it was when he tried to escalate matters with that stupid attitude of his that I realised that he was just an idiot.

Then of course there was the dude who tried to run me over when his light was red (admittedly a confusing junction) and the crossing signals for me were green. I was crossing and kept pointing at the signals and saying "What are you doing? I can cross!" Yet he decided to stare at me and edged forward. So I ran to the pavement, took out my phone, which he sees me do and tries to wave either sorry (bit late you mofo) or bye. Reported it to the Police, he got prosecuted for driving through a red light with 5 points (out of 15) on his licence and a fine. WIN.
Out of 12 surely?

Then you have the two people who'll stop in the doorway of a shop for a chat because nobody is going to need pass through that door are they?

[Freude am Fahren]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP5qPvCAyfE


Turning from the wrong lane, against the light? Going into oncoming traffic, and intentionally blocking it? I’m not saying she’s at fault, but it would be understandable if someone ran her over. She deserves to be financially ruined for life.


I would have sworn that was tsg if it wasn't clearly sarcasm.

:D

[overpowered]

That cat seems to magically appear at 0:13. I don't think it crawled into the road. I suspect it was in the red car in the engine compartment or some other spot and fell out.

[overpowered]

Pretty sure this is just a made up story. I wish it was true.


A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him.
He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.
The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection.
As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. "I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."

[Kchrpm]

Definitely made up, but I understand the sentiment.

[overpowered]

I do notice a lot of people with those stickers driving very aggressively and ragey.

[Drachen596]

The guy in the video of the car hitting the motorcycle was arrested. I think i saw aggravated assault charges and possibly 20 year sentence max.

[thesameguy]

I would have sworn that was tsg if it wasn't clearly sarcasm.

:D

I'd check your sarcasm filter.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I do notice a lot of people with those stickers driving very aggressively and ragey.

That's why you won't see any of those things on my car! :p

I have to admit that although I usually have a lot of self control with regard to anger/rage, but I do tend to lose my salvation easily behind the wheel.

I don't mind grandma's driving like Ms. Daisy infront of me or blocking me..., or stupid bikers passing me..., but I do get super pissed when I notice people do stupid shit intentionally. Like driving slowly in front of me on the fast lane... and then when I try to pass them on the right, then they speed up to prevent me from passing... well, then they just invited me to rev up to 9000 rpm to ensure that I complete the pass and then proceed to slow down and block him right back.

Anyway, it's stupid I know. Maybe I should just go back to driving a 70hp Civic. With greater horse power, for whatever reasons I feel like there's greater responsibility to teach stupid drivers' a lesson... but my reasonable mind knows that it really shouldn't be my lesson to teach. It's really not worth it...

[Jason]

Yesterday I identified an accident was about to happen, got over a couple lanes, then witnessed the accident happen.

A few streets in DC have different rules during rush hour, to help move traffic in and out of the city a bit better. The street I was on is normally a three lane street each way (6 total lanes), far right lane on each side is for parking. During rush hour, there's no parking, and it's 4 lanes one way, 2 lanes the other way. Surprisingly often, people don't pay attention to this. Sometimes it's a game of chicken, but usually the 2 lane side person recognizes there's a line of cars behind the 4 lane side person, and gets over, so it's not that, actually, that causes accidents...

It's when someone tries to turn left from the 2nd from the left lane (what would normally be the far left lane during non rush hour), because they aren't paying attention. So inevitably, what happens is, they slow down, a line of cars forms behind them, then another mouth breather decides to jump out of the lane and go rushing by on the left, not realizing the reason the cars are slowing down in that particular lane (even though it's really fucking obvious).

So yep, left turn dude turned left right into the side of the impatient jackhole as the impatient jackhole tried to make a pass on stopped cars.

I see it relatively often, so maybe DC needs better signage... but really people just need to be aware of what the traffic patterns are, and use some common sense. See that 2nd from the left lane slowing down in rush hour, but none of the other lanes? It's probably an idiot trying to turn left, do yourself a favor, and don't be an idiot who tries to pass them.

[overpowered]

This one usually means an aggressive driver:

http://www.powercallsirens.com/avactis-images/notw.jpg

Very common on jacked up pickups for some reason.

[Freude am Fahren]

Never seen that before.

[Random]

Weird--I see them a lot as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_of_this_World_(apparel)

[Kchrpm]

I don't recognize it, perhaps it's a California/West Coast thing.

The official site leads to Mardel store site, and this is their location page: http://www.mardel.com/store-finder


Mardel Store Locations:
Arkansas
Colorado
Kansas
Louisiana
Missouri
Oklahoma
Texas

[Crazed_Insanity]

I guess I should know it? But I don't.

Not of this world is a neat concept for Christians I suppose, but why is the design looking so much like a ninja weapon? Even the cross looks like a dagger.

Anyway, you already won't see any fishes on our cars, chances are, I won't allow my grown daughter to have THAT thing on her car.

Anyway2, I just don't get why people must put religious or political decals on the back of their cars. I also don't get why folks put which school then went to on their cars. Unless you're a hippie driving one of those old VW vans, all those bumper stickers or decals just makes your car looking like a NASCAR, no? I just think it's ugly.

Especially for Christians, if you want to spread the good news, go talk to people face to face. Don't just let the butt of your car do the talking! :p

[21Kid]

Yeah, I've never seen it either.

[Jason]

Baby on board = guaranteed aggressive driver

[overpowered]

I can't remember the last time I saw a baby on board sign in a window.

[Random]

See them all over up here.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OPGZBQoE-k

[Random]

Backing (slowly!) out of my parking spot at Starbucks and I hear a *beepbeepbeep*. Whack the brakes and watch a Celica zip behind me down the aisle.

Why do people do that? Why not just wait the extra 10 seconds it will take me to finish backing out?

[Freude am Fahren]

seriously. With my low car too, I can't see someone coming until I'm halfway out if any cars are next to me. I go really slow and keep an eye on the camera until I can actually see something out the side window. People that go like 30 mph in parking lots piss me off.

[Kchrpm]

Whether I wait for the person backing out or go myself varies on the situation, but usually my reasoning is the same for why I wave cars by when I'm walking: whoever will be done/out of the way faster can go first. If it takes me 10 seconds to be done, and the other person 2 seconds, I'll let them go first. That way I'm the only one affected by my longer process, not both of us.

That changes if there's a line of cars/people, and I'm more than willing to accept a "no you go" wave, but that's my general rule of thumb.

[Freude am Fahren]

There's another thing no one gets. How to merge and taking proper turns in heavy traffic, like leaving a large event.

[Jason]

Backing (slowly!) out of my parking spot at Starbucks and I hear a *beepbeepbeep*. Whack the brakes and watch a Celica zip behind me down the aisle.

Why do people do that? Why not just wait the extra 10 seconds it will take me to finish backing out?

Assholes speeding in parking lots is why I try to back into my spot if I can, just so I have better visibility when leaving.

[21Kid]

Backing (slowly!) out of my parking spot at Starbucks and I hear a *beepbeepbeep*. Whack the brakes and watch a Celica zip behind me down the aisle.

Why do people do that? Why not just wait the extra 10 seconds it will take me to finish backing out?

Don't people backing up have the right-of-way anyway?

