Road Rage.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Loggins & Messina. Queen. Ted Nugent

[OperaTenor]

Bohemain Rhapsody. Yeah, baby!

[Serenity]

Salsa!

[Serenity]

So Gabbers...
I heard, a long time ago, that Montana doesn't have an official speed limit. Is this true? Do you drive 140 mph and call the 80mph crowd "Lolligaggers"?

Oh yeah...are you driving this insane german speed to polka music, opera or Ramstein?

[dai bread 1]

Well well well! You guys, and the British, are held up as paragons of virtuous driving by people who claim to have driven extensively in overseas countries and then returned to li'l old NZ. They can't face our bumper-to-bumper congestion, our willingness to pass on the left (Americans read "right") and our unwillingness to use indicators.

We have Safe Drivers here. They travel at 80km/hr on any highway with curves in it, and accellerate to the official speed limit of 100km/h on any straight or passing lane. The result is that you have to drive like a cut cat to pass them or have the patience of Job and sit behind them for kilometre after kilometre after.... They never signal their turns either. But they are Safe Drivers. They Obey the Speed Limit.

They used to wear hats planted squarely on their short-back-and-sides heads, and forge steadfastly ahead looking neither to the right nor to the left, but hats are hardly ever worn these days so it's hard to pick the Safe Driver until you're stuck behind him. It's always a him.

[Serenity]

People in Massachusetts are also generally unwilling to use their directionals when traffic gets a little congested because it tips off the others of what you are about to do...the game is to keep them guessing before they can cut you off!

The merge onto the expressways are like a game of "chicken" --speed right in, ignore the yield sign because that would cut down my speed. Everyone hates those that come to a complete stop at the yield signs.

Since people don't generally know how to merge onto the expressay, every exit is awkward and drivers on the right lane of the expressway switch to the middle lane when an exit is coming up to avoid the trouble of playing the "chicken" game. Also, the people driving in the middle lane begin to "jockey" for position when their exit is coming up. They'll hover near a gap in the right lane where they can cut in at the last moment before their exit. This slows the general speed of the middle lane to the speed of the right lane where people are bumbling and hesitating to decide whether to slow down and let someone merge or speed up and cut them off.

Some drivers are also too polite. They'll come to a complete stop at an intersection with a green light to let someone turn left from the opposite side of the road. I know you can yield your right of way to any other driver or pedestrian. And, someone who needs to turn should always yield to someone going straight. But when someone going straight stops the flow of traffic to let someone turn left at an intersection with lights (one lane each way), it's just wrong.

Finally, there is a growing trend of cell phone usage. I keep seeing an increasing number of people blabbing on their cell phone and concentrating on the conversation more than on the road. Of course I here them talking about this in public places or on internet chat rooms stating they can "multi-task" why can't you.

I wish I could trade my car in for a helicopter.

[barfle]

dai, I must admit that my single foray to New Zealand was only long enough to pick up a T-shirt and a few kiwi bird statues while the plane was being refueled, so I can't comment on driving there.

I have, however, driven extensively in the US and Germany, and when we visited Britain in 1984, we rented a car. British driving was quite an experience for me. Opinions varied as to who thought I was on the wrong side of the road. Sometimes I thought I was on the wrong side, and sometimes they thought I was on the wrong side.

Now that the joke is told, I would have to say that, for the most part, Europeans drive fairly well, although sometimes a little fast for conditions. I recall being on the motorway (freeway) in England/Scotland, and not realizing for a while that I had a buildup of cars behind me, cruising at 10k or so above the speed limit in the fast (right) lane. They would not pass on the left, which I found quite odd, since nearly everywhere I've driven in the US, people weave all around slower traffic. Naturally, once I realized what I was doing, I quit doing it, but it was an interesting lesson.

Your remark about the "safe" drivers calls to mind an incident I once observed. In this case, it was a "blue-hair" (old woman with hair so white it has a blue tinge) driving a sedan with a rental trailer. The trailer had markings on it that said "speed limit 35 MPH" or words to that effect. Well, that's what she was doing, and in the fast lane of a four-lane (two each way) highway that had a posted limit well above that. I got stuck behind her, and she did an amazing job of maintaining that speed. She even maintained that speed through the intersection with the red light showing. Fortunately she didn't cause an accident, but it just goes to show you how concentrating on one thing can make you blind to all the rest.

[Serenity]

I know the "white hairs" with the nickname "Q-Tips".
The worst drivers, in my opinion, are the ones who are afraid of driving. For example, "soccer moms" driving kids in big vans yet babbling on the cell phone.

<small>[ 06-21-2003, 10:53 AM: Message edited by: Serenity ]</small>

[Nicole Marie]

Hi Serenity, here in CT we call Mass. drivers M*ssh*les. For some reason they do nutty things behind the wheel. NOTE: I have family in Mass and many listeners - don't take any of this personal.

