Am I a bad driver, or are others around me bad drivers?

[Tsutarja]

Seriously, every time I've hit the road this summer since having my license, which I obtained on 6/5/2013 (or 5/6/2013 for you international people), I have apparently pissed off a driver in some form to another...

One of the main things is people going around me. That pisses me off, especially when there's little room between my car and the one in front of me. I mean, I was originally going to drive at the speed limit at all times, but I quickly gained confidence in the road and now I usually drive slightly above the speed limit, by as much as 5 miles most of the time. And it pisses me off whenever I find myself going at least 5-10 miles per hour above the speed limit and I see people passing by like I'm either non-existent or like I'm going under the speed limit.

Another thing is: my car doesn't have the fastest acceleration.. And one perfect example today was when I was getting ready to take off at a traffic light today that I had been stopped at because it was red. When it turned green, the car behind me thought it would be a genius idea to get into the right hand turning lane into the local grocery store just past the traffic light and get back in front of me. He had to have been doing at least 60-65 miles per hour, because he was well ahead of me by the time I got past the grocery store's parking lot. At the time he passed me, though, I was still going at around 45mph, when the speed limit is 55mph.

Also, how about this: ever seen those large right-hand turning lanes at long traffic lights? I usually know where I'm going, so whenever I need to turn right (or left), I get into the lane immediately where it begins. However, there's always that one driver who decides to stay in the straight lane, but then slightly before they approach the intersection, they decide to merge into the right hand turning lane. It pisses me off when people do that, whether it's intentional or not.

And finally, lane merges. If I know a road that has a merging lane ahead, I usually try my best to not get into the lane that has a merge ahead. But what pisses me off is when people do get into the merging lane thinking it's a whole lane. Then what I have to do at times is slam on my breaks and let them over because they didn't merge way back by the "lane ends" warning signs, or just didn't give a ****. It isn't as much of a problem when a normal compact car or an SUV is getting over, but when a big rig/tractor trailer is getting over, it is a problem, and I've had it happen twice since my time driving.

I apologize for the rant. This is just my excuse to squeeze in a blog post, since I haven't made one in a while and I've also been wanting to as well.

Until next time,
Servine out~!

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

I once was turning left at an intersection shaped like a T. I was at the base of the T, and the light was green for me for about 5 seconds. Then some ******* just comes out of nowhere and almost t-bones me. Then they give me that damn wave like, "oh, thank you for not crashing your vehicle into mine, even though I was speeding and running a red that's been red for at least 5 seconds!"

Idiots. Idiots abound.

 

[Blade_of_darkness]

Welcome to the world of aggressive/moronic drivers. These types of stories make me wish that these actions are violations punishable by suspension of one's license.

 

[donavannj]

I've found that most drivers go around 5 miles over the speed limit, and most officers will not pull you over if you're doing within 5 of the speed limit.

As for that other stuff, it's a good idea to be aware of the big rigs and give them a TON of space. Big rigs DO NOT move over to the middle lanes until they have to.

People who don't get in the turn lane right away are probably either lost or distracted, typically, but there are those idjits who are just going over because they think it's perfectly legal to cross the solid white line in that way.

Leadfoot drivers will always speed. Just drive the speed limit and let the leadfoots going 10+ over the limit be the ones to get ticketed instead of you because you're going between 5 and 10 over (officers will go after the slower speeders typically since the slower speeders are less time consuming to catch up to and less likely to result in a high-speed chase).

The best idea is to just drive defensively.

 

[Mana1]

Do speed cameras not exist in America? :O curious.

 

[Kura]

Some people like to cut others off just because they're in some sort of antsy hurry. I remember one dude honking and throwing a fit at a driver in front of him AT A RED LIGHT. Yeah. And then floored it and swerved between people as the light turned green.. even swerving in his own lane.

Keep calm and keep on the right or middle lanes if you're worried about people trying to cut you off.. might help a little even if it's only sorta cautionary.

 

[Tsutarja]

Thanks for the advice y'all! :)

Do speed cameras not exist in America? :O curious.

Not sure, they might in some states, but certainly not the ones I've been in :P Most of the time, speed is monitored by officers who just happen to be on the road or in some cases, air-patrolled. We do have red light cameras, though, to capture anyone who runs through a red traffic light.

 

[donavannj]

Do speed cameras not exist in America? :O curious.

Speed cameras are illegal in some states, and in several others they'd have to be pointed at the driver's faces instead of the license plates (because in some states, like Minnesota, the license plates stay with the vehicle, not the driver), and with facial recognition technology still being so expensive to implement, many states where they can't be pointed at the license plates don't have speed cameras.

One state where they're completely legal is Illinois, since, as far as I understand, the license plates there are attached to the individual driver's primary vehicle instead of the vehicle itself.