[Cam]

I recently watched a woman drive on the sidewalk just to make a right turn on red. The light went green before she finished doing so. :erm:

[overpowered]

According to the National Safety Council, 2015 is shaping up to be the most dangerous year on our roads in a while:

http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/278353/August_2015.pdf?hsCtaTracking=aae5fcd2-9000-484f-a47a-b5a54cc25160%7C05705a00-2468-45b0-9a96-054162988019&utm_campaign=RSM0004&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--Ro54DHcHao_ybG0VD7tRvChh0i2BeMwMs6iHzSPieaiyNwKoLN oTGdxeMWkJd6PQX7FBIjtLdjBUkg_OnYtYsRq9jFQ&_hsmi=23258140&utm_source=hs_email&utm_content=23258140

[overpowered]

The EPA is making companies stop manufacturing defeat devices that allow rolling coal, because they are illegal:

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/the-epa-just-said-that-this-whole-rolling-coal-thing-is-1601808499

[Freude am Fahren]

http://www.freudeamfoto.com/gtx/img/20151029_095857.jpg

[Random]

Someone's always gotta be a dickhead. :|

[Cam]

Probably too clueless to even realize what they have done. :down:

[FaultyMario]

I came here looking for some Rossi/Marquez action.

Thread does not deliver.

[overpowered]

http://giant.gfycat.com/MasculinePastBellfrog.gif

[Kchrpm]

Watch out for motorcycles!

[XHawkeye]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApCJVh7_KxA

[overpowered]

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12193273_963284020391567_3695389227470230649_n.jpg ?oh=eb807d2764d5e6129f7093e4bd9c88e0&oe=56D06C06

[Yw-slayer]

https://youtu.be/tcxSE3P85zk

The Taxi driver (being the one talking) is ice cold. Language NSFW if your colleagues understand Cantonese.

[overpowered]

http://www.wesh.com/news/redlight-camera-captures-crash-involving-7yearold-girl/36102038


The driver of the van who ran the light nearly eight seconds after it turned red is Edwin Del Valle Ruiz. His license has been suspended before.

"I'm blind in one eye and take drops for the other eye, and because of all the trees on the street, I could not see that the light turned red," Ruiz told WESH 2 News.How the fuck does someone like that have a license?

[Freude am Fahren]

So I've started a count of how many nights in a row I see at least one person driving with their lights off. The unofficial count is like 20, usually more than one, but for real it's 3 so far, every night since I started actually counting. Now that it's dark out before I leave work, I'm betting it will reach double digits.

By the way, the local town police (one of those small towns with a huge police force) is a frequent violator. They also NEVER signal.

[TheBenior]

I blame cars with always-illuminated gauges and no automatic headlights.

I sometimes catch myself driving the Explorers at work without the headlights on. If I drove one every day, I'd probably get used to it, but I could be driving an Explorer, a Tahoe, or one of the last Crown Vics on any given day. Oh, and all of my personal vehicles have headlights that come on automatically.

[Jason]

Turns out that dude who landed himself on a freeway sign after being ejected from his vehicle... was driving a FiST :hard:

[overpowered]

The deaf driver who plowed through a bunch of pedestrians at Comic-con found guilty. Faces up to 3 years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/motorist-found-guilty-in-comic-con-zombie-walk-crash/


"He acted out of frustration and anger, a human emotion that anyone can feel whether you're deaf or not," the prosecutor said. "I think that what happened here is that he got frustrated. He didn't want to wait any longer and he didn't want to communicate with the people trying to tell him to stop."

[overpowered]

Police launch murder investigation after zebra crossing altercation

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/nov/11/police-murder-investigation-zebra-crossing-assault-chalfont-st-peters

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8m8vNmN5yo

[21Kid]

Good thing he didn't hit anyone...

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1zY0EvipKY

[neanderthal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8m8vNmN5yo


SLOWER. TRAFFIC. KEEP. RIGHT.


It's not just on the freeways. The law is clear that the rightmost lanes are to be used as travelling lanes and the left for passing.

[overpowered]

1. If you watch the video, it's clear that she's passing a truck going slower in the right lane.

2. If you read the description, she was planning to make a left turn up ahead. Slower traffic still needs to use the left lane when preparing to make a left hand turn.

3. The road was wet.

4. Even when someone is going slow in the left lane, even if they aren't passing or preparing for a left turn, that doesn't justify tailgating or other unsafe driving. The pickup driver should lose his license.

[21Kid]

I'm sure he'll get a ticket for unsafe driving, a fine for any damage he caused, and have to pay for any damage done to his truck as well. He'll probably think twice about doing that again.

[overpowered]

If you read the description, the driver fled the scene but was later found due to the video. He has been charged. He will likely get exactly the punishment you describe. I think that's far too lenient. I say 5 year license suspension and having to pass a defensive driving course after that to get his license back. We are far too tolerant of these kinds of drivers.

[21Kid]

I watched the embedded video and didn't see a description.
A 5 year license suspension? For that? Seriously?

[overpowered]

Yeah. He could have easily ended up having a collision with someone on the other side of the road. Somebody could have been seriously hurt.

Too many people are getting killed or injured from completely avoidable crashes. Almost all crashes are avoidable by one or more parties involved. These road raging reckless idiots need to be dealt with harshly. When they kill, their victims get a death sentence. 5 years without driving pales in comparison.

[21Kid]

Self-driving cars. :D

In this case he didn't kill anyone though. We can't punish people for things that could possibly happen, or we get into Minority Report territory.

[overpowered]

We can't punish people for things that could possibly happen? What about DUI? We suspend licenses for DUI when they don't even have a crash like this idiot did, or even a particularly dangerous move.

Reckless driving should result in losing your license.

[TheBenior]

Yeah, we suspend them for 3-6 months for a first offense, not 5 years.

Even that's losing support in favor of installing Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Devices, which are probably more effective at reducing repeat offenses than merely suspending licenses. Theoretically, driving on a license suspended for DUI is a felony here, but getting charges upgraded is a bit of a crapshoot without there being a crash. Even when there's a felony conviction for DUI while revoked, the sentence is typically a couple weeks in jail at most.

[overpowered]

And that's not enough in my opinion either. We still have over 10,000 DUI deaths a year in the U.S.

[overpowered]

Road rage is bad.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/nov/23/jackson-road-rage-prelim-ruling/

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CceSRMmhv3w

[George]

I've always thought Holyfield was one of the good guys, and good for him for doing a public service message like this, but they could have made a commercial where it doesn't look like he pulled out right in front of the other guy, presumably without looking or caring.

The should have hired a better director and/or writer. :smh:

[overpowered]

The road rage actor isn't very good either. The point was made though.

[George]

I dunno. Having spent a lot of time in Georgia and other southern states, I thought he was just about perfect. :lol:

[overpowered]

No. Not ragey enough.

[Freude am Fahren]

I've always thought Holyfield was one of the good guys, and good for him for doing a public service message like this, but they could have made a commercial where it doesn't look like he pulled out right in front of the other guy, presumably without looking or caring.

The should have hired a better director and/or writer. :smh:

I think that's the point though. It says to me, even if you were in the right, don't go raging on some asshole that was clearly in the wrong.

[Jason]

Today on an 8 hour drive, I witnessed plenty of things, but one takes the cake. A very impatient Prius decided to cut off a dualie hauling a trailer, and not just a tight spot, but literally forced them off the road. The dualie kept its shit together, and got back on road right before a railing. Frankly they were lucky to still have their lives. I backed off as I saw the Prius getting a little reckless, and switched lanes, otherwise I would have been collected in that shit. I did get some rocks thrown at my car though. I was tempted to call the police on the Prius, but I'm not sure how that works, and I had places to be. They really could have injured/ended some lives today with that move.

[Kchrpm]

You can call 911, it'll dial the local police. Tell them the highway and the mile marker, give them the best description of the vehicle you can and say they are driving erratically and dangerously through traffic. The one time I remember doing it, the guy was swerving a lot, and I was mad at myself for not being able to identify the car.