But then a lot can be said about CT drivers. None of us use or signal and we drive to fast or to slow. We can't seem to get the speed limit thing.

<small>[ 06-21-2003, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: Nicole Marie ]</small>

[Serenity]

I'll "give a brake" to those using the Beethoven license plate frame; maybe you should include a Beethoven bumper sticker.

[Serenity]

Nicole - I've wrote it before somewhere in this thread. Sometimes I think they should drop the "M" from the name of the state.

A few years back I was sightseeing in Mexico City for the Christmas holidays. I'm glad someone else was driving because from one moment to another we were in at a standstill and every rule ever written about driving was thrown away. There were cars going in every direction. Literally, people were in the opposite direction just to get out of the mess. Others had simply turned the motor off and waited. And pedestrians typically walk among vehicles. I was simply in awe; I had never seen anything as chaotic as that in my life (I lived there for about 10 years -- it's congested but a fun place to live). Traffic had simply changed over time. Now I understand the government issues stickers that allow you to drive on the road only certain days of the week because of the pollution.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Oh, yes, my precious, Soccer Moms. Yup, the absolute pits.

These women drive BIG vans or SUVs. Yup, the whole phone-to-the-ear thing holds true. They often have a list-holder gadget glued to the dashboard or windshield. Kids in the back. And they are uniformly On A Mission.

Their fractured minds seem to be split four ways, between the kids in the back, the conversation on the phone, the list in the window, and the Mission. This leaves exactly zero brain cells available for the whole driving thing.

They're especially lethal in the Costco parking lot on weekend mornings, because they're bringing the drinks to the soccer field and the kids are worried that they'll be late to the game.

The Baseball Moms (identifiable by the big tubs of sunflower seeds) seem to be a bit more laid-back about the whole Mission thing, are somewhat less likely to have phones glued to their ears.

Band moms are an entirely superior breed. We drive all different kinds of vehicles, have hands-free ear gadgets for our cell phones, and the lists are in our heads, where they belong. And we're not On a Mission, because we dumped the kids at the practice before we went for the drinks.

As you can see, I'm completely objective about this whole Moms thing...

[OperaTenor]

If you want a unique perspective on how unaware drivers in the U.S. are of just exactly what they're doing behind the wheel, ride a motorcycle everyday. My mental premise for staying alive on the raod is to ride as if I'm invisible, because that's exactly what I am to the vast majority of car drivers. Case in point: my most recent(and by far the worst) incident. <img src="http://www.operatenor.100megs24.com\wreck.jpg" alt=" - " />
I was V-2, the kid that hit me was V-1. It was fully dark (about 6:30pm), I was the only oncoming traffic, and I had a headlight that was properly adjusted and over 50% brighter than legally allowed. He didn't see me, and told the police my headlight must have been off (impossible - no switch) or burned out (it still worked after the wreck). My guess is that he was probably yakking on a cell phone and was more concerned with his conversation than with his driving. We were practically head-on and he was so unaware he didn't see me.

My point is that it seems to me we take the responsibility of driving far too lightly, and all too willing to allow other things (cell phones, eating, reading, watching TV, farting around with gadgets like GPS's) to take away from our concentration. I believe if law enforcement would focus more on cracking down on this type of reckless behavior we would have far fewer traffic fatalities.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

My gramma always claimed that she figured all the other drivers were blind, drunken, suicidal maniacs.

She did manage to die of advanced old age, at 97, without any serious traffic accidents in her whole life.

That might be a good philosophy.

[Serenity]

I agree with OT, Selma and her grandma. You need full attention because you must be aware of everyone around you and what drivers in other lanes are doing, or even better, anticipating their moves. I cringe to think about someone behind me tailgating and whose headlights I cannot see, yakking on a cell phone and glancing over to the side seat to look for something. I'll get out of their way or start slowing down so they'll switch lanes; nothing irritates a tailgater more than someone tapping their brakes often (well, unless you're purposely trying to prevent them from passing you).

[Marye]

( cell phones, eating, reading, watching TV, farting around with gadgets like GPS

Talking on cells phones is the worst... I ride a bicycle to work and a pedestrian was gabbing on her telephone, walked across the street on a red and me cycling on a green. She stepped in front of me, I had to stop abruptly nearly sending myself over the handlebars and she told ME to shut up, repeatedly, and stop interrupting her conversation.

[OperaTenor]

I agree, Mary. 3 out of 4 idiots who cut me off have a cell phone stuck to their ear. Same estimate for idiots who fail to signal their intentions.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

[quote]Originally posted by Marye: She stepped in front of me, I had to stop abruptly nearly sending myself over the handlebars and she told ME to shut up, repeatedly, and stop interrupting her conversation.

It's a delightful mental picture.

[OperaTenor]

Wow, what a cute little coincidental pattern I made with angry smilies.

[Serenity]

Hmmm...there must be someone who's invented a "jamming" device that could blank cell phone conversations within a certain radius of your vehicle.