[overpowered]

This was a couple of years ago. A couple of road ragers are raging at each other. They pull off the road an shoot each other dead.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/09/two-michigan-drivers-shoot-and-kill-each-other-after-road-rage-incident/

[overpowered]

I was driving tonight and a car in front of me signals to make a right turn into a driveway so I slow gradually, and I was already being tailgated. I have to come to a near stop, but then he clears out of the lane and I start accelerating again. A fair sized gap has opened up due to the slow down. The tailgater decides I'm not going fast enough, even though I've regained the speed limit (35mph) and crosses a double yellow in a left turn lane that's for the other direction. His engine roars as he goes by. He probably did over 50 before he hit the traffic ahead. I'm gradually catching up and finally completely catch up at the next light. He gained no advantage. I wonder what goes through these idiots heads.

At least he got to spend a few extra seconds waiting at the red light. That must give him joy.

[Cam]

Dude walking in bike lane adjacent to sidewalk. I say, "There's a sidewalk, you know." as I ride by. "Fuck you, buddy." was the reply. :rolleyes:

[George]

I prefer "pal", myself.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUfcNNv3g68

[overpowered]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/download/?fbid=10153214488630737

[LHutton]

Perhaps if Malls didn't have more disabled bays than hospitals people wouldn't park in them. I think the problem is that <1% of people are disabled yet >10% of spaces at some malls are disabled and >90% of them are permanently empty.

[overpowered]

I've never seen a mall with even close to 10% of spaces being for disabled.

[LHutton]

Ah, well you should see the Morrison's in the nearest town to where I live. And to make matters even worse, they have a second tier of special bays for mothers. Some establishments just massively over provide.

[Freude am Fahren]

There are government (Federal? Local? IDK) regulations on the number of parking spots that have to be handicapped. And they typically take up 2-3x the space normal spots. We had to take away two prime parking spots at work to add one extra handicapped spot to go with the other 3-4 we have. And yes, they are almost always empty. Never seen more than one occupied at a time. But that's the law.

[LHutton]

There are government (Federal? Local? IDK) regulations on the number of parking spots that have to be handicapped. And they typically take up 2-3x the space normal spots. We had to take away two prime parking spots at work to add one extra handicapped spot to go with the other 3-4 we have. And yes, they are almost always empty. Never seen more than one occupied at a time. But that's the law.
And that's the problem. If a car park is full but there are 20 disabled spaces free, guess what's going to happen.

[Kchrpm]

https://adata.org/factsheet/parking

If all the stores have separate, small parking lot allotments, like a strip mall rather than a normal mall, then I can understand why it would look like 10% of spots are for handicapped.

[21Kid]

I've seen a couple of stores that had a few perpendicular handicap spots that easily took up 4+ parking spaces. Not sure why that is necessary. In the end it doesn't bother me too much. Walking 20 extra steps really does not effect me.

It's funny watching people driving up and down aisles looking for the closest parking spot when they are going shopping in a super-walmart that is 1/4 mile long.

[thesameguy]

Ditto. I park in the first place that I see and enjoy the subsequent walk.

[overpowered]

Yep. I never understand people who will waste a bunch of time trying to get close. I occasionally make one pass near the front, but most of the time, I don't even bother with that. The walk across the parking lot is not that big of a deal.

[Freude am Fahren]

I only do it when it might rain. Which in Florida is nearly always. But still one pass and I give up.

[overpowered]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/download/?fbid=10155299230040112

[21Kid]

What do you think about when people do that in a construction zone? Technically the lanes don't merge until the end.

[Jason]

You'd think everyone would recognize that traffic impacts everyone, and try to make a reasonable zipper merge, but at least in DC, everyone is actively trying to 'be first', and it just turns into a stop and go nightmare.

[Freude am Fahren]

There's a intersection around here where that happens ALL the time. Actually, there's a lot, but this one is particularly bad:

https://www.google.com/maps/@25.9631684,-80.1482412,244m/data=!3m1!1e3

Going east on Ives Dairy, turning south onto Biscayne, there are two turning lanes. One that is go all the time on the right, then merges, and one that is go only on green (no turn on red), which is the middle lane leading up. The go all the time right lane has a concrete curb that starts about 100ft from the intersection. The line for this lane routinely backs up through the previous intersection all the way back to the one before that (if you zoom out). People always try to jump in right after the near intersection, just before the curb, which holds everyone up even though you're supposed to be able to go and turn without stopping. All this even though you can still turn right from the middle lane, you just have to wait for the light.

[overpowered]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/download/?fbid=10201327605668894

[overpowered]

Another road rage murder

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/12/17/16/22/queensland-road-rage-murder-accused-tamate-heke-granted-bail

[Yw-slayer]

I am awaiting the verdict in the case of a taxi driver who was accused of careless driving as a result of my complaint to the Police.

[George]

What do you think about when people do that in a construction zone?

https://www.facebook.com/photo/download/?fbid=10155299230040112



Assholes. Purely selfish assholes.

And the pansies who let them in are almost as bad.

[George]

Outtamyway! I need a car wash and vacuum NOW! :p

(Mighty impressive parking skills, I must say)

http://i.imgur.com/lYnAXdn.gif

[JoshInKC]

Wow, I am actually curious about that incident - drunk? running from cops? malfunction?

[Jason]

The ole... old person mixing up the brake and gas pedal is my guess.

[Tom Servo]

AKA, the "get out of jail free" card.

[overpowered]

2015 is on track to be the deadliest year on the roads in many years:

http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/278353/October_2015.pdf

[LHutton]

http://news.yahoo.com/1-killed-car-hits-pedestrians-las-vegas-strip-052113649.html



LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A woman intentionally swerved her car onto a busy sidewalk two or three times Sunday and mowed down people outside a Las Vegas casino, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others, police said.

A 3-year-old child was in the vehicle with her but was not hurt.

[21Kid]

Which correlates with a rise in driver-less cars... Coincidence? I think not!

[overpowered]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8058959/BMW-drivers-are-angriest-on-road.html
http://ethicsalarms.com/2013/08/14/studies-prove-bmw-drivers-are-jerks-and-so-it-begins/

[Random]

Ridiculous number of cars on the road with their headlights off this evening. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. :mad:

[overpowered]

I saw a few too, and it was also raining.

[Freude am Fahren]

So I've started a count of how many nights in a row I see at least one person driving with their lights off. The unofficial count is like 20, usually more than one, but for real it's 3 so far, every night since I started actually counting. Now that it's dark out before I leave work, I'm betting it will reach double digits.

By the way, the local town police (one of those small towns with a huge police force) is a frequent violator. They also NEVER signal.


Ridiculous number of cars on the road with their headlights off this evening. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. :mad:

I stopped my official count at around 15-20 consecutive nights after this post (skipping the few nights I wasn't out on the road at night). It's probably something like 40/45. And many of them are older cars with normal dashes/no bright DRLs :mad: When I have th opportunity I usually try to flash my lights at them, honk, or if possible actually roll down the window and get their attention. These have worked exactly 0 times, including the couple that clearly didn't speak English and after a minute of gesturing and speaking different languages drove away with their lights still off...

[Freude am Fahren]

Also, it's that time of year when traffic is a total nightmare around me. Commute time doubles from 15 minutes to 30 in December, and balloons even more this week because of Christmas and the mall right near me. Unfortunately it's been hot and rainy still, so I'm still mostly driving my car.

After the last couple days or sitting behind morons blocking two lanes so they can get all the way to the turn lane on the other side, etc. I decided to risk the rain and sweat and ride my bike to work today. No traffic... WTF?

The way home will probably make it worth it though, since it will be a heavier time of the day, and I go right by the huge mall near me, which is crazy after work this week, obviously.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3tLbwLqEjM

[TheBenior]

1550

[Sad, little man]

File this under bad walking...

http://time.com/4161758/man-device-san-diego-cliff/

[overpowered]

That's a popular scenic area. There's no real beach to speak of. It's just cliffs then ocean. A few places have rocks you can fall onto. The cliffs are sandstone which makes them a bit on the less than stable side. I generally won't get within maybe 4-5 feet of the edge.

It's illegal to jump from the cliffs into the water but people do it anyway.

[Freude am Fahren]

Ran into this winner on Christmas day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Jrlh8QMsU

[overpowered]

If he had tried to cross counterclockwise instead of clockwise, he would have had an easier time.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCFCCtlR10U

[SportWagon]

So we'd just finished cleaning the slushy snow off our driveway and were ready to leave. At that very second I spot the snowplough on the cross-street, probably getting ready to come up and plough in our driveway. So I hurry us up a little and back out quickly. Indeed the snowplough takes the corner and begins coming up the street towards us, though it wasn't close enough that we were in its way.

So my trusty Subaru slithers up through the churned-up slush, and we go over to Timmy's for breakfast sandwiches and coffee.

Then it's on to the highway to go to Mississauga to meet our friend. Accelerating to 120km/hr seemed appropriate when I got on, but there was so much vibration my wife even later said she had felt it. It did go away when I backed off to about 90-100, and later in the day some icy snow must have melted off the wheels and the vibration went away totally.

[overpowered]

Winding mountain road, one handing it while working a cell phone camera in addition to the dash cam you already have, accelerate hard on a straight, not realizing that you can't see the curve on the other side of the tunnel and well, this happens.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5NWcdq4Wf4

Winding mountain roads are a good place to keep it mellow. There's a cliff there, you see?

[Yw-slayer]

That was an odd video.

[thesameguy]

Yeah, WTF happened?

[overpowered]

From the YouTube description for the video:


What happened? To put it simply, I was going faster than I should have been and got distracted at the one moment that required 110% focus on an unfamiliar road.

As an auto enthusiast, when you have a nice somewhat fast modified car with a loud exhaust you tend to like tunnels. They make your exhaust sound that much better, sort of like singing in the shower… Well, I found myself accelerating through this nice long and dark pair of tunnels; I had done this many times before in other tunnels. At the exit, I could barely see because it was so bright, a person standing and holding something while motioning. Wondering what they were doing, I stared, and stared, reaching the top of 4th gear, all while trying to comprehend what they were trying to tell me. Then I figured it out. They were telling me to slow down and watch the curve ahead, but it was too late. When I think about it now, I don’t ever remember seeing the road ahead until I was nearly out of the tunnel. In my mind I had assumed that it just went straight. At that point I was exiting the tunnel straight as the road curved to the left. I had no time to slam on my brakes beforehand. Realizing I was going way too fast for that section, I applied the brakes softly in an effort to keep the back end from sliding out, but, combined with a bump and rough switch in surface texture from concrete to asphalt, I lost traction. I began sliding to the left, the car oversteering, rotating counter-clockwise, over the center marker. I counter-steered, turning the steering wheel all the way to the right, but kept sliding to the left into the turnout. It was at this moment I knew, I had fucked up.

[thesameguy]

I am really having a hard time grasping that much oversteer in a Forester. He was not even remotely out of road before he had already totally blown it.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah seems odd, also seemed like he could have made the corner otherwise. I'm guessing some lame 'stanced' suspension.

Was just out tonight and got behind some dickhead (not from Florida surprisingly, SC) driving at night with no lights on, with his wipers on (no rain anywhere) on his phone the ENTIRE TIME I was behind him (maybe 5-10 minutes/2-3 miles). Constantly tapping the brakes, never getting within 5 mph of the speed limit, drifting into the other lane. Honking, revving my engine (was on the R6), yelling gesturing, flashing my brights. Nothing fazed him. Passed a cop who gave exactly 0 fucks. My camera that I ride with unfortunately wasn't working.

But then on the way home...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJXNAmLB9fk

We have had numerous wrong way accidents around here lately. I don't know what's going on with these morons.

Oh, then there was this too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyq880x0yoc

I probably shouldn't have been so quick to go, not being able to see behind the truck (I probably would have seen an actual car), but he came zooming out of seemingly nowhere.

[Tom Servo]

That road where the Subaru went off is always full of idiots running out of talent. I did an organized ride up there and remember right at that tunnel a group of guys in Porsche 911s who definitely thought they were better drivers than they actually were.

[Jason]

That Subaru video... my god what a frightening view going down.

[Jason]

I probably shouldn't have been so quick to go, not being able to see behind the truck (I probably would have seen an actual car), but he came zooming out of seemingly nowhere.

I've had that happen to me before, it's a tough situation. You gotta book it across the intersection because it's a yield turn... but then things like motorcycles could be coming. :| If you don't go, you have a line of cars behind you honking at you, so really... no right answer :lol:

[overpowered]

I've had that happen to me before, it's a tough situation. You gotta book it across the intersection because it's a yield turn... but then things like motorcycles could be coming. :| If you don't go, you have a line of cars behind you honking at you, so really... no right answer :lol:Better to be honked at than dead or even just injured.

[Jason]

Better to be honked at than dead or even just injured.

Very true, but if it looks clear, you go. Sometimes looks can be deceiving.

[overpowered]

Which is why it's good to be aware that large vehicles are good at hiding traffic on the other side of them.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah. I mean, technically he's supposed to wait anyway, but decided to go around and pin it as soon as he did.

[Jason]

Which is why it's good to be aware that large vehicles are good at hiding traffic on the other side of them.

Ok, dad. I'm assuming you've never misjudged a situation?

Shit happens, especially in chaotic cities with lots of traffic. I drive every day through DC, and I haven't been in an accident in my entire life, other than a deer jumping into my car, and I was also rear ended at a stop light.

That doesn't mean there aren't close calls sometimes, because people can be unpredictable and do stupid things at times. Sometimes you make your best judgement, and theres still a close call.

[overpowered]

Since I've gotten serious about defensive driving, I am aware of that one and no, I haven't had one of those in a very long time.

[Jason]

Since I've gotten serious about defensive driving, I am aware of that one and no, I haven't had one of those in a very long time.

Congratulations, you're not human, since you don't make any mistakes. :)

[overpowered]

Not that one. I've learned how to avoid that one. I try to make sure that if I do make an error, it's an error on the safe side. That sometimes means that I lose a little time that maybe I didn't need to. Screening is a real problem.

[Jason]

Wonder if our different views are because of the areas we drive in. I remember San Diego being significantly easier to deal with than the DC/Baltimore area... I've dealt with the above situation plenty, and even being as cautious as possible (and even waiting for a light cycle) there's been close calls because someone else is an impatient asshole that decides to make a dangerous pass and gun it through an intersection. A lot of turn lanes here are both turn and straight through. A lot of times someone will be waiting to turn, and the person behind them will swerve out of the lane suddenly and gun it through the intersection. But from the opposite's point of view, you see a few cars lined up behind a turning vehicle, and the other lanes clear, so logically it makes sense that it's safe to go. Anyways, I'm done defending that close calls like that can happen to reasonable people.

Related: DC, Alexandria and Baltimore fill the top 10 :lol:

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/top-10-worst-cities-for-car-accidents-in-the-u-s/?view=all

[overpowered]

My rule of thumb is if there could be traffic that I don't see, I don't go into the space that they could possibly enter to hit me.

When I was younger, I did have those kinds of close calls. Luckily I didn't have an actual collision due to one, but it really was just luck. Now I avoid putting myself in that situation and yeah, most of the time there isn't anyone being screened and I could have gone and it would have been fine. Sometimes there is, and I just don't see saving a few seconds or a minute 50 or even 500 times as being worth possibly getting into a collision one time.

People drive plenty aggressive here. It's actually been getting worse in recent years. My goal is to not have close calls, much less collisions. The only thing that I really still have some difficulty with safety wise is psychos who pass at high speed differentials and change lanes in front of me with no real clearance. I've gotten a little better at anticipating that when I see them coming up behind me and I slow a bit but still, some of them almost seem like they're trying to force a collision.

Tailgating is epidemic here.

[thesameguy]

Wonder if our different views are because of the areas we drive in.

SoCal traffic is almost relaxing compared to DC/SF/NY. SoCal traffic is slow and annoying, but it's not insane like the others. Maybe *my* viewpoints are skewed because I grew up in SoCal and am there frequently, but people I know gleefully head into the greater LA area for weekends and such while they stress about trips to SF or NY. IMHO, it's a whole nuther level.

[TheBenior]

I haven't driven in SF or NYC, but I've found driving in SoCal less insane than Chicago or northern New Jersey.

[thesameguy]

I should have mentioned Chicago. It's also insane.

Edit: Boston too. Ugh.

[Tom Servo]

I still remember the scariest moment I had in Boston. The city was crazy enough...streets literally changed orientation by the day. I was driving under the green monster on a 4-5 lane wide one-way street. I get to the traffic light and suddenly realize that on the other side of the intersection, it's a two way street. I now have cars coming directly at me.

I went back later on foot and confirmed, there was no warning. No signs, no nothing. Just "Here's oncoming traffic, go fuck yourself."

[thesameguy]

It's those insane traffic patterns that LA in general is missing. It's busy, but it's fairly consistent and generally makes sense. The traffic is bad, but the roadways are sane.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, that's the kind of thing that makes Boston and other areas of the Northeast interesting. They have old old roads and patterns with very little warning that this divided four lane roadway is about to become a two-lane, two-direction road with no central line painted, etc. The drivers for the most part aren't that bad, just aggressive.

That's kinda what pisses me off so much about Miami. The signage and way the roads work is SO EASY to follow and would all be smooth if people paid some fucking attention to it.

[overpowered]

Remember the asshole who was doing 45 in a 60 and got pissed when a couple of motorcyclists tried to pass and moved over on them forcing them to crash and then said he didn't care?

He's been indicted by a grand jury on two felony counts of aggravated assault:

http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2016/01/11/texas-driver-who-hit-motorcycle-on-viral-video-indicted/78620420/

[thesameguy]

Yeah, that's the kind of thing that makes Boston and other areas of the Northeast interesting. They have old old roads and patterns with very little warning that this divided four lane roadway is about to become a two-lane, two-direction road with no central line painted, etc. The drivers for the most part aren't that bad, just aggressive.

That's kinda what pisses me off so much about Miami. The signage and way the roads work is SO EASY to follow and would all be smooth if people paid some fucking attention to it.

x10

I visit SF probably ten times annually and it's constantly changing - every time I am back something is closed and something else is opened. If you don't know where you're going, you're in someone's way. LA I visit twice, three times a year if I'm unlucky and is never a problem. I can drive to places I lived when I was five. I can get from the tippy top of Riverside County to the bottom of San Diego without a map. SF is six square miles and I've spent 30 minutes looking for a freeway onramp that used to be in one place, but is now in another or the roads that used to go through don't anymore. I can't even comment on other large cities because I haven't driven them often enough, but IME LA (and Miami, for that matter) is one set of problems, whereas the older, squished cities are all a different one, but remarkably similar to each other in their craziness.

[Cam]

Biking on campus is risky in some areas, not because of drivers, but because of pedestrians. Today, I saw three students walk into the street in front of me, without even looking, in the span of 15 seconds. They were not close calls, but they were within my visual range. I have had many close calls in the same area, however. It is a three-block section of street in the middle of campus that cars cannot enter because there is a gate at either end. There is, however, bike lanes on either side. Unfortunately, the students treat it like a sidewalk and almost never look before stepping out. I have to ride slow and be very attentive in this section, lest I collide with an inattentive jaywalker. I think I have bitched about this section before. The bike lanes there are pretty much useless.

Often they have promotional events here that block the street. Tables, chairs, tents and sometimes even vehicles are set up in the bike lane. One day last semester I was riding through here and there were two cop cars parked across the bike lane. The police were doing some promotional thing and interacting with the students. I roll up and say, "C'mon guys, you're parked in the bike lane." The cop's response was, "The whole street is a bike lane." He was probably just blowing me off, but he was inadvertently correct. I am allowed to take a car lane when it is unsafe or impossible for me to use the adjacent bike lane.

There is a small section of bike lane outside the gate that always has cars parked in it, despite the numerous no parking signs. One day last year, I saw two bike cops going the other way, ignoring the six-to-eight illegally-parked cars. WTF? You're bike cops and you're ignoring cars parked in the bike lane? I wish I had turned around and urged them to write some tickets, but I was on my way to a class.

[21Kid]

I got a bell on my bike because of all of the pedestrians around Loyola. 1/2 of them don't seem to hear it though.

[thesameguy]

The two months or whatever I was in college I remember seeing bike accidents daily - always pedestrians stepping out in front. I get it, you're biking on the sidewalk and pedestrians don't except you. It's fair. But it sure convinced me that being anything other than on foot on campus was a huge mistake.

[George]

I got a bell on my bike because of all of the pedestrians around Loyola. 1/2 of them don't seem to hear it though.

You need one of these!

http://deltacycle.com/airzound-horn

http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Airzound-Bike-Horn-colors/dp/B000ACAMJC

[SportWagon]

There has been so little snow this winter that when I got up this morning and looked in the garage I realized I had forgotten to kick behind my wheels before driving into the garage (after driving through the little bit of snow we did have yesterday).

[Yw-slayer]

I have an AirZound. It is OK, but you can make your own version out of a plastic bottle. Or you could just shout.

[overpowered]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/14205319.VIDEO__No_arrests_yet_after__road_rage__l eft_motorcyclist_in_hospital/

[Freude am Fahren]

Good thing he seemed to know it was coming and started to hop off before contact. Could have been a severe right leg injury otherwise.

[tigeraid]

The Honda oF Doom is no more.

http://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12510427_10153176887677352_1156741808854216806_n.j pg?oh=2ef36188cb972c6a91de91fe8ae4cca2&oe=5709B641



Some asshole in a Jeep JK pulled out blindly in front of us on a fairly busy 80 kph road. I had maybe 4 car lengths to make a decision, noticed there was no opposing traffic at that very moment, so I headed for the ditch on the opposing side. For some reason, his response, after being stopped basically dead center of my lane, was to creep FURTHER forward into the opposing lane. So instead of missing him and just ditching it, he bork'd us.

With the exception of being rear-ended gently at a stop light a couple years ago, this my first-ever accident, of any kind. Having raced cars since I was 12, I'm used to wrecks, so it didn't phase me at all. Other than wanting to kill the fucker, I was fine. BUT, Tara is still recovering from the severe concussion she suffered in that rear-ending. So I was completely shit-fucked terrified for her, as her head is now as fragile as a Faberge egg. Had I been alone in the car the situation wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much.

Poor little Honda. She took us on a 2-week, 8000+ km tour of the Canadian Maritimes without so much as a puff of smoke. RIP.

[George]

Glad everyone is okay.

Old Hondas are cheap and plentiful.

Go get another! :)

[overpowered]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/witness-driver-fell-asleep-bus-struck-killed-woman


While trying to maintain her lane as the bus zigzagged in the lane next to her, she glanced up and saw Nichols' eyes were closed. Both the bus and Rivera's Saturn Aura had just passed Polaris Avenue when the bus hopped the curb, striking a bus shelter and killing Jooyoung Do, 39, who was walking toward the Strip.


When he did stop, Rivera said the driver's first instinct was to defend himself.

"When he came up to check what happened, the lady's body was underneath my car," the distraught woman said.

Nichols started screaming, she said.

"No I didn't," he yelled when another witness nearby told him he had hit Do. "Shut the (expletive) up. She jaywalked."

He shouted the same words, over and over again.

[LHutton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaHKjjsocm0

[George]

Spy camera footage of speedpimp making a delivery at work:

:up:

http://i.imgur.com/j45StmO.gif

[thesameguy]

Ace :up:

[LHutton]

Like a glove.

[Cam]

Riding my bike home from school this morning. Bus stopped on opposite side of the street. Pick-up truck moves 2/3 of the way into my lane across a double yellow line to pass the bus. He's basically coming straight at me. I squeeze to the right a bit toward the parked cars. Thankfully, the street is wide. Motion my hand toward the guy, "What the eff, dude?" He honks at me, of course. :rolleyes:

[Tom Servo]

Somewhat similar. Was riding down one of only two streets in Beverly Hills that is supposed to be a bike route. Has bike lanes to the north, but just sharrowed to the south, where I was. I've got a ton of stuff in my panniers and can feel it dragging the bike around, so I'm not going super fast over the speed bumps on the street.

Prius behind me is apparently getting impatient and must have pulled to his left, leading to the oncoming truck laying on his horn. As soon as the truck passes, the Prius guns it to get around me. Gets to the cars at the stop sign, and I roll past, giving him the thumbs up as I pass him and turn right. He gave me a different gesture.

[Freude am Fahren]

Last night, a main road that goes from US-1 where I am near the coast, where all the business stuff is etc, over west to I-95 was closed for work on a RR crossing. So traffic was 10x time the nightmare it already is around here. I live just about 300 yards or so east of US-1, and traffic was backed up to my street. Mind you the light at US-1 is only long enough for maybe 5 cars to get through. But because of the extra traffic in every direction, everyone on US-1 was stopping in the intersection, blocking the road. I'm positive it would have taken 45-60 minutes to go those 300 yards. So I said fuck it and got on my bike and split to the front. When the light turned green, lo and behold, I was the only one able to get through before it turned red again because I could get past the morons sitting in the intersection. I think it's going to be like this all week :(

[overpowered]

Somewhat similar. Was riding down one of only two streets in Beverly Hills that is supposed to be a bike route. Has bike lanes to the north, but just sharrowed to the south, where I was. I've got a ton of stuff in my panniers and can feel it dragging the bike around, so I'm not going super fast over the speed bumps on the street.

Prius behind me is apparently getting impatient and must have pulled to his left, leading to the oncoming truck laying on his horn. As soon as the truck passes, the Prius guns it to get around me. Gets to the cars at the stop sign, and I roll past, giving him the thumbs up as I pass him and turn right. He gave me a different gesture.Sadly, it doesn't occur to him for one second that you cost him zero time. Self entitled idiots never understand how traffic works.

[SportWagon]

I'm still trying to visualize a Prius gunning it. But perhaps my boss drives his extra cautiously, watching the efficiency telemetry all the time.

[George]

I'm still trying to visualize a Prius gunning it.

Ha! I was just thinking the same thing, and thinking, wait, he couldn't simply pedal harder to outrun the Prius and avoid the conflict? :lol:

[overpowered]

Road rage assault.

http://www.3aw.com.au/news/woman-hospitalised-after-shocking-road-rage-incident-20160119-gm9m0p.html

[overpowered]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/download/?fbid=891626994283640

[GreatScawt]

Yup :up:

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTC3RK4eZ6o

[overpowered]

https://www.facebook.com/586931474777547/videos/731123390358354/

[overpowered]

Every so often I'll get into an argument on the internet with british cycle haters who always and without exception whine about cyclists breaking the rules. I point out that that doesn't make them any different than motorists. They insist that I'm an ignorant american. British drivers obey the rules of the road. Right.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHZ--AzTTss

[LHutton]

You'd think drivers would hate things that actually slow them down, rather than cyclists. In Britain, some people claim they hate cyclists because they occupy space on the road and don't pay road tax but not many of them give the same grief to Prius drivers.

[LHutton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9bcQ6i7KXU

[Tom Servo]

Saw this on my way home today.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npX5HFvTcZI

[Freude am Fahren]

wow :smh: and they just kept going i bet?

[overpowered]

That would be likely.

[Tom Servo]

He did actually stop. Dunno if he reported it (I did), but he did stop.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2maCVdmTW3M

[Cam]

I'm stopped at red light. Female cyclist passes me and runs the red. Light goes green shortly thereafter. I catch up to her just as she's turning into a side street. "You give us a bad name, you know." She responds, "Shut up." and keeps riding.

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, there's nothing special about cyclists on that front - I find very few people respond positively to unsolicited criticism.

[overpowered]

There's no point in it, though I still yell at salmons, because they really piss me off because they make me deal with their stupidity.

[Kchrpm]

Had to look that one up, makes sense


Cyclists use the term "salmoning" to describe a biker going against the stream on a one-way bike lane

[Tom Servo]

There's no point in it, though I still yell at salmons, because they really piss me off because they make me deal with their stupidity.

True, I yell at them too. I justify it by saying that salmon are not people, therefore they don't follow that rule.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdeURapTAeY

[SportWagon]

So it was -23C this morning.

Shortly after we left the Crossroads restaurant just outside of Elmira, Ontario, was the first time I tried to use my windshield washers that day. None of them worked, not even dribbles.

Luckily it was sunny and clear and I had no real need for them as we cruised to the shopping mall along the highway. I was very pre-occupied, trying to diagnose the situation and think about what to do.

When I got to the mall, I tried the washer again, and was relieved to clearly hear the pump working--something I'm not sure could be heard at highway speeds. But still, nothing came out of the nozzles.

Bought some plastic cooking spoons at Wal-Mart (you know, "plastic wooden spoons"). For some reason I first filled the washer fluid reservoir with -40(CorF) fluid. Then I reached in with the non-spoon end of the longest spoon, and gently dug and stirred around. Indeed, little ice fragments swirled up into the mixture.

So I then started the car, and the front washers squirted very well. So I squirted the again and again to try and work out the presumably bad fluid. And I repeated that process again and again throughout the day.

Unfortunately, the rear washer did not start working, but it's more optional. For that I'll need to just wait for warm weather, I think. The car will probably be replaced within a month, anyway.

Take-aways:
- always use -40C or perhaps lower fluid
- always top-up before taking the car in for service
(so you have no suspicion that the service station used other fluid)
- always check washers before beginning to drive
(at least on a very cold day)

So, after the temperature warmed up to -10C the rear washer began working too. And with the new fluid I used seemed to work better than I ever remember.

All the fluids I checked used Methyl Alcohol (Methanol) as anti-freeze. Supposedly you can get it fairly pure at tuner shops. So a small measured quantity might be appropriate to use to bring a summer fluid to winter specs. According to http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/methanol-water-d_987.html the -40C fluid has a flash point of only 29C which is a reason for not using it all the time, I guess.

[overpowered]

No way to prevent this. Erm. Except....

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/driver-crash-killed-dui-incident-hours-earlier-36933636

[overpowered]

https://www.facebook.com/photo/download/?fbid=1118773441496086

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dONyv-Cwkoo

[LHutton]

As a matter of point, in the following situation, should the car wait?

A cyclist has indicated to turn right.

[Tom Servo]

There's a lot of context missing. I'm assuming the driver is behind the cyclist and also wanting to turn right, and there's only one lane to turn right from? Then yes, the driver should wait.

[Freude am Fahren]

And by right turn, I assume we are talking in UK where you're turning across on-coming traffic. The car should wait if it is also turning, or if there is not enough room to safely pass and continue straight. Same goes really in either direction.

Really though, you couldn't be more vague with your hypothetical.

[Tom Servo]

I need a concrete answer to this. If I can't even, should I?

[overpowered]

2-way cycletracks suck.


https://vimeo.com/156159021

[Tom Servo]

Meh, I still like it.

[Jason]

DC is in need of a biking (and driving and walking) etiquette overhaul, but I have a feeling that won't ever happen, since it seems to be a largely east coast thing. Last week I almost pasted multiple cyclists who ran stop lights and stop signs, or went against the flow of automobile traffic, or shot across a street in diagonal against traffic from behind a large parked vehicle/storage container. I just don't get it. I mean, it's somewhat understandable for people in two ton vehicles to behave like idiots since they have this feeling of safety. But if you're a pedestrian, or on two wheels, I feel like you'd have safer practices. One of the cyclists I barely missed was a young kid and I almost had to pull over afterwards because I was kinda freaked out.

[overpowered]

People keep telling me that riding my bike in the middle of the lane is guaranteed to get me rear ended. Not according to this study from the NHTSA. Slow vehicles rarely get rear ended.

Analyses of Rear-End Crashes and Near-Crashes in the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study to Support Rear-Signaling Countermeasure Development

http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/2007/Analyses%20of%20Rear-End%20Crashes%20and%20Near-Crashes%20(DOT%20HS%20810%20846).pdf

Page xvi:


Rear-end crashes, near-crashes, and incidents were analyzed using data collected from the 100-Car Study in order to provide insights into the role of rear-signaling systems in crash prevention and aid in the design of enhanced rear-signaling systems. As indicated, there were 7,024 rearend events logged in the database: 27 crashes, 450 near-crashes, and 6,547 incidents. The vast majority of these events (88%) were conflicts with a lead vehicle; data for conflicts with a following vehicle were captured, but represent a minority of cases (about 12%). Of the 7,024 observed rear-end events, 45 percent involved a decelerating lead vehicle, 38 percent involved a stopped lead vehicle, 2 percent involved a slower moving lead vehicle, and 15 percent occurred under various other situations. Crashes were predominately characterized by situations in which the lead vehicle was stopped, whereas near-crashes and incidents were more evenly distributed across instances of both stopped and decelerating lead vehicles. The majority of rear-end crash events (59%, or 16 out of 27) involved a stopped lead vehicle, while 22 percent (6 out of 27) occurred under conditions of a decelerating lead vehicle.

[LHutton]

And by right turn, I assume we are talking in UK where you're turning across on-coming traffic. The car should wait if it is also turning, or if there is not enough room to safely pass and continue straight. Same goes really in either direction.

Really though, you couldn't be more vague with your hypothetical.
In this case the cyclist is turning right but the car is not. I guess using OP's centre lane style, the question is void.

[Jason]

People keep telling me that riding my bike in the middle of the lane is guaranteed to get me rear ended. Not according to this study from the NHTSA. Slow vehicles rarely get rear ended.

Analyses of Rear-End Crashes and Near-Crashes in the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study to Support Rear-Signaling Countermeasure Development

http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/2007/Analyses%20of%20Rear-End%20Crashes%20and%20Near-Crashes%20(DOT%20HS%20810%20846).pdf

Page xvi:

On the other hand, every time I've been rear ended (3 times), I've been sitting stopped. Twice at a stop light, and once stopped in traffic. :|

[overpowered]

On the other hand, every time I've been rear ended (3 times), I've been sitting stopped. Twice at a stop light, and once stopped in traffic. :|


45 percent involved a decelerating lead vehicle, 38 percent involved a stopped lead vehicle

Stopped is far more likely to be a victim of rear end collision than slow.

[Kchrpm]

? 45% (for decelerating) is greater than 38% (for stopped)...

[overpowered]

Yep...and travelling at a consistent slow speed is a lot less than either of those.

[Tom Servo]

Had my closest call in a while last night. Was on the left half of the right lane going southwest on S. Santa Monica approaching Camden. Had a green light. Driver going northeast was waiting to make the left, which is a yield on green. Driver in front of her makes the turn, then she starts to go, but stops. Not unusual, there was an SUV in front of her and her view was mostly blocked, so many drivers will start to move, then stop when they see me. She remains stopped for a couple of seconds as I get closer, then suddenly she starts going.

I grabbed a handful of brakes but there was no way I was going to be able to stop in time. She's getting closer and I'm trying to get the bike to turn so it's more of a glancing blow when I hit her, and I just start screaming "STOP!" She slams on her brakes and I pass about a foot in front of her car. In retrospect, I should have turned left to try to pass behind her instead of to the right, though given that she did end up stopping I would have slammed into the side of her car if I'd done that.

At least I got the "sorry" wave, but how did you miss 6'2" of dork with lights on in the middle of the road?

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYo3kORaXAo

[overpowered]

Had my closest call in a while last night. Was on the left half of the right lane going southwest on S. Santa Monica approaching Camden. Had a green light. Driver going northeast was waiting to make the left, which is a yield on green. Driver in front of her makes the turn, then she starts to go, but stops. Not unusual, there was an SUV in front of her and her view was mostly blocked, so many drivers will start to move, then stop when they see me. She remains stopped for a couple of seconds as I get closer, then suddenly she starts going.

I grabbed a handful of brakes but there was no way I was going to be able to stop in time. She's getting closer and I'm trying to get the bike to turn so it's more of a glancing blow when I hit her, and I just start screaming "STOP!" She slams on her brakes and I pass about a foot in front of her car. In retrospect, I should have turned left to try to pass behind her instead of to the right, though given that she did end up stopping I would have slammed into the side of her car if I'd done that.

At least I got the "sorry" wave, but how did you miss 6'2" of dork with lights on in the middle of the road?Some people are just plain oblivious.

Not sure if any of this will help. Sometimes it's down to reading people. I often stop for these impatient idiots when I shouldn't have to and more times than I can count, that was the right choice.

http://cyclingsavvy.org/2011/06/crash-avoiding-the-dreaded-left-cross/

[Tom Servo]

I usually do too, but this case was basically no warning. Everything about the driver's "body language" (for lack of a better term) seemed like "she didn't see me until the car in front of her cleared the turn, then when she saw me she stopped". By the time she started going again, I immediately grabbed a handful of brakes and had no chance of stopping. If she hadn't stopped, I almost would have thought it was deliberate.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0obAEPT-3Y

Distracted driving.

[Freude am Fahren]

WTF? Was he reading a ticket he had just received with the stereo blasting or something? The cop's lights were already on you can see, so maybe that's it? He said he was just watching the other car go, but I don't buy it.

Doesn't look like a long haul type truck, so I'm not thinking a sleep deprivation thing.

[overpowered]

It looks to me like the cop had pulled him over and probably given him a ticket. He was probably emotional and not thinking clearly. He was apparently paying attention to the SUV in front of him that turned right at the stop sign and wasn't paying attention the the flashing red lights.

It is kind of amazing. That's not someone who should be driving.

[Freude am Fahren]

So I'm finally going through some of the clips I saved from my dash cam and helmet cam, and wow. I might make a monthly video.

[overpowered]

Idiot almost has a head on with two cyclists and a car while passing across double yellow. That honk you hear is from the car coming the other way.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd90POvqZLg

[overpowered]

Cycling crashes soar on La Trobe Street after separated bike lane is built

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/cycling-crashes-soar-on-la-trobe-street-after-separated-bike-lane-is-built-20160226-gn4v3o.html

This protected bike lane includes parked cars. Some of the collisions were with pedestrians going to/from their cars.

Most of the rest seem to be with drivers making left turns (it's Australia) who don't notice the cyclists coming up their left side or can't even see them due to the parked cars.

I hate facilities like this. They render me irrelevant to turning traffic.

[Freude am Fahren]

http://www.freudeamfoto.com/gtx/vwblowie.jpg

[Freude am Fahren]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mAsjLJL4xo

Since we can't embed facebook video here for some reason, here is the best I can find right now of this. Make sure you watch the whole thing.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvKlziHf3B0

[Random]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mAsjLJL4xo

Since we can't embed facebook video here for some reason, here is the best I can find right now of this. Make sure you watch the whole thing.

FB videos are a pain to embed b/c FB keeps changing their code. :|

Here's the KTVU story, with the whole video (and follow-up): http://www.ktvu.com/news/102601667-story

[Tom Servo]

Not me.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gynUMuydkIU&feature=youtu.be

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQLrcBGR-8M

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSE3fkeHAmo

Don't do this. I know it's tempting, and I admit I felt a bit of joy when the tailgater went off in the weeds but it's wrong. It's just wrong.

[SportWagon]

What about hitting brake and gas at the same time?

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, when someone tailgates me, and I have nowhere to go, can't even speed up, first I'll repeatedly tap my brake pedal just enough to make the lights blink, but not really slow me down. Then I'll purposely (but slowly) lower my speed to annoying levels, because fuck them. But actual brake checking is a bad idea.

[overpowered]

Cop gets out of his car and pepper sprays motorcyclists as they go by:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/officer-spraying-bikers-video_us_56e70527e4b065e2e3d6c7d6?

[Freude am Fahren]

Cop should obviously be fired, and should be brought up on charges of at least assault.

As to the move-over laws, those bike were going pretty slow. Can't see a speed limit sign, but if it was less than 55, and they were doing more than 45, I'd be surprised. Most also did move over at least half the lane width.

He'll probably get a suspension and the biker that recorded will be arrested on some bullshit charge.

[overpowered]

Woman completely losing it while mostly doing 60-70 km/h behind cyclists on winding road.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izi1ongLI6g

She's getting a lot of negative comments. I suspect she'll take the video down soon.

[GreatScawt]

I got super pissed today. A highway exit where many people cross over three lanes to make a turn at a light. Not much room to merge at speed and move over, so people have to stop and wait for traffic. But when you do that, the people in the back have first shot at actually getting behind the passing traffic to move over.

Cue the entitled bag of dicktits in a Mercedes cutting over hard to pass everybody as the last bit of traffic goes by. I tailgated him so hard, and I really shouldn't have. But that entitled, "me-first" bullshit exemplifies what I hate about society in general.
Also, the cigarette poking out the cracked window. I had to laugh at that point.

Also: Turn signals. Their lack of use, I feel, is becoming an epidemic. Holy shit. God forbid you tell people where you plan to steer your 2 ton vessel of compensation.

[thesameguy]

Maybe just a local problem, but around here spotting someone's turn signal is your invitation to do whatever is necessary to prevent them from doing what they want to do. Turn signals lead to:

"I didn't want to be there, but now that I know you do I do as well"
"I was comfortable with my speed, but now that I see you are going to pass me I want to go faster too"
"I see that you are trying to give that cop/worker/broken car some room for safety, but I'm really not into that"
"You've indicated that you're trying to turn left across traffic. How about I modulate my speed in such a way as to prevent that"

and, my personal favorite,

"Fuck you. No to whatever you wanted."

[Freude am Fahren]

Almost saw a nice old couple get creamed the other day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9odIG51INDc

[overpowered]

I see jackasses do that all the time in all sorts of vehicles.

Every so often there's a story in the news of police doing a sting on crosswalks and how they're basically shooting fish in a barrel on those. Invariably there are a bunch of idiots commenting on the news site about how wrong the cops are and pedestrians just need to yield to cars.

[Yw-slayer]

Maybe just a local problem, but around here spotting someone's turn signal is your invitation to do whatever is necessary to prevent them from doing what they want to do. Turn signals lead to:

"I didn't want to be there, but now that I know you do I do as well"
"I was comfortable with my speed, but now that I see you are going to pass me I want to go faster too"
"I see that you are trying to give that cop/worker/broken car some room for safety, but I'm really not into that"
"You've indicated that you're trying to turn left across traffic. How about I modulate my speed in such a way as to prevent that"

and, my personal favorite,

"Fuck you. No to whatever you wanted."

Oh, so it's not just HK drivers who behave like that!

[overpowered]

Maybe just a local problem, but around here spotting someone's turn signal is your invitation to do whatever is necessary to prevent them from doing what they want to do. Turn signals lead to:

"I didn't want to be there, but now that I know you do I do as well"
"I was comfortable with my speed, but now that I see you are going to pass me I want to go faster too"
"I see that you are trying to give that cop/worker/broken car some room for safety, but I'm really not into that"
"You've indicated that you're trying to turn left across traffic. How about I modulate my speed in such a way as to prevent that"

and, my personal favorite,

"Fuck you. No to whatever you wanted."I would guess that at least 20-25% of drivers around here are exactly like that.

[Tom Servo]

Lately, at least here in LA, I've found that most people will let you move over if you signal. I actually can't think of the last time someone deliberately closed the gap when I put my turn signal on.

[Yw-slayer]

I would guess that at least 20-25% of drivers around here are exactly like that.

Over here, maybe 80%. In London, maybe 40%. Outside of London, maybe 10%.

[thesameguy]

Lately, at least here in LA, I've found that most people will let you move over if you signal. I actually can't think of the last time someone deliberately closed the gap when I put my turn signal on.

Must be all the sedatives in the water supply.

[LHutton]

Over here, maybe 80%. In London, maybe 40%. Outside of London, maybe 10%.
That's one of the reasons I hate cities. Same goes for attitudes to cyclists. Cities just seem to be places where bad attitude concentrates.

[overpowered]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU

[Freude am Fahren]

Predictable event today while I was picking up my new bike wheels from Fed-Ex. I saw a sidewalk salmon today almost get hit by a bunch of cars turning left (she was crossing the intersection on left side when the same direction had green arrows). She was completely obvlivious. Didn't stop or anything when cars came at her, were honking. About 20 minutes later I was coming back in the opposite direction about a mile south of said intersection, there was a firetruck and police car blocking right lane. There she was on the ground after appearing to hit a van (or get hit by van) pulling out of a parking lot. In the end the van is still probably at fault, having pulled past the crosswalk without stopping/looking, but considering she appeared mostly unharmed, fuck her, she deserved it.

[thesameguy]

Don't be too sure the van will be at fault. We had a potential client who was not only riding the wrong way (against traffic) but also on a sidewalk. He got hit by a left-turning car and knocked down. When the police showed up, he was cited. He tried to hire us to go after the driver of the car for damage which was insane given the fact pattern and we rejected him. In the end, he was liable for damage to the car. Oops!

[George]

she deserved it.

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/drink/popcorn-and-drink-smiley-emoticon.